“Battle...begin!”

Reco ran past my side, swinging her flail towards my unguarded face as she did, forcing me to jump back in shock. She spun like on ice as she stopped.

I knew Reco had [into the fray], which was useless right now, [acrobatics tier 5], which she wasn’t going to use to its fullest extent as a handicap, and something to make herself spin quick. From my [observation] of her, I knew this statline:

Reco: Age: 28

Class: [fray diver] [?] [?]([visibility] reduced?!)

Race: [human]

Level: 24

Stats: Str: 20? Dex: 20? Con: 15-20? Wis: 12? Int: 12? Cha: 18?

Inherent skills: [fast learner]

Trained skills(17 max): [into the fray] [quick healing](she told me she had it after her fight with Reginold) [acrobatics tier 5] [anti-grapple] [duelist]? [deadly charm]? [unarmed attacker tier ?]? [balance tier ?]? [quick spins]?

Note: I’ve done research on skills before, so I know a couple from that time. Others I just made up to explain things, like her super fast spinning.

Magics: [untrained]?

I knew how Reco fought without her flail, but I didn’t know how she fought with it or if she had the skill to support it. I had to keep fighting her to learn more.

I pressed the attack against her, swiping at Reco from a safe distance. Since I had more reach, she spun out of the way and swung at me again, forcing me to back off. We traded blows once more, taking the same actions exactly, except this time, Reco kept spinning and threw it at me, having closed the distance between us, forcing me to parry.

I swung the side of my blade at the flail, only for the ball to wrap around my sword. Reco tried to disarm me, pulling her flail back, but I realized my mistake quick enough to lean in to pull my sword out. Now just a foot from Reco, I anticipated a swing of her flail from above and held my guard up against it.

“Missed your chance!” Reco said as she punched me with her left arm, straight into my ribcage, sending me reeling, my breath knocked from me. “A good fighter should be aware of more than just the enemy’s weapon, but also their temperament...”

I knew that, damn it!

“At all times!” she finished, predicting my thought process. I met her eyes with frustration, only to panicked block her flail’s next attack, making sure to only parry the ball itself. I managed to block it, but the impact reverberated through my sword, rattling my arm and making me back off in misguided uncertainty.

“You’re good for a rookie, but I don’t see how you were so good against those [cobold]s. Don’t tell me you relied on your skills that much!” Reco looked down on me with a grin that made me want to tear her down.

Fine, if you want it that way, I’ll make it that way.

I roared aloud and jabbed at Reco, my foot poised to launch me to the right at a moment’s notice. Reco swung down from the right, so I ducked under and sprang in the same direction, changing my feint into a short-distance cut towards her belly.

She would, of course, dance out of the way whenever she felt threatened.

And she did, dodging my attack with a spin, giving her flail more than enough momentum to keep me at bay with a zoning, low-hanging swipe.

I jabbed towards her, above her attack, expecting her to spin away once more.

My attack had fulfilled its purpose when she did just that, as jabbing had left me closer to her than her spin had made me far. I turned the jab into a simple two-handed, right-to-left swing, guessing she would overestimate my attack.

Instead, as she ended her spin, her flail came from overhead and slammed my sword’s point into the dust.

My guess had failed.

“Have you considered being a [sword gamer]? I think you’d do well with it.” Reco said, jumping back a few feet to disengage with me. “You make risky moves, but honestly, even though I can tell you’re raging mad, you made the right risky moves. Not bad, girl.”

I hadn’t lost, per-se, but it felt like I had. Every muscle in my body was on high alert, my arms and legs shaking under the pressure of being pushed to their limits.

My eyes began to feel weary as I made eye contact with Reco, and my vision cut out, dominated by black and white static as if I had stood up too quick.

“With that said, I can tell something was different that time,” Maladrain said, walking to me. “You looked much more focused, even though you were angry.” I felt his hand gently rest on my head. “With that said, it looks like you wore yourself out in no time. I get the feeling you would’ve hurt yourself if it meant ‘winning’, so I’ll remind you that all you get for beating Reco is only for brownie points.”

You gained 1 Exp for training your swordsmanship!

Experience points, actually.

Walking for seven hours a day was exhausting but simple. Maladrain had insisted when we first set off from the [cobold]’s lair that my legs would get stronger from the strain.

When I was still in the village, I practiced my sword swings in preparation to leave. It had been exhausting, at first, to spend three hours a day swinging a sword, but it eventually got easy.

When I had told him about my experience, he said it was called ‘exercise’ and that the [human] body repairs itself stronger each time you get exhausted, which I kinda already knew, but just hadn’t really thought about.

And, now, I was really starting to feel stronger. Even with Cobaltio on my back(since I had to give him some time to rest), walking for so long was hardly an issue. Maybe it was just my higher strength surprising me, though.

It also turned out that the refined cobalt I had been given gave Cobaltio 8 Exp a pop, so over the three days we had spent going to the capital, he had gained 24 Exp.

I learned more about the state of the world as I walked with Reco and Maladrain and then trained some more with Maladrain. It was much easier to take risks with strong chaperones, as much as I didn’t want to admit it.

And, eventually, the third of four days calmed down as we settled down and got ready to sleep.

“Hey, Saya?” Reco said, polishing one of her daggers on a whetstone as we sat around a dimming fire late in the night, just a half-day from the capital. “Could you get us some firewood? It isn’t advisable to polish blades in the dark.”

I began to stand from my [life cusion] seat, only to be interrupted by Maladrain, who was laying atop his bedsheets. “Reco, why don’t we just call it a night. I don’t want to send Saya out of the camp this late.”

Reco looked at him with tired distaste. “Seriously, do you think you’re her dad or something?”

“No, I think it is dangerous to be out late in the nigh-”

I could damn well handle myself! With a grunt of dismissal, I stubbornly began to walk towards the treeline, and Cobaltio followed without question, at least once the cushion retreated to my hair.

“Saya!?” He said, seemingly in disbelief of my fairly predictable choice.

“Oh, shut it, Mal. She’s thirteen and almost level ten.” Reco said, the unusual lack of passion behind the words making them sound scathing.

“Those woods are pitch black, how-”

“Moonlight, Maladrain, it’s lit by moonlight...” I got out of earshot, eventually, and began picking up sticks, my heart beating quickly from my building frustration towards Maladrain. Ever since we had arrived at Hannem, he was more protective, or at least it felt like it. In just a few weeks(I wasn’t sure when it would be), I would be a part of an expedition into a dangerous mine, and he was acting like I was some defenseless kid. I had saved his life, too.

The only person who needs protection is you. I thought irrationally, slamming a stick against a nearby tree.

After I picked up the stick, I sighed. I didn’t even know why I was even getting mad over it. It wouldn’t be long before we parted ways for a while, so it didn’t really matter whether or not I was babied for the time we would be.

It just frustrated me.

Reco was like me, too. She seemed to understand, but Maladrain...

He didn’t get it. I had been coddled my whole life, never given the chance to do anything but what was safe, what was easy. I wanted to be able to choose where my life went, not to be pushed around by people who thought they knew what I wanted better than I did.

I turned to see Cobaltio look up to me for praise with a bundle of sticks in his mouth.

Aww, he was learning! He had also tried to write on my slate earlier -to no avail, since it was soulbound to me alone- but it was clear Cobaltio’s smarts were impressive. I leaned down to pat him, my anger sealed away by the little guy.

I guess I was warming up to him...

I’m...not sure if that counts as a pun about dragons, campfires, or exercise.

I heard the top of a nearby tree shake and a branch fall -click* clack*- down to the ground, so I crouch-walked and picked it up.

Grrrrrr...

I turned my head to see Cobaltio looking up, growling predatorily. Then, I followed his gaze.

I saw two eyes, shining platinum under the moonlight, leering down at me from the treetop.

I froze onsight, my instincts kicking in. What was it?!

Cobaltio began to yap at the creature, and the eyes followed, taking stock of him as well.

As I looked closer, I began to see its contours: the body, which was almost as large as me, the wings, three times the size of its body, the pale, white, leathery skin, the jutting-out head, and the mohawk. It was a [wyvern], the same one I had seen at the [cobold] lair.

Just as I unsheathed my sword, it swooped down towards Cobaltio.

Why?!

Gritting my teeth and eyes widening in fear, I put myself between the beast and my pet, sword outstretched. It turned midair to keep its neck and head away from my blade and crashed into me, unafraid.

I met its torso with a two-handed thrust, putting all of my body and power into impaling the beast.

If it were an ordinary [wyvern], it might have seriously injured it. However, its Con was clearly high, as my blade only barely managed to penetrate its hide and made it half a foot into its body before I was thrown to the ground by its sheer momentum.

I lounged to pick up my sword as Cobaltio shot a fireball at the creature, which made it shriek in mild annoyance but didn’t do anything to stop it from suddenly pecking at the little [drake] in a quick, precise movement of its head. Before I had the chance to retaliate, Cobaltio’s leg was clasped in its mouth, yelling as he struggled to get out.

“Help me!”

Since I had lost [seraph’s wisdom], I needed to use components for my spells, and the bag of charcoal I needed to use [flame manupulation] was at camp. Besides my sword, all I had were skills, and none particularly helpful at that. Meanwhile, the [wyvern] clearly had more stats and more bulk and must have been intelligent to boot.

Note: most spells require components, such as charcoal.

Well, I had [decapitation], and if I managed to land it...

The beast leaped off the ground, flapping its wings, with Cobaltio screaming for help, stuck in its mouth.

Pushed into a split-second decision, I threw my sword down and ran after the [wyvern], grabbing onto its tail at the last second. It flew up despite my chase, sending me above the trees in no time, clinging to its tail for dear life.

I could hardly cling on at first, but then it tried to shake me off. It began to flick its tail back and forth, and I held on even tighter. It began to swing back and forth, and I gripped even tighter. It began to dive up and down all the while, and I clung on even harder.

DAMNIT, WHY THE HELL DID I EVEN CARE ABOUT THIS DAMNED [DRAKE]?!

When it got close to a tree before pulling up, I almost slipped off its tail.

I could let go, and I may have survived, cushioned by the tree...

Except I didn’t let go. Three parts of me battled against each other, one just wanting survival, another wanting to save my pet, and the last wanting to prove...something.

I felt my muscles, torn but strengthened over the course of my journey, begin to pulse with jitters of unresponsiveness, my control over my own body was failing me, and I couldn’t think, the rapid changes of momentum wreaking my brain with nothing more than primal instinct.

I was going to fall and die if I didn’t give up.

Then, an idea came to my head. It was so random, so unnatural and different from my other, fleeting thoughts that I wasn’t even sure if it was my own, but despite that, I followed the thought, blindly desperate to follow my ambitions.

Just as the [wyvern] flicked its tail left, I steeled myself to take the next action, not even sure if I had the strength in me, even if the idea worked. I saw the base of its tail begin to flick to the right, and made my move. I let go with one of my hands and somehow gripped even harder with the other.

Then, I was flicked to the side, dragged along with the tail. For just an instant I was given the perfect leverage to hold on, perpendicular with the tail, then throw my other arm over it just before I was thrown to the side again.

I had an arm wrapped around its tail, and that was better than a hand.

With my newly improved grip, I was able to wrap my other arm around the tail as it ascended, waiting.

Then, it did what I wanted. Clearly, it hadn’t realized what I’d done, because the sucker began to fly down again in an attempt to disorient me. Instead, I used it as an opportunity to slide up its tail, now backed up by gravity.

Now that I was at the base of its tail, it realized what I’d done and redoubled its efforts to shake me off, floundering in the air, moving left and right with frantic flaps of its massive wings.

I screamed in agony, determination, and necessitated hate as I not just held on, but climbed up its back, eventually putting a hand, then another, where its wing and neck began, the best grip I could get on the creature.

Then, its fight stabilized as it flew even higher, giving me room to breathe. I saw the [wyvern], with most of Cobaltio stuck in its mouth, look back at me with bloodlust, and I felt my stomach drop even before it did.

The creature looked forward, then took a nosedive. It turned right and kept turning.

I felt as my leg’s grip on the leathery tail was rendered pointless, and my center of gravity was dragged down until I was eventually upsidedown, dangling beneath its shoulders.

I looked backward at the creature, only to tense as it pecked at my arm. I managed to endure the pain as its beak poked a small wound in my arm. I tried to think, to find a way out, but nothing came to mind. I saw the creature reel back to peck at me once more. The trees weren’t too far beneath me. I had to let go, to abandon Cobaltio.

Then, the [wyvern] screamed. I saw Cobaltio prying himself from the [wyvern]’s slightly gaping mouth, its tongue squished between his molars, blood pouring from it onto my shirt. After the monster recollected itself, it clasped its beak even harder on Cobaltio, trying to keep him in place.

“HELP ME!” He screamed, the [drake]’s intelligent eyes looking to me for aid as he reached out to me.

Before Cobaltio was shut out again, I reached for the only grip that mattered, the one person I didn’t want to be separated from. I remembered someone else’s feelings, their sadness, their pain, their fear.

I don’t want to forget you.

My eyes focused on the [wyvern]’s eyes, and a green ribbon sprang from my hair, wrapping itself around those eyes.

The monster began to peck wildly, not understanding what was happening, and I took my opportunity right as it pecked near my hand. With all the focused dexterity I could muster, I swiped toward its snout and grabbed Cobaltio’s arm.

Then, I let go of the creature’s shoulder, taking a gamble.

Instead of falling, I dragged the creature’s head down with me, tugging on Cobaltio’s arm with the whole of my body. I could feel his claw dig into my skin, his strange thumb wrapped around my arm, his own limb being torn between the creature’s beak and my death grip as he screamed in pain. The small creature’s arm was unable to hold my weight, and I could barely hold on with my one arm...but neither could the [wyvern].

Either it let go, Cobaltio’s arm tore off, or I lost my grip.

Then, my leg hit something.

The top of a tree.

We were slowly descending and had reached the treetops. The [wyvern] had managed to shake off my [life cusion], which had begun to fly after me, barely keeping up. Now that it could see, it began dragging me across the treetops.

Not only could it hold onto cobaltio and me from its mouth while flying upsidedown, it had the dexterity to drag me right above trees and crash my legs into them while doing that.

I smiled.

I wouldn’t lose. Not here, not now. Victory was my choice!

I swiped down with my other hand just as I hit another branch and clutched what I could. I shifted my grip with my new weapon, feeling the twig guard and bark grip of the branch.

Then, I stabbed. I stabbed the creature’s eye.

It pulled its head back, dodging i-

NO! I had anticipated that from such an intelligent, strong beast and aimed with that accounted for.

My decisive attack struck true, causing the [wyvern]’s mouth to spasm and let go of me and [cobaltio].

And we fell into the midnight-blanketed forest.