"You want me to what?" Jack said, raising an eyebrow under his helmet, the setting sun getting in his eyes and making him squint. He looked down at Elaine, who was gripping his arm with a fire in her emerald eyes, determined and confident in what she had said. it had only been a day since she was attacked, and he was amazed at how fast she recovered from it.
"I want you to teach me how to use a sword."
The others gathered around, eager to see how this would unfold. Noelle smirked, seeming pleased with Elaine's words, while Jerry looked amused, looking at Jack and waiting for his answer. The other vampires simply watched, their expressions hidden but he could imagine them; Drake was most likely grinning like a fool, thinking that this was a chance for Elaine to get closer to Jack, while Midnight was wondering how long this would take and looking bored.
Jack sighed, seeing that he would receive no help as he looked into Elaine's hopeful eyes.
"Why sword training so suddenly? Your magic is powerful enough that you do not need a weapon."
She shook her head, her blonde hair bouncing along as she met his gaze, undeterred.
"My magic relies on concentration and focus. I was so scared out of my mind that I was barely able to cast one spell, and was lucky that I caught the human off guard. I need to get used to having enemies attack me up close; killing them from far away with magic has made me grow comfortable with not being attacked, and i was helpless when it actually happened. I need to be more brave, stronger, and not be controlled by my fear."
Jack listened to her speak, and was so relieved by her words that he smiled, glad that his helmet hid this. He thought she would be traumatized by her experience, and would grow more distant and cold in response. She completely proved him wrong, realizing her weaknesses and wanting to correct them. She had grown more mature from her experience, and he would be stupid to not help her grow even more.
"If you insist, I can hardly say no."
She beamed, hopping with joy until he held up a finger, causing her to stop and look at him with confusion.
"But there are a few things we need to work on. Your body is not ready to wield a sword; you need to train your body as well as your mind, and just constantly walking from our journey is not enough. The other issue I see is that we have no practice swords; there is little to no trees out here in the plains, and I will not teach you with real weapons."
She pouted, looking around and seeing no trees in sight; besides another city far in the distance, there was nothing but grass as far as the eye could see, along with a few fields of crops closer to the city. They could get something from the city itself, but Noelle had decided to avoid any cities, as the vampires were not above bribing humans to try and snatch Elaine or attack them. He could work on her strength and endurance, but that was boring, and he didn't know if she would be willing do simple stuff like push ups.
Elaine shot him a smug look, reaching down and grabbing a handful of grass. She smirked as she held the grass out, closing her eyes and using her magic. Her hands glowed with her beautiful golden mana, the grass glowing and changing its shape. He could only gawk in awe as the grass slowly changed into a sturdy stick, the elf swinging it a few times and nodding in satisfaction.
"Will something like this do?" she asked, looking at him and tossing the stick. He caught it, giving it a good look and amused at how straight it was, clearly unnatural once you looked it over.
"You never cease to amaze me. It will work fine, but you need one as well."
She giggled, grabbing more grass and repeating the process. She looked over at Noelle, who looked at the stick with amusement.
"Can we stop for a bit, Noelle? I am eager to start right away."
The sun was finally dipping beneath the horizon, Jack taking his helmet off and setting it on the ground as Noelle nodded, dropping her bag and sitting in the grass.
"Yes, and I am proud of your resolve. But I wonder if you will feel the same way after a day or two of this."
Elaine blinked slowly, puzzled by her words, as the others sat down and got comfortable, the vampires taking their masks off and all of the watching eagerly. Elaine shrugged and turned to Jack, who unclasped his cloak and let it fall to the ground as he pointed his stick, now a training sword in his eyes, at her.
"For now, we will keep it simple. You need to get your body used to fighting and swinging that practice sword; we make it look easy, but that is because we have trained our bodies to handle it. Fighting is tiring, and it will be a while before you can keep up with a common soldier, let alone me."
He held his sword out at his side, smirking as he decided to test her resolve.
"Come at me, and swing until you are too tired to swing anymore. Do not hold back, as there is no fear of you harming me."
She furrowed her brow at his words, getting hyped up as she rushed at him. He forced himself to restrain his laughter, seeing her reminding him of his first days of training for the army. She reached him and swung her stick with all her might, putting all of her weight behind the blow, and gasped in surprise when he simply moved out of the way, her momentum carrying her forward as she stumbled and fell to her knees.
She looked back, growing red as Drake began howling with laughter, the vampires remembering when the same exact thing happened to Jack the first time he wielded a practice sword as a child. Even Midnight chuckled along, and Jack walked over to Elaine, helping her up and tapping her head with the stick.
"Do not throw all of your weight and power behind an attack unless you are sure it will land. If I was an enemy, you would be dead. I use my speed to kill my opponents before they can react and defend, but you can't do that. Come at me again, but try to not over extend yourself when you swing; always try to maintain your balance, as being knocked down can spell death."
She nodded, regaining her composure and attacking again. She barely lasted a few minutes before she was bent over and gasping for air. He patted her on the back, knowing that she had a long road ahead of her; learning to wield a weapon properly did not happen overnight, and even he could still improve his swordplay. He let her catch her breath as he walked over to the others, finding that he actually enjoyed the experience and was eager to continue her training tomorrow.