Prytaneum
Broiling
"Mr. Jackson," Ryuu greeted calmly as I approached.
"Hey, Ryuu," I said, furrowing my eyebrows as I approached the Hostess of Fertility and saw her waiting by the doors. I'd given myself a little extra time just to be sure I wasn't late, so I was surprised to find her already waiting here. "I'm not late, am I? I had to talk to my goddess for a bit, but…"
"Not at all," Ryuu replied, shaking her head slightly. "I usually awaken this early."
…Did that mean she started training before four in the morning? Even if there wasn't much other time, that seemed awful. But, well, whatever works, I guess.
"Oh," I said, trying not to act like I found waking up this early strange as hell. Looking to change the subject, I glanced her over once, checking her weapons. I saw a dagger by her side, but her main weapon appeared to be a wooden sword sheathed at her hip. "Is that your weapon?"
"Indeed," She said, but she must have caught the look on my face because while she didn't quite smile or chuckle, her eyes shifted in what I assumed was amusement. "Are you concerned, Mr. Jackson?"
I scratched my head and considered how to answer before shrugging and just telling the truth.
"A little bit, I guess," I admitted. "You seem really strong, but Riptide is pretty sharp and I'm used to training with live weapons. I came prepared for whatever, so you don't have to hold back that much—there's no point unless I train for real, right?"
"Indeed," Ryuu said, but didn't move. "However, you seem to have misunderstood—this is my true weapon. Alvis Lumina is its name and you don't need to concern yourself about damaging it; it's quite durable."
"Okay," I said, shrugging again. I wasn't sure why she'd use a wooden sword in the first place, but there was probably a reason and with what Welf had said about Blacksmiths, maybe it was just as good. I was mainly just worried about accidentally breaking it but if she said it'd be fine, it'd probably be fine. "Where to?"
Ryuu pointed in a direction I wasn't familiar with and then began to lead the way, heading south. While there were few parts of the city that were empty, given how densely packed the space inside the walls was, there were parts that were secluded, or which had apparently been abandoned. It seemed like a waste to me, given the matter of space, but I was slowly beginning to get a sense for it. With the actions of 'Evilus' not too long ago, it looked like some parts of the city had been emptied of their inhabitants and left alone, out of either fear or respect. That wasn't just limited to Familia homes, either, because it seemed that not all Familia lived in singular houses; some apparently bought out fairly large areas and rows of houses to have the room to fit their family members. The place Ryuu led me was odd, though; a walled off district that seemed to have a chunk of forest inside, like a miniature park. I didn't see any symbols to mark who owned it, and yet it remained untouched.
"This is a training area I've used for quite some time now," She said, guessing what I was about to ask. "It's not particularly large, but it's quiet and peaceful. If nothing else, I've never found myself interrupted here."
"Cool," I said. "Is it expensive?"
"Not particularly," Ryuu said before seeming to consider the matter. "Perhaps because of the seventeen young women found murdered by its previous owner?"
I guess Ryuu wasn't the type to let stuff like that get to her. Neither was I, to be honest, if only because if the murder victims came back as vengeful ghosts or undead monsters, Mrs. O'Leary could probably deal with them. Beast of the Underworld and all that. Also, I was too busy dealing with all the supernatural things that actually wanted to kill me to give a damn about every fool thing. As such, I just waited patiently as Ryuu unlocked the rusty gate and followed her inside.
For the apparent sight of over a dozen grisly murders, the training area was actually pretty pleasant looking, if kind of overgrown. The was a cobblestone walkway, flower gardens, fruit trees, and more, all leading to a clearing in the center with a stunning view of the moon and of Babel. It honestly looked like the type of place one might bring a girl too for a romantic walk before, you know, things turned into a slasher movie.
"Will you require weapons?" Ryuu asked. "Or is it the shield that you favor?"
"I'm good," I said, pulling Hestia's shield from my back and attaching it firmly to my left arm before drawing Riptide from my pocket and pulling off the cap. As my sword abruptly grew too its true length, I saw Ryuu watching me with interest, but she didn't comment on it, so I didn't offer anything in reply. 'It's magic; don't worry about it' really was a convenient excuse.
"Will this be the first time you've fought since you reached Level 2?" Ryuu asked instead, walking a short distance away and then turning to face me.
"Yeah," I replied. "I haven't been in the Dungeon since, after all. It's weird, though—I don't feel any different, much less stronger."
"That is to be expected," Ryuu answered. "It is the spirit to which the Falna is applied, not the body, and so its effects may not be immediately notable. Once you begin fighting, however, the difference should be obvious. You said that you were used to training with live weapons, correct?"
"Yeah," I said. "Since I was twelve or so."
"What rules did you fight by?" She asked.
"Uh…" I said, honestly having to take a moment. "Saying it this way sounds sort of bad, but the only real rule was no maiming, or you don't get dessert. We were just sort of expected to take care of ourselves and know when to stop, I guess."
"…I see," Ryuu said after a long moment, considering me before nodding to herself. "I shall endeavor to avoid causing you any serious injury, but otherwise treat this matter seriously. Is that acceptable?"
"Sure," I said, shrugging—and then she all but vanished. Because I was looking right at her, I saw her start to move, foot coming down to take a step towards me, but then she was nothing but a blur of green, closing the distance between us in a moment. Oddly, however, after a moment I seemed to catch sight of her again, the world seeming to slow down around me, and while she was still moving fast, I could roughly track her. When I saw a blur coming towards my right side, I reacted instinctively, raising my sword to block, and felt Riptide rattle in my hands at the force of the blow.
Almost before I could completely register the impact, however, Ryuu swirled in place, seeming more storm than woman, and it was only the rippling air around her that let me track her this close. The second swing was aimed for my left, and I chose to withdraw a step rather than oppose her again, just to get some breathing room.
Fast, I thought, nearly stumbling back at the speed of the rush before gritting my teeth, getting my footing, and pushing forward again. I hadn't really gotten a good look at it before, but after that quick exchange, I pegged Ryuu's blade as being about three and a half feet long from pommel to tip, slightly longer than mine. For all of that, it was light—probably because it was made of wood. Given the force of the blow itself, even accounting for Ryuu's unnatural strength, it couldn't have been more than a pound and a half, weight-wise, and seemed very well balance. Even without an edge, a weapon can be used to bludgeon people to death, but that didn't seem to be the primary purpose of Ryuu's sword. For all of that, however, the blade was solid, slamming against Riptide like a baseball bat without seeming to give in the slightest. If I was hit by that directly, I had no illusions about whether or not it would hurt.
Ryuu stood where I'd been before, apparently pausing to give me a chance, and…well, saying I her would be wrong, I'd just fought enough that I had a pretty good feeling. She was faster than I was, by a lot. Comparatively speaking, however, she was weak. Not weak weak, but the force of her blows was great, but the very fact that I'd blocked successfully instead of being thrown around said enough. She was stronger than a Minotaur, granted, but she was no Goliath; not even close. Maybe it was because she was an elf? I still had a hard time thinking of things in terms of Status, but I'd say she probably favored Agility and Dexterity significantly more than Strength and Endurance.
To test that theory, I attacked head on, just to see how she'd react, swinging my sword in a wide arc. She drifted back, stepping out of the way so gracefully that it was like the air around my blade had moved her out of its path, as if she were that light. The moment my blade passed, she stepped back in as if nothing had happened, wooden sword rising and coming down with lightning speed, descending on my shoulder as if to punish me for overextending. I saw it coming, leaning slightly to the side, and tightened my muscles to take the hit against the meat of my arm, bracing myself for the hit. It collided with a loud smack and, indeed, felt like someone had hit me with a baseball bat, but that was it. I ignored it outright and kept going, arms open wide with my sword and shield extended out to either side.
It wasn't anything special, really—just a bear hug. Granted, I could give a bear hug that crushed the life out of an actual bear, but it wasn't even that, really; I was just trying to catch her. I could clearly see the difference between our respective speeds and knew that catching her would be the hardest part, but once I had her, it was just a matter of not letting go.
She knew it, too. The moment she saw me coming, she swept down, ducking low under my arms to wrap the fingers of her hand around one of my ankles, tugging hard while I was in the middle of a step. She pulled me off balance, tugging the leg so high that I began to fall, but as my face suddenly approached the ground, I grit my teeth and brought up my shield arm, catching myself. I felt my fingers sink into the dirt, catching hold, and then brought down my other hand, hitting the dirt with enough force to make me spin. I broke Ryuu's grip with my legs still in the air, managing an impromptu kick in the process, though she easily dodged. At the same time, I extend a leg enough to catch the ground at the same time I pushed off with my hands, coming to my feet.
"Hm," Ryuu seemed to consider something again, but she didn't tell me what she was making note of. Instead, a moment later she was close to me again, cloak flapping around her as she stepped towards me and then to the left, 'walking' around me. This close, it was hard to follow her, even with my eyes, and her figure seemed to blur and multiply as she entered my blind spot. I turned my head to follow her, but she wasn't there, vanishing the moment she left my sight. But—
Riptide rose to my left before I could register the feeling in the air and understand what it meant. My eyes were still focused on empty air when her blade struck mine, the shock of impact somehow helping me understand better than my natural but weird senses. She was to my right, swinging from the left—that is, her right—and standing slightly behind me. I continued with my turn, hoping to catch sight of her, but she was gone again, escaping before I could even look her way.
How much was she holding back? The thought was intriguing, maybe even exciting, knowing that this wasn't a fight for my life but that I was at a disadvantage in a battle of swordsmanship. Even if I was stronger, her speed and control gave her the advantage here and my body was struggling to keep up with what I was seeing and feeling.
Behind me, I thought, feeling something sweeping down towards the back of my head. Remembering the length of Ryuu's blade—a bit more than three feet long not counting the handle—and taking a rough guess at the angle, I figured that Ryuu, being five-five or five-six, had to be in midair, somewhere she couldn't dodge. A mistake or an offered chance?
Either way, I took it. Raising my shield, I began to turn, Riptide extended in a wide swing. If she was about where I thought she was, only the tip should catch her, and I'd block her sword with my shield—assuming she failed to react, which I doubted. Was this a trap, then? But if so, how would she react from that position? Frankly, I was more interested in learning the answer than in actually hitting her.
So I was just as surprised as she was when her blade struck my shield and light flooded the training grounds.