Tragic Heroine

Edward, as laid back as he normally was, said that he was too busy to teach Chris combat in the afternoon, giving the excuse that he and the rest of the family were all frantically preparing for her birthday ball, with no time to spare. He looked uncharacteristically serious while sharing this news, so she decided to not be a bother to him and accepted the circumstances. 

To make up for his absence, he dragged the knight captain Sevraus around to mentor her in his stead. Neither prospective teacher nor student were all too thrilled about that.

At first, her caution peaked when he took her to the woods surrounding the training grounds, wondering what kind of nefarious activities went on in that haunted looking forest. It wasn’t until she saw who else was there that she changed her mind.

Hey, hey, my dear older brother, did you just drop your sister off at a daycare for kids?

All around her, the recruits that she soundly defeated previously were making a cacophony of raucaus noises as they wailed on the surrounding trees with their fists, feet, and swords. What was even more surprising upon closer inspection was that the trees themselves suffered barely any damage at all. No matter how hard they swung or how loud they grunted, the boys’ efforts to damage the bark were fruitless.

Sensing her puzzlement, Sevraus opened his mouth to explain,

“It isn’t only a coincidence that we constructed the training grounds within this forest. Each one of these ironwood trees was planted by the first queen of Lorien. They are impervious to damage from most weapons, and generations of us royal knights train our strength by trying to pierce through those defenses.”

“Wow…” Nodding at his explanation, she studied the trees around her and marveled at the old scars that marred the surface of their bark. The royal knight order was very strict with how it trained its members, who would be tasked with important duties such as monster extermination and defense of the royal family. It was poetic that only the best and strongest were successful in literally leaving their mark on the place they honed themselves in.

There was only one thing that still confused her.

“But wouldn’t it be better to sharpen their technique and skills in spars and exercises in order to prepare them for real battle? What good would come from hitting the same target over and over again?” While this method of training would have been right at home in a grindfest MMORPG, she couldn’t imagine that mindlessly hitting a target in real life would produce warriors ready to face the world’s dangers.

“These days, a lot of monsters have tough hides, and most armies equip their soldiers with high quality armor and shields. This is a way of training these runts to be able to hit hard when it counts. Which is almost always the case when we get dispatched.”

“If you put it that way, then I guess it makes sense.” As she thought, there was no need to second guess the teaching capabilities of the esteemed captain of Lorien’s royal knights. He knew what he was doing.

Sevraus then led her to an ancient pillar of ironwood that towered imposingly over her head and gave one command,

“Hit it. As hard as you can. Until you scratch it.”

“...uuuhhhhh.” My dude, you want me to hit this thing? With my bare hands!? She took back her previous thoughts. This guy had a few screws loose. Her breath hitched when the man’s gaze suddenly turned fierce, with a vein protruding from his face. 

“Well? Are you going to make me repeat myself?” he growled, causing her to make up her mind more quickly.

“Y-yessir.” she squeaked. 

Damn you Edward, you just left me here with a fucking demon!

Chris’s mood worsened when a few recruits stopped what they were doing to stare at her, while others snuck glances over their shoulders to catch a glimpse of the rarely seen Lorien princess.

What are you guys looking at, huh? 

[Host, please refrain from acts of self harm.] 

Ignoring the System’s snarky comment, she gritted her teeth and charged up a powerful haymaker while enhancing her arms with a steady current of mana. Slowly but surely, she ramped up the potential force of her strike with each circulation of the vital energy, until it reached a breaking point.

“Hup!” A fist flew through the air, making a muffled sound on impact with its target, followed by the brittle snap of something breaking.

She shook off the pain in her knuckles, which were worn raw and red, and massaged her sore shoulders. The tower of ironwood still stood defiantly against the punishment she just dished out.

Bending down to closely admire her handiwork, she saw a noticeable dent on the rough bark, with a few fragments of wood still hanging precariously from thin splinters. 

A satisfied smile bloomed on her face at seeing the results of punching a tree with her bare hands like some character out of a video game.

This was already more than what many of the other knight recruits achieved. Indeed, while before they blushingly peeked at her out of boyish curiosity and interest, they were now looking in her direction out of sheer awe and admiration. It was a testament to just how difficult it was to even scratch the ironwood through conventional means, that they were amazed at someone managing to damage it in one blow.

“I did what you asked of me. What do you think of it, sir?”  She turned to the stern-faced man analyzing her every move. Bet you didn’t think I could do it this quickly. 

“...That’s barely passable.” Sevraus shot down her budding confidence with a blunt hammer to the face, causing her to visibly deflate in disappointment. The old man was a little too straightforward with his true feelings, but she had to swallow this bitter pill because, in spite of his harshness, he did have a point.

A part of her told her that if she changed just a single, minor part of her execution, she could make a breakthrough into developing something more amazing. Something even more powerful. But she just didn’t know what. 

Shaking his head, the stone faced man turned away from her to address every other young recruit in the clearing with a firm shout. The poor souls perked up and immediately scrambled to alertness, fearing whatever painful punishment that would come from not giving their full undivided attention.

“Alright boys…” his eyes shifted to where Chris stood, “and dear princess. Although what I say next probably won’t be that important to you in particular.” Looking away, he continued, 

“You guys shouldn’t settle with just scratching the surface. If you don’t want to be some weak small fry on the battlefield, then you should practice naturally letting your mana flow out of each of your attacks. Here in Lorien, you will be expected to at least know how to do this if you want to become accepted as an official member of any knight order, let alone us royal knights.”

“Eh?” His words confused her. Wasn’t enhancing your attacks with mana basically just mana reinforcement? She was already doing that after just a few sessions of self experimentation. It was how she managed to dominate her opponents so far despite not having a spirit. Even so, she didn’t ignore the knight captain’s words; a demonstration from an expert would be worth paying attention to.

Sevraus got into a fighting stance of his own, putting his hands and feet into opposition and leaving no visible openings. He simultaneously looked like an impenetrable fortress while still possessing the hidden ferocity of a crouching lion waiting to strike.

“You should relax your posture, draw more power from the earth into your legs, and keep that momentum going as you pivot your torso. Draw out some of your spirit’s mana while doing so.” He made a show of twisting his upper and lower body in conjunction, and repeated the movement several times in front of her attentive gaze.

“Then, when the energy is about to leave your core, pass it through your arms—”

He launched a punch at a speed unseen to the naked eye. 

KRATHOOM! 

A crack of thunder exploded throughout the clearing, followed by the loud rustling of disturbed leaves and quaking branches. 

“—just like that.”

This time everyone stared in open mouthed awe at the devastation caused by just one punch. The tree that took all of Chris’s strength and effort to just barely scratch was completely torn to shreds, leaving mangled chunks of obliterated wood scattered on the ground. Even the surrounding trees and foliage were ravaged, sporting hideous grooves gouged out by flying shrapnel. It pretty much looked like a bomb or two went off in the vicinity.

“Huh.” She couldn’t find any words to describe the devastation in front of her. All this was from… only one punch? Granted,  there was a reason that this man became the knight captain. He was among the strongest spirit users in this world, capable of unleashing destruction at a moment’s notice. 

His movements were impressive enough, but it was the way he handled his mana that was even more amazing. When she enhanced her senses, she saw a burst of some kind of chilling energy permeate from his closed fist in the briefest of moments right before it connected with the ironwood. Even then, it happened so fast that she had to think twice about whether she was just seeing things or not.

Also…

“Is it really alright to completely destroy one of these trees?” she hesitatingly asked. He did say that they were planted by an ancient queen of Lorien, so they must have had incredible historical value.

This time it was his turn to look confused.

“They’re just trees?” Sevraus looked at her like she was an idiot.

“...forget I asked” Chris deadpanned. She imagined that every climate change activist back on Earth would have shed tears of blood if they heard what this man just said. 

Either way, it was true that this ironwood forest was a useful place to train in. She will have to play around a little more with her mana in the future when no one was looking to try to achieve the same results he did. It would be necessary to reach at least this level of strength if she wanted to survive for as long as possible and avoid a gruesome death in the future.

“Anyways, that little move should be simple enough for you to accomplish, right?” There was no change in his expression. Nor was there any malicious intent in his voice. He genuinely thought that she, like her brilliant elder brothers, could learn a brand new skill from just seeing a single demonstration.

It was better to be honest with him.

“Can you, uh, dumb it down a bit for me? I still don’t fully understand what you just did.” she asked with as much of an earnest drive to improve as she could muster. 

Sevraus looked perplexed for a moment before he released what looked to be a disappointed sigh.

“Didn’t that boy Edward say that you were smart? Learning something like this shouldn’t be much trouble for you. Just keep on hitting things and see what works for you. Everyone learns how to fight their own way. If that’s all, then I’ve got some matters to attend to.” Before Chris could say a single word in protest, he was already walking back to the training grounds at a pace that was even faster than her normal running speed.

“...What a guy.” The old man was perhaps the only person in the country who had the balls to be this rude to its royalty. But no matter how hard he was to communicate with, he did give some good points. Sometimes the best way to learn wasn’t just from seeing and listening, but from doing.

“Ah, that reminds me. System, if you would please.”

 

[Affirmative. Presenting requested data…]

[Name: Sevraus Winterthane]

[Affection meter measurement: 53% (+2)]

[Description: The captain of Lorien’s famed royal knights has a reputation that precedes him. Tales of his strength and ruthlessness strike fear into both his allies and enemies alike. Having saved the young prince Lysander from death in the barren northern wastelands many years ago, he is the current king’s closest confidant, and is absolutely loyal to the crown.]

 

Chris felt bad prying into a person’s background in such a way. It felt like cheating to instantly gain access to their deepest secrets without even conversing with them. Nevertheless, she was relieved knowing that Sevraus didn’t seem to think all that bad of her, even if it meant violating his privacy a little.

She took his advice and began testing out a few dozen moves on whatever targets she found in her surroundings, trying to mimic his previous movements but still using mana reinforcement as usual. However, compared to the carnage left from the knight captain’s one strike, whatever attempts she made at emulating his attacks looked pathetic in comparison.

“Guess I still have a long way to go.” she grumbled. The setback itself didn’t matter much to her; Rome wasn’t built in a single day, after all. It wasn’t worth it to show off abnormal progress that couldn’t be explained with just “talent”, especially when she wasn’t officially contracted to a spirit yet.

Just as she was about to leave in order to wind down and enjoy a lazy evening of reading, a small shadow soundlessly bolted from the tree cover faster than an eye could blink. It glided across the forest floor as a formless mass of pitch black darkness the size of a fleeing rodent.

However, no matter how fast or small it was, it didn’t escape her enhanced senses. Chris hoped that what she saw was just a trick of the light, but she wasn’t taking any chances.

“Is that what I think it is?” she muttered, wondering if she should pursue the tiny creature or not. If it really was some kind of dark spawn, then she had to let someone know immediately. Maybe one of the knights back at the training grounds, or—

She smacked her cheeks with both hands. Wasn’t she much stronger now than when she arrived helpless and lost in Christiana’s body? What was all that training in the past month for if she couldn’t fend for herself? She could very well take care of this on her own.

Chris started sprinting in the general direction that the tiny shade ran off in, all the while pumping mana into her veins and carefully observing her surroundings for anything else that was out of place. Deeper and deeper into the ironwood forest she went, not letting up her pursuit for even a moment’s rest. It was as if something deeper than even instinct, a feeling that was carved into her very soul, was guiding her towards someplace she needed to be. It felt right for her to follow along, not like a puppet being tugged along by its strings, but like a heroine climbing a step on the path to her destiny.

Could this have been the Survival Guide working its magic? She didn’t bother thinking too deeply while on the chase.

Finally, with one last leaping bound, she succeeded in overtaking the squirrel sized shadow. Turning around abruptly, she seized the squirming creature and trapped it within a closed fist imbued with her mana. It let out multiple squeaks of alarm, and struggled even more as the darkness that composed its form slowly dissipated in her grasp. 

Hah. She tightened her grip, causing the darkspawn to emit one last screech of distress that echoed throughout the area before its existence returned to the abyss it was birthed from.

Silence returned to the forest, and Chris took a moment to breathe and collect herself, only to pause and look around. In every direction there was nothing but trees, trees, and more trees. 

I could have sworn this forest didn’t look that big from the outside…

 

[Notice: Host’s party has entered the domain “Amphitrite’s Veiled Garden”.]

[Survival Tip: Pass the spirit’s trial and earn bountiful rewards. Remember to keep calm and carry on.]

 

Well, guess that explains a lot of things. Wait, party? As in multiple people?

A sudden rustling disturbed her thoughts. She turned around in dismay, expecting some monster to pounce out, only to find a figure bursting into the clearing, panting and sweating heavily while wielding a sword. She spotted a mane of familiar brown hair and immediately recognized their identity.

“Bertram? Why did you follow me here?” She glanced at the sharp-bladed instrument clutched in his hands. Could this kid be aiming to take me down in a place where there're no witnesses?

“That’s none.. of your business… your highness.” He spat out the last word like it was tainting his mouth. Before saying anything else, he held up a hand to pause the conversation while he bent his knees in exhaustion. Chris just smugly smiled and looked on in amusement. When the boy finally regained his breath, he glared up at her with golden eyes and started launching a tirade.

“How do you even know my name? I don’t remember telling you … wait,” he scanned their surroundings, and at one point looked like he was just staring off into space, his face growing more and more grim as the moments went by. “Gods be damned… Why of all places did you have to go here? Do you realize what kind of place this is?”

“Uhh, not exactly. Why do you care?” she deflected.

“Because—” as Bertram was about to answer, a faint rasping noise came from the trees, followed by the sound of something approaching on shuffling limbs. The both of them went into shocked stillness. A terrifying silence permeated the air like an icy swamp, sending cold sweat and chills down their backs. They instinctively retreated until their backs touched, in doing so covering each other’s blind spots. 

Each second that followed felt like its own separate eternity.

A branch snapped and broke the silence, causing the both of them to look towards the source of the noise.

And there, they saw the first of the creatures emerge from the shadows.

Chris was struck with a sense of deja vu at seeing the darkspawn’s monstrous frames looming over her the same way they did on the night she arrived in Irudeia. And yet, the emotion that thundered in her chest wasn’t the same terror she felt back then, but instead some form of excitement.

“Ah.” A smirk started creeping up her face. Sure, these things still looked creepy as fuck, even in the daytime, but that only made them big, slow moving targets. Wasn’t this an opportunity to let loose and practice what she just learned in live combat?

 In spite of the dire situation, her smirk grew to a wolfish grin. This was a chance to grow stronger. And it made her heart beat faster than it had ever before. Adrenaline caused blood to rush to every corner of her body, and mana started to unconsciously surge to her brain.

For the briefest of moments, she heard a familiar voice speaking with such clarity that their words echoed throughout her very being.

Cut them down. Live. 

And so I shall.

“Oi, kid.” she called out to Bertram. He glanced at her in irritation.

“What do you want?” he snapped. 

“You got a spare weapon or anything on you?”

He hesitated, before looking at the slowly advancing nightmare creatures and grimacing to himself once more. Reluctantly, he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out an ornate knife that was still in its sheath.

“Careful with this. It works well enough as a weapon, but it’s important to me. If you lose it, I’m going to smack you on the head with this sword even if you are the royal princess.” He handed the knife to her. Drawing it out of its sheath, she whistled appreciatively at the blade’s alluring shine.

 

[Tip: Host is wielding a weapon forged from mythril steel, which efficiently conducts mana.]

 

“Oh? Thanks for letting me know.” Still smiling, she turned towards Bertram, and asked a quick question,

“You ok with me doing some limit testing with this thing?”

“Wha—”

“Sweet! Alrighty then,” without waiting for an answer she quickly rushed towards the sluggishly moving humanoid shadows. Leaping at the head of a darkspawn, she raised the knife in preparation for an overhead swing.

 

“Let’s rumble, bitches.”