Edited by: Deimos, tommyjl7

This part of training wasn’t supposed to actually exhaust you, more to teach you to hold the right stance. Still, with a student as dumb as myself that somehow couldn’t just keep the stance it also became exhausting.

- “You are still bringing your legs closer…” my new teacher would point out

- “Sorry, I am just used to live comfortably, so I switch my posture to put as little pressure on my body as possible.”

- “To live comfortably you have to live in the very first place. Look, when you stand like this your opponent can just…”

Then he proceed to push his spear between my legs (no, nothing dirty you pervs!) and swipe his weapon to the side. Because of the location of the center of weight I ended on my backs.

- “If your legs would be spread further, you would just earn a little bruise. Now, I can finish you…” he said pointing the tip of the spear on my throat.

After a second he withdraw his weapon and helped me get up.

- “I know. It’s just…”

- “You are still making progress faster than more elves. Maybe it has something doing with you being a human?”

- “And how would that affect my studying speed?” I asked removing dust from my clothes. Or speaking precisely - trousers.

- “Your lives are short. An Elf would spend a whole day mastering the placement of only one limb in this posture. I myself was repeating only this one stance for over a month before I could… not-fuck-it up. Humans, on the other hand, are always in a rush. You aren’t studying knowledge. You are devouring it. Swallowing it. Pushing it in your head, not even to understand, just to utilize and use. Instead of focusing on perfecting every move, every gesture one by one, you just abuse it, trying to force your whole body into perfection from the start. Unfortunately, this method is doomed to fail. Yes, your training will bear fruits faster, but you will never achieve the perfection you yearn for. Not if you continue studying this way.”

- “Do humans have any other option?” I asked with sorrow in my voice “… just look at them. They are restricted to their own life to achieve what they wish. For what you view as chaos, I view as desperation and determination. The clock is ticking. For you, each passing second is a second you devoted to self-mastering. For them, every second that passed is a second that is lost. But, despite it, despite this imperfection, aren’t they at the top of world hierarchy?”

- “Yes, mostly because of their fertility and…”

- “Goblins are even more fertile, yet they are at the very bottom. Why? Because they, the humans, are not chaotic. They are balanced, my friend. Or, maybe, Aira gave them such a short lifespan, because she knew what they could achieve if they were to live a decade longer? Century longer?... but, there is one more reason why they will never reach higher planes of existence, a higher level of communication.”

- “Greed.” My conversation partner said

- “Indeed. They would always work for their own benefits. This is why forming any stronger relations between…”

- “DIEEEEE!”

Our wonderful sociological dispute was disturbed by war cry of certain dragoness. The two of them were fighting for almost an hour by now.

She brought her sword down, Mavik raised his blade over a slant, letting Giselle’s attack slip down. He rotated his body and swept from the side, the dragoness quickly raised her weapon again, blocking it. As soon as their blades crossed she pushed with her whole body weight making the elf fall on the ground.

Once again she raised her weapon to break all of the elf’s ribs. Yet once again the elf saved himself by rolling to the safety.

- “Should we stop them?” I asked. Oh, I did enjoy seeing Giselle wasting her time on somebody else, just as I enjoyed watching this talkative elf getting his ass kicked, but Giselle was slowly losing herself.

- “Well, your friends looks quite exhausted so…”

- “Giselle won’t stop fighting because of tiredness. She is a berserker, she doesn’t even feel tiredness. She will stand as long as her opponent. You can easily say that her anger is keeping her standing.”

- “In that case, please do.”

Devris nodded.

- “Oh, sweet mother, who embrace me tight,

Keep those away, from the violence of fight,

Raise your petals, your branches and flowers,

Your touches splits castles, kill armies and break towers.

Rise, Garden of Madness”

Using spear as staff I raised it over my head and hit the ground. I gave life to a single seed under my feet that started growing rapidly.

A single sprout started greening and twisting itself into the ground. It rooted in, spreading under the ground. I saw its life force. It was beautiful, wrong, but so wonderful at the very same time. This artificial life looked differently from every other living being. It was… dulled. Hallow somehow, allowed to live just those few moments without me aiding it. Merely a tool that bloomed to do its task and die.

When roots covered most of glades, it erupted from the ground as powerful thorny vines between elf and dragoness separating them. Thorns twisted and curled creating impossible to pass wall.

- “ZARI! What are you doing!?” Giselle wasn’t delighted with the fact that I stopped her fun “… I was about to smash this little roach!”

- “Ha! Is this bitch still asleep?! Who was about to smash who!? That bitch-boy of yours saves your ass in very last moment!”

- “Zari. Put that down. I will quickly twist his neck and…”

Plant-tentacles grabbed them by their legs, raised a little in the air and… slapped them on the ground pushing air out of their lungs.

- “Both of you. Calm down.”

- “FUCK YOU!” they both yelled in unison

- “Now, Giselle, don’t you think you are better than this?”

- “Um? What? No, I don’t!”

- “And you Mavik, isn’t there an old elvish saying, that

- “What the… I have never heard of an elf that would say such completely stupid thing!”

- “Oh, better remember it, for your own good. Now, I will count to three, and release you. And you will be nice to each other. Ok? Or at least you won’t try killing the other one. One… two… three!”

Tentacles dropped them back on the ground. As soon as they were down they gazed on each other with hate.

- “Don’t even think about it…” Giselle hissed.

- “About what? That I clearly won?”

- “Just look at your face!”

- “Just a flesh wound!”

- “A fle… I will reduce your very existence into nothing more than a flesh wound!”

And here they go again. I quickly looked at Lanele. She nodded slightly.

- “Giselle, make one more move and I will do everything i can to ensure you wouldn’t get a supper.”

- “Mavik, if you won’t stop this madness, you will spend this night in the stable.” Priestess called with a calm voice.

- “What?!” once again. A cry of perfect synergy.

- “You can’t possibly do that!” Dragoness yelled.

- “I could buy every meat in the inn and order them to get rid of it. You will be forced to eat only boiled vegetables.”

- “Now, now, Miss Lanele! You couldn’t humiliate your friends this way!” Mavik had his own conversation with silver haired girl

- “All I have to do is to ask Devris to kick your things out of the room. You think he would refuse?”

Oh, terror of hunger in Giselle eyes, fear of humiliation in Mavik’s. In the very end they both are very simple beings.

- “Hmph. I could never admit that end of duel with this Half-ling ended with anything but victory of mine… But I could forget that I fought with it in the very beginning.” Swordsman said aloud.

- “Agreed. There is no glory in butchering some itty-bitty-tinny root sucker…. So Zari. I am done with him, it’s time for you…” she made a step in my direction, yet slipped and fell.

I looked at Devris

- “Her exhaustion will start kicking in now. Could I ask you to… escort her to the inn.”

- “And what about you?”

I looked over the glade. The day was still young.

- “I will try training that stance of your for few more minutes… then, I will play a little with magic.”

- “I think it can be arranged. But your woman will not like it.”

- “I have already spoiled her today, so she should be just fine. Just make sure she gets her dinner and everything should be fine.”

- “If you say so.”

I returned to the stance and once again started performing swipes and thrusts as I watched the group of elves picking up their gear and leaving, together with Giselle that had just a little trouble with walking.

Before they left I only managed to hear.

- “Oh, I definitely don’t want to pick a fight here, but just look which one of us had problems with walking?”

- “Oh, I also don’t want to break your illusion of reality, but if we were allowed to continue, you would be the one who’s strength failed them faster.”

- “Oh, not that I want to…”

- “Both of you, shut up.” Devris once again stopped another pointless quarrel.

Group of elves – Guild

- “Welcome ba….” The receptionist started the greeting seeing group of adventurers returning to the guild, yet she stopped seeing faces of two certain guild members “… Miss Giselle! Mr. Mavik! What happened to you!”

- “I slipped.” Mavik said

- “Mosquito bit me.” Giselle answered

- “I s-see. Well, do you want me to prepare the ambulatory room?”

- “Why? Just because I tore a little of my skin?”

- “No. That bite isn’t even itching.”

Oh, both of them looked as if they decided to brawl with a cave bear. Did they fall in some trap and feel humiliated? No, they didn’t pick any quests.

- “Some of us need to take a bath, that will be all… but would you be nice and ask a cook to start preparing some food for us? We will be in the inn section in a minute or two so…” Lanele asked politely. Well, usually staff members do not run over the guild doing errands for adventurers, but they really do look as if they day was bit rough so…

- “I will see what I can do.”

- “Thank you very much. We appreciate it.”

Priestess lowered her head with gratitude.

A few moments later.

The group of elves were sitting by the table waiting for the dinner to arrive.

- “Giselle didn’t come?” Priestess asked with concern in her voice

- “No, she said that she just need a little rest, so she is going to the room… If you ask me she didn’t want to sit by same table with Mavik.” Hexblade elf girl answered

- “Another woman that can’t stand your company, Mavik.” Lancer said with calm tone.

- “Tsk. That’s only better. Her presence would only make me lose my appetite…”

An awkward silence took over their little gathering

- “So… what do you think about them?” Lanele eventually asked.

- “What can we think about some second-grade…” Swordsman started, yet punch in the guts from Devris made him stop.

- “Actually, I can easily tell now why you are so interested with them. Indeed, the female is very… lively and pure.” He then spoke his own mind.

- “And what about Zariel?”

- “He is…” lancer was looking for right words “… odd. Weird. Irregular. Also, he addresses humans as . I think he was treated as an outsider. He mentioned having some skills, that he himself considered disgusting… that would add to what Giselle told us about him.”

- “I see… he is actually quite a tragic character, isn’t he?” hexblade whispered quietly

- “Still, he boasted a little about himself… He said that if he would use those powers, he would win with me, bah, he said I would stand no chances.” Devris smiled a little.

- “Arrogant bastard!” Mavik hit the table with his fist.

- “Actually, I believed him. Lanele, I think that if you wish to leave us…”

- “You are saying that as if we are not going to see each other for ages…”

- “… abandon us, push us aside, as some broken toys…”

Priestess rolled her eyes and snickered

- “… then feel free to do so. They are competent fighters and looks to be decent living beings. Also, the fact that Zariel is a druid can be used as a formal reason for you to abandon us. In the end, the Three Moons are approaching, aren’t they?”

- “Yes. I wonder, should we attend the Sabbath?” Silver haired wasn’t so sure about it.

- “As long as you the two of you wouldn’t… you know.”

- “Devris!”

- “What? In the end it’s a festival of fertility. We all know what witches do during such Sabbaths.”

- “One. Not all of them, Two, it’s not true!” She laughed “… still, the journey to the Bald Mountain? I am not so sure about that.”

Lanele bit her lip and looked over a window with melancholic expression.