MAZE - The Endless Quest

As soon as the teacher finished his speech, a few dummies tried to hit the recruits. Most managed to step back in time, but a couple got hit by the unexpected attack.

"Ah forgot to mention, every time ye get hit, the score ye currently have will lower," Mr. Greyson pointed at the screen behind Mark, one of the few who didn't dodge the dummy's attack.

The screen showed in white letters the word 'Target' and under it 2500. In the bottom half of the screen, another word 'Score' and right below it, the number showing was -25 in glowing red letters.

"One other thing, the dummy will use three types of moves. So watch out for that," he was finishing his sentence when the training dummy in front of Hera started to move. She wasn't expecting it and noticed a bit too late, but it soon enough for her to jump back and barely evade the uppercut aimed at her.

At this distance, the dummy wasn't able to hit her. She understood that there was a point where she could stay in order to rest. Not only that, but she could also see the attacks that it would use without getting hit. Hera heard a few other recruits starting their attacks. The room quickly got filled with yells and noises of people fighting the dummies.

Looking at the target in front of her, Hera waited to see its moves. The first is an overhead swing with one hand. It was hard to see when it would start this move, so she would need to be very careful. The second attack, a side hook that was excessively telegraphed. The dummy's entire body would spin backward before striking. Even if she got distracted, she probably would have five seconds to get away from it. It seemed a small window, but for a fight, even Hera knew it was a lot.

The last move is the uppercut, the same move that almost hit her. It is a middle point between the other two. It would give a few indications that it was coming, but they would be very subtle and very fast. Hera had to pay close attention to it.

Five minutes had passed when Hera decided she had enough information to attack. She never was one to rush in into things, even if the last few days would say otherwise. Waiting until the dummy did one of its hooks, Hera wanted to try an idea on how to rack up some points.

The three moves that Mr. Greyson had shown could be incorporated in a combo. He had demonstrated that himself. Even though Hera believed that there was no way to move so effortlessly as the teacher, she would get points more easily if she tried to connect the attacks.

With a quick glance, Hera looked at the other recruits' progress. Most of them reached around 200 points already. The majority started to attack as soon as the teacher said. Pamella is already closing into 300, and Leonidas already passed the 350 mark. Getting that many hits in less than five minutes seemed insane.

Her dummy finally did its hook attack, hitting the air in front of Hera. Not wasting any time, she lunged forward, stabbing the target in the chest. The sword went downward, scraping the dummy. Taking advantage of the position, Hera did an uppercut with her sword.

When the weapon reached its peak, she tried to pull down with an overhead swing as fast as she could.

The impact was stronger than she expected, and her sword went flying backward. Hera quickly jumped, getting away from the dummy before running to get her sword. A few explorers laughed at the scene, not trying to tease her, but because most of them had done the same at some point.

Grabbing the sword, she raised her head and looked at her score.

48

Those three attacks got her almost 50 points. That meant that each strike was worth at least 15 points. With a big smile, she went back to the dummy.

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Greyson watched his students. Although there weren't any big surprises, he felt happy. Everything seemed to be going above his expectations even if, just by a small amount.

Looking at the scores, Leonidas would coast through this challenge quickly, but being used to weapons, it was expected. Pamella ended up being excellent at defense. Most of the points she gained were by blocking or parrying the dummy. The only reason she was behind the spearman was that she had to wait for the dummy to strike, and that could take a while.

Mark, Alex, and Bonnie were getting the score he expected. Simultaneously, the rest of the class had just a couple dozen points over what he imagined. Hera was the only one that made him worry at first. Seeing the girl standing still at the beginning of the training, he half expected to have to talk to her. But after her little combo, he relaxed. She wasn't afraid or worried. She was actually studying her enemy.

Greyson wasn't someone who would do that when he fought. Still, it was something he respected. He knew many explorers who would spend days learning about their enemy to make sure they wouldn't have any surprises. If he was being honest, it was probably the right thing to do, but he never cared for it. It was too much work.

He saw Hera doing another combo and her score going to 99. Two sets of combos and she was close to a hundred. If she kept going like this, reaching the 2500 points would take a bit over half an hour, and that was taking her exhaustion into account.

She stopped attacking and talked to the other recruits. Alex, Leonidas, Pamella, Mark and even Bonnie were listening to her. Greyson thought about walk forward and scold them for wasting time, but seeing as she was showing how to link the moves, he let them be. That was the explorers' way.

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Hera kept doing her combo for twenty minutes. She already had over 1300 points, but she was getting worried. If she kept going like this, she could reach the goal, but that depended on the dummy. As long as it would keep doing its hook, she could get more points.

However, the dummy was taking too long to make that attack. According to Mr. Greyson, the moves used were all random, so there is a possibility that she won't have enough opportunities to do her combo. Even though she wouldn't mind staying late to practice more, she wanted to clear this challenge.

Looking at the dummy's movements, she focused her mind on the uppercut. The action was quick, but she could see it happening. The target would lower one of its arms, and the other would stay completely still while doing so.

She waited for another uppercut, but the dummy started to do a hook before trying her new idea. Unfortunately, Hera wasn't ready to follow up on the attack. She hastily lunged forward, stabbing the target in the chest, and was about to follow up with an uppercut. However, the dummy had already finished its move, and an overhead chop aimed at her head was coming down.

There was not enough time for her to step back. That attack would definitively hit her. Without letting go of the sword, she tried to block the attack. Even if she intended to block, it looked more like she was just trying to cover her face to everyone else, with her head down and both her arms trying to form a barrier in front of her.

Greyson watched the scene. The second she attacked, he knew that it would be too late. If you lose the chance to attack, the best thing to do is wait for the next one. Trying to strike in a hurry can only put you in a bad spot.

Raising both her hands, Hera also ducked a bit to the side, trying to make the chop to avoid her face. To an experienced explorer, that was probably the only good move she had made during that exchange. An attack to the head could not only hinder your sight but leave you disoriented for a few seconds.

Even with all the wrong decisions that were a natural part of the training process, Hera was still gripping the sword even in her panicked state. That was her saving grace. The chop struck the base of the sword as it was rising. The force of the impact sent the dummy's hand back while making Hera fall into the ground. If it were intentional, that would be a beautiful parry, but in this case, it was just a fluke.

Sitting on the floor, Hera looked at the monitor, worried she would have lost some points. However, above her current score, there was a big 35 showing. That small exchange was enough to give her just a bit under 10 points less than her full three-hit combo.

Before she could understand what just happened, the dummy started attacking again, Hitting Hera in the jaw with an uppercut, making her look up with the impact. It wasn't a strong move, but it still hurt. She quickly moved back to get away from the dummy range and saw 20 points deducted from her total score.

"Hera! Are you okay?" Pamella just asked, moving away from her dummy and towards Hera.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It was my mistake," her chin was sore, and talking hurt a bit, but she wasn't angry. Not at the dummy, at least. It was a machine, and Hera knew it was her fault for not being careful. She wanted to try again quickly. Taking a few steps towards the dummy, she waited for her chance.

"Hera, you should step back," Pamella was looking at the girl. Hera always seemed calm and patient, but anyone would get angry after getting hit. What Blue saw right now was something else, not just anger. Her movements were stiff and violent at the same time. Each time Hera moved forward, it looked more like she was stomping her feet than just walking.

Insider her mind, Hera was angry at herself. She was careless. She got way too excited about something and made a mistake. Sure right now, it wasn't much, but what if that happens during the trial, or at one moment she could not miss? She needed to be better. She was better. Her stats were higher now. Her body could move faster, and her attacks hit harder. Life had shown again and again that every time she got excited, bad things happened. First, when she turned 18, then when she got her level up. And even the first day of class.

Hera needed to be serious.

She needed to be focused.

She got ready to strike at the dummy when a hoarse voice rang behind her.

"Hera, come here," Mr. Greyson watched everything, and each time a student got hit, he would be sure they were fine. Even if the dummies were weak, the recruits could need a healer if they got hit in the wrong way.

Hera stepped back and moved towards the teacher, still holding the sword at her side.

"Gimme yer sword and go drink some water," Mr. Greyson held out his hand with a severe expression on his face.

"But I'm not thirsty," Hera may have been hit, but other recruits had been struck many times. Why was she the only one that the teacher was interfering with? Was she really that bad?

"Doesn't matter, go drink some water."

She placed the sword in the teacher's hand and started walking towards the water cooler while clenching her fist. Was she really so much worse than the rest? Could the boy who kicked her out of the leveling room be right? Was she really just trash?

Her mind was filled with questions about what just happened. The rush of thoughts only stopped when she picked a paper cup and noticed the palms of her hands. There were deep marks there, almost deep enough to draw blood. She could see a few red spots under her skin. Hera closed her fist, and the patterns matched the exact place her nails would dig.

Since when was she clenching her fist so tight?