Kreiss heaves a long sigh and looks away. "You're not ready."
Atelier stomps the ground. "I am! How many more times must I tempt Death before I am ready?"
He shoots her a conflicted look, no doubt torn between his admiration for her eagerness and his fear of taking off her training wheels too soon. He doesn't like to think that she is weak, but he also knows that she is not strong. Not enough. This is The Otherworld; he isn't about to let her believe that she is invincible, because she isn't. Nobody is.
Reaching behind Skulljape, he pulls out his sword, hesitates for a moment, and then throws it at her feet. It stabs the ground right before her. "Take it. Fight me."
She stares at the weapon, not knowing what to do with it. Fight him? Can she really? She has never handled a weapon before, but already fear and excitement are bundling within her. She must start somewhere.
