Seeds of Discordia

Liam and Nabal walked outside and looked around.

“Can you still hear her?” Nabal asked as he looked at Liam.

Liam nodded as he gauged where the voice was coming from. When he had a good sense of her direction he pointed and replied, “Over there. In the sparring area.”

Nabal nodded and followed him as Liam led the way.

Liam looked around as he scanned the sparring area, trying to pick Avery out amongst them.

When he had eyes on her he announced, “Right there.”

As Liam and Nabal made their way to her, he noticed a woman standing a little taller than her. She had a short blond ponytail and ruby red eyes. She had on, what looked like to Liam, a steampunk outfit.

Liam was impressed by it. He didn’t really think there would be such an outfit in this world full of magic. There was so much he still needed to learn.

As they approached the two females, Nabal greeted, “Good morning Miss Lily.”

The two women turned to see Nabal and Liam.

“Good morning Mr. Nabal,” Lily greeted back with a little shock. “What brings you over to our spot?”

“I was about to do some training with my trainee here and saw you were in the middle of training someone yourself,” Nabal explained.

Lily’s eyes widened as she looked at Liam. “You have a trainee? That is some news. I didn’t think you’d actually find one to your liking.”

“You’re not the only one,” Nabal stated.

“Ah where are my manners,” Lily started as she turned to introduce Avery. “This is one of my trainees, Av…”

“I am well aware of Miss Avery,” Nabal said as politely as he could.

“Are you?” Lily questioned with some confusion. “How do you know her?”

“She is a teammate of my trainee,” Nabal informed. “This is Liam.”

“Good morning,” Liam greeted with a slight nod.

“Is that so?” Lily asked.

“If you don’t mind, I was thinking of having Liam do some joint training with Miss Avery,” Nabal suggested. “Since they are teammates I figured they would not only know each others’ style, but also their bad habits and could help correct them.”

“Hm,” Lily muttered with a contemplative look. “I normally wouldn’t mind it, but I’m in the middle of helping her gain a Weapon Art skill for the Rapier. She hasn’t been able to learn any of the ones I have taught her so far, even though she has flawlessly landed the skills and should have gotten at least one. So, I’m a little worried that she won’t be able to get one.”

“If you don’t mind me saying,” Nabal started. “Miss Avery here might be just like her teammate, Mr. Liam.”

Lily narrowed her eyes as she inquired, “What do you mean?”

“What I am referring to is the chance that she can not receive the Weapon Art as a skill,” Nabal stated.

Confused even more, Lily said, “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I have trained with Mr. Liam for a bit and he hasn’t received any Weapon Arts skills,” Nabal explained.

“That can’t be right,” Lily interjected as she raised a brow. “I saw his fight the other day and witnessed him use Back Stab.”

“I know,” Nabal said, giving her some time to think it over.

Lily’s mind ran as she tried processing what Nabal was saying. She muttered to herself as she tried working out the puzzle of an explanation Nabal had given her.

Both her brows rose as she came to a conclusion. Her eyes swiftly turned to Nabal as she pronounced, “But that can’t be possible.”

Nabal gave her a smile. “Is it not? You said so yourself. You saw him use it and I have confirmed he doesn’t have it as a skill. Not only that, but I have tried it out myself. It is much harder, and you have to rely on muscle memory and your sub-stats, but it is quite possible.”

“But it’s impossible,” Lily repeated.

Nabal let out a sigh. “The only things impossible are the things we do not want to accept.”

Lily stared at him.

“I’ll tell you what,” Nabal started. “Let’s have these two spar and try to use the Weapon Art skills they have been learning. You can judge for yourself if she can use it not as a skill but from pure skill. Not only that, but you’ll be able to see the perks of it not being an actual skill.”

Lily raised an eyebrow.

Nabal looked at Avery. “What do you think? Are you up to it?”

Avery looked at Liam then back at Nabal with a grin. “You’re asking me if I want to see how bad I can beat him up and prove I am better than him?”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Nabal said with a laugh.

Liam raised a brow as he asked, “No hesitation huh? You’re just egotistically claiming you’re going to beat me up?”

Avery gave him a look of innocence as she said, “I wouldn’t say egotistically. I mean we both know I’m better than you.”

“Uh huh, sure,” Liam said jokingly.

Avery took a position at one end of the sparring area while Liam stood at the other. They both took out their respected training weapons.

Avery with a flimsy, yet sturdy wooden rapier.

Liam with two wooden daggers.

“You both will go at each other with everything you’ve got. The one to land a strike wins. Also, if one of you steps out of the square you lose as well,” Nabal stated. “Does that work for both of you?”

Liam and Avery nodded as they looked at each other.

Liam then switched his sunglasses out for his goggles.

As he did this, Nabal instructed, “Liam, I want you to focus on your senses as you spar. Use them to help you judge when to strike, block, parry, or dodge.”

Liam nodded as he stretched his arms and legs.

Nabal turned to Lily and asked, “Are you going to offer her any advice?”

Lily looked at him then at Liam.

She studied him for a long moment before turning to Avery and saying, “If he is truly Nabal’s trainee then ignore the distractions he will throw your way. You have finesse with the weapon. Trust in your instincts and strike with precision.”

Avery nodded, not keeping her eyes off Liam. She then brought the weapon vertically to her chest.

 She took a deep breath and slowly let it roll off her lips before snapping her eyes open and pointed the sword at Liam with a hand behind her back.

Liam watched her movements and body language. He hadn’t paid full attention to her fighting style when they fought together in the dungeon. He had snapshots here and there when he was beside her and when he had to time attacks with her. But her entire style was still a mystery to him.

With each motion from her breathing to the graceful movement of her sword, Liam could see the amount of effort she had put into practice. She looked confident, but at the same time he could see some uncertainty.

Liam brought his right foot back a bit and lowered his core into a slight horse stance. His left hand was in front of him with the blade held horizontally. His right hand was close to his side. Both daggers were held in a normal grip.

He too, took a deep breath in and slowly released it. This allowed him to ready himself.

“Ready?” Nabal questioned as he looked at the two.

Avery and Liam both nodded.

“Go!” Nabal called out.

Avery and Liam pushed off their back legs and shot towards each other.

When Avery reached striking distance, she pulled her rapier back and then did a thrust motion towards Liam’s chest.

Liam planted his right foot behind him and pivoted his body enough to dodge the weapon. He then arched his back low enough to dodge the blade as Avery gracefully swung horizontally to her right.

As the blade finished passing over him, Liam pulled his upper body back up and stabbed with his left hand.

Avery pushed off her right foot to avoid the stab and parried the right dagger as Liam tried stabbing her head.

The wooden blade of the rapier bounced off the dagger and with enough force it gave her the momentum to swirl around and slash at Liam horizontally.

Liam went to duck and was about to strike at her exposed stomach area, but then felt his Danger Sense warn him of the potential danger of doing it. Instead, he backed off and dodged the blade changing directions and watched as it sliced the air where he once was.

He tried to think about what he was going to do next, but a mix of strange smells and sounds of people talking, yelling, or whispering around distracted him. He wasn’t sure how to proceed and hesitated.

That moment of hesitation allowed Avery to jump forward and stab three times, aiming for both Liam’s shoulders and stomach.

The way she moves with her weapon…it’s so graceful. Almost like she has no room for errors. Liam thought as he rolled to his right to dodge the attacks. Her aim is almost so accurate, it’s like she’s locked on to exactly where she wants to strike at.

Liam studied her movements some more but had a hard time doing so as his sight kept zooming in and out of the areas he was trying to focus on.

Liam frowned as he moved his head to the left and rolled away to dodge the stab attempts at his head, shoulder, and right arm.

Her attacks are fast. I’m trying everything I can to not get hit. Liam thought as he rolled away once more from her. I need something to focus on so I don’t get distracted. If I can’t do that then I’m going to lose.

Liam jumped and rolled forward to dodge the strike Avery lunged and to get behind her.

As he did this, something caught his attention.

It was a sweet scent. A sweet fruity scent he hadn’t smelled in quite a while.

Is that strawberries? Liam asked himself as he tried to figure out where it was coming from.

Out of all the odors hanging around the area, this strawberry smell was the strongest.

Liam blocked Avery’s thrust with both of his daggers and leaned in close to Avery and sniffed the air.

“What the hell?!” Avery shouted with a weird look on her face. She then jumped back and asked, “Did you just sniff me?”

“Sorry,” Liam said with his hands in the air. “There is this strong strawberry smell that I keep smelling and couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.”

“Are you saying you can smell the strawberries I ate as a snack?” Avery questioned as she recoiled a bit.

Liam winced at her action. “Maybe…”

“That’s not creepy at all,” Avery stated as she frowned at him.

Liam looked at her. He noticed her breathing was a bit more labored than it should have been for a spar like this.

As he watched her body moved with each breath he noticed he was able to focus.

If I focus on the smell of the strawberries that is coming from her, I can focus better than earlier. Liam thought as he smiled. That’s the key, isn’t it. Find something to focus on and shift it all on that. That is how I’ll be able to use my new senses better.

He knew it wouldn’t be what he needed to fully master his new senses, but it was a start. One that can help him understand how much more focused he could get in a fight.

He felt his eyes focus in more on her body’s movement. Her subtle flexing of her hand on the wooden weapon, her breathing, the placement of her feet. The scent coming from her helped him fall more and more into focus.

Alright, let’s try to end this. Liam thought as he took a deep breath in, relaxed his body and released it.

As he released his breath, Liam shot forward.

Avery’s eyes widened as she wasn’t prepared for his sudden movement. Before she could react, Liam appeared before her. On instinct, Avery swung her weapon horizontally to her right.

Liam felt his Danger Sense flare up on the side of his face. With a fluid motion, he ducked and rolled his upper body under the weapon and on her left side. His right hand swung down in a circle going behind him. He then brought it around in a circle up above his head and then down aiming for her neck.

Avery stopped her weapon from moving easily and swung it back to her left. As it was about to hit Liam’s neck, he suddenly disappeared. His dagger freefalling down in the air, no longer in his hand.

Her eyes widened as she realized what he was doing. She had seen him pull this move off before. As fast as she could with a beautiful and fluid motion, she switched her weapon over to her left hand and stabbed down to her right side.

Liam had appeared there under her. She was forming a grin until she watched him stomped down and spin around to the other side of her. He caught the dagger before it could drop to the ground and went for her neck.

“Stop!” Nabal yelled as he looked at them with a big grin.

Lily stared at the two, shocked at what she watched.

She wasn’t the only one. A few instructors, who were around, were surprised at the sparring match.

Liam smiled as he looked at the dagger pressing against her neck.

He wasn’t smiling at that though. He was smiling because Avery had the tip of the wooden rapier pressing against his chest.

“If this was not a sparring match, I would say Liam would be the winner since where his dagger is at is a lethal spot and would kill you,” Nabal stated as he approached them. “However, since I said the first to land a strike would be a winner I am going to have to say it’s a tie.”

Lily looked at him. “A tie?” she asked, confused.

Nabal nodded. “Yes. She reacted in time to use…whats the move called again?”

Lily looked at Avery’s positioning and was shocked at what she saw. “Is that the finishing position for the Rapier Weapon Art Scorpion Tail? But your weapon is in the wrong hand? Also, when did you switch hands?”

Nabal snapped his fingers as he said, “Ah that’s what it was called. Her movements were graceful and fluid enough for her to strike back when Liam appeared on the other side of her. Both of their weapons struck each other at the same time.”

Liam dropped his daggers and dropped to his behind as Avery dropped to her knees.

Both were panting heavily.

“Great job,” Liam said with a smile while panting hard. “Your reaction time and attack speed are amazing.”

“Are you trying to say they weren’t before?” Avery asked while gulping in air.

“Not…at all,” Liam replied as he felt his heartbeat and breathing ease a bit. “What I meant was, I already thought your swordsmanship was great, but I didn’t know the extent of it until now.”

Avery blushed a bit as she said,” Thanks. Your movements when you dodge and switch from one side of a person to the next are no joke either. I thought I’d be able to handle it if you tried, but I barely hung on.”

“I’m still nowhere I need to be,” Liam said, still smiling like a fool.

Avery shook her head as she let a smile of her own creep in. “If you think you’re nowhere where you need to be then where do I stand?”

Liam stood up and reached a hand out to her. His smile still plastered on his face as he answered, “Right there beside me.”

Avery stared at him. “I swear. What am I going to do with you?”

“Not kicking my butt is a good start,” Liam teasingly said as Avery grasped his hand.

She was about to say something while he pulled her to her feet, but Liam continued, “But you can also not lose to me as well. You are a great sparring partner, and I am going to need someone to keep me on my toes while I progress.”

Avery let out a sigh as she agreed, “I can agree to that.”

“You both did great,” Nabal said as he patted their backs. He then looked at Lily and asked, “What do you think? Do you see that it is possible?”

Flabbergasted by what she had witnessed, Lily had no arguments that could support what she believed in. These two young people had completely changed what she thought was the best way to progress. In fact, they lit a fire in her that made her want to practice it as well.

“Not only did I see it was, but do you know what this means?” Lily asked him. “The possibilities this opens up for Weapon Arts and weapon wielders. This can help people grow to new heights!”

Nabal smiled and was happy she understood what he was getting at.

“Um, Instructor Lily,” Avery called out.

“Yes Miss Avery,” Lily replied as she looked at her.

“My teammate and I have to get going,” Avery said. “We have to meet up with our other members in a few minutes.”

“Ah that’s fine,” Lily said nonchalantly. “Go and meet up with your teammates. It is important to foster a powerful bond with them before anything happens.”

“Thank you,” Avery said as she bowed to her instructor. She turned to Nabal and bowed to him as well.

Liam looked at Nabal.

“Go on. What Miss Lily said is true. I think you understood what I was saying before the spar. Practice it.” Nabal stated. “It will help you greatly.”

Liam nodded as he said, “Thank you. I will.”

He and Avery then took off as fast as their low stamina filled bodies could take them before having to walk awkwardly.

Nabal and Lily let out a chuckle at the sight.