Chapter 14 - First match against your trauma

So Crisnée and Vivianne became best friends. Alright. But that’s not the only thing that happened.

With three children wielding Shi, the city guards had finally accepted to provide a Shi instructor, assigning them to teach the kids.

Who?

Nicklass. You know, the one that tested me, some days after I was born, to see if I had something special going on, and who found nothing? (Because it’s all in the head, my head mufufu~).

Yeah so, around a week after new year the celebration of the gates, around a week and a half before Crisnée said her fated words to Vivianne, Nicklass had started teaching Shi in general to little brats.

Why didn’t they do it before?

Because training one or two kids wasn’t seen as good enough to immobilise one of the few people that could deal properly with monsters and, in particular, with monsters over a certain threshold of power.

Then why Nicklass?

Because he was the weakest of them.

They had like, three girls, who were the spearhead of both the defence and offence of the city, then seven other guys with decreasing level of power, with Nicklass at the bottom of their food chain rank.

So by the start of the second week of January, lessons were now cut in two.

Sir Gregory would talk about common matters, how to behave yourself in face of nobility, how to write, how to count, how to talk courteously, how to keep a healthy body, those kinds of things.

The Nicklass would teach what Shi was, how to wield it, how to reinforce it, what were its limitations and its rules.

Gregory had three days of teaching a week, and Nicklass had the last two.

Since Vi had started to take me with her to their training, with the approval of Mom and Dad (and a bottle of milk, as well as a, ehrm, a spare diaper), I could now watch them training.

“What is Shi?” This was the very first training, and everyone was sitting, cross-legged, on the ground of the barracks' training room, where Nicklass had taken us to, well, to train.

I was between Crisnée’s leg this time, the young lady having shily displayed the wish to take care of me.

“Oh, I know, I know!” Noa had directly raised his hand to answer the question.

“That’s good. And you two?”

“Yes.”

“Uhn”

Both giving a laconic answer, in their own style.

“Good. Noa, can you give me an answer?”

“Yes! Shi is our vital force!”

The old guard smiled, accentuating his wrinkles.

“It is, in a way, true, but only partially. Shi is the Power of Life, it’s something emanating of life, not life itself. If it was, you would die by taking it out of your body, right? Just like blood.”

“Ah?” Noa had been the only one to make a surprised sound, but the three of them cocked their head nearly at the same time.

“Ahahah, don’t make this kind of face, I’ll explain myself. Shi is indeed linked to your life force but, just like the power of your muscle, the power of your Shi is a by-product of life force, not life force itself. And, just like muscles, you can exert Shi to change the world around yourself. It’s one of the way life force has to modify the world, one of its tools. Everyone has Shi, just like everyone has muscle. The difference here lies in the fact that only few people can use their Shi. You, my young pupil, have awakened this ability.”

I’m not sure they were entirely following, since they were just children, and all of this was a bit abstract.

You’re sure this guy is qualified to teach my protégées?

Don’t bicker. Remember, if you don’t know shit about a subject…

...You shut the hell up and let the specialist handle the matter. That is very right. Thanks Psaï.

You’re welcome.

“And now, you need to understand it.” He stood up.

“Shi is an extension of your body. You can bend it, change it, manipulate it just like you do with your muscles. And just like with your muscles, you’ll need to learn.” He pointed at me.

“Does a baby know how to walk the first minute after its birth?”

“...No?” Answered timidly Noa.

“And can your little sister, now a bit more than three months old, already walk, talk or use tools?”

“No. Of course not.”

“Good. Now, think like that. As for Shi, you three are just babies, newborns who don’t understand nor can control your new muscle called Shi. It is weak and useless, for now. And, just like your baby sister, you’ll need to use it again and again and again so that your instinct can make it move just like you move your muscles. Understood?”

“”“Yes!”””

Maybe he is competent after all?

Shut up and keep watching, stop worrying.

Yes yes.

***

The rest of the day went great, Nicklass giving their fist few exercises to do. In particular, two of them that they should try to do as much as possible, even at home.

The first was trying to materialise as much Shi as possible in your hand, taking it back and repeating it. This was pure strength training.

The second was a bit more tricky. You should materialise an amount of Shi you were comfortable with, then try to give it a familiar shape. It was to train flexibility and instinctive shaping.

For this one, Noa was trying to give his Shi the shape of… Vivianne. Well, it was true that the twins were the most familiar with each other, but still, it was funny. In fact, we understood he was trying to recreate Vivianne when, after the sixth attempt, Nicklass asked him what he tried to do.

I did not see what Crisnée was trying to make, and for Vi, I think I have my idea, but I wasn’t entirely sure, and Nicklass didn’t bother asking.

The twins and Crisnée kept doing those two exercises even when their training day was officially over. They were so excited about it that Mom and Dad, once we were back home, had forbidden to do them while eating. Even more since it needed quite the focus, focus the twins needed to feed each other, since they each had only a set of cutlery for the two of them.

Yes, they were still doing it nearly two months after Vi’s incident. They liked it and it helped Vi, so that was quite good actually.

Also, surprise, Crisnée was now eating with us one out of two days, in her attempt to familiarise herself with our little family. After that, she would go back to sleep at home, but I felt that we were only one step away from her actually sleeping here. Her dad had asked her to make an effort mingling with us, and she sure was devoted to her task, even if she didn’t talk that much, for the reason I’ve already exposed.

Finally, bedtime. Since the first time Noa came to sleep with me and Vi, he did it every night. I guess that he needed some human warmth.

Wait. Wait-wait-wait-wait. How the fuck am I able to survive sleeping with those two, or even just with one of them? Shouldn’t I have been crushed long ago?

Yes. I made sure that it did not happen.

...What?

I used levitation and telekinesis to keep Vivianne, and at time Noa to crush you or to make you fall from the bed, or to make you suffocate by mistake.

...Wow. W-when do you sleep?

During the day, when you’re awake or when we’re in a secure environment.

...I will never stop being impressed in you, that’s for sure.

Thank you, mom.

Mufufu you’re welcome~.

***

Between Crisnée's and Vi's blooming friendship, and their Shi training, this month had been interesting and peaceful, the best kind of- Wait. Peaceful? Hahaha what a joke.

I mean. Yeah, everything had been peaceful up to the end of the month.

Sometimes I still stayed with Mom, in her workshop, most of the time Vi took me with her to their training.

Meredith passed by the house to check on Vi, still clueless about why she was alive and why her eyes were now like that. Etc.

But then.

A day like another.

The 28th of January I think.

BOOM. There you go peacefulness, shattered like my dream of tranquillity. AGAIN.

“Auuuuuuum!” A powerful foghorn had been blown. Some kind of signal, for sure, but not one I recognised. Nor the three other brats, in fact.

However, the way Nicklass’ face had turned pale, I had a hunch that he knew what was going on.

“Follow me!” He had sprung into action and, when he saw the kids’ bewildered gaze and their lack of reaction, he added. “NOW! With me!”

Shaken by the blunt way their teacher was behaving, they finally snapped out of their dazed state and quickly followed him.

The barracks wasn’t far from the main gate of the wall. In a city full of timber-framed houses, I must say that a 10 metres-high stone wall really made an impression.

And now, on top of this big wall, you could vaguely see people fighting, erhm… fighting… things? I couldn’t see from where I was.

“Fuck.”

Wow, did he just curse?

He did. Then it’s pretty bad.

Yes! Prepare for battle!

Already doing it.

For the first time since I had reincarnated, my battle hud started appearing ag-

Where is my B-hud?

You don’t have your retinal modification anymore, I can’t display your hud properly without showing it to everyone around.

Fuck. I’ll do without it then, but only as long as I can.

Copy.

“Back in!” We had just exited the barracks, from which reserve guards were now rushing out, but Nicklass made us go back in right away.

“T-teacher, w-what’s happening?” Asked Crisnée, her voice shaking from fear and uncertainty.

“A horde of monsters is attacking the city, and we can’t go back to your houses.” He looked around quickly and then decided a way forward.

“Which means you’ll have to safely stay in the barracks until I come back to get you, understood?”

“Y-yes?”

He navigated the inside of the building, taking a stair down and stopping in a dusty room.

All around us, there were racks upon racks for weapons storage, most of them empty by now.

“Stay here, don’t move, don’t touch anything and don’t make a sound! Understood?”

“”“Y-yes!”””

“Good. I’ll come back as fast as I can.” He gave us a last look before rushing through the door, closing it behind him. Then…

Then, we waited. And it was boring and stressful because of the noises coming from the battle, however faint they were.

Waiting.

And waiting.

And…

…

I fell asleep in Crisnée’s arms, and woke up a bit later. Half-an-hour later, to be precise.

The murmur of battle had become really faint, so faint that just breathing was enough to have difficulties hearing it.

We were all packed together, Vi, Crisnée, Noa and me, to reassure ourselves mostly.

Noa had his eyes closed hard, and Vi was squeezing her stump with too much strength. Crisnée was immobile, like an animal waiting for something, anything, to happen.

Then, in the silent barracks, we started hearing footsteps. Only, they couldn’t have been from human foot, not with the “taca-taca-taca…” they were making. It was as if someone was striking needles on some rock, tens of needles.

I felt everyone tense up, and I myself did the metaphorical equivalent of putting your finger on the trigger, which was starting to build an offensive spell.

You know the “chac-chac!” shotguns make when you pump them? This was my mood.

The door trambled, the doorknob turned, and something started entering the room.

STOP!

What?!

Jeez, wait to see if it’s an enemy, for fuck’s sake!

Alright alright!

I had nearly pulverised the thing at the very moment the door had started opening.

The thing was a… a spider. A giant spider, big like a shepherd dog, its yellow and black hair screaming POISONOUS to anyone not too dumb to disregard it.

As soon as it showed, Vi started stepping back, taking the others with her in her motion.

How about now?!

Wait!

Argh okay! But why?

Watch!

It was not a spider per se, since this thing had twelve legs, four coming out of her back.

It stopped a second to look at us, then started to move again, this time aggressively.

And then, Vi did something that surprised me. Facing this aggressivity, instead of stepping back even more, her hair started bristling, like a menaced cat.

The pseudo-spider stopped dead in its track, and its own hair started bristling too.

Vi made a scowl with a “Shhhh!” sound and took a heavy step forward. Reacting, the pseudo-spider took a step back but then, as if it snapped out of its trance, it took two steps forward again.

If it wasn’t for Psaï nearly strangling me down, the poor creature would have been burned to a crisp at the very moment.

Two venomous fangs exited the mandibles the creature had around its mouth, and it started making the same sound as Vi, to which she answered by making her sound louder, taking another heavy step, and taking out her own poison-covered fangs.

Wait. Her whaaaaat?

And indeed, from the side of Vi’s mouth, two mini-tiny poisonous fangs had sprung, mimicking the spider’s one.

It’s an individual from the same specie that took Vivianne’s hand. I think the spider is seeing Vi as one of their own. They’re making an intimidation duel, and if I’m right, the prize is us, Noa, you and Crisnée.

Then let’s blast it now!

No! Look at Vi!

I looked at Vi, per Psaï’s instruction and…

...Wow. She’s very confident.

Yes. We should let this go ‘till it’s dangerous or ended, it may help her deal with her trauma and accept her own changes.

Maybe. Or it will mess her up even more.

Then watch and see.

...Okay.

This little circus kept going for another good five minutes, the pseudo-spider lowering its head more and more until, suddenly, Vi jumped on her and bit its head, a bit over its eyes. She punctured the flesh with her baby-fangs and you could see poison being injected. In a second it was done.

Vi took a step back, her fangs retracting, looking dazed, as if she just woke up from a dream.

And the pseudo-spider… was alive.

Looking at it, Vi nearly took a step back but got a grip on herself. She touched her mouth, around the place from where the fangs exited, feeling her cheeks and jaw, caressing the place where the fangs had surely retracted.

She then looked toward the pseudo-spider and made a fist. Then, she made a gesture with it toward the ground, and the pseudo-spider meekly followed the order and laid on the ground without moving.

What?

What?

What just happened?

We were so surprised that Psaï and I fused accidentally.