CRUNCH!!! SLAM!!!!! A giant watery hand had crushed a tree near Sky and slammed it down on him, missing him by inches. It had been a week since they had started Sky's training. Sky had gotten better at dodging attacks and navigating himself on the uneven ground, now being able to survive the unrelenting attacks for almost two hours.
"DIE!!!" Shouted Jennifer. "Great Dance of the Jellyfish!" She loosened two of the pouches at her hips, bringing out two streams of clouds that formed themselves into tentacles and started lashing out.
Sky dodged the attacks barely as they sliced apart his clothes and pierced the trees nearby. He gasped for air as he tried to run away. For the past two hours, he had been doing nothing but running, jumping and dodging.
Suddenly, the ground started to tremble. "Out of the way!" A deep voice grumbled, sending deep vibrations through Sky's chest.
A dark shadow started to cast over them. He looked up just as Jennifer turned around. Standing in front of them was a giant humanoid. He had the body of a sumo wrestler and was covered in knight-like armor. In the middle of the giant figure was Leeds, mirroring what the giant warrior was doing. "Honor Guard of Poseidon!" He announced.
Swiftly, the giant warrior pulled back its right hand, opened its fist and spread it's fingers apart and thrust downwards. WHAM!!! Everything went black.
"Uuuuuugh" Sky grumbled as he squeezed his eyes before relaxing and slowly opening them.
Once again he was in the lap of Lucy. "Good evening." She smiled down at him.
RIIIP! "It's about time you woke up!" Grumbled Leeds who tore apart a chunk of meat of a giant turkey leg.
For the past two days his recovery time had been shrinking and as a result Leeds and Jennifer would create a campfire and stay.
Bonk! Jennifer pressed her heel into the back of Leeds' head. "Eat like a civil human being you man-monkey!" She yelled as he ripped out another chunk of meat.
Lucy smiled at them. "Say, Sky… were you able to do anything today?" She asked.
Sky looked into the gentle fire before them. "No… another failed day…." He replied half-heartedly.
Lucy brushed his hair. It had become a habit of hers, whenever Sky's head would be nearby she would always find a way to get her hands to it and start brushing it. "What do you think about when these attacks are coming at you?" She asked.
Finally annoyed, Leeds pulled out a small orb of water from the river and threw it at Jennifer, soaking her and sending her stumbling backwards as he took another bite from the leg. "Shut up, cowardly witch." He said with a mouthful.
Sky looked traumatized. "... Survival…." He finally said.
Angrily Jennifer walked up to Leeds and grabbed him by the collar and pulled as high as she could, barely being able to straighten his legs out. Leeds continued to bite into the turkey leg and flicked his finger as yet another orb flew at her, soaking her.
"What about when you saved your mom?" Lucy asked.
Jennifer threw Leeds backwards and summoned four tentacles from her pouches and started attacking with them. Leeds faced his right shoulder to her, pulled more water and formed a large shield with it and continued to eat the turkey leg as the tentacles smacked against the shield.
Sky tried rubbing his neck. "If I'm being honest I don't really remember too much from that time." He smiled.
Lucy nodded, "Then what about when you summoned thunderclouds in front of the town hall?" She asked.
Sky's expression changed into a stern look at nothing in particular. "That time I was mad, because I came here on the promise to heal my mother, I wanted to protect her and hearing that they couldn't anymore made me angry, really angry." He explained.
Lucy folded her arms and grabbed her chin with her right hand and started rubbing it. "I see… how about this, next time they attack you try thinking of…." She said.
Sky's eyes lit up as he let out a smirk.
WHAM!! The two turned around to see Jennifer slowly crumbling to the ground, a large bruise started to form on her forehead. Nearby sat a bone on the ground. Leeds had a satisfied look on his face as the shield had transformed into a large launching device.
***
"Honor Guard of Poseidon!" Leeds shouted. The large warrior from the previous day started to take shape.
Sky panicked. "Wait, Wait, isn't it too early for that!" He shouted as he started to run away.
The warrior had finally formed. "On the battlefield you must be prepared for anything!" It's deep voice shook Sky's ribcage.
SIIIIIIIIII!! Sky dug his right foot into the ground, bringing him to a sliding stop.
Jennifer smirked as she stood in front of him with her arms spread out. "No more running today!" She said as smoke from the black pouches flew out, creating a wall behind her.
Sky swiveled around, the giant warrior was already preparing an attack. He clenched his teeth as the warrior prepared the same attack from the day before. His body tightened as he saw the giant palm coming down. He thought of a way to live, to dodge the attack and survive but nothing came to mind. Then he remembered Lucy's words, how about this, next time they attack you try thinking of your mother behind you, and you protecting her.
Sky imagined his mother, on the ground shouting for him to run away, to save himself. The sky above head crackled as the white clouds from before darkened. Lightning danced along them as they grew larger and darker until they became pitch black. When Sky opened his eyes the palm was a few feet from hitting his head. BOOOM!!!!! A sudden high ran through his body as the palm slowed down. He quickly turned around and darted backwards, grabbed his mother and moved as far away from the attack as possible. By the time he had cleared the range of damage, the palm had barely hit the ground.
WHAM!!!! The palm suddenly slammed into the ground with full force as the high faded from Sky's body. Once the smoke had settled Leeds stared at Sky, his eyes wide open as he realized what had happened. He looked above and saw the clouds dissipating.
Sky realized there was a very realistic weight in his arms. "P-P-P-PUT ME DOWN!!!" Shrieked a voice from in front of him.
He looked down to see that in his arms he had grabbed Jennifer. She placed her hand under his chin and pushed him away as she struggled to get free. "PUT ME DOWN YOU APE!!" She yelled.
Eventually Sky let her go. After doing so he dropped down to one knee and started gasping for air. It felt like he had just survived two hours of training despite it only being a few minutes.
The giant warrior disappeared as Leeds came down to the ground. "Good, you're finally able to summon lightning, though who would have imagined you would strike yourself with it." He said.
"Now, we move onto the next step-" Leeds was interrupted by someone running into the clearing.
"LEEDS!!! HE'S BACK!!! BAHRNY IS BACK!!!!" The man shouted.
Jennifer paled at the mention of the man as Leeds clenched his mouth. "Go back to the prison Sky, tell Lucy to heal you, and come back here tomorrow morning." He pushed Sky who still struggled for air.
After he had not moved Leeds snapped. "GO THE HELL BACK!!!" He shouted, finally getting Sky to move.