Aria stepped forward, starting a flurry of stabs. They aimed at Helbram’s chest, which was the most reliable spot to aim towards with their height difference. He held a wooden sword in his hand, but was in his armor, which mitigated any risks. Not that he needed it, for the warrior swiped away every strike with ease, the knocks of which echoed through the airship’s room. It wasn’t with any casualness meant to mock her, but even with her inexperience she could tell that he was moving more out of pure reflex. His eyes were clearly focused on analyzing her movements instead.
He caught the final blow of her flurry and twisted his wrist to bind her rapier. She didn’t react fast enough, and he manipulated the bind to the side to throw her off balance. Aria stumbled for a few steps, and when she corrected her stance, Helbram stood ready.
“Your movements have improved,” he remarked, “but I can see that you are too focused.”
She lowered her sword. “How?”
Helbram tapped his chest. “You are only looking at where you want to hit, which you should be doing, but you are neglecting here:” He tapped the tip of his wooden sword and ran his finger along its blade and up his arm. “You must be aware of where your sword and arm are at all times as well.”
“But I am?”
“To a degree, you are always aware due to instinct, but what I speak of is to make your sword arm more prominent in your mind so you are quicker to react.” He walked across the room directed her attention to a makeshift dummy fashioned from pieces of timber and a few burlap sacks. One of its arms was adjustable and held a crude wooden sword of its own, though she wasn’t sure what that was for. It had been her training partner for the past month at this point, and a constant annoyance to Leaf whenever it fell on him at the back of the wagon.
Helbram tapped the dummy’s chest. “Say you wish to strike here.” He hit the spot with a simple stab. “This is effective, but what if something was in the way?” He raised the arm, the first time she’d seen him do it since she started practicing. The dummy’s sword was now held in what she recognized as a neutral guard.
Helbram went for another stab, striking the exact same way he did before, and stopped as his sword grazed the dummy’s own. “In this situation, your opponent has leverage to push your sword down.” He turned the dummy’s wrist to push his blade toward the ground. “If you were only focused on their chest, you would catch this late.”
He then moved the dummy’s arm to illustrate it hitting him in the chest. “Thus leaving yourself open for a counter. If you were paying attention to your arm’s position, however…” he adjusted the arm back into the previous bind, “You will see that there are still many avenues to move from here.”
Helbram flicked his wrist around to where his sword ended up on top of the dummy’s and then completed the stab. The movement was slow so she could clearly see what he was doing, but her eyes still narrowed as she tried to process just what kind of move he was doing.
“You will make more sense of it as you practice,” Helbram said, “To summarize: focus is good, but it must take into account more than one fact.” He walked away from the dummy and readied his sword, keeping one hand on his hip, just like he taught her. “Though I am sure you wish to put it to the test.”
She nodded excitedly and went into her stance. For the next few hours they continued their bouts, stopping after each exchange so Helbram could provide some more pointers and adjust her stance. She didn’t get much of what he said immediately, but irritation never graced his features. In fact, there was a smile on his face the entire time, though for some reason there was a distant, almost sad air to his eyes that was paired with it.
He never mentioned anything related to it, and Aria wasn’t sure if she should bring it up, so they continued on. There wasn’t much else to do around the airship, and the girl wasn’t about to let the opportunity for more sword training slip. It was one of the few things that the Cold didn’t try to exert some influence over, though it had been much more muted as of late. Still, the feeling of slow, but steady progress, guided by Helbram’s gentle, yet firm teaching, truly felt like her without the weight of a Shade pressing down on her shoulders.
In their final exchange Aria decided to be more aggressive. She still had a tendency to focus just on where she wanted to strike, but their training through the day had pulled back her vision slowly but surely. When her first stab was deflected, she saw where her blade had been knocked towards and stepped to the side to avoid a light, but quick swipe from Helbram.
Still maintaining focus on his chest but keeping her awareness of her sword’s position, she angled her arm and blade to strike from the outside. It got closer than all of her other strikes, but Helbram still caught her rapier with his sword. She saw his wrist twitch and flicked her own around to pull her sword away from the attempted bind and to strike from a lower opening. That one got even closer, but Helbram knocked it to the side with more force than his previous deflections. That caught her off guard, and her arm overextended. Helbram stepped into her opening and tapped her on the shoulder with his blade, ending the duel.
“You did well,” Helbram said. She knew that there was more he was going to say. “However… you must be aware of the Swordsman’s Folly.”
She still her panting breaths and tilted her head. “What’s that?”
“When you are in the midst of combat, it becomes very easy for you and your opponent to fall into a rhythm of sorts. A chaotic one to be sure, but one that follows a defined beat. Ironically, those who practice often are more likely to fall into this rhythm, while someone who has no idea of what they are doing just fails wildly. The Swordsman’s Folly is when you allow your rhythm to be easily read, and this a more intuitive sort can disrupt your next attack or know when an opening will form. You are making crisp, clean strikes with ease, but I could see that they were being made at a certain rhythm, which made blocking them much easier than they should be.”
She thought back to their constant spars, and realized that many times Helbram had blocked her strikes without even needing to focus on her weapon. The fact that he showed no signs of sweat while she could feel it beading on her brow, told her just how little effort he had exerted to keep her at bay. That was a little bit disheartening, but Helbram was always honest with her to make her improve, so she pushed aside that impulse.
She flicked her wrist, forming the Circle as she prepared to cast a simple cantrip for cleanliness. “How do I stop it?”
“Two methods.” Helbram sat down on a chair and toyed with the wooden sword. “The first is that you train yourself to become keenly aware of it, and then know when to stop or switch to a different style for a time. This is the most common method.”
She cast the spell, feeling the sweat forming on her still before getting wiped away by a blast of wind. “And the other?”
“You lean into it. Become so aware of the rhythm that you have that you can tell exactly what openings you are creating for yourself with each strike. Make your form transparent, offering bait so good that your opponent will instinctively lash out at it. In that moment, you counter by striking the opening they will have made in trying to exploit yours.”
“That sounds simple,” Aria remarked.
“When you say it out loud, perhaps, but in practice it requires not only extensive knowledge of yourself, but also of your opponent. If, perchance, both swordsmen were to use this method in a duel, it will be the one who reads their opponent the fastest that will wind up victorious.”
“Can you do it?”
Helbram shook his head. “Not reliably, so I use the first method until I am at a state to try the second. That is what you focus on learning first, as well.”
“Have you met anyone that could?”
Helbram smiled, a bright one this time, full of admiration. “My father, who taught me everything I know. The man has a much more natural knack for this sort of thing than I. One day you’ll meet him, to learn from a real master.”
“You’ll get there!” The words left Aria’s lips with too much conviction, and she blushed before toning herself down. “Then… then you can teach me too…” She looked down and tapped her fingers together.
Helbram snorted and walked up to her before kneeling down. He ruffled her hair and looked her in the eye. “Then I suppose I should get to work, should I not?” He held up his fist.
She flashed him a grin and bumped her knuckles against his. “Mhm!”
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
Footsteps drew their attention towards the hallway leading out of the superstructure. Leaf and Jahora were walking in, looking relatively relaxed despite being outside all that. Aria stood up and ran up to them, giving them both a hug before stepping back. Snow and Shadow were quick to leave Leaf’s side and the girl was just as equally quick to kneel down and give them pets.
“How did everything go today?” Jahora asked, “Helbram wasn’t too much of a bore, was he?”
The warrior scoffed from his chair, but gave his companion a wave.
“No,” the girl answered with a smile, “I learned a lot… did everything go well outside?”
“About as well as it could be,” Leaf said, “The beast is contained, but we’ll be needin’ to keep a sharp eye about regardless. Not like we weren’t in the first place, but still.”
“I’ll have to let Elly and Kali know what’s going on.” Jahora looked over at Aria as she walked further into the airship. “Be sure to keep meditating like I told you!”
“I will!” Aria said.
Helbram stood up as Jahora walked by. “How did everything go with the barrier?”
“Working as planned. Some upkeep will have to be involved, but it’s enough to contain the beast.” She cast a glance back toward the hallway they came from. “We did run into an unexpected visitor on the way in, however…”
Helbram’s brow furrowed at first, but realization dawned on him and his eyebrows rose. What he seemed to figure out, Aria didn’t know, but Jahora’s face was serious.
“I will ask Leaf for more details.” He pointed deeper into the airship with his thumb. “Elly and Kali need your assistance, they have been at it all day.”
Jahora popped her fingers. “Clearly they require a more professional touch.”
Helbram snorted and let the Mage be on her way. He approached Leaf, who had turned to face out the way they came in.
“So, Logan is waiting outside, is he?” Helbram asked.
Aria froze. She never spoke with the leader of the mercenaries, and had only seen him once or twice, but the few times that Kali spoke of him, Aria remembered her own fath… the man named Jorge. The Cold seemed to react to those memories, those long years in which she was locked in that shed, the sting on her cheek. It draped over her protectively, like a cloak. Snow and Shadow reacted to the sudden chill that gathered around her, but rather than flinch away they looked up at her with concern. They nudged her with their noses and whined, which was enough to bring her back to reality.
That man wasn’t around her anymore, that shed was far behind her.
She felt hands on her shoulders and looked up to see Helbram and Leaf looking at her with concern.
“Are you alright?” Helbram asked.
She nodded.
“We can talk somewhere else if it’s botherin’ you,” Leaf suggested.
Aria shook her head. “I’m ok, sorry…”
“No need to apologize,” Helbram said, “Just let us know if we need to step away.”
“I will.”
They both flashed her comforting smiles and squeezed her shoulders before stepping back.
“The man said he wanted to speak with you,” Leaf continued.
Helbram raised an eyebrow. “Why me?”
“He wouldn’t be their leader if he didn’t have some brains, would he?”
“Fair point…about that, have you figured out if he has been suppressing his abilities?”
“He hasn’t. We’re not dealin’ with a Felix situation here, thankfully enough. If I were to compare, Duren would actually be stronger than him. They’re both Second Layers, but I can see a bit more… body to Duren’s Core. The both of them are ahead of the rest of their crew, even if they have a handful of First Layers with them.”
“Good to know. Did you spot anything unusual in the woods, beyond the manticore?”
Leaf shook his head. “The beast was awake though, ran headfirst into the barrier at full speed and didn’t feel a thing. If it gets free… I’ll make sure it won’t.”
“I have no doubt, but if you do need an extra set of hands, just let me know.” Helbram thought for a moment. “However, I do have a request of you.”
“What is it?”
“While I speak with Logan, do you mind giving Aria a few pointers on marksmanship?”
Leaf scratched his chin, “Right, just in case… yeah, I can do that.”
“Perfect, I shall leave it to you then.”
Helbram gave them a way before walking away. His face was as calm as always, but Aria could tell that the gears in his head were spinning. Then again, they always were.
Leaf clapped his hands and looked around the room. “Alrighty, let's see what makes for a good target…” His eyes settled on the inert Shells. “Perfect.”
With his Awoken strength, the hunter had little trouble moving the inert husks across the room. That didn’t stop him from cursing under his breath every time he hefted them up, and while Aria couldn’t tell what they even meant, the sheer strain in his voice made her laugh a few times. When he lined up four of the Shells on different tables, he took a seat and huffed.
“Bloody hells, did they need to make these damned things out of metal?” He clapped his cheeks and stood up. “Anyways, are you ready, Aria?”
The girl nodded and followed Leaf over to the far side of the room. She stood in the spot he pointed at and he knelt down to put his head level with hers.
“Right, this should be the best spot,” he said, “I know Jahora and Elly have been teachin’ you how to make a bolt, can you try shootin’ one off for me?” He pointed at the closest target. “That one, if you would.”
Aria focused, feeling a small tension around her head as her Circle formed around it. Aether swirled through its orbit to shift into a pale blue and she pointed the orb in her hand towards the Shell on the table. With an effort of will, she unleashed the bolt in her palm. The shot went wide and struck the wall near her target instead, splashing harmlessly against its surface.
Leaf tapped his chin. “You know, we probably should have talked to Elly before settin’ up a range indoors…” He examined the targets again, then shrugged. “Eh, anthin’ that misses will just hit the wall, it’ll do for today.” He leaned in towards Aria to speak in a conspiratorial tone. “Jus’ keep this between us, alright?”
When she didn’t answer, he looked at her and snorted when he saw her pouting. “Upset that you didn’t hit the target, are you?”
She gave a small nod. “I keep missing when practicing with the others, too.”
“Well, that’s because you haven’t been taught by yours truly.” He put a thumb to his chest and huffed with an air of pride, but such a silly expression that she couldn’t hold onto her frustration and giggled instead.
Satisfied with her response, the positioned himself behind her and placed a hand on her back. “Now, you may not be usin’ a bow, but the principles remain the same. The first bein’ that you need to get your breathin’ under control. Take a deep one, slowly, but when you’re about to breathe out, I want you to take whatever else is in your mind besides the target and let it go with the breath.”
She followed his instructions and breathed deep until her chest fully rose. Her eyes fixated on the Shell she missed before, and she pulled all her restless thoughts - the lingering ones about Jorge, the chill of the Cold, and her frustrations about missing - into her chest. When Aria let the breath go, she allowed it to carry away those thoughts, and she could see the Shell’s shape become more defined while everything else around it grew hazy.
“Good.” Leaf removed his hand from her back and then pushed her arm up to point it at the target. There was a slight shake to her hand as she held it in place. Nothing beyond the ordinary, but noticeable in her state of focus. “Now, since you don’t have an arrow to point I want you to focus, all the way up your arm, and right here.” He tapped the space above the knuckle of her middle finger. “At this range, that’ll guide you straight.”
“May I try again?”
“Sure.” Leaf stepped back.
Taking Leaf’s advice, she formed another bolt and fired it. It just barely missed the target, which irritated Aria more than her previous attempt.
“You’re gettin’ there. Nobody’s perfect, at first.” He held her arm up to aim again. “What you want to do is breathe like I told you to do before, but keep your eyes where I told you at the same time. Right as you breathe out, release the shot.” He stepped back again and crossed his arms. “Take as much time as you need.”
Aria nodded and took a few more breaths to find the right rhythm for her. On her last one, she shot a bolt upon breathing out. The projectile struck the Shell at its corner, but landed solidly enough to send it clattering onto the ground. She looked back at Leaf with excitement.
“Good job. Now, do the others.”
She did so eagerly, managing to hit the other three Shells in a row. All of them could be considered glancing shots, but they were consistent, and that’s what she was the most excited about. There was something similar about the rhythm, however, and that made her look at her hand in curiosity.
“Noticed something?” Leaf asked.
“Just… this is a lot like what Helbram was teaching me.” She explained what the warrior had taught her in regards to focusing on where to strike.
“Hmm, those are pretty similar. Then it's best to keep both in mind. Who knows, you might even catch Helbram by surprise.” He smirked. “Jus’ be sure to tell him it was me who taught you it, if you do hit him.”
Aria giggled. “I will.”
“Right then, more practice…” He looked over to the Shells that had rolled onto the ground and grimaced. “I really should have thought this one through…”
Author’s Note: New chapter, woo!
This chapter was going to encompass some more events, but I decided to expand both a bit to give it its proper due. Aria has interacted with the party, but I'd like to do some more events like with Leaf here to build those bonds properly. The challenge is making sure that it remains plot relevant.
We're coming up on the halfway mark for this arc though. I did tell you all it was going to be shorter than last arc, and I think the length I'm aiming for here is what I want to have as the "standard" going forward. Obviously I will make any arc as long as it needs to be, but I want somewhat of a baseline to be here so I can have my pacing remain consistent.
Till next update! Have yourselves a wonderful time! ^_^
My is currently 13 chapters ahead of the public release, and subbing to it will also give you exclusive access to my LitRPG, Andromeda Ascension, until it builds a massive backlog to support a strong public launch. Additionally, there is now a Hedge Knight Side Story on Patreon titled A Lack of Talent as well. It is free, but you need to be a member (there is a free tier) to read it. If you do not wish to sub to anything, but would like to support me in some way, consider picking up
