After a few moments the two decided to train seriously.
"Nox, do you know what's the best way to fight?" Elena asked, trying to look like a old man master.
"For me, using my mind is the best way. I analyze the enemy and how the fight will go," I gave my opinion — I'm not a fighter after all.
Elena shook her head at my words.
"You're wrong, Nox. There are moments when thinking is a mistake and it costs you a lot of time. What will you do if an enemy appears suddenly? You'll die before you think of anything," Elena said, standing comfortably but full of weak points.
"Nox, try to attack me unexpectedly."
"Um? Okay."I answered confusedly.
'What are you trying to show me? How will I surprise someone who expects a sudden attack?' I felt confused by her words, but I still decided to attack anyway.
I took a fighting stance, reinforced my feet with darkness, and launched forward with all my strength.
I aimed my fist at Elena's face intending to punch her with my empowered hand.
But before my fist reached her, Elena moved quickly and dodged the punch by a hair.
'Oh, she's good. But that's not my real attack.' I smiled and summoned chains of darkness behind Elena intending to bind her.
Elena reacted like a machine; she summoned small blades of light that spun like shurikens and destroyed the chains before they reached her back — all without even turning.
'What the hell?! But this is only the beginning.' I rushed at her and spun to strike her with a kick to the stomach.
Elena didn't move from her spot; she summoned a small shield to block my kick.
Clang.
My dark-enhanced kick hit the shield, sending a shockwave of force into the air.
'I've trapped her.' I felt satisfied that things went exactly as I wanted. At my signal, the darkness around my feet moved and quickly wrapped around the light shield.
"Devour." The darkness swallowed the shield quickly and shrank into the size of a sphere.
'Now — attack.'
The sphere suddenly turned into a sharp spear and shot toward Elena.
'Haha, I bet she didn't expect this~huh What the hell?!' Before I could enjoy my trick's success, light gathered around Elena legs; she leapt into the air and evaded the dark spear.
'Not that easy,"'i said and summoned five dark spears and fired them at Elena quickly.
'She won't be able to dodge things in the air,' I thought. To my surprise, Elena shattered my plan again.
Elena spun rapidly, and when one spear passed beside her she placed her foot on its end and used it as a springboard to launch directly at Nox.
"What the hell, how did she do that?" I tried to summon chains of darkness toward Elena to stop her, but I was too late.
Elena reached me quickly; I closed my eyes expecting a punch to my face, but I felt her body collide with me and push me backward.
"Hah." I opened my eyes quickly feeling her weight on me.
"Hehehe, I caught you," Elena laughed playfully as she hugged my body and rubbed her face on my chest.
"What the hell, who hugs someone during a fight?" I shouted in embarrassment at her unreasonable behavior — we had just been discussing her self-control.
"Oh, would you rather I hit you instead? Are you telling me you didn't like my hug?" She lifted her head and pressed her chest against mine.
'It's so soft.' I thought as I felt her chest pressing hard.
'By the gods, what am I thinking? Wake up, Nox — you're not perverted.' I regained my focus and pushed Elena away.
"Elena, you promised me you'd control yourself, so please don't do this again," I asked, my voice carrying a tone of surrender.
"Don't be ridiculous, Nox. I promised to control myself in front of others, and we're alone now, so there's no problem. Besides, it's better to release feelings as much as possible so I don't suffer later," Elena smiled as she explained her brazen excuse.
"Girl, please keep your distance. I don't feel comfortable being touched by others, especially women. Anyway, shall we return to fighting? Explain to me how you avoided all my attacks like that." I tried to change the subject because I felt embarrassed and didn't want my face to turn red in front of her.
"Oh, what a shy boy~ Fine, as you wish. I'll answer your question. As you see, it's simple: just let your body react on its own," Elena mocked me, then her face shifted back to normal.
"What does that mean? Are we in a novel where there's something silly like a super instinct?" I tilted my head to the side trying to understand her words.
"Yes, it may sound silly, but it's real. Imagine you move because your brain sends commands to your body, right? So what if you make the body think on its own? Think of it as muscle memory where the body responds when it senses a threat," Elena said, pointing from her head toward the rest of her body.
"Okay, if you put it that way it's understandable. But how do I do that? I haven't trained enough to reach a high reaction level. After all, the noble kids trained their whole lives in the best ways — it's hard to catch up in such a short time."
"Oh, that's easy. We'll do it with my grandfather way," she said, pulling a cloth from her pocket.
"Your grandfather way?" I asked, puzzled.
"Yes. We'll blindfold you so you can't use sight, then I'll hit you until you get used to reacting while blind. Then I'll close off your other senses one by one. That way you'll adapt quickly," she said, smiling slyly.
"Elena — can I know how old you were when you did this training?" I asked quietly.
Elena stopped, put her hand on her chin, and thought.
"My age? Well, I turned eighteen five days ago, so that would be five years ago? Yeah I was thirteen ," she said.
'Thirteen years old, huh. I've decided — I'm going to kill that old man with Silas. How dare he train a little girl this harshly? It's amazing she stayed bright even after all that hitting,' I thought sadly as I looked at her.
When she saw my look she smiled and approached.
'What a poor girl — she can be annoying sometimes but I can't force myself to hate her. Some might think she lived a luxurious life and never knew pain, but that's wrong. People like her who managed to hold onto themselves and not let circumstances change them deserve my full respect. In my opinion they're the best kind of people,' I thought, feeling a little envy toward her.
'I wonder if I would be like her if I had preserved my former self and didn't let the darkness of the world change me into someone different,' I thought, sadness filling my heart for the self I lost on life's path.
Elena approached and tried to tie the cloth around my eyes.
"Hmm?!" She stopped astonished as she looked at my hand resting on her head.
"Elena, you well done for enduring all that. You're a strong girl. You should know of that," I smiled and patted her head gently and praised her — I had to do that so she would know what she did was something many couldn't, and that she did well in keeping her personality and true purity.
Elena blushed deeply and spoke in a low voice.
"What's this? Why are you suddenly acting kindly?" Still speaking she stood calmly listening to my patting.
When I felt it was enough I removed my hand from her head, took the cloth from her, and tightened it around her eyes.
"Now don't hesitate to hit me. I want to become stronger no matter the cost, Elena," I spoke seriously, preventing any hesitation she might feel.
"Okay, but don't complain later," she said as she assumed a fighting stance.
"Then let's start." She ran forward and aimed a side kick.
The kick hit me easily because I didn't know the direction of the strike.
"Ugh." The air left my body and I was thrown away.
'Damn, I'm already starting to regret this, this is going to be tough,' I thought as I stood trembling from the pain.
"No time to slow down, Nox. I'll train you on this for the coming months, so do your best," she said and delivered an uppercut to my chin that sent me flying backward.
'Looks like I'll become her punching bag,' I thought while feeling numb in my jaw, but I still stood and prepared for her next attack.
'I will endure this and become stronger — after all, strength is born from the womb of suffering,' I thought wisely, but Elena kicked my back and threw me forward.
'Fu*k the wisdom.'
...