"Gwili, these two are Neko and Marte. They're here helping me train in some basic swordsmanship and self-defense after the attack we had here recently," Leona said, gesturing at the pair. "It's been a few months since I've started training in earnest, but I, like the others, will be looking forward to your instruction," she continued.
"I-I-I don't know what to say, your majesty," Gwili said with a bow. "I will do my best, but know that we likely do not have a lot of time to train," he continued. "W-well, we can start today if you're up for it. Th-there are a few hours until sunset," Marte said bashfully. Neko shot her a disgusted look, but was able to keep his verbal composure.
"No time like the present, right?" Gwili said warmly, suddenly ignoring the fatigue he'd felt from his journey. "I knew you'd be up for it!" she exclaimed. Leona and Thorsen looked at each other and communicated a mutual feeling of surprise with a simple shrug and upturned lips.
"Ready yourselves," Thorsen called out, tossing Gwili a wooden training sword. "I'll let you have the first attack," the elf said, snatching the blade out of the air, immediately pushing the tip towards his opponent. "That's probably not a good idea," Neko said warily. Gwili raised an eyebrow at him, but as soon as he had turned his gaze, Marte dashed forward, leaving a small crater in the ground behind her.
Taken aback by her speed, Gwili only just managed to get the wooden sword up in time to catch hers. "Your size betrays your speed, I see," he said, shoving her backwards with a heavy push. "And you're better trained than I thought," she said, preparing another attack as soon as she regained her balance. She swung from above aiming for his clavicle, but he expertly parried away the blow, and rammed the pommel of his training sword straight into her sternum.
Wincing with the pain, she swung a wide arc with her sword, forcing the elf to bend and twist his body just to get out of the way of it. Again, she cut aiming for his clavicle, but this time it was a feint, rotating the point of her blade downward into a thrust aimed for his gut. He parried the blow, and swung an attack of his own, forcing her to duck.
A swift knee strike stopped just centimeters away from her nose. "That's two," he said, stepping back. She huffed but could only grunt a response as she began a flurry of strikes and thrusts. Each strike began to generate small gusts of wind as the speed of the strikes ramped up.
Is she trying to force me to use mana?Oh, I get it, the elf thought, a wry smile growing on his face.
"Well, come on then, I know you can do better," he said as a taunt, but the tone he gave was more encouraging than anything else. "Oh, I know I can," she grinned, as her pupils dilated, covering her irises and sclera entirely. "Hoho! A stage one? Here? This is your doing, isn't it, Ser Thorsen?" Gwili asked, unable to contain his amusement. "He's been teaching us how to use it the past few weeks," Neko chimed in, not bothering to hide his smug expression.
Us?What does he…his thoughts trailed off as he was forced to deflect a flurry of incoming strikes as Marte infused her sword with mana.
"Better not underestimate me," Marte jeered, a slice aiming at her opponent's head. He parried the blow, redirecting the blade away from him, but was forced to block another aimed at his liver. He rotated his blade and struck from above, but she was fast enough to block it, using both hands to support her blade. She pushed away from it, skidding backwards with the force, but quickly dashed forward again.
She's unrelenting, but she'll burn out quickly if she keeps this up. Time to teach the pup a lesson, he thought.
His eyes began to glow, though no mana leakage could be seen. The pupils, irises, and sclera of his eyes began to glow with golden mana he drew from the Ethereal.
It's been a long time, old friend, he thought, staring upwards.
The sphere of pure mana twirled with countless tendrils and streaks of mana crashing into each other, forming the familiar light-show high above him. He reached out with his hand, like he had for so many years, beckoning the mana to come to him.
Marte saw the change, and immediately backed off. "What the…?" she asked aloud, glancing over at Thorsen, who was watching their battle with pure excitement in his eyes. "You're a synner?" she asked, amazed at his mana control. When he didn't respond with anything other than a wry smile, she shook her head, trying to get rid of her surprise and refocus on the battle before her.
She dashed forward, screaming at the top of her lungs and generating enough force with her swing to crack a royal ochelon's skull in half. She hit her target, or at least what she thought was her target, anyway. The shimmering mana that held the image of the elven synner began to dissipate, and she could feel the cold grip of reality settling in.
However, aside from that sinking feeling in her gut, one thing she hadn't noticed was the blade that was now at her neck until a soft breath just behind her left ear presented itself. "What's this? A soldier caught off her guard?" he asked softly, sending gooseflesh barreling down her entire body. "W-what…?" she stammered, trying to figure out where the person in front of her had just gone, as well as what to do about what she was currently feeling.
Thorsen, who already knew this was likely to happen, chuckled in amusement, while the others remained wordlessly stunned.
"To answer your question from earlier, I was a synner, but as for what happened, that will be a story for another time with good food and better booze," he said, releasing her from his grasp. Her face was as red as an apple, and she could still feel the gooseflesh riddling her entire body.
He stepped away, releasing his mana that accidentally let out a small, concussive burst, making Marte stumble a little. "Oh, I apologize. It's been quite some time since I've used that," he said, raising a hand placatingly. "It's alright, I just… I wasn't expecting you to be able to use mana, let alone be a fourth stage," she said, rubbing the base of her neck as they walked back to the group.
"How did you do that move? It was like you were there and then not in an instant," Neko blurted out, still awestruck by Gwili's move. The elf chuckled lightly, and placed a hand on Neko's shoulder. "While I don't think we have the time to be able to get you to a mana manipulation stage high enough to do that, I can explain how it works," he said, giving Neko a warm smile.
Neko, who now had sparkles in his eyes, nodded excitedly. "Yes, please!" he said, jittering like he was 15 years younger than he was. Marte couldn't help but stare at the elf, even going so far as to ignore Neko's antics. Leona and Thorsen chuckled, but when things calmed down, the reality of the situation returned, sinking the mood.
"Well, it's best we begin an actual lesson. After all, I'm not sure how much time we'll really have before they make their move," Gwili said solemnly. "Everyone, please line up," Thorsen called out to the other guardsmen who had also stopped their training to observe the short duel.
"Let's begin," he said to the elf, glancing around at those who were gathering before him. The guardsmen seemed uncertain of who the elf was, or why he was in the palace in the first place, but their preconceptions were immediately shut down when the elf finally spoke.
"My name is Gwili Gwynn, former synner of Caegwen, and former trainer of stealth operations at Sionaer. I'll be blunt, I have traced a group of potentially nefarious individuals here to the castle," he said, his tone curt and flat as if reading from a script. The guardsmen looked at each other, concern strewn across their facial features. Marte and Neko, however, had their jaws agape after hearing him say the word trainer.
"That said, I have been inducted by your commander, Ser Thorsen, into this group to help teach you how to counteract their techniques. While I will not claim to know all of them, as techniques vary from country to country, there are certain principles that all stealth operations must adhere to," he continued, eyeing the ones before him carefully.
Each one had a determined look on their faces, as if to show that his words were truly reaching them, rather than falling on deaf, inattentive ears. "Lastly, we do not know how much time we have before they act, so I will teach you some of the essentials today so we can begin preparations immediately," he said firmly. Just as the final words left his mouth, however, Thorsen caught sight of something moving on the ramparts above them.
That better not be what I think it is, he thought, squinting his eyes to get a better look, but ultimately finding nothing.