Two days later, Liana and Liz were training hard once again. They were told by Lillian that she'd take that day to choose a few of her men for them to spar and that they only had a day to prepare.
(Liana) "Is this really necessary?"
Lillian raised an eyebrow.
(Lillian) "Yes. Training is useless unless you put it into action. You won't know whether you're doing it right until you use it."
The rest of her words were unspoken, but Liana still heard it. Hiding a smile, she put more effort into her training. Liz, on the other hand, had arrived back late the previous night, and was unable to put her full effort into training.
(Lillian) "Liz!"
Liz stopped what she was doing and turned to her sister. Lillian's expression softened as she said,
(Lillian) "Take a break. I'll train Liana first. She'll stop when you come back."
Liz's expression brightened immediately and she quickly jumped out while she shouted a thank you to Lillian.
(Lillian, through mind-link to Liz) "You have four hours."
Liana was focused on her training, but quickly lost her concentration when Liz suddenly ran out, leaving her alone with Lillian. She paled at the thought of being trained individually. It was already terrifying being trained with Liz, but if it was one on one… Liana couldn't bear to think what would happen.
Lillian started laughing and Liana frowned at her.
(Lillian) "Your thoughts are so loud that I don't even need the bond to hear it."
Liana blushed but didn't say anything.
(Lillian) "Don't worry, I'm not going to push you too hard today. I do need you in your best condition tomorrow."
Liana looked slightly relieved and Lillian continued,
(Lillian) "I was already intending to train the two of you individually today, anyway."
She paused for a moment, then asked,
(Lillian) "Have you heard of the saying that if you don't show your own teammates your trump cards, they will be twice as effective when you use them against your enemies?"
Liana raised an eyebrow.
(Liana) "Isn't that counterproductive though? What happens if you try to perform it but your teammates get in the way?"
Lillian smiled.
(Lillian) "That's why the first thing anyone must learn if they are to be part of a team is to understand and trust your team members. That way, if one of your team members has a hidden trump card, it is easy to make the needed preparations and changes for that team member to perform it. It is also why if they, who know and understand you, doesn't know your move, your enemies won't expect it either."
Liana nodded her head, though she still had some questions, she decided against asking them and continued training with Lillian's guidance. While Liana taking a short break, she wondered to herself why Lillian told her that.
(Liana's thoughts) 'Does she want me to have a secret move that even Liz doesn't know? Isn't it a bit late if she wanted me to do that?'
*
A few hours later, Liz came back looking refreshed and happy. Liana smiled a smile that sent a shiver down Liz's spine and said,
(Liana) "Your turn."
Liz's grin was wiped off her face as she took in the state Liana was in. She was lying on the floor covered in sweat and still trying to catch her breath.
(Liz) "What did Lil make you do? You look exhausted."
Liana chuckled, pushing herself off the floor.
(Liana) "Nothing worse than what she's going to make you do."
She stood up, using her magic to freshen herself up.
(Liana) "And for your information, I am exhausted. Thankfully I can stop now that you're here."
She looked to Lillian for confirmation. Lillian, who was just standing at the side leaning against a wall, nodded and said,
(Lillian) "Rest up. I want you in top condition in the morning."
Liana nodded and left the room as Liz turned to her sister, paling slightly. Lillian laughed and said,
(Lillian) "Liana was exaggerating how much I pushed her. I don't want the two of you to be too exhausted such that you cannot put your best effort into the spars tomorrow."
Liz looked relieved for a moment, but the look of relief was erased once she started the training program Lillian had planned out for her.
*
Liz was standing in a defensive stance, with weights on her wrists and legs, with her sword swinging every split-second to deflect something Lillian was constantly throwing at her. It could range from stones to arrows to even swords. On Liz's face was a look of total concentration, but she was screaming internally at Lillian. Suddenly, the things stopped flying at her and she turned to look at Lillian, who had been silent the whole time. When she noticed her sister, she almost fell over in surprise. Lillian was holding a hand over her mouth, the other over her stomach as she tried to stop herself from laughing. When Lillian was recovered enough to talk, she said,
(Lillian) "You… and Liana both… Need to stop projecting your thoughts so loudly. My skill is already off passively but if you yell them to the whole world, I'm still going to hear it."
Liz stood up properly and said,
(Liz) "Maybe if your training wasn't so insane, we wouldn't be screaming in our thoughts."
Then as an afterthought she added,
(Liz) "On second thought I take that back. You'll probably just make our training worse."
Lillian chuckled and said,
(Lillian) "If you have time to scream at me in your head, the training isn't hard enough."
Liz's face clearly reflected the horror she felt at Lillian's words. Sure, she enjoyed being trained by her sister since it meant that they could spend more time together, and it really benefitted in the end, but the training itself was unbearable. Lillian held back a laugh and said,
(Lillian) "Don't worry, I'm not going to make your training any harder. Yet. If you don't lose tomorrow."
Liz raised an eyebrow. She knew for sure that the normal soldiers in her sister's guard were weaker than herself.
(Lillian) "Bear in mind that I'm selecting from my elites."
Liz turned ghostly pale.
(Liz) "Sis! We are going to get trashed and you know that! Even I can't stand against them longer than five minutes much less win!"
Lillian shrugged.
(Lillian) "I never said you have to win."
She paused for a moment, then added:
(Lillian) "You just have to last for more than five minutes."
Liz rolled her eyes, knowing there was nothing she could do, and got back into her stance to continue her training.
*
The next day, Lillian met the two younger girls at one of the biggest sparring arenas they had in their clan. Behind her were five figures, whether male or female, it was hard to tell. All six of them were wearing cloaks, though Lillian's hood was down. As Liz and Liana approached them, Liana could feel Liz tense up beside her, but didn't make any move to stop until they were in front of Lillian.
(Lillian) "This is an informal sparring match, arranged for the sole purpose of testing your abilities against a much stronger opponent."
Lillian turned her body slightly and the five figures lifted their hoods off their heads, revealing three men and two ladies. Two of the men looked strikingly alike, and as Liana was wondering why, she had her question answered as Lillian turned fully and introduced them.
(Lillian) "Adrian and Brian are twins, Kenneth, Elena and Daisy. You get to pick who you want to spar. A little warning though, appearances are, more often than not, deceiving. You have five minutes to decide."
(Liana, through mind-link to Liz) "Do you recognize any of them?"
(Liz, through mind-link to Liana) "No. Unless they take off the cloaks, it's impossible to see what level they are on."
Liana frowned and examined the five soldiers with her magic but came up short. She felt eyes on her and turned to see Lillian smiling gently at her, as if to tell her using magic to see how powerful they are isn't possible. Two minutes after Lillian made the announcement, Liana felt Liz tense up even more as a figure appeared behind Lillian.
(Rose) "Hey Chief can I join?"
Lillian turned to her and raised an eyebrow.
(Rose) "What? I'm bored."
Liana was wondering why Liz seemed so scared of Rose, especially since the other day, while watching the interaction between Lillian and Rose.
(Liana's thoughts) 'They really are close…'
(Lillian) "Rose, these are selected from my Elites, you're on a whole different level, and you know Liz is scared of you."
What she didn't say aloud, and Liana didn't hear either, was that these five were newly introduced into her Elites and thus were much weaker than the full-fledged Elites. This exercise, so to speak, was a test before they could become full-fledged Elites. Rose raised her eyebrows at Lillian's last statement.
(Rose) "Liz is still scared of me? It's been so long…"
Even though Lillian and Rose were standing a distance away from Liana and Liz, Liana could still hear every word that came out of the two girls mouth clear as day.
(Liana's thoughts) 'I wonder why I'm able to hear them so clearly, though? Liz doesn't seem to be able to hear them.'
(Lillian) "If they can defeat two of them, I'll let you spar them. If you're still bored whether or not you get to go up, I'll spar with you afterwards."
Rose shuddered at Lillian's words so violently that Liana could see it from where she was standing. Liana wondered whether sparring with Lillian was really that scary, as she'd never sparred with her before, only trained under her. Half a minute later, a faint blush coloured her cheeks as she heard what Lillian said to her. Lillian repeated Liana's thoughts to Rose, who raised her voice slightly as she said,
(Rose) "Yes, sparring with Chief is worse than anything you'd have ever imagined. If you've trained under her, sparring with her is more than ten times worse."
I find that hard to imagine.
Somehow, she knew that whether she said it aloud or not, both the girls would get her words clearly.
*
Five minutes were up and now it was time to choose their sparring partners. Liana and Liz were now standing directly in front of the line of five.
(Lillian) "You have fifteen seconds to select your opponent, should you not pick an opponent before the time is up, I will randomly select one for you."
Liana decided to wait for Liz to choose first, as she had two choices in mind.
(Liz) "I want Adrian."
The person on the furthest left pulled off his cloak revealing a lean man with green hair, but visible muscles lining his body. He was fully decked in black from head to toe, wearing a similar looking uniform to a stealth suit, but different at the same time. Liana noticed a small emblem on his left chest at the same time she heard Liz release a breath in relief. Not having time to contemplate it, Liana made her choice.
(Liana) "Then I'll try Brian."
The man next to Adrian pulled off his cloak as well, revealing… exactly the same body shape and uniform as Adrian. Strangely enough, the cloaks seemed to hide their heights as well. Both Adrian and Brian were now at least a head or two taller than both girls. Simultaneously, both twins walked over to their challenger and spoke.
(Adrian and Brian) "I'll be sparring with you, and according to the orders of the Chief, I am not allowed to go easy on you."
Liana and Liz shared a glance, both thinking the same thing: They are so in sync! Of course, this could be a result of them both being Elites under Lillian but the resemblance was frightening as they both moved the same way, they both talked the same way, and both had the same voices. Another thought running through Liana's head was:
(Liana's thoughts) 'How do people even tell them apart?'
Liz knew the secret behind the soldiers in her sisters' army and wasn't wondering the same thing. Instead, she was wondering if she'd made the right choice.
(Liz's thoughts) 'Well, it's too late to back out now.'
(Lillian) "Very well. Liz and Adrian will spar first."
Liz and Adrian both got up onto the Arena, Liz simply hopping over while Adrian seemed to float right onto the platform.
While they both prepared, Lillian and Rose were once again deep in conversation.
(Rose) "Your sister picked well. So did your… Liana."
She wasn't sure what exactly Liana was to Lillian, a charge, a friend? Lillian nodded.
(Lillian) "I'm not sure whether Liana's choice was affected by Liz's, but I can say for sure that she picked well. Adrian and Brian are two of the newest."
Rose raised an eyebrow.
(Rose) "Aren't all five of them the newest you have?"
Lillian smiled, and Rose shivered slightly from the chill it sent down her spine.
(Lillian) "Elena looks like the most harmless, but it seems the two of them took my warning to heart and did not pick her."
Rose frowned.
(Rose) "I don't recognize Elena, though?"
Rose had a position in the Elites which meant she would know all the recruits unless… realisation dawned onto Rose as she asked,
(Rose) "Elena is your protégé isn't she?"
Lillian simply smiled and turned to face the arena once more.
Liz and Adrian were ready and were now simply waiting for the signal to start.