The Dojo was just as empty as always, no receptionist, no other people training there, just the sound of panting. Nothing else.
Ash stepped into the training hall locking eyes with Stacy, who was presently in the midst of her usual training.
Hearing him entering her eyes slowly darted towards where Ash stood, recognizing him instantly.
"Well, who decided to show up?"
She remarked almost mockingly.
"I was injured, the fight was more difficult than I had expected."
Stacy stopped her training and turned towards Ash who was still standing in the doorway.
"Guess it means you lost, huh? Pretty disappoin—"
"I didn't lose!"
Ash was quick to interrupt her.
"I don't want you getting the wrong idea, I got injured, but I won."
"Really now... good for you. Then I guess you came to brag about winning... or you came to train?"
Ash slowly pulled out his sword and assumed a ready stance.
"Neither actually. I have something to show you."
"..."
Stacy said nothing, she simply watched Ash curious what he'd show her.
'Think back, what did I do in the arena...?'
Ash thought back to what he did in during the fight, to how he used Cleave.
He remembered the way he held the sword, the way his foot moved when he slashed down, the way the Aura felt and even to the fact that he used his Light attribute Aura.
So Ash went for it, recreating it as he remembered and soon as he swung down the abundant Light attribute Aura lit up the entire room, recreating the same bright crescent moon.
*Boom*
The air snapped — it boomed soon as Ash finished his Cleave.
He was able to recreate it.
Ash proudly looked towards where Stacy was standing, curious to see what her expression showed.
And... it was not what he had expected.
The usual, sarcastic, cynical, emotionally detached old woman was nowhere to be seen.
She look genuinely shocked... no she was... emotional.
"Was it that amazing?"
Ash asked, unable to understand what about his Cleave warranted such a reaction.
"..."
"Hello... Ma'am?"
Stacy slowly collected herself and looked at Ash, now showing an expression closer to her usual one.
"Where did you learn this?"
Ash was confused by the question as it was obvious to him where he did.
'Is she suffering from dementia?'
"Ummm... I learned it here... from you."
Stacy looked at Ash once again face reverting to her prior emotional state.
"No, there is no way you learned it here. What I showed was completely different... there is no way it's the same skill. Look!"
Stacy walked forward with her sword and swung it down in a crescent arc, doing her own Cleave.
The Cleave was infused with her own Light attribute Aura and was quite beautiful then...
*Boom*
The explosive sound rang once again.
Finishing the slash Stacy looked at Ash before opening her mouth.
"See! It was completely different."
Ash just stood there with a dumb expression. Frankly he saw no difference in the two slashes.
"I'm sorry, I just don't see it."
"It's the Aura... the light. Mine was just there shinning, but yours lit up the whole room. The difference in output was completely different."
Now that Stacy pointed it out Ash could indeed remember that his own Cleave exuded more light from it than her own, but that was all.
"Isn't that just because I just push it into the sword without any precision while yours is more controlled?"
That was when Stacy audibly laughed for the first time since Ash had met her.
"Hahaha. Guess I was partly wrong about you. You are an idiot, but you are also a genius. Hahaha."
Ash still was just standing there dumbfounded by the strange behavior this old lady was exhibiting.
"Anyways Ash, guess you came because I promised to teach you the next move, right?"
"Yes, that's mainly why I came."
"Fine, I'll teach it to you, but somethings have changed now."
Ash's face showed uncertainty on whether this was a good thing or not.
"Don't worry, it certainly isn't something you'll regret."
Then she sat down on the ground and pat it gesturing for Ash to sit down next to her.
"How do you like stories?"
"What kind of stories?"
Ash asked, but he was already excited on the inside. Stories were things he loved, I mean he was avid reader of many works. Still he wasn't sure if this old lady could meet his expectations with a truly interesting one.
"Hm... I'd say stories of the past. Of my past serving in the Holy Army and of the time I became the only survivor of the Eastern Expeditions."
"The only survivor of the Eastern Expedition?"
Stacy could see Ash's change in tone, she quickly caught that Ash was interested.
"It won't be a boring story that I can promise."
Ash gulped hearing this, the Eastern Expeditions were so well known that even Ash knew about them. Though during their first encounter he showed no reaction that was because he believed Stacy was only part of one of the perimeter explorers, those weren't nearly as important as the one Stacy was actually a part of.
Still one question remained.
"Is Cleave somehow connected to this story?"
"It both is and isn't, but in your case it is. Just know this, were it not for this anomaly you've showcased I wouldn't have told you this story. Is that a good enough explanation?"
"It is."
"Then I'll begin. Let's start with my days in the Holy Army."
...
A woman strode through the halls of a large white marble building. Her steps echoing down the seemingly infinitely streching hall.
Her long white hair flowing in the air behind her.
The woman's face showed anger, one which distorted her normally beautiful face.
"Is that her?"
"I guess the rumors must be true."
"Makes sense afterall."
"She's the Mad Dog."
All the voices were saying the same thing, the Mad Dog of the Holy Army must have done something again.
They all looked upon her as a scorn on the church's reputation. Someone whose unholy conduct didn't align with the church's values and message.
But there was one thing none of them belittled. It was her strength.
She was one someone who reached Rank 4 at the young age of 20. Truly someone of extraordinary talent.
And while a noteworthy trait, it was something that wouldn't shield her for much longer.
Still the church wasn't low on people of such quality. She was one of the fastest growing within the church, but there were plenty of others who were just a step behind her in talent.
And it seemed the church has had enough of her antics. As she had just been dismissed from her present position within the army.
'Who do they think they are to just decide this without my input.'
These were the thought going through her head as she loudly walked through the church's halls.
That was when she arrived before a door, which she loudly kicked down.
"WHO WAS THE IDIOT THAT DISMISSED ME, HUH? SHOW YOUSELF!"
Soon one of the many people working there stepped forward and spoke up.
"Lady Stacy please calm yourself, you are disrup—"
The person was promptly picked up by the neck by the angry Stacy.
"WAS IT YOU? I SWEAR—"
*Clap*
"That is quite enough."
The voice came from behind her.
"I know you are angry Stacy, but you can't just go around bullying the poor employees just because they are in charge of administration."
"But they dismissed me—"
The person interrupted Stacy in the midst of her explanation.
"Oh Stacy, you are blaming the wrong person. I was the one that dismissed you."
"You...?"
Stacy looked at the man somewhat flustered.
The man standing before her was "Gabriel" one of the three Holy Knights serving directly under Reinhardt. And while their exact Rank was unknown it's speculated that each Holy Knight was around Rank 6-7.
He was not someone she could handle with the force she used on everything and everyone else.
"But why?"
Stacy asked with a desperate expression. But what she was met with was only an exhausted sigh.
"Why? Are you serious? You've always been problematic, but so far we've overlooked it because your strength was still worth the headache, but what you did this time was simply unacceptable."
Stacy stayed quiet, knowing she had no room to speak here.
"I mean what sort of idiot goes ahead and cripples their direct superior, just because they looked at you funny?"
Stacy stayed quiet, even if she wanted to say something she couldn't. Everything that Gabriel said was true, even if she felt that her actions were justified the rules stated otherwise.
'He looked down on me at that time and I just snapped.'
In truth Stacy had heard prior comments of this superior when walking around church ground, but she simply ignored it. The fact that her family was destroyed was true after all. The Vike family no longer existed in the nobility of Primus, but that didn't give him the right to slander her dead family.
So that day when she saw him staring down at her with his eyes, she just snapped.
"Haaah..."
A sigh escaped Gabriel's mouth.
"Still, you are too much of an asset to simply be let go off over such a mistake. So Reinhardt proposed a way for you to fix your mistake."
Stacy looked upon Gabriel curios of what her punishment would be.
"Stacy Vike, you are hereby appointed as Captain of Eastern Exploration Team Delta."