Chapter 303: 303:Training IV
"You’ve improved."
Atheline let out a long breath before laughing quietly.
"I thought I almost had you."
"You tried, you almost made me move. You should be proud of yourself."
He blinked.
"...Isn’t that the same thing?"
"No."
She stepped back.
"When I begin using my feet instead of only my hands..." She looked directly into his eyes. "...then you’ve truly cornered me."
He couldn’t help smiling.
"I’ll remember that."
"I expect you to."
Lilith sheathed the training dagger.
"You’ve begun thinking several moves ahead."
"I’ve been trying to."
"It shows, keep that up."
She walked slowly across the snow-covered field, studying the frozen patches, the scorched marks left by his flames, and the stone pillars still protruding from the ground.
"Your greatest improvement isn’t your strength."
He followed beside her.
"What is it?"
"You no longer fight your opponent."
He frowned slightly.
"I don’t?"
"No." She looked around the battlefield. "You fight the battlefield itself."
He slowly understood. The water beneath the snow, the frozen ground, the delayed arrow, and the rising earth. Individually, none had been decisive but together, they gradually shaped the fight.
She gave a small nod.
"Continue developing that habit. A stronger opponent can overcome raw power." She looked back at the scarred training ground. "But even the strongest warrior struggles when the battlefield itself begins fighting alongside you, it allows you full control of the battle."
Atheline committed every word to memory. They weren’t merely advice but lessons purchased through her own years of experience, and he intended to make full use of them.
Lilith remained where she stood, the winter wind gently stirring the loose strands of her dark hair. Around them, the training ground bore the marks of their brief exchange, though not as damaged as one would expect it to be.
Pillars of earth protruded through the snow, scorched patches blackened the frozen ground, and a thin layer of ice still shimmered where his earlier arrows had burst apart.
It was far from the devastation their battles in the mountains had once caused, yet it was enough to tell the story of two exceptionally powerful individuals testing one another.
She slowly surveyed the field before her gaze returned to him.
"You’ve started thinking like a hunter."
Atheline rested his sword on his shoulder as he caught his breath.
"I’ll take that as a compliment."
"You should." She stepped forward. "Hunters don’t simply attack their prey they prepare and then wait. They force their opponent to make mistakes."
She looked around at the terrain he had unconsciously reshaped.
"And you’ve begun doing exactly that."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"Of course, I’ve had a good teacher."
For just a moment, her expression softened, then it disappeared as quickly as it had come.
"Unfortunately for you..."
She lowered herself into a stance.
"...your teacher also knows every lesson she’s taught."
Before he could respond, she vanished, faster than before. Instantly, his instincts unconsciously warned him.
Without thinking, lightning exploded through his body, flooding every muscle with Aether. The world around him seemed to slow ever so slightly as his senses sharpened.
He twisted sideways. Steel collided with steel. The impact echoed across the training ground, forcing him backward several paces.
She was already attacking again. The dagger darted toward his shoulder before changing direction halfway through its path, aiming instead for his ribs.
A feint.
He barely managed to rotate his sword in time, before another impact came.
She gave him no opportunity to recover. Every strike flowed naturally into the next, each one probing for a weakness rather than attempting to overpower him.
He quickly realized something. She wasn’t trying to defeat him, she was examining him, testing every improvement he’d made over the past several weeks.
His footing, reactions, judgment, and even his breathing. Every hesitation was immediately punished and every correct decision allowed him to survive another exchange.
His boots carved deep grooves through the snow as he continued retreating under the relentless assault.
’She’s faster... Much faster... But,’ his eyes narrowed. ’...I can still follow her’
That realization alone filled him with quiet satisfaction. Months ago, he would have lost sight of her entirely but now, although he remained on the defensive, he could at least perceive her movements.
His body really was adapting, the system wasn’t exaggerating. He ducked beneath another strike before driving his palm toward the ground.
Earth surged outward; instead of creating pillars this time, the ground fractured in a wide circle around him. Jagged stone erupted through the snow in uneven formations, instantly turning the smooth battlefield into difficult terrain.
Lilith landed gracefully atop one of the stones.
"I see, you’ve abandoned symmetry."
"It was making me predictable."
She nodded once.
"A wise decision."
Darkness gathered beneath her feet. Her shadow stretched unnaturally across the broken ground before dividing into several smaller tendrils that slithered silently between the rocks.
Atheline immediately leapt backward. A heartbeat later, the shadows erupted from the earth exactly where he had been standing.
Even now, that ability unsettled him. He had faced corrupted beasts, yet the Lilith’s manipulation of darkness remained among the most troublesome powers he’d ever encountered, because it ignored conventional expectations.
Shadows could become weapons, shields, movement, and even deception.
There were almost no limits besides her imagination.
"I’ve always wondered..."
He called out while circling cautiously.
"What?"
"How do you even practice something like that?"
She answered without slowing.
"By failing."
"...That’s unexpectedly ordinary."
"I wasn’t born controlling shadows perfectly, I simply refused to stop learning."
Her answer lingered in his thoughts since it sounded remarkably familiar. Perhaps that was why they understood each other so well, neither had reached their current strength through talent alone. Talent merely determined where they started but everything afterward had required effort.
He smiled then drew his bow. Three arrows appeared between his fingers.
Lilith watched silently.
"Three?"
He released them simultaneously. The arrows separated immediately. One accelerated using wind, another ignited with fire and the third remained ordinary.
Lilith ignored the normal arrow, stepping neatly aside from the flaming projectile before dissolving into shadows to avoid the final one.
Exactly as expected. The ordinary arrow struck the ground several meters behind her but nothing happened, for a brief instant.
Then, water erupted from the arrowhead. It wasn’t enough to attack but just enough to soak the snow-covered ground.
Lilith’s foot landed upon it.
The water instantly froze and her balance slightly shifted, but slightly was enough.
Atheline was already moving. Wind gathered beneath his feet, as lightning surged through his muscles. He crossed the distance between them faster than ever before.
His sword descended. Lilith raised her dagger.
Steel met steel.
For the first time since the spar had begun, she was forced to take an actual step backward. The palace guards watching from the edge of the training grounds exchanged surprised glances.
"...She moved."
"I saw."
"His Majesty actually made Her Majesty retreat."
Only a single pace, but every guard present understood what that meant. Lilith herself noticed it too. As their weapons remained locked together, she looked directly into his eyes.
"...Again."
Her voice carried something different; approval. Atheline pushed harder. Their blades separated before colliding once more.
