It's been a month now. I've continued to hunt with Lily every morning, and on afternoons like this, I practice weaponry with Jeff and the others.
"All right guys, as long as we stick to the plan, we can beat Jeff. Are you ready?" I ask Caspian and Heath as we huddle before a fight.
"Yes, good luck you two." Caspian responds, determination reflected in his eyes.
At first I thought Caspian had an annoying personality, but I've changed my mind. He's skeptical, but that's because he's doing his best to protect friends and innocents. He tries to fight abuse and injustice so that others don't have to experience what he did. We've bonded in the last month and I've discovered he is fiercely loyal. I couldn't ask for a better friend or ally.
"Mmmmhmmm" Heath nods to show he's ready.
Heath's a strange one. He's the definition of a silent type, almost never speaking. Yet, that's part of his charm. He has never told me much about himself, but I still feel close to him. Every body motion he makes I've learned to interpret. He can express himself so easily it surprises me. The thing that puzzles me most though, is how someone so silent is the nephew of Jeff...
"Let's began." I've taken the role of strategist in our team, but I'm still not a great one.
I burst out from behind Heath's shield and hurdle over a row of bushes, rushing toward Jeff's position. Jeff is holding his hammer, waiting for me with a grin on his face. I equip one of my daggers from the right side of my belt and close in. Jeff raises his hammer in anticipation.
"Hahaha, I don't know what you're planning, but you'll never beat me in a head-to-head confrontation!" Jeff laughs and sends his hammer crashing down in front of me.
"You'll never know until you try!" I make a sharp right turn and circle around Jeff 180 degrees, avoiding the shrapnel caused by Jeff's hammer.
"Then I guess I'll teach you!" Jeff responds and swings his hammer in a wide arc.
I jump backwards, dodging the weapon. In the last month, my agility and strength have exploded. I'm still physically weaker than Jeff, but my agility is comparable.
"If you're trying to be a distraction, you need to be more threatening!" Jeff taunts me, he knows my sore points.
'I'm not threatening? So what! It's not like I want to be a distraction! I'm the only suitable option! It just turned out this way! I don't want this either! Being a distraction is the worst role possible!'
"I think I'm fine as I am, thank you very much!" I retort.
As Jeff makes his verbal assault, I can see Heath's shield accelerating toward our position. It's like a fortress, protecting every part of it's user.
"Your running out of original ideas, aren't you?" Jeff glances behind him at the massive shield, but returns to facing me.
"As long as it works, I'll use it." I wait just out of range, if Jeff turns around he'll be wide open to my attack, if he doesn't he'll get bulldozed over.
Jeff waits for the last moment, then spins around and sends a heavy blow toward the shield.
"Now!" I shout.
The shield turns to an angle and stabs into the ground using the force of the charge. Caspian jumps over the shield and uses it as a springboard to fly over Jeff's hammer with his sword drawn.
"Not good enough!" Jeff twists his hammer in mid air, sending the head flying into the Heath's shield and exposing his spear.
The spear blocks Caspian's attack, but there's still me. I charge toward Jeff and use my equipped dagger to slash toward his neck. He angles the spear and blocks us both, but now he's pinned down.
"Hahaha, is that the best you can do?" Jeff glances at the unmoving shield his hammer's head just hit, then looks back to us.
Suddenly, Jeff's face turns white and his eyebrows raise in realization. He releases two pins from his spear, dropping it's end to the ground. Pulling the remaining poll apart from the middle, he reveals two short tubes which slide into place over both ends. These tubes push Caspian's and my weapons off the sides, releasing Jeff from being pinned. Inside, a chain attaches both parts, in other words they're nunchucks. Jeff accomplishes this all within a second.
"Haaaaaaa!!!" Heath shouts as his sword approaches Jeff from behind, he seldom speaks but this doesn't count.
"Hahaha, you boys came close this time!" Jeff laughs and swings his nunchucks around, knocking my dagger from my hand.
Turning around Jeff ducks and nails Heath in the stomach. Causing Heath to drop his sword and fall onto his knees with a groan. Heath had never been behind the shield in the first place, he sneaked around through the bushes while Caspian carried his shield. We added a simple stand to the back of the shield, so it looks like someone is supporting it when it's left behind.
"We're not done yet!" I reach toward the left side of my belt to retrieve my second dagger.
"Not going to happen!" Jeff grabs my reaching left hand and pins it under his arm, blocking my belt with his body.
Facing the remaining adversary, Caspian, Jeff spins his nunchucks wildly, preparing to fight. But, my plan worked, a dagger appears in front of Jeff's neck.
"It's over, we win." I tell Jeff, we finally beat him.
"Oh? You did? Hahaha, Good job, you guys have learned a lot!" Jeff laughs and congratulates us on our accomplishment.
'I never thought Jeff's downfall would be replacing my second dagger with a fake and keeping the original up my sleeve.'
"Hahaha, Adam, try tucking your shirt around your belt next time you substitute a dagger with a stick. It's more discrete." Jeff suggests without ever turning around.
'Snap! That's just cruel! If you knew all along, you should have defended from it instead of getting my hopes up! Why'd you do that!'