CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
"Wait, try holding your blade up and put both your hands on the hilt." Iodine protested, and Mercury moved around until her two hands were holding the sword high above her head. "now try." Mercury said, and Iodien fired. since her arms were (mildly) flexible, Mercury was able to move the sword perfectly so the arrow bounced right off. Iodine snapped her fingers, and her arrows sped back into her hands.
"That's good. I can block most blows now." Mercury said. Both of them had been training nonstop for three days straight - sleeping only for a maximum of three hours. The author, meanwhile, was getting over 8 hours of sleep each day. wow. laying it on thick, huh? well, go on. It's a training arch, and there's also a time crunch, so you should get this over with as fast as you can. Of course, as a side effect, most of the elves had stopped by to give them tips (a few had even taught them basic magic), and, another completely different side effect was that they both looked like hybrids of mummies and raccoons. Mercury's feet and fingers were soundly wrapped up, so that even if she moved the bandages swallowed up most of the pain. Iodine's fingers were also heavily mummified, and so were her ankles and wrists. Nox had also been training but with his fellow elves. The only reason Mercury and Iodine weren't there was because they couldn't learn elf magic since they weren't elves. Duh. Kinda obvious? Anyhoo, their fighting styles were now much more refined, but Mercury was getting continuously more nervous. She hid it very well, but she was unnerved at how this would all lay out. At this point, it wasn't even up to her, which made her even more nervous. Of course, she did what she did best and drowned out her thoughts by stabbing holes into a tree. Iodines were now able to nail 4 arrows at the same time, and Mercury could break wood relatively easily.
"Now, I guess we have to move onto stone." Mercury muttered, standing in the middle of 5 trees, which she had utterly destroyed. Sawdust and splinters crunched below her feet, and the trees looked so scarred they had been practically through World War II. "Sorry, trees." Mercury apologized, before rolling the first large boulder she saw back down into the clearing. At the first attack, Mercury's sword bounced pitifully off the stone. Not a single scratch. Oh, well. She had expected as much. Mercury adjusted her grip and tried again. Her sword bounced off. "Hmmm. A serrated edge?" Mercury pondered aloud, her sword instantly growing cuts that gleamed in the sunlight. Now, her sword sank into the stone but only left a small scratch. what a long way to go. Try picking it up, Mer. With your sword. On cue, Mercury's sword stretched out to wrap around the rock, and she lifted it in one effortless motion. Now, throw it on the ground. Mercury's sword convulsed, slamming the boulder onto the ground. "Oh ho? What's this?" Mercury asked, sheathing her sword and walking up to the boulder to place her hands on the cracks.
It had split into about 80 or so smaller pieces - utterly cracked. Mercury gaped at It for a minute, and then Iodine walked in, with Flourine and Gael in tow. "Huh? why are you guys here?" Mercury challenged, and Iodine sighed. "Since we decided to stay here for a few days, they came to visit us. Since we have about a week left before we have to leave for the war, they'll be staying with us." "Wow! pretty lady, I made a friend!" Gale chirped excitedly, and Fluorine hugged her. "That's cool, but look," Mercury said, sifting through the remains of what was previously a boulder. Raw, unpolished diamonds glittered in her hand. "Gold mine! I just have such good taste, I swear." Mercury joked, dramatically putting a hand on her chest for some added effect. Iodine rolled her eyes, but she also squatted to roll some diamonds between her hands. "we should sell 'em, right." Mercury mused, and Iodine nodded. "Let's give them to the elves, they can sell them." she said, still rolling the diamonds between her fingers, and Mercury grinned. "Not so fast. We need to destroy all the other rocks first. there might be more."
Soon, Mercury found out that she could just have her sword squeeze the rocks, which sent them erupting into the sky into tiny pieces and sharp-edged diamonds raining down on them. One particularly big chunk ws about to fall onto Mercury's head, but a shimmering yellow bubble went up just in time, and the diamonds uselessly bounced off it with a tinkle. her eye as safe for yet another day. "Huh..? who did that?" Mercury said, turning around to find Nox waving to her, wearing a cloak. Oh, so that's what he had been up to for the past three days. "Look! Hi, pretty mister!" Gael chirped excitedly, and Nox frowned at her. Pretty sure he wasn't used to being called that. "Thanks, Nox! You saved my eyes yet again!" Mercury said delightedly. "That's nothing to be so happy about. It wouldn't have happened at all if he had gotten here sooner." Iodine huffed, and Mercury nodded. Correct, as expected of the prodigy. She only spoke facts all the time.
"Yeah, Io's right. Where were you the last few days? you were like a ghost." Mercury commented, and Nox laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. Mercury noticed that his ears were fully exposed - perhaps for the first time in about ten years. "It doesn't matter. Im here now." Nox dismissed, clearly avoiding the topic, and Mercury smiled. "whatever it is, you get to walk around without having to worry about your hair. Does it feel nice?" Mercury asked, and Nox nodded. "That's not an excuse! at least tell us what you learned!" Iodine said,e still flaming, and Nox sighed. "The elves taught me healing magic and shield magic, so technically I can also use shields to suffocate people. It's a weird mix of defense and offense, but Im happy to learn what I can." Nox said. Mercury's heart internally dropped to her stomach. His voice was so light and free. Why had it never been like that before…?
Then, it occurred to her. What was she doing, meanwhile? Huh? What was this weird sinking feeling at the thought of losing Nox? (Author raises eyebrows and smirks. We all know what it is!!) It had definitely never been there when they were kids, or when Iodine had said she wanted to leave town to clear her parent's debt all those years ago. Yeah, she had never felt like this before. Mercury curiously patted her stomach. It could easily be dismissed as just being paranoid, but she had a feeling that wasn't it. Or maybe she was just extra nervous because of the war…? Ugh, Mercury sighed loudly. She just couldn't put her finger on it. "Anyway, Nox, help us find more diamonds. We're just destroying rocks, so you can launch your barrier at them to slice them open." Iodine said. She was lodging arrows at strategic cracks on the surface of the rock, which eventually led to the cracks getting bigger and falling apart. Huh.
Anyway, they soon had a large pile of diamonds sitting in the middle of the clearing. "Alright, everyone grab as much as you can," Mercury said, shoving at least 5 pounds of pure diamonds in her hands. A few fell off, but she didnt bother to pick them up. as they walked into the clearing. Mercury dropped them all with a swish of their hands. Gael and Flourine were about to drop their too, so Mercury helped them by carrying half of their diamonds. So, the elves were gathered around a sizeable pile of diamonds. "Here, we found them by accident. You can sell them, or polish them, whatever." Mercury said casually, grabbign her sword once again to get lost. There wasn't really any time, and for some reason, she always felt a tiny bit awkward around the elves. Hmmmm. Anyway, it was back to training for her. Get ready, rocks!