I walked back towards my room with my hands on my head, intermittently banging my head on the corridor walls. I don't think I have sighed in those few minutes more than I have in my entire life.
Eventually, I got to my room and looked at the clothes left for me on the bed and of course, there were looser trousers. I got changed and looked at went to the washroom connected to the room and washed my face. Everything, even if only for a moment became calm.
I had absolutely no clue what had happened. Why was she doing this?! It was clear from her personality that she likes to tease and that was what I had chalked her behaviour up to till now, but this was different.
Till now whatever she did, there was a humorous undertone to it. She was hesitant too, no matter how much it did not look like that. The way she behaved after, it was like her actions were not her completely her own. I had chalked it up to how she just behaved, or maybe how all demons behaved, my mind clearly influenced by the literature and entertainment of my home world.
Today was different, however, and it was not only about the events at the breakfast hall. I had felt this way since yesterday night's conversation. Something had happened yesterday night that I didn't notice and her demeanour changed because of it. Unlike before, the emotions in her eyes and the motions of her body matched. The darkness that enraptured me in her eyes now also existed in her actions.
Something had happened, and I needed to know. I may be naive but I wasn't stupid, nobody just does this and I needed to know. I was her knight after all.
I went back to the training arena and there she was, Lucy, standing alone in the middle of the arena looking up into the sky. twiddling with the daggers in her hand. But what actually caught my eye was her dress.
It was all black, loose in some areas but tight in others. Clearly meant for movement...and since there was no armour, it was probably purpose-made for training. I stared at her with bated breath for a few seconds before coming back to my sense, I was there for a reason.
I walked up to her and stood in front of her. Hoping to ask her about her behaviour but immediately I saw her disappear from in front of me. My eyes immediately caught on to a black flash in my peripheral vision. The glint from her dagger just barely being seen as it came at me, my body staggering back on its own. I let my guard down thinking I was safe but then I felt that black flash go down under my vision and then I felt a force on my legs and I immediately lost my balance.
Right before I fell, my body was supported by a hand grabbing my collar.
"One more swing and well...Rest in peace as they say in your world, or that's what I read in that journal" she said as she held out her other hand, free for me to grab and help me back up.
"I thought we were going to do magic shit...my ass hurts" I said as a tidied myself a bit.
"Change of plans, we already know your potential, we can work on that with time. But, and I mean this in the kindest way, you are weak. As much as magic is important, it means nothing if you can't throw a punch or two, if you know what I mean" she said.
"Well..fair enough" I said. She was not wrong after all, the questions I had temporarily faded to the back of my mind.
"Well first and foremost, your physical training will be split into two parts...training and sparring. As much as I would hate to change that soft, tasty body of yours, you need to grow some more muscle. That's what the training is for" she said as she rubbed her hands against my arm. her mouth looked like she was salivating.
"Your training regimen has already been created and will be looked after by Serena. What you are doing with me now is going to be sparring. I am going to teach you how to fight, how to use your limbs, how to use weapons etc. But I have just one rule, even though it isn't applicable to you now. NO MAGIC, am I clear" she said.
I nodded immediately, she was serious.
"Good boy, well anyway, how about we get started? Today I am going to come at you, again and again and again. We will stop only when you understand why I am doing this" she said, getting back into her stance.
I didn't know what to do and also copied her stance. The minute I did, she smiled and I didn't know if it was a good one or not.
Again she disappeared in front of me and again for a split second I saw the glint of her dagger. And again my body moved on its own, just barely moving away, and again I lost my balance again. This time her dagger was resting on my neck.
"Dead...start again" she said as she got back into position.
I got up and did the same and again I fell on my ass.
"Dead...again!"
and again.
"Dead...again!"
and again.
"Dead...any clues yet?" she said after the fifth time.
"I have absolutely no idea..." I said as I rubbed my sore ass.
"Ok then...again"
This went on for who knows how long, and after a point, I stopped counting.
At that point I knew that retaliation was not worth it..there was no way I could win. I tried defending but it was blow after blow after blow and while my senses could see what was coming, my body couldn't and eventually I was on the ground again.
"I can see the gears turning, one more come on...I believe you, you can do it" she said helping me up again and again I got back into position.
Once again I waited for her to strike and as I had done till now I dodged but I knew what my was coming and my body wanted to run away. I had thought running away would be the worst, partly because that was all I had done in my life till now. At that moment though, it was the only thing I hadn't tried.
Instead of standing my ground, I took another step back, out of her range of motion, and this time her dagger zipped past my eyes, just barely. I could hear the distinct sound of its swing.
"Finally!....." she said after she swung.
"But I backed out, I ran away!" I said, not understanding the reason for her excitement.
"But you also would never have won, remember, there is always dignity in defeat. You run away so you can swing back stronger. You lose the battle so you can win the war. Most fights are a battle of wit, not braun. Physical prowess is the weapon that your wit uses to win...and in this situation, the winning move is sacrificing a piece, like the game in your world called chess. All your failures don't matter if you win in the end. That is your first lesson" she said as she held out her hand to me again as a gesture of congratulations.
I grabbed her hand and immediately I felt her pull me towards her. Her leg jutted out to trip me again. I fell on my back and she sat on my waist, her dagger running down my cheek and unlike other times the pressure was a bit bigger and I could feel the pain ever so slightly.
"Second lesson, never let your guard down...." she said with a smirk.
She got closer to my face and stuck out her tongue and licked her tongue across my cheek. Her tongue was tainted with a crimson red hue streaking along it, blood. It was only then did I realise that her dagger had in fact cut my skin and a tiny amount of blood was seeping through.
She kissed me on the forehead and got up.
"That's enough for today... let's meet up at the library later okay" she said as she headed out.
I immediately got up and called out to her, the questions in my head popping up again.
"Wait....why?! why are you doing this? What happened?" I shouted.
She turned back to me.
"Nothing, I just accepted the truth....." she said as she closed the door.