[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV
Northern kingdoms.
...
...
"I'm still going easy on you, you need to do better than this, so focus on sharpening your instincts. I want you to focus on visualizing one second into the future..." Madara's voice echoed through the forest, while in front of him, Cirilla fought against several clones at once, trying to counter them as they attacked her in a clearing they had found.
This was something they had been doing for the past few days, as Madara stopped to train Ciri every day, letting her develop her own techniques and battle sense.
The sound of wooden blades began to sing as Cirilla continued to heighten her sense of awareness, even blocking blows coming from behind at the last second, but still slightly late, barely dodging attacks from other directions.
"Very well, remember: your powers are instinctive. You can already foresee the future in dreams or even with momentary insights. You must do this also on the battlefield. If you manage to see what happens before it does while fighting, it will give you a great advantage, allowing you to dominate almost any enemy," Madara said, arms crossed from a distance, as he watched Ciri defend herself once again, spinning swiftly. One of the clones tried to attack her from behind, and the girl focused intensely, with a serious expression, anticipating the next attack, blocking it and stepping away from the clones to recover as they began to encircle her again.
She didn't understand much about her blood or her powers, which according to Madara was called Elder Blood. No one knew, besides always saying she was special, a descendant of Lara Dorren, but only Madara seemed to understand how it worked, which was very strange. Even so, Ciri felt happy and couldn't complain at all that he was the one teaching her and pushing her.
Ciri had been lazy about many things when she was a princess, but when it came to training, she was extremely determined. And now, seeing her progress and even being able to feel the potential she was developing, it motivated her. She seemed excited as she focused as much as possible, trying to develop the power Madara claimed she had, hoping she could no longer just be a spectator, watching him fight.
Madara launched several attacks in her direction again, but Ciri's eyes began to shine as she moved quickly to anticipate attacks from all sides.
Madara nodded in satisfaction; after a month of training, she was starting to develop that. That's why he started putting more pressure on her, trying to further develop her potential. Though it wasn't something extraordinary yet, there was some progress, and at least she was beginning to tread a good path, becoming stronger than she ever was. After all, in the original story, she had potential, but no one managed to develop it in her.
Thus, the fight continued for a while, but soon Ciri was hit, failing to anticipate some attacks. She groaned in pain as her shoulder took a blow from a wooden sword. Madara just sighed, watching her fall to the ground holding the wounded part, as all the clones disappeared with him dispelling them and approaching.
"That's enough, rest a bit. You made good progress today; we'll continue tomorrow," he instructed.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch..." Ciri murmured in pain, but she didn't complain, nor did she feel any anger towards Madara. She massaged her shoulder, sheathed her small sword, and smiled at him despite the pain. "Did you see? It's strange, I can see glimpses, but it's more like a mental message, as if something tells me exactly what's going to happen," she reported, satisfied with her progress.
Madara nodded. "That's a start. If you train enough, you'll be able to see the future even before it happens, a few seconds ahead. It will make you a monster on the battlefield."
"Really? I might even beat you?" she asked, a mischievous smile appearing.
"Highly unlikely," Madara teased.
"We'll see about that in the future!" Ciri stuck her tongue out at him. Madara just shook his head and gestured for her to follow. "Let's go back to camp," since they would be spending the night here.
They had been in Temeria for a week, avoiding large cities and advancing through the forests to give more time for Ciri's training.
Madara was in no rush to go to Sodden yet. Their routine was based on traveling only in the morning, while he trained her in the afternoon, and they camped at night. He doubted their pursuers would continue searching for them after Brokilon, where they had crossed the forest to the other side. Using teleportation magic in Temeria was also risky for the Nilfgaardian mages, so they had a significant advantage now.
Some time later, Madara was preparing something to eat over the campfire he had made, while Cirilla treated her wounds with the ointments he had given her.
"You know, Madara..." Cirilla approached him at that moment, sitting beside him while she watched the meat cooking.
Madara didn't respond immediately; he just focused on the meat, waiting for her to continue. Cirilla had been watching him intently since they left the training.
"You know, no one ever knew how my powers worked or whatever it is I've had since I was born, but you always knew. Why is that?" she asked, curious.
Madara turned slightly and answered this time: "Because I'm from another world." He admitted.
Cirilla widened her eyes at that, stunned, trying to figure out if he was joking or not.
"Are you really from another world? Is that even possible?" she murmured. Madara wanted to laugh but saw a good opportunity to explain something surreal to her.
"Yes. Back there, we had theories about Elder Blood, but no one actually had that power," he said, while Cirilla looked at him, unsure of what to say.
"Don't look at me like that. Other worlds exist, and you will know this in the future," he said, after all, traveling between worlds was one of his main abilities.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Your blood, when mastered enough, can take you out of this world, Ciri. You won't be trapped here anymore. There will be no borders or space that limits your existence. You will become the person with the greatest freedom of all, across all other worlds as well," he said, as that was how Madara defined this power. A power even the gods envied.
"Really, I can do that?" Cirilla didn't believe it, and Madara simply nodded.
"You will discover that in the future and know that you can go wherever you want, even leave this world," he said. After all, she would become the Lady of Space and Time, with abilities that even he did not possess—or at least, his Rinnegan didn't have such a capability originally.
Cirilla looked at him for a while before responding. "Well, who says I'm leaving..." she murmured, pouting, and Madara just snorted as he began to pick up the meat.
Despite being very curious about these abilities, Cirilla changed the subject, realizing that Madara wouldn't say anything more about it or would use riddles she wouldn't understand.
"You know, I was thinking... Could you teach me how to throw knives like you do? It seems pretty useful," she asked.
Madara didn't look at her immediately, just finished preparing all the meat and placed it on plates, already roasted, handing one to her as he replied. "Well, I don't see why not; it could be useful for you." He sized her up with his eyes, though he doubted she could reach the level of a ninja. But if she could throw, it could help her protect herself.
Cirilla opened a big smile, excited, as she started eating. She loved the idea of making throws with kunai as well.
After that, they went to rest, each lying on their mattress, planning to wake up early the next day. During the middle of the night, Cirilla took some kunai from Madara in a corner of the camp, while he kept his eyes closed. Not that he didn't notice, but he let her try.
She tried to hit a tree an hour before dawn, without much success, only chipping some bark and managing to hit a few kunai with their tips grazing the tree, but not embedding any into the wood.
"How can he do it so easily? He was six years old and could do these things..." Cirilla murmured grumpily, with a hint of envy. After all, when she first met Madara, the first thing she saw was him throwing a kunai at a ghoul in the forest while she was with Geralt.
"You won't learn this with just a few throws, even if you've tried several times over the years..." Madara's voice emerged, and Cirilla went silent immediately, even more embarrassed due to the last comment, since she always tried to do it throughout the years when Madara wasn't watching. Even her grandmother didn't approve of her granddaughter's behavior and would punish her by making her write hundreds of times phrases like, 'princesses don't throw knives.'
Madara didn't waste time on it and turned back to her. "Pack your things, we'll leave practicing this for a few hours later," he requested. Cirilla nodded as they finished packing up the camp and set off.
They traveled a bit further east in the morning, while they trained in the afternoon after Madara found a monster-free spot where they could spend the night, focusing on the kunai throwing that Cirilla was so eager to learn.
"That was so hard..." Cirilla murmured as night fell again, while she wasn't injured, only experiencing some muscle soreness and cramps from pushing herself so much during training.
Her gaze fell on Madara as he looked toward a corner, and following his gaze, she was surprised to see the sky light up with a large number of lights coming from somewhere nearby. "Is that a city?!" she exclaimed.
"Yes..." Madara knew they were near a large city, and even without having looked at maps in recent days, he could imagine where they were.
"It looks like something is happening in the city for there to be so many lights... Can we see?" Cirilla asked.
"Let me check first," Madara replied, creating a clone that shot off toward the distant lights.
After some time, he sighed. "Well, it seems there's a festival happening in this city," he said, returning to cooking.
"Really? Even in the middle of the war to the south?" Cirilla murmured, sitting down.
But soon she grew excited at the idea of a festival happening near them. Hesitant, she fidgeted a bit before speaking her next words. "Can we go?" she asked expectantly.
"You're all bruised. It wouldn't be good," he replied.
"But festivals last for several days. Can you check if it will continue tomorrow? If it's still on tomorrow, can you take me? Please..." she said immediately, with puppy-dog eyes, and Madara just sighed.
"Alright, I'll send another clone. If I get information that the festival will continue tomorrow, we'll stay here and go," Madara said in the end, and Cirilla broke into a big smile at hearing that.
----
Raccoon here:
I dragged out this fanfic because I was a bit lost on how to reach the Battle of Sodden, which will be the most important event of this volume. So I apologize.
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
🦝 Raccoon here: 🦝
I deeply appreciate your support since the beginning of this exciting journey!
I hope each chapter has provided incredible moments. If you like my work and would like to support the continuation of this fanfic, consider becoming a patron with plans starting at $2!. As a token of gratitude, I offer access to more than 165 extra chapters with 8 active fanfics at the same time, along with other exclusive benefits on my profile, such as images and significant decisions for the stories.
Even if you are not a patron, I am making chapters available a few hours earlier here, so become a free member on the platform!
🌟 RaccoonLeague | Patreon🌟
Visit our Patreon for more: https://www.patreon.com/RaccoonLeague
Extra Content Already Available:
🏴☠️ One Piece - I Am a Different Luffy!: 30 extra chapters!
🔮 Danmachi - Infinite Mana System!: 30 extra chapters!
👑 Game of Thrones: The Legend of Jon Arctic!: 20 extra chapters!
🌀 Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI!: 30 extra chapters!
🗡️ The Witcher - As Uchiha Madara! 30 extra chapters!
⚡ Harry Potter - Shadow Monarch! 30 extra chapters!
👑 Game of Thrones: DragonBorn! 30 extra chapters!
Except for One Piece with daily chapters and DragonBorn once a week, all fanfics are updated 3 times a week, there's just a pause in updating in the week, only to create drafts for the week's chapters.
In addition to the extra chapters, daily chapters are posted and 25 chapters per week!
Your support is very important and makes all the difference in keeping these stories alive.
Thank you very much for being part of this journey! I hope you continue to enjoy the story and that it brings even more joy to your life!
Visit our Patreon for more!!
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆