Chapter 921 Learning Lessons
Y'know, I don't even know whether we were still heading onto the training site or if this was the training now.
Maybe, I've been hoodwinked; a last minute plot twist, and all of this was just to build up my endurance or something. I can see that happening. Sounds like the type of classic hero's journey experience that the main protagonist must undertake to grow and develop.
Not that I have that mantle, nor even want it… believe me.
And if not, if I'm wrong, well then, I'm not sure I'd last long enough for the actual lesson itself anyway.
This was supposed to be a hike. Yet every step further felt more like a voyage through an endless sea of green, and, oh, I'm sinking.
Yeah, I'm really sinking…
But right as I was about to voice my grievances to my tour guide, something extraordinary happened. In everything, and everywhere.
Something felt different about it all now.
Like we just traversed through an invisible threshold, a seamless border that splintered reality into two: the world then and the world now.
Here in this new world, the air itself had a weight to it, and not just in the metaphorical sense. I could feel every breath I took become heavier, stronger than every last. It coated my lungs, coursed through my veins, flooded my head, my body… strength and vigor that wasn't solely and even really my own.
Just like that, every throbbing ache, every whimpering complaint I was or was not about to voice immediately vanished from within me. I took a step, and then another, quicker, sturdier, no longer with cinder blocks for shoes.
No point at all in wondering why exactly that was.
"Feeling better? Like nothing in the world could ever possibly tire you out?" Irene asked, watching me and already knowing the answer to her question. "We're here."
We stopped, our feet pressed against the soft, barren field of a glade.
So this was where her and and Ria both took their first look and steps into the world of the absolute mundane. Honestly, it wasn't a bad place to wind up in refuge.
Up above, the evening sky peeked at us through small patches between tall trees. Slight flickers of dusk, spots of orange light blending amidst the greenery. Something scurried off as soon as we waltzed in, some bunny or another, deeply upset we'd imposed ourselves upon its humble abode, hightailing it into some bush and out of sight.
Irene paced a couple more steps ahead, heaving deep, taking in the same electrifying breaths I was and she looked… felt quite different from before. Much like everything around these parts.
Magical hotspots, huh? Perfectly aligned variables are no joke.
"As I said before, magic flourishes here," she said, strolling along the space with a newfound spring to her step. "So long as you remain within the vicinity you'll have a much better grasp of your powers than if you weren't. You'll feel stronger, more resilient… basically do more than you normally could with minimal risk to yourself."
"Training wheels," I remarked, swaying and shaking off the excess of energy that kept piling on and on. "But at some point, I'm gonna need to take them off, don't I? If I ever wanna be at the top of my game."
"At some point," she nodded. "But for the time being—ready to start?"
I shrugged. "As ready as I'll ever be."
"In that case…" Irene stood in place, contemplating deeply into my eyes. "Well, you already mastered the basics, focus, determination, intent, as well as summoned a fictional being, deconstructed a barrier forged by Terestra herself, eradicated a soul parasite, and yet… yeah, it seems like you skipped a couple of fundamental steps in between, so why don't we start from there?"
"And that would be?"
She moved again, taking one step back, calm and collected. "Try and hit me."
I almost laughed at that, settling instead for grinning like a fool. What was I saying just now about last-minute plot twists?
"Hit you?"
"Easy enough, right?"
"No, no, not as easy as it sounds at all. You're you, and even if I wanted to, I doubt I could so much as whiff you. But before I even get started on that, mind telling me why we're re-enacting kung-fu movies, Irene-sensei? Thought I was supposed to be learning magic here."
"You are learning magic," Irene assured. "More precisely, right now you'll be learning how people who wield magic would fight. You need to know what they're capable of, what I'm capable of. In essence, you need to hone your instincts before anything else."
"Makes sense, I guess."
"Think back. All the times you used your magic. In every instance, you're provided a timeframe to succeed, and when you failed over and over, you had the chance to keep trying again. But what if you don't? What if you only have split-seconds to think? to react? to succeed? In most fights, you make your own chances, and if you waste them, do something stupid, that's it. No do-overs."
Now, that sounded grim. More importantly, she was right. I was grinning like an absolute tool about the notion a minute ago—now it wasn't as silly and amusing as it used to be.
"So," I looked at her, hissing out my apprehension. "Hitting you, um…"
"Feel free to use a stick, whatever you want, any way you can," she suggested, adding a bit of levity. "Today, I just want you to learn from me, anticipate me, and by the end of it, hopefully, land a good hit on me too."
"Ugh, that's gonna feel terrible."
"If you manage, then, yes, I suppose it would," she said without a second thought to the thought. "But don't worry, I'm sure I'll live."
"I mean—yeah, you, that's gonna sting for a bit, but what I meant was, y'know…" I paused, searching for the perfect way to phrase my reluctance. "...just saying, you wouldn't feel comfortable with the thought of punching me in the face either, would you?"
Irene blinked, smiled. Did I say something funny?
"Make sure you hit me hard, alright?" she said, her statement echoing with unparalleled resolve. "You pull your punches, then you really will hurt me. This is for your own good, for your sake. What I want for you. You waste it, waste me, then that's on you. There, that enough motivation for you?"
Um, well, not gonna tell her it wasn't, but… gotta do what you gotta do, I suppose.
"We'll begin with a warm-up, start small, simple," Irene snapped into position, feet forward and arms tucked behind her. She jerked her head, tossing her bangs from her eyes, and I could see the eagle-like vigilance manifesting from within. "Whenever you're ready…"
Bad vibes. Bad feelings. Bad everything. I knew even with an infinite amount of prep time, no way in hell was I ever gonna land a hint the first time through. The only way I could see this turning out was me with my ass in the dirt and staring up at the spinning sky wondering what the hell just happened.
The future's set in stone. Fate predestined, predetermined. No fighting it, no defying it, and yet still despite it…
I threw myself forward, sprinted, legs nearly bashing against each other mid-stride. I raised my arm, and I felt it get thrown backward by the wind, the opposing pressure. I took another step, a final one, and in that split-second, Irene was within reach.
My fist flew on its own, I didn't think long enough to hesitate, it just hurtled forward. In a blur, from the corner of my peripherals, and then the next, like slow-motion, I saw the shadow eclipsing, darkening Irene's passive expression.
But I felt nothing, I hit nothing. My arm continued to streak across the empty air, and to my left, Irene was steadying herself, her hair swaying still with her motions.
She dodged me.
But I already knew she would. Who gets that lucky on the first hit?
With the same flying fist, I transformed the momentum into an arc, a battering ram just moments from impact. But then she weaved her head back slightly, calmly, and my strike missed her by just mere inches.
Wasn't out of moves yet. My hands and legs weren't the only things I had to spare. There was only a small gap of space between us, one I could so easily make. I spun my feet toward her direction, bent my knees, stretched my body, open palms ready to tackle.
Then I saw it, a flick of her wrist, a glimmer of light, and suddenly it was as if the soles of my shoes were superglued to the grass. I couldn't lift them. I couldn't jump.
"Sorry, but were you about to pounce on me just now?" Behind me inexplicably, Irene's voice resounded with shock and amusement. "I didn't realize you were such a brute."
"Any way I can, you said!" I blared, struggling to unstuck my legs from whatever the hell she did to them. "I was gonna apologize later, alright?"
"Well," encroaching over my shoulder, her wry smirk leered back at me. "No apology necessary, it seems, sadly."
Finally, I felt my feet unshackle after some strenuous effort, focus. I didn't squander the chance. My body followed my intent, and I whirled around toward her, her eyes, her expression, brimming the entirety of all I could see, and at once, my arms plunged downward.
I blanked out after that.
The last thing I remembered was red everywhere, wispy, hazy, suffocating me with sensations all too overwhelming and familiar, and the next thing I knew, I was scrambling up from the dirt.
Dizzy, confused, and very, very aroused.
Then I stumbled, landing back on the ground, the orange sky a blurry glare in my eyes as it spun round and round before me.
I should be a prophet. Seriously.
"Warmed up enough yet?" somewhere in the circumference of my swiveling vision, Irene popped up, and with jolts and zaps of the same sensation, I felt her gently run her fingers against the side of my face. "Ready to try again?"
"D-Depends," I stammered, breathing hard and heavy. "You gonna tase me again, or… or are you gonna play fair?"
"Fair?" Her hand reached the rough, sweaty bristles of my hair, where she continued to lovingly caress. "I am playing fair. Wouldn't be fair if a Succubus couldn't fight like a Succubus, don't you think?"
"How am I supposed to…?"
"Improvise, adapt, overcome," she said all at once. "I told you to anticipate me, remember?"
"Easy for you to say."
"Maybe," she nudged her head, snorting behind a smirk. "I mean you are very easy to read."
I sighed. "Good to know."
"Now get up," she commanded, rising to her feet and stepping away. My doting nurse turning to a stern sergeant. "Lesson's far from over."
Something tells me this was gonna take a while.
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