With that, the class was over and she went to her tree. The teacher asked if he could see what she did in there and she told him to come tomorrow, not even looking over her shoulder at him.
A few minutes later, a party of four arrived wearing spiffy new red armor. Two were wielding shiny new weapons. Alex had put a stronger string on the battle ax as well, even though it wasn't asked for, since extra crystals were provided. Almin and Kattie were looking forward to practicing with their weapons, wondering when the beast weapons class was going to teach beast weapons instead of martial arts.
They both had used their basic tier weapons and were looking forward to seeing how much better these were. They could feel a difference just holding them but wanted to see their performance. They planned to return the ones they borrowed from the class tomorrow since they had their new ones now.
Dobin noticed his sister was not in the best of moods. "What's wrong Lana?"
Alto chimed in, "Where is that venus fly trap? It was there yesterday, wasn't it?"
Sniffling, "I had to kill Seymour today… We were presenting what we learned about our plants and stupid Duff got his hand caught in his mouth…"
Dobin was shocked, "Did you just say one of your classmates got his hand stuck in a venus fly trap?"
She nodded wiping away her tears. Dobin gave her a big hug. Just as he did, Vorden walked in.
He had a look on his face then quickly changed it to a smile. "How is everyone today?"
Lana pushed back from her brother and tried to give Vorden a smile. It was obviously not authentic and his face looked strained. It was obvious to her there was an argument going on inside his head.
Sil: Why is he hugging her?
Vorden: Because he is her brother and that is what brothers do?
Raten chimed in: Sil, look at her, she's clearly upset.
Sil: Then she should be talking to us about it so we can fix it!
Vorden: we just got here.
Raten: and that IS her brother.
Vorden: Are you saying she's not allowed to hug her brother?
Raten: He's the only family she has.
Vorden: Not hugging her brother is like saying I can't hug you when you are upset. You are my brother, after all…
Sil: Just get her to talk about it so we can make her smile again!
"Please, Vorden, join us for dinner." She then set up her kitchen and Alto filled the tank rather than her using the bottled water she always carried.
She decided to do something a little different tonight. Since she bought all those seasonings, she had not used them much so she decided to remind herself what she had by digging through that portion of her bag. She had what she needed to make an Asian stirfry minus the rice. She had never grown rice before and had not looked into that one yet so she had to do it with potatoes. She also couldn't do water chestnuts yet. She made a mental note to learn those soon.
She grew everything to include the vegetables needed to create a salad with ginger sauce. It was her first time making this so she hoped everyone would enjoy. She also included filet minion with the meal.
Kattie came to her side to assist then saw what she was doing and smiled. She got to work chopping the veggies while Lana finished her own prep work. Lana served Vorden first. She saw out of the corner of her eyes he had switched to Sil and she smiled broadly as he tasted the meal she provided then he switched back and allowed Vorden to eat it.
While they ate, she explained in more detail what happened in her class then asked how their days went. Almin described what it was like watching Quinn and Fex spar in class. They were both on a different level and the teacher really only sparred with Quinn.
Elemental class was going well for Vorden (though Vorden didn't contribute much), Alto and Dobin. They were learning to explore ways of forming their elemental abilities. The example Alto gave was when he was level 1, he could have formed a staff, a dagger, or even a ball. They kept the lessons basic enough so everyone could understand then the teacher provided individual guidance based on individual ability.
Vorden leaned over to her ear, "Level 6 ability book sighted."
She smiled but didn't say anything as she was listening to the tales of class from everyone.
After everyone was full, Dobin asked if he could stay a few minutes and watch her lesson with Vorden.
"Dobin, you know I worked hard to get these lessons. He won't let anyone watch. I'm lucky I was able to convince him. Please, go to your game. I'm actually thinking we should ask one of the teachers to allow us all to spar with each other, the five of us every once in a while. I think it will help make us stronger. Well, we probably don't need their permission but I'd like someone to watch that has experience."
Dobin nodded and off he went.
As soon as he was gone, Raten took the seat. "Do you want to change clothes?"
Lana smiled. "I have two outfits you have not seen yet."
"Well, go put one on!"
She chuckled and was deposited into her tree. She quickly changed clothes and returned for her session.
This outfit was similar to the second outfit she wore but her face was all business this time. "Let's see how well I've learned. I'm thinking of challenging Leo tomorrow for that assessment. It looms over me like spider waiting to pounce."
Raten nodded.
They started of trading punches and kicks. Lana tested her reflexes with the new kicks she had learned, not having shown them to Raten yet. His face clearly pleased that she had become a bit more of a challenge. At this point, she had kept the two fighting styles separate in training. The only time she had combined them was against the fire snakes on Caladi and that was fully on reflex and desperation.
As Raten picked up the tempo on her, she began to focus more and Raten smiled a bit more as she started to show more skill. "Your training really is paying off."
Sil was watching from the front right next to him, "she's like a beautiful butterfly. Graceful and powerful. Not even using her ability yet."
She saw an opening and threw out an axe kick. Raten blocked it with his arm while throwing a punch of his own. She flipped backwards then tried a crescent kick and again it was blocked. Raten appeared to be over the moon but she was frustrated she couldn't land a hit even now.
The tree reached out and wrapped around her arms and she swung upside down. On the next swing back toward Raten's head on, she came off the tree ready to grab Raten's head between her knees which was a new move she's been wanting to try. What she saw in her head and what actually happened were two different things. They locked eyes and Raten jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. The tree still had her arms but he spun her around bleeding off some momentum and placed her on the ground which eased her landing rather than knocking the air out of her lungs.
As he lowered her, the tree let go of her arms because it was hurting her. He pinned her arms down with one hand by holding both of her hands together and went in for a deep kiss. Overcome by what just happened, she returned the kiss.
After a few moments, she broke off the kiss. She decided to analyze what just happened. "So, that move sucks, huh? Is it too predictable? Can I pull it off if I'm faster?"
"Or if your opponent is slower. Honestly, while the style is unique, you need to practice on the ground. In the tree, you're vulnerable to ranged attacks. Though, I have to admit, you did some amazing things. Adding the tree in does increase your versatility. All-in-all, I'd say you did fantastic."
She beamed a smile, "You think so? Dobin is the only one I've fought against in that way. All the other fights have been against people trying to beat up my brother. But I can see what you mean. I often just use the same two tricks on the ground. I've been trying to perfect a kind of shield plant. So far I've been working with the elephant ear. I'm not sure I'm happy with it." She looks at his head, "Is Sil listening to us?"
Raten nods, "He is. Just so you know, it really is dangerous for you to know about us. That man is a monster. He won't let Sil go. He treats Sil like his prized possession."
She nods, "I understand. I'm not supposed to know a lot of things. The trees have been sharing secrets with me for as long as I can remember. My head is filled with things I'm not supposed to know. Most of which I don't even want to know." She sighs. "I have no intention of sharing your secret or anyone else's. Not even Dobin knows. I'm often jealous of him. He's my twin, we have shared so many of the same experiences, but he was not affected the way I was. When I asked him, he said it was because he has me. He doesn't need to worry. He's lucky."
Lana had forgotten to ask the details about the level 6 earth ability user.