I could hear myself and Meliss sighing simultaneously. On one hand, I couldn't wait to break through to the next stage and get stronger, but I also didn't want to leave her just yet. I'd gotten used to having her around, and it was a bit of a pain to think about leaving the following day.
She must have noticed what was going through my head, and wrapped her arm around my waist. "I can't wait to see what you'll be able to do when you get back," she said, kissing me on the cheek. Pyle raised his eyebrows in surprise, while Thorn merely held a single eyebrow raised in confusion at the gesture. "Thank you, darling," I said, kissing her forehead. Even coated in a light sheen of sweat, she still smelled clean.
Don't be a fucking creep, Thoma, I thought, feeling my face flush slightly.
Pyle cleared his throat. "Speaking of being able to see what the fruits of our training are, how about a little sparring match for you, Meliss?" he asked. "I'd love that. It'd be a great way to close out the day," she said cheerfully. "I'll be rooting for you," I said, giving her a warm smile.
"Thank you," she said, returning the smile. "But who's going to be my opponent?" she asked, looking around. Most everyone else already had training partners, and she had been working closely with Rosie and Roburn, so those two weren't going to be good choices, as they literally taught her most of what she knew.
I hadn't totally ignored her while she was training. Most nights after dinner, or even after our bed times, I'd help her by correcting some of her forms more… intimately than I knew Roburn or Rosie would dare. We'd grown much closer during those moments, and I knew our connection was something special, perhaps not the puppy love as some had initially thought. I didn't know what that meant, but I was just glad to have someone I could share my innermost thoughts with outside of my brother.
Breaking away from those memories, I continued to scan the training area for a worthy opponent. My eyes locked onto her opponent, and I figured now would be as good a time as ever to see at least some of what he could do.
"Thorn," I said, gesturing with a bow, extending my arm out in invitation for him to fight Meliss. Understanding immediately, he nodded in response. "Thoma, you can't be serious," she said, nervousness scouring her fine features. "Rot in complacency, or rise through adversity," I said, keeping my tone as encouraging as the words would allow.
"Thoma is right, Meliss," Thorn began. "It would be a pleasure to instruct you further," his eyes flared as his now-honeyed voice rang out. A spear made of pure, golden mana instantly conjured in his hand, thudding the ground by his feet astonished many of the bystanders.
A spear-caster? I could almost hear Meliss' say through the expression she wore on her face. "I thought you were a sword-caster," she said, drawing her own weapon. The rest of us backed away, giving the two adequate space for their mock duel. "I'm an all-caster, but because you've only been training with swords the past few weeks, I want to see how you handle something you haven't gotten used to," he said, getting into a stance that would have threatened even the most seasoned of veterans.
His air-tight stance held a palpable aura, with the haft of his spear tucked at his side and the tip floating above the ground in front of him by his right knee. Even knowing she was still a beginner, I could tell Thorn didn't want to make her think he was going easy on her, even if he was. It would have destroyed her self-confidence to know that he went too easy on her.
I could see Meliss swallowing dryly, as she got into one of the defensive stances she'd trained over the past few months. "Ready when you are," Thorn's eyes held a kind of calculated coldness I never knew he could have.
It's like he's already planned exactly how much speed and force he's going to use, I thought, feeling his intent through the mana that radiated from him. That's got to be intentional, like what Taegin was doing to me during our sparring session but this is much more dense, I thought.
Meliss dashed forward with surprising speed. Her conditioning and training visibly paid dividends, as she reached him in a matter of a few seconds. A quick move, even for someone without mana. Thorn, however, held his posture, his eyes level with her center of mass. I watched him closely to see if I could pick up anything from his fighting style.
With calculated speed, he raised the tip of his spear just fast enough to allow Meliss time to react. She ducked under the tip of his spear, which already began to whip around for another thrust, and aimed a thrust at his chest. With little wasted movement, he side-stepped the blow, the air around her sword grazing his clothes, sending a gentle ripple across them.
Not bad, I thought. She thrust again and again, while dodging his strikes. After finding no purchase in her strikes, she tried a few slashing attacks. Her form was good, a clear handle on the basics of swordsmanship showing, but nothing out of the ordinary.
"Why are you holding back and sticking to the basics?" Thorn asked, almost as if he read my thoughts, parrying another strike in the process. Meliss gritted her teeth in concentration rather than frustration, like she understood he was way out of her league.
"I didn't expect the tricks you taught me to work on you, so I'm trying to figure out how to respond to your movements while keeping the pace of the battle steady," she said like she was reading it out of a textbook. "That's good, but you should be more vigilant," he retorted, a nondescript look on his face.
Since his expression alone wasn't warning enough, in conjunction with his words, he jolted a feint, forcing her to shift her direction of travel instinctually toward her off foot. Just before she stabilized, Thorn's heel swept underneath her, knocking her off her feet.
The resounding thud of her, and the wheeze that followed marked the end of the mock battle. "Are you alright?" he asked, his warm smile returning to his face. I could see Meliss blushing a little, as she took his hand to help herself back onto her feet. "About as alright as I can be after getting knocked on my ass," she retorted, dusting herself off.
"Was that really your first time fighting against a spear? That initial dodge of yours would suggest otherwise," I said, walking over toward the pair. "It really was my first time, but I don't feel like I did well at all," she said, her tone dropping a semitone near the end. "How did you know to duck under the initial thrust?" I asked, genuinely curious where she had learned a move like that.
"It just felt like the right thing to do, I guess? I thought that if I could bring the tip of the spear up, the only thing I'd have to worry about, for at least a second, anyway, was the heel of the haft," she said matter-of-factly. I smiled, feeling a sense of pride in her words that I never thought I would. "You did well, I promise," I said, patting her head. "Thank you, darling," she smiled warmly.
"Awww, you two sound like an old couple already," Bernar said, his bitterness due to Leona's absence seeping through his facial expression. "You're just jealous," I shot back with a grin. "I'm not saying shit about that, but I won't give you the satisfaction of rubbing it in my face," he said, jutting his chin into the air in an act of defiance. "Yeah, he's jealous," I nudged Meliss.
Before I even realized his eyes had flared, I was on my back, the air in my lungs leaving so quickly I thought my soul had finally abandoned me, too.
"I don't think I deserved that one," I grunted, rolling over to my side. Meliss had only noticed me at that point, as she couldn't follow Bernar's movements from where he was to where I once stood. The only reason I knew that was because of the look of shock plastered on her face like a mask after feeling the displaced air he'd left in his wake.
"You didn't. But, as your older brother, I have to keep you in check since the gods ruined a perfectly good asshole when they put teeth in your mouth," he said, towering over me. Pyle and Thorn, who had never actually heard us exchange insults before, stifled a unified chuckle.
"Yeah, yeah. I get it," I said, taking my brother's outstretched hand to help myself up. "So, Thorn, what do you think? Is she ready to learn mana manipulation?" Pyle asked, hinging on the elf's answer. His hand lifted to his chin, as he thought of the correct answer.
"To me, she's ready. Since being under our instruction, I can see that she has much greater control over her own body than she did before. However, knowing how much this will change her life, and because she is not yet an official synner, the final say is hers," he concluded, looking at her. "What's your answer, then?" Pyle asked, patience mildly escaping his tone in excitement.
She gave me a searching look, like I was the one who actually had the answers instead of her. "Like Thorn said: It's your choice," I said comfortingly. "I've never really gotten the chance to make my own decisions. Gods, even to come here was a long-winded debate with Leona. This is the first real decision I get to make on my own, and I can only hope it's the right one: I want to learn mana manipulation," she said, her fine features scrunching with determination.
I'm so proud of you, I thought, holding back a tear of joy.