'The fight begins the moment I pass the line,' this rule helped me delay the match for the minute I got Veda to a bench. And with Veda sitting down, eyes closed to zone out the noise on her end, I can now put my full focus on Verei's fight. I even had Emeri give me about a minute of alone time to keep from being distracted.
With Veda sitting down with her eyes closed, I could put all my focus entirely as Verei.
'I will need complete focus if I want to succeed. The Variants have also proven that.'
But I also need to succeed. If I don't, it could affect Sapheir's desire to train, but it can also affect how willing the Griffon's Folly party are in training Sapheir.
I take this moment to glance at the ring, to understand the positions of the Griffon's Folly members. The spearman, Falin, is on the left side of the arena. On the right is the Rogue, Yirm. And lastly, standing between me and Gradon, is the archer, Hyrn.
With the current rules, Hyrn can shoot me from anywhere but not while Yirm or Falin are attacking. The same goes for the spearman, Falin being made hesitant to strike if Yirm is near, or else risk both attacking at the same time.
And finally, both can't attack if an arrow is still flying through the air. This one rule is a major handicap to restrict the advantages most B-ranks have over the C-rank Sapheir. Despite that, this party still hasn't broken that rule. They worked together for so long, reaching B-rank together because they have a synergy that surpasses most others. But they still have an advantage with that rule as making feints is allowed, faking who is attacking when to get the jump on me.
With one last deep breath, I start my mad dash. The two begin charging for me immediately, the Rogue being faster but that doesn't mean the Spearman can't get within range of me first.
However, it was obvious that the first to reach me would be Hyrn's arrow, the two not being within range being a great moment to start firing. But I simply dodge, letting the arrow fly past.
The first to reach me was going to be the Rogue but I jump within range of the Spearman last moment. The Rogue hesitates attacking, allowing Falin to make a jab at me with his spear only to be parried by my shield. I try to strike him the moment I'm in range but he uses his spear to block it.
They have to block as they are under the same rules for what happens when they're hit. But unlike the idea of Sapheir being too slow to hit them or too weak to break their defense, they know I'm capable and will use this as they can.
There aren't any limits on blocking, and because of that, the rogue, Yirm can and will attempt to head for my blind spot to strike me in the back. But I twirl, my sword missing him by mere inches from his neck.
If my weapon was any shorter, Yirm would've been able to reach me. And I didn't forget about Falin either. With that twist, my shield was between me and his shield, preventing him from getting a good strike, and my jumping towards him, made him take a step backward in his attempt to keep out of range from my sword.
The feint worked and I was now dashing for the goal, sending one last strike at the rogue who tried to get within range once again.
But, with both of them unable to attack, this gave an opening for an arrow to fly for me again. My back was open because I was focused on the rogue, but my instinct warned me, twisting me body to dodge the arrow without losing my momentum forward.
'I either look like a pro dancer right now, or I look pretty stupid.'
But despite the arrow flying by, preventing the other two from attacking me, even if they are within range, they still work to get in an advantageous position. These limitations aren't enough for this party, their comradery and teamwork keeping their synergy at a dangerously effective level, even against me at my highest.
They likely would've been able to defeat the Variants due to their capacity to work as a team. Something I want the Frozen Sapphires to see, to emulate for when we go our separate ways.
The distance to reach Gradon's shield was still far away and the rogue was still on my tail. I'm forced to keep up a constant rhythm of striking behind me at the rogue, keep a constant pace to outrun the spear's reach, and dodge every arrow that comes my way.
This coupled with the possible feints, this fight is already pushing the limit of my focus.
But my work finally pays off as I get within reach of Hyrn who makes one last jump backwards before firing the last arrow. My shield blocks it but with the arrow's momentum being only a second delay, I had to look backwards. I recognized the feint as my instincts forced me to raise my shield high, the Archer's secondary weapon slamming into it.
'He jumped backward to fire the arrow, then drew his sword when I wasn't looking.'
I make the decision to let his committed downward swing win as I spin counterclockwise, moving out of his swing's trajectory as I deflect the attack, my sword striking the archer.
Yirm takes his chance to reach me but my momentum hasn't slowed down. He's unable to dodge this time, raising his dagger to block it only to get hit in the arm instead, forcing him to drop the dagger.
Hyrn was struck, and Yirm lost his weapon arm due to a wrong judgment, and Falin was still too far away, unable to throw his spear because Gradon was just behind me. This leaves me a window of opportunity to strike Gragon's shield myself.
As I turned to strike, I realized, Gradon's sword was raised, making a jab at me in the last moment.
'My heart was thumping, the blood rushing with a feeling I hadn't felt in a long time.'
No, Verei was the one who hadn't felt this rush in a long time. Odds stacked so high against him, yet overcoming them all in the last possible moment. My shield hand moved, the feeling of his weapon scraping against my shield before returning the favor with a loud snap echoing throughout the training room.
The loud echo made the room silent, no one wanting to be the first to break this silence till the sound of the broken piece of the wooden sword lands somewhere nearby.
The next sound made was Gradon breaking out into a fit of laughter.
"That strike almost made me twist my wrist! I give it a ninety-two out of a hundred!"
My eye twitched. "A ninety-two?! Then what's a hundred?!"
"Tearing my arm off!" He cackles.
I grit my teach at the absurd grading system of this man. "You'd probably give that a 99 out of spite!"
With the tension gone, the room ends up erupting into laughter due to the squabble. Even the adventurers who lost the bet couldn't be mad at getting to witness a feat many called 'impossible'.
--------
I take a sip from the waterskin brought by Emeri. The timing was pretty close call as had she appeared a second earlier, I might've gotten hit by Gradon's rule-breaking swing.
But I don't mind too much. It was a rule only really meant to keep Sapheir from being blindsided if he ever makes it that far.
I noticed something about the water, swishing the waterskin around as I realized there was some ice. She must have paid extra for it and I couldn't help but laugh.
"Something funny?" she asks.
"Just taking notice of how hard you try to be a dependable big sister."
Her face went red. "W-well...!" At first, I thought she was going to start making excuses, but after taking a deep breath, she instead mentions, "Y-you see... I was actually going to be an older sister."
I was caught by surprise, almost choking on the water only to realize her wording. "Wait, meant to be?"
"Yeah..." She takes a moment to think before nodding as she proceeds to speak about herself to me for the first time.
"Back when I was still a child, the village we lived in and my mother's village, an Elven village, became hostile towards each other. I don't remember the reason, but because of that, the humans of the village grew more antagonistic towards the Elven residents, originally sent to strengthen relations between the two races."
"When it began affecting me and my mother, they knew we had to leave. We could've headed for the Elven village to take up residence there, but that would force us to separate from Father, forcing Mother to raise me and my not-yet-born sibling alone. But that wasn't something they wanted so the decision made was to travel to Siltria where we would live with my father's parents, me getting to meet them for the first time."
Emeri's gaze lowers. "Then, a couple of miles away from the border between Kingdoms, Father was protecting us from some wolves of the forest. My mother was supporting him with her magic as best as she could by roughing up the terrain to create openings for father to exploit, but... IT came out of nowhere."
I could hear Emeri's voice shake, her grip tightening. "It shouldn't have been there. Harpies live on mountain peaks, and yet, one showed up and struck my father from the tree line."
'A Harpy, the winged fiends who learn wind attribute magic through their affinity for flight. Though only mature ones can utilize it, a bow user and earth magic should be a weakness against a single Harpy.'
'But they were already facing something else, and had a child with them while the mage was pregnant.'
"After father fell to his knees, mother was forced to choose between saving him and protecting me. But Father made the choice for her, telling us to run, Mother took my hand to try and get as far as possible, to reach a village at least, but we couldn't get far because another pack of wolves arrived shortly after, drawn in by the smell of blood."
She tightened her grip around the cloth wrapped around her waist, something I recognized to be the cloak she wore when we first met.
"To protect me, mother gave me the cloak of camouflage, her family heirloom. She told me to run while she caught their attention. But even with the cloak, a wolf's nose was strong and their ears sharp, so even when I left Mother behind, some followed closely behind me, originally meant to pincer her... I would've died had there not been a hunter nearby. A strange man who spoke of a village nearby despite there being no one else around but me who had the cloak. It was only years later I found out who he was."
Just as she was about to finish, she looked at me before giving a light smile, "...But that'll be a story for another time. It's getting late."
"W-what? Why!?"
With a grin on her face she says, "If you want to know, then come back and see me every once and a while and I'll tell you more about the exciting times of my life from both before and after becoming the Keeper of the Hunt."
It took her some time to find out but seems she noticed I'm a sucker for a good story, and she's already using it as blackmail to make me spend more time with her.
But I don't really mind. "You better tell me who the hunter is when I get back. Who knows, maybe I'll meet him and failed to thank him for saving your life."
Emeri gives a smirk. "If you do, give him my thanks too. I still haven't gotten to tell him myself."
'She still hasn't met him yet after finding out his identity? This is making me want to know so much more.'
"Then tell me his name, just in case I run into him?"
She gets off the bench, beginning to walk ahead. "If you run into him before I tell you the story, I'll give you my Boots of Silent Steps as an apology."
'Damn it! She's really going to keep me in the dark! Huff... Guess I'll learn who when I return...'
'Or get her to tell my other if he makes it to the capital before Veda...'
No, no, it's even more unlikely to happen like that. If it hadn't been for spending time together in the bath, I don't think I could've gotten along with her so easily so quickly, and Verei isn't likely to get that privilege in this lifetime.
--------
With the show over and the hype down, I return Sapheir's buckler, yet he still isn't completely convinced. "That was a great showing of your skills Mr. Deidura but... I still don't think I can do all that. I'm not as strong as you, not as well trained. I'm just... average."
He says 'well trained' to someone whose only memories are of this past week. You could call that ironic, but I don't know how true or false that statement is to the original Verei.
Either way, he doesn't seem to understand why I chose this training method. "You just don't get it. I don't expect you to succeed today, probably not even after a month. But if you keep trying, you WILL get better. You'll get faster, waste less movements as you weave around multiple enemies to strike at the main threat in one powerful blow, if not create openings where your enemy makes mistakes. And practicing against your betters WILL help you improve yourself."
"Training against a group of B-ranks is the simplest method for honing your skill so you can become an A-rank. In a forest of monsters, you either face one big enemy or groups of smaller enemies. And if you had to choose which you are proficient in facing, it should be against groups of smaller enemies as the only vanguard in a party of ranged combatants. The goal should be to survive being surrounded and keeping their attention on you while your allies thin out their numbers. Not to win everything on your own."
With those words of encouragement, I grab him a replacement training sword from one on the racks. When offered it up to him, with a deep breath, he takes it.
Though there is still some reluctance, he looks ready to try again. I take this second to look out for Floris who's taking a break.
'He's been running since we arrived so a little rest wouldn't hurt. Too much training can have the opposite effect.'
But thankfully, I'm not the only one here to remind him of that.
With everything taken care of, I pick up the padded two-hander I set aside to give Jikani another lesson.
...However... it will have to be after she takes a break too.
Whatever training Gin did with her has knocked her out worse than when she was practicing with me.