CHAPTER 54: TRAINING 

Serena's POV:

Early in the morning, Edward asked Mrs.Brown to knock on my door and urge me to go to the training grounds outside the Maple House.Apparently, I was already late to the first day of my training.

"So, it seems that you aren't as diligent as I remembered, Serena,"

Edward said, with an expression that was mixed with disappointment and taunting.

What Peter and I did last night completely knocked me out.

Even though Edward was a year older than me, I could tell from the way he reacted that he didn't have a girlfriend.

"Don't worry.I promise I'll go to bed early tonight and get up early tomorrow.By the way, where is Uncle Phillip? I thought he was the one training me?"

"Phillip is not the only one who can teach you.If you must know, my skills make me more than qualified to be your teacher as well.Anyway, quit stalling.Let's start your training.Before we formally begin, we need to warm up and see what you can already do.First, let's see how your fighting skills have developed over time.I want to know if you've gotten better or worse from the last time we trained together."

When Edward and I were younger, Uncle Phillip would personally train the two of us, often pitting us against each other in a friendly competition.

In the training grounds, there were some items laid out on a table.

Some sticks, a few knives, and a single pan.

"You see those items from afar? Our first task is to control any of those from here."

With a wave of his hand, Edward had made the pan float up and suspended it in the air.

That left me with the knives and sticks.

Thinking that it would be dangerous if I lost control of the knives, I aimed at the wooden sticks.

I followed the motion that Edward made with his hand and did the same with mine.

The stick slightly trembled in its place, but it refused to move upward as I hoped it would.

Frustrated, I took a deep breath and tried again, focusing my energy onto my powers.

Slowly, the stick rose off of the table.

I marveled as it flew higher up, but once I lost my focus, it had fallen back down.

Just when it was about to hit the ground, it froze midair.

The stick hovered upward and landed itself back on the table, beside the pan.

I turned to Edward and saw that he was the one who was putting the stick back.

"I see what you're struggling with. You are strong, but you still don't know how to control that strength of yours."

I nodded, frowning in agreement.

Once again, I tried to control the stick, this time to pull it towards me.

All of a sudden, the stick swooped in my direction.

It was flying too fast, which meant that I had to avoid it if I didn't want to get skewered.

My instincts urged me to teleport somewhere else, but the stick followed me wherever I popped up, as if it was magnetized to me.

Teleporting multiple times was starting to exhaust me, decreasing my agility to evade the flying stick.

This time, I was too tired to teleport, but the stick was still zooming towards me.

I closed my eyes and raised my arms in one hopeless act of defense when suddenly a hand caught the stick just before it touched my body.

I opened my eyes to see Peter's hand in front of me, clutching the stick.

All this time, Peter had been watching me train and I didn't even notice.

Something in my heart told me that he just could not leave me alone with Edward.

A small smile crept up on my lips and I chuckled to myself.

"You've spent too much time on this one simple drill.If you really want your training to be productive, then you must simulate an actual fighting situation." Peter dropped the stick to the ground.

"We were just getting there.Serena, you take the knife.I'll take the pan."

The pan levitated from the table and tilted as if it was being held like a baseball bat.

Edward was ready.

"Don't be afraid to unleash your full power, Serena.In case you lose control, I will be here to keep things safe."

Uncle Phillip's voice echoed throughout the training grounds.

I turned around and saw him with the elders, James, and Alvin.

"I'll try," I nodded at Uncle Phillip.

"Be careful, Edward." I willed the knife on the table to fly up.

With the flick of my wrist, the knife went flying straight to Edward.

Edward had also sent his pan in my direction.

Our weapons had collided into each other, the impact causing my knife to spear itself into one of the trees nearby.

"Serena, the trick is to imagine the knife as an extension of your own body.It's the same as telling your arm or hand what to do.That way, you'll be able to move it with ease and not make it fly at you."

I was jogging to take my knife out of the tree when I heard Edward call out to me.

He caught up with me and grabbed my hands, demonstrating how to wave them correctly.

When his skin came in contact with mine, I felt a unique coldness run through my body, one that only vampires had. Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

I suddenly had flashback to the hot summers when I would keep wrapping my arms around Edward because he was always cool to the touch.

My cheeks unconsciously blushed.

"Listen, you have to focus your energy on the knife.Make sure that you draw your power from a place of balance, or else you wouldn't be able to control its strength."

A cool wind blew on my ears, but I soon realized it was Edward's breath.

I would be lying if I didn't say it felt nice.

I always told myself that I would marry Edward when we grew up.

Beside me, I could see Edward's structured face in my peripheral vision.

His long, pretty eyelashes danced on his lids with every blink.

For a second, I felt my heart skip a beat.

Nodding, I took another deep breath and followed his instructions as best as I could.

Right before my eyes, I was able to pull the knife out of the trunk just like I had wanted it to.

The knife glided smoothly on the air under my command.

With one last graceful wave, the knife gently landed on the table, back in its original place.

Something about this whole scene felt quite romantic.

A cough was suddenly heard from behind.

It was Peter.

His face looked blank, but I knew from his eyes that he was absolutely livid.

Realizing that Edward's hands were still on mine, I pulled away immediately.

"Hey, Edward? Can you teach me that, too? Maybe I can learn..."

Even though she was trying her best not to show it, Patricia's face was as red as a tomato.

"Sure, I can teach you on another day.It might be less likely you could do it, though, being a full blooded werewolf and all." I stared at Patricia and heard her thoughts.

‘‘As long as this handsome would hold me in his arms like that...It would be worth it even if I didn't learn a single thing.’’ I stifled a laugh and rolled my eyes.

As soon as we had gotten close, Peter instantly pulled me to his side, glaring at Edward as if he was ready to eat him alive at any second.

"Easy, tiger.He was just helping me control my powers.Don't be so jealous, baby,"

I playfully whispered in his ear.

Honestly, it was fun to see Peter get all worked up like this.I had to deal with Kate and Camille myself.

Now that Edward was here, it was Peter's turn to get stressed out.

"Hey, Serena.Let's see how your attack looks like.Make me your target."

"Alright, I'll try."

Keeping Edward's notes in mind, I focused my energy on moving the knife.

It felt much better and seamless now.

I finally understood what it meant when he said to make the weapon an extension of your body.

The knife moved with me as if it was an extra arm and deflected the pan that was about to hit me.

"Come on, Serena.Hit me with your best shot!" Edward shouted from afar.

I flicked my wrist again and sent the knife flying towards him.

It whizzed through the air like an arrow.

I was using probably about seventy percent of my full power, but I could already tell that the force was going to be too strong.

I tried to slow the knife down, but I had lost my focus and could no longer gain control over my strength.

Edward quickly levitated the pan to make it his shield, just in time to stop the knife.

I watched in horror as the knife pushed on, piercing right through the pan.

Just when it was about to stab into Edward's body, Uncle Phillip pulled him out of the knife's direction.

The knife zipped past them and lodged itself into another tree, firmly nailing the pan along with it.

"Edward, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" I ran to Edward and checked if he had gotten any wounds.

"I'm okay, Serena."

"I'm so sorry...I lost control of my strength at that moment..."

As I could have killed him right then and there, people around us seemed astonished at what they had just seen.

They were starting to witness how powerful of a creature I truly was.

"Well, I think that's enough for object control for today.What about element control? The ability to control water, fire, wind, and snow."

Edward looked at me with a new curiosity.I shook my head.

"I've never tried that before..."

"Today's the day, then.I think water is a good element to start with.Do you have a pool here?"

"Yes, we have one on the rooftop!" Patricia inserted herself into the conversation.

Along with us, everyone who had been watching also moved up to the rooftop.

"Are we supposed to change into swimwear?" I asked, a little hesitant.

"In a real battle, of course you wouldn't have the time to change into appropriate clothing.But since we're just training, you can change into some swimwear if that's more comfortable.You wouldn't want to get your clothes wet, after all."

I headed to the changing room.

I picked out a conservative swimsuit, shy of the many people who were here to watch.

When I walked out of the changing room, I heard a commotion outside.

I got closer, only to see Edward standing by the swimming pool, wearing only a pair of swimming trunks.

A swarm of she-wolves had formed around him out of nowhere, swooning over him.

Edward was a tall guy with fair skin and surprisingly chiseled eight-pack abs.

My throat couldn't help but dry up, causing me to swallow.

Peter had a mature sex appeal, which was suitable for an Alpha.

Edward, on the other hand, exuded that innocent, boyish charm.

Patricia was trying her best to look away from Edward, covering her red face with her hands.

"All right, that's it.Members who have no business doing here, leave!"

Peter ordered, successfully driving away the noisy swarm of girls.

However, despite his command, the she-wolves stubbornly stayed on the rooftop, albeit farther from Edward.