"Nobody told me these dummies hit back!" I yelled back to Leslie after getting a face full of wooden fist. The training figure swung back into position as it awaited my next strike, and I felt my cheek for injury, tasting blood.
I felt my practice sword and gripped it tight, bringing it around in multiple slashes with less than perfect grace. After getting hit, the dummy swung around and smacked me in the shoulder before righting itself again. I huffed and stabbed at the wooden figures face out of spite, the one place it didn't react. "Jesus, Leslie. Do you guys really practice with these death traps?"
I turned to her and noticed she was trying not to laugh, stifling it unsuccessfully. She responded through a giggle. "I'm sorry, James. I thought it might be a fun experience for you." My eyes found Sven as he watched beside her. When he'd found the time to saddle on over, I knew not, but I felt like their entertainment now. Sven clearly wasn't as amused, but he was smiling as he added in. "You need to work on your form more. If you hit the dummy like that, it's going to hit back. You want clean strikes, James." Great. Clean strikes, I thought. Got it. Now if I knew how to perform them, I'd be just peachy.
Leslie pointed back to a table they set up with my powers. It held water, chips and plates. A small thing on four scrawny legs. "Let's get a drink and then head over to the open space, James. Maybe a little sparring with Sven might help your form more than getting whacked around .. " she giggled again, and I sighed. Making my way over for the sorely needed water. "Fine."
Sven made his way over to the combat ring on the platform behind the row of dummies and swung his practice sword around a little, getting comfortable. I watched him out of the corner of my eyes enviously, wondering how long it must have taken him to develop those skills. I downed the water rather quickly and capped it as I headed over to him.
We stood on opposite lines, my grip tightening on the wooden hilt. The look in Sven's eyes was one of excitement as we began to move towards the center, closing the distance between each other. Leslie spoke from the sideline as we prepared to engage in sparring. "We'll be going with the Five Strike rule. Hit your opponent in any valid point five times during the match and you're the victor. And ... begin!"
I hadn't seen Sven move, but as soon as the word left Leslie's mouth, I found his dull sword coming up into my face. It felt a thousand times bigger than it really was and whether out of instinct or fear I stepped back, throwing my sword up to knock his away. I could feel sweat prickling my forehead as my now razor sharp focus drilled into Sven. I waited, hoping not to be caught so off-guard again.
It didn't go unnoticed. The air seemed to change around him as he lunged again. The feeling of imminent death had passed me by, however fearful I was of getting struck. I quickly dipped my upper half backwards and barely managed to evade his practice blade. He seemed to pull back and relax, and either it was my imagination or Sven was restraining himself a lot, because with every stroke and lunge Sven only got faster.
His next strike came unexpectedly and I wasn't fast enough to evade, getting struck hard in the stomach. It was lucky we were using practice swords because I couldn't died, but the dull wooden blade merely knocked the wind out of me as I doubled over and caught myself. I heard a voice above me, though I was too pained to look up. "Don't die now, James."
A hand appeared in my face and I grabbed it, not needing to be a genius to know who it belonged to. As Sven pulled me up, he got back into position. I joined him as he spoke to me. "Skill isn't won in a day. Let's get back to it!" Sven flung himself at me in a strangely graceful whirl, bringing his sword in from the side as I blocked. The force of the impact jarred my arms as I held it off until he pulled back.
Sven engaged me several more times and things only got more involved. I received multiple strikes to the body and many bruises, And when he finally backed off breathing, my nerves were on fire. Every injury burned and throbbed as I shook all over. "Let's stop for now. If I bang you up too badly you might really die. Besides, we still have the war games to prepare for." I heard Leslie beginning to walk over, but her footsteps faded into the background as I meditated on soaking in and acclimating to the pain. The throbbing, the injuries. It filled my senses and I knew nothing else until I felt a hand on my shoulder.
Leslie was there, and smiled at me as she slipped her arm under mine and helped me up quick-like. After I was standing she let me go and I turned back to see Sven watching me. They both were. I was about to say something when he cut in with a question. "Hey, Pierce. Tell me. I've heard the rumors, but you never know what's true. Your power is creation, right?"
I shook my head and gave it a moment before responding carefully Incase Leslie decided she needed to step in. "No, it's imagination. Or so I'm told." I rubbed my arm in a bruised spot. The burning bruises had already started to go down and I was feeling much better.
Sven pointed to me in general and blinked, voicing his obvious confusion. "That's even better. Why can't you just heal yourself, then?" It hit me hard, and I had no idea how to respond for a moment there. I wanted clarification even though I fully understood, so I asked. "What do you mean?"
Sven rolled his head and eyes in dramatic fashion as he responded like it was as obvious, which it was. "Dude! Imagination! You can do anything, So why not heal yourself?" I turned to Leslie, and she nodded. "It makes sense. You could speed up the recovery process or remove the injuries all together, James. Give it a try."
I nodded and focused on the thought of healing, on my bruises vanishing. I didn't notice anything at first, and checked my body for signs of success. Sure enough, the wounds were gone, and my body looked as through it has never been marred. I looked at Leslie skeptically as I asked a question. "Why is it everyone seems to know more about my powers than I do? You'd think as the power holder I'd have more insight into this."
Leslie smiled and pointed at me through crossed arms. "We have hundreds of students here with all sorts of abilities, James. We've had some experience with it. Besides, your abilities are very telling. It isn't hard to understand."
I nodded again and decided to change the subject as I glanced around the combat floor for any sign of a clock or something to tell me what time it was. "You wanted to register me, right? What time is it, Leslie?" My attention came back around to focus on her as she responded. "You must have a good internal clock, James. I was just about to mention that. Why don't we head out? We'll need to sign up at my desk before heading down to the War Floor."
I looked at Leslie sideways at the rather blunt name. "The Headmaster couldn't think up anything more original?" I said, thinking the same thing. Leslie shrugged like she couldn't begin to fathom our CEO, but I knew she was just trying not to pull him into the spotlight. "He's never been known for his imagination. The irony is apparent too." I smiled at the thought as she headed for the porter pad with me on her tail. Sven was waving lightly behind us as we made our departure. "See you two at the games~"
We materialized on the ground and headed off for the elevator at a quick pace. Leslie led the way, and I could only imagine she was trying to avoid running into Chasey again. We made good time getting there, as it only took us another eight minutes to reach elevator.
Quickly getting on, Leslie hit the to floor button and we started to ascend. I don't know what triggered it, but in that moment I remembered Leslie coming onto me in the ring and my eyes flitted down to her butt. I had never taken the time to examine it because I thought it was rude, but in the moment all of those thoughts fell away. My curiosity getting the better of me as I felt my erection grow long. She stood in front of me watching the doors as I took it in. Her cheeks were small, but not so much so that it might've been unattractive. They looked firm, yet plump. I covered my eyes and groaned as the image planted itself in my mind. God, what's happening to me?
I heard Leslie speak up as the doors began to open, her voice suggestive. "You don't like what you see?" She asked, and I took my hand away to clear my vision as I responded. I could only assume she was teasing me. "I love it, and that's the problem. I never had these issues before coming here."
Leslie hummed to herself in thought as she stepped out of the elevator and I was forced to follow, letting go of my face. "I don't see why that's a problem, James~" she spoke suggestively again, but under her voice as she slipped over to her desk to the computer. Signing into the machine, she asked me for personal information that I provided without hesitation. Name, student ID, student code, etc. I thought my student code might be enough but apparently they wanted to be thorough.
When we were done, Leslie led me back into the elevator before speaking again to me. "We'll be going to floor 47. The registration and games are both on that floor." I nodded, understanding. Leslie pressed the button and we began to descend. Leslie had decided to stand in front of me again somehow, and knowing the time it would take us to reach our destination only made my torture all the more real. Leslie certainly knew this, too. As she stood there, I noticed her hips were swaying gently and I spoke up. "C'mon, Leslie. I said later."
She giggled softly, sounding very amused at my discomfort and responded. "But you want it, don't you? Why not now?" She wasn't stupid. I knew she knew we didn't have that kind of time, why was she goading me? Her eyes watched me from the corner, her smile was teasing. I sighed, deciding not to respond. She picked up on this and stopped, turning back to focus on the doors. "You're no fun."
The elevator doors opened after a few minutes, and I almost lost my sense of balance. I stood at the entrance of an indoor mix and mass of terrain. From deserts to jungles to an ocean ... this place was way too big to fit inside a building! I turned to Leslie, and she was smiling. "Welcome to the War Floor."