Free day held no excitement for me. While it was true that Ellaazi had warmed to me since strategy class, she still wasn’t exactly what I’d call good company. Full of grunts and scowls and not many words.
As awkward as that budding relationship was, she might as well have been close family in comparison to the beautiful, scornful, hateful Archon woman I was heading to meet now.
I entered the training hall twenty minutes early so that I could settle myself before she arrived. Of course, she was already there and with a look on her face that suggested I was an hour late.
Suppressing my reluctance, I headed over.
“I want you to know before we begin,” she said, her voice strained like she’d just stubbed a toe. “I am not best pleased that I have to do this.”
I smiled. It was probably just as strained as her expression. “Oh, don’t worry Scion of House Besas, your facial expressions and body language have already made that abundantly clear. If it makes you feel any better…” I’d rather choke to death on dog shit than spend a morning with you. Thankfully, I managed to keep that little thought to myself. “…I’m not overly enthused to be here with you either.”
“You should be honored.”
“It really doesn’t surprise me that you believe that.” My smile was genuine now. I felt myself relax. From everything I’d learned about the Archons so far, it wasn’t a surprise that she was deluded enough to believe what she was spouting. And if there was one thing I knew, a fool and their opinions were not easily parted. Which meant I should at least have some fun taunting her over them.
“You realize that Garazal is the most hated house in the Archon Empire?”
“There’s an Archon Empire?” I shook my head. “I’ve been lied too! I was told only of a Union. And that the Archon race is part of that. Thanks for putting me right, Aeloria. I’d have felt a right fool if I went around telling people that the Archon Empire ended a couple of thousand year ago.”
She shuddered with frustration. “You know exactly what I mean. You are a twister of words, and I wish to hear no more from your mouth. We have been asked to train and that is what we will do.”
“I’m pretty sure the Master told us that we had to train each other, which means at least half of this session will involve you listening to me.”
“I don’t think so.” Her voice was icy now. “This is what is going to happen. I will teach you a series of stretches and movements to increase your lower body mobility and power, and you will practice for the remaining time. At which point, we will go our separate ways. I assure you that there is nothing a dross portal scraping can teach me. Should we spar again, you will understand what I mean.”
“Funny, I reckon I taught the whole Military Strategy class something yesterday.”
“You did not. We are expected to show our knowledge of the first-year syllabus in those tests. We have not yet covered advanced tactics.”
I belly-laughed at that. “Ah that’s brilliant. What a comeback! Is that the excuse you’re going to use when the Xeo come back?”
“You think to mock me?”
I shrugged. “You keep setting them up, I’ll keep knocking them down.”
Confusion clouded her face.
“How about we both speak as little as possible? If you don’t want to learn from me, that’s fine. I’m more than happy to let you train me in those amazing kicks. Because while you’re a hollow shell that’s been filled with Archon propaganda of superiority, I can’t deny that your kicks were magnificent.”
Even snarling like a cornered honey badger, she was still incredibly beautiful. It was a peculiar sensation to look at someone so fit and attractive and yet feel no physical attraction. It was like observing a beautiful picture painted by a serial killer.
“Hollow shell!” She hissed. “Hollow shell!” All her carefully manicured composure was gone now as she stalked towards me. “You know nothing of me! Nothing of my hopes and dreams, nor of my struggles!”
I’d obviously touched a nerve, and she looked ready to do violence. I braced for impact, but still stood my ground as she came far too close for comfort.
“You know,” I said with a calm I didn’t feel. “You’ve judged me from the first meeting and every other since. The main difference between us is that you’ve got absolutely nothing to base your judgment on. Whereas you’ve given me plenty of fucking reasons to detest you.”
Her face contorted from anger to shock. “That is not true.”
“Come on then, hit me with it. Why do you hate me so much? What did I do apart from not being an Archon, of course.”
“You… are of House Garazal! That is reason enough. Our houses have a long and turbulent history.”
“You were rude before you knew I was owned by House Garazal.”
She thought about it and shook her head again. “No, that’s not true. The receptionist told me as soon as I arrived.”
“You looked at me like a piece of shit and said, ‘What madness is this? A Level 16 introduced so late in the year?’” I raised a questioning eyebrow. “Remember? Because, believe it or not, Aeloria, while I haven’t got a photographic memory, I remember our first interaction painfully well.”
“I have every right to be upset that newcomers are admitted in the middle of the year. It is very unfair to all of the other students and reeks of corruption.”
I held up a hand and extended my index finger. “One: I was kidnapped by House Garazal. It had nothing to do with me. Two: I was put here after being tortured for three cycles. It had nothing to do with me. Three: Just because you aren’t happy about a situation, that doesn’t absolve you of basic manners. You knew nothing about me.”
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“You were rude and wouldn’t speak. Then I caught you breaking curfew with the Velorian.”
I sighed. “You need to play back our interactions through neutral eyes and see if you still hold to those beliefs. For now, we’re stuck here, but we have plenty in common, so shall we train?”
“What do we have in common?”
I shrugged. “Easy. We both hate each other. We both hate House Garazal. And we both wish I wasn’t in this academy.”
That gave her pause. I didn’t know what was going to come out of her mouth next, but I’d said all I was willing to say. I was ready to walk out.
“We will start with stretches.” She kneeled down on the hard wooden floor, ass resting on ankles.
Not what I was expecting, but I attempted to follow suit. It didn’t work out quite so well for me, as tight thigh muscles and hips meant that my own ass was hovering a half an inch from my heels. After a few seconds of gentle bouncing, I managed to touch down, but the strain across my thighs was pretty grim.
“Bring one leg out in front of you like this.” She raised her left leg out to the side at almost a right angle, extended it at the knee until it was straight and then slowly but steadily brought it around to the front so that her toes were pointing toward me.
I laughed. “Are you mad? There’s literally no way I can do that.”
Fury crossed her face once again. “I am not mad! But if you continue your laughter and disrespect, that could change.”
“No disrespect intended. But just sitting like this is hard enough for me. You’re gonna have to roll it way back.”
“Is it some kind of racial deficiency that you are so inflexible?” She sounded annoyed but also mildly curious.
“Nope. Plenty of super flexible humans. I’m just not one of them, and I think it probably comes down to me never having trained to do it. That move is like a power lifter giving his weight training lifts to a toddler. All that to say, there’s no way I can do that exercise.”
“It isn’t an exercise. It was a stretch, you moron.”
“Are you sure it’s me who’s the moron?” I shot back.
“I can’t do this,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t do this,” she repeated, her voice trembling with indignant rage. “And I don’t have to. I agreed out of respect for Master Yoshun, but I see how little respect he showed me by asking me to do this. I will be reporting this travesty to my father.”
She stood up and marched off, and I was happy to see her go. Which is why I was as surprised as her when I opened my mouth again.
“I wish I had a powerful father I could cry to every time an uncomfortable situation came up. Hell, I wouldn’t have bothered having to develop any resilience at all if I did. “
She spun, eyes wide, nostrils flared. “What did you say to me?”
“Just making an observation to myself,” I replied.
“It’s not uncomfortable! It is beneath me!”
“Fair enough. Thanks for coming.”
She stormed off, and I stood there watching as she barged through the door and continued to stare at it for another minute, wondering if I should just leave as well. I decided not to. I still needed to learn flexibility if I was going to be able to navigate the Unarmed Combat class, and I didn’t want any trouble off Master Yoshun.
After about fifteen minutes of doing various different lunges and pathetic attempts at yoga moves I’d learned from an ex-girlfriend, I heard the door to the gym swing open. I collapsed out of a pigeon pose and looked to see who had arrived.
Deep down, I expected Master Yoshun coming to chew me out. Maybe even the Dean.
Anyone but a stern-faced Aeloria. “You’re doing those stretches wrong. You will never develop flexibility in that way.”
“Okay,” I said, genuinely at a loss. “So what would you suggest?”
“We will do dynamic stretches that push you to your limit. As you can’t heal yourself, I will do it for you until you learn.”
I was blown away that she would offer to both train and heal me after the way she left. Thankfully, she didn’t need to do all the heavy lifting. “I’ve already learned to heal, thanks.”
“You have? I suppose rooming with Ressa Nessoran will have its advantages.”
“It certainly does,” I agreed.
We didn’t speak any more about who was best, who was right or who was wrong as she took me methodically through a series of stretches. I was relieved to see that she didn’t intend to damage me on every single stretch, but after half an hour, it was clear that I would be practicing my healing regularly.
After an hour of nonstop work, I was exhausted, but I also couldn’t believe the difference in my hips and lower legs. I’d never thought I’d had a problem moving before. I’d always felt strong, fast, and powerful. But after those stretches, I felt free. Like I could leap a half mile in the air without effort. Still, I was happy to bring that part of the morning to an end.
“I think you have loosened up enough to attempt some kicking. The main thing you need to make sure of is to maintain a strong stance with your weight evenly distributed. I know you know how to maintain a strong guard to keep your face protected, so I don’t think we need to cover that.”
I nodded, not wanting to speak and cause another battle of wills. She seemed happy with that.
“Our kicks come at different heights and angles, but you need to understand the difference between powerful strikes with follow-through, and snap kicks that are delivered with speed, designed to probe your opponent for weakness. Once you find one, then you can use a more powerful kick. We’ll begin with the front kick. Raise your knee to your chest.”
She demonstrated the motion, and I followed suit, doing my best to match her form. I listened intently as she walked me through each stage, and once she had finished, I repeated the movement.
Without any emotion on her face, she nodded her approval. “Good, but now let’s add some power. Power in a kick comes from the hips. You need to rotate and drive from your core. That’s where the force is generated,” she explained.
I gave it another go and received another nod of encouragement.
“Not as awful as I was expecting. Your technique needs work, but that will come with time. Let’s move on to a roundhouse kick. This is one of the most effective kicks you’ll learn, a powerful strike that can come from a variety of angles. It’s all about timing, control, and using your hips properly.”
She stepped back and demonstrated, her movement fluid yet controlled, with a speed that almost made it look effortless. I watched carefully as she raised her knee, then pivoted on her standing foot, her leg sweeping out in a perfect arc.
She demonstrated again, and I could see how the full rotation of her body contributed to the power of the kick.
“Make sure your torso turns with your action. Think of it like winding up a spring before releasing it.”
“I won’t be able to kick that high,” I warned, “but I’ll go as high as I can.”
“Stay within your comfort zone. A solid kick to ribs is just as useful as a kick to the head.”
I tried to mimic her motion, trying to sync my pivot with the swing of my leg.
“Your stance is too wide,” she said, watching my form. All earlier traces of dislike had gone, replaced with the eager efficiency of a teacher. “Keep your balance centered. You want to make sure you’re not over-committing, or you’ll leave yourself open for a counterattack. Remember, the roundhouse kick is about precision. The more accurate your strike, the less power you need.”
Bringing my feet in a little, I focused on adjusting my pivot, trying to turn my hips with more force. It felt much better, and I made the mistake at smiling at the result.
“Too slow. And too wide,” she remarked. “I want to see more snap.”
I repeated the kick under her watchful gaze another three times. On the fourth, I noticed her look to the clock on the wall.
As I returned to my stance, she held up a hand. “That is the end of our lesson. It is a shame to end here as you are progressing well, but I must not be late for hall monitoring duty.”
A shame? Progressing well? Be still my swooning heart!
“We might not have gotten off to a good start, but I’m glad you came back. If nothing else, you’re a good teacher, Aeloria.” The condescension was back on her face, but I continued. “I hope at some point, my own experiences might help you.”
The confusion turned to disdain, and I cursed myself for even trying. Before she could begin another tirade, I snatched up my water bottle and headed out of the gym. I could feel her eyes boring into my back all the way to the door.
