"Whoooohhhh"

 

Next, everything goes really quickly. 
Unfortunately, it’s only after the first burst of energy that I begin to think clearly again, and notice that I'm draining someone.

Oh, no!
It's the girl!
She, she's even younger than me!
I can't do this!
I need to stop it!
How was this again?
Yes, right, a counter spell!
Block the paths and push in the other direction.
I just need to...

 

"Whomp"

 

Ouch!
That hurt!
My head got knocked.
Well, at least that stopped my drain and prevented me from leeching some girl dry.
Oh, it's Relia...
Oh no, it's Relia!!!

 

"I, I'm sorry! She was suddenly there and I, I couldn't..." (Yomi)

 

"Whack"

 

That one was quite hard.

 

"How many times do I have to tell you to get that in order?! This is why you're still useless! Learn to control that!" (Relia)

 

I guess I deserve whatever punishment she's got in store for me.
I really messed up here.

 

"I, I'm sorry." (Yomi)

 

I truly am.
No matter how poor my condition, I was so close to killing her.

 

"Don't be sorry, be better! This can't keep happening!" (Relia)

 

I know!
No matter what, something like this just can't be allowed to be a thing.
There is no excuse for that.
I know I have to be better!
Argh, it's just so frustrating.

 

"And you! Didn't I tell you not to come close to her?!" (Relia)

"No, you did nothing of the sort! What the fuck was this?!" (Elin)

 

I'm not sure if she can be blamed.
She's obviously young, and for all I could see of her, doesn't seem as if she's been with the military for long.
Though, I need to give it to her, it's impressive how she dares to oppose Relia.
No, this was my lack of discipline.
I should have done better, and I'm responsible.

 

"Well, today you met Akaras' very own revenant. A dead girl returned to feast on the living, seemingly whether she wants to or not. Say hello to Yomi." (Relia)

 

Wha- Did she have to introduce me like this?
I mean, okay, I almost drained her, so it's not like I could claim that I'm totally normal, but 'hey, this is a living corpse' was still uncalled for.

God, I want to bury myself.
And my chest starts to itch again.
Uh, no, I can't scratch it like this right now.
But what to do with my hand then?
Ah, waving, yeah, that sounds good.
Right, so much for introductions.

Wait, it seems like Relia got distracted enough.
Then it would just be fine to resume my running, right?
Quickly, away from Relia.
Yep, that sounds good.
Let's start with a sprint!

Conveniently, I even have now the necessary energy to complete my task.
Though, I'd like to avoid thinking too closely about how I obtained it.

As I'm gaining distance, I hear Relia say:

 

"Well, certainly the both of you are a handful, but we're gonna make proper soldiers out of you." (Relia)

 

I wish I could refute the 'handful' part, yet evidence has piled up against me.

.

.

.

As I come to the end of my last round, I know there's no other way but to face my instructor.
As much as I'd like to avoid doing so.
My only hope is that she's gonna have to instruct me at some point and can't spend all of our time beating me up.

 

"So... care to explain what happened there?" (R)

"I'm sorry! I really am! I didn't want this to happen, it just did. I'll do better! I promise!" (Y)

"That's not what I asked. I was asking 'how did this happen'. Details, please." (R)

 

Details?
I'm not sure.
What would be important?

 

"I fell, and she was suddenly there. I couldn't help it. I was so weak, and felt so out of breath, and thought I'd just catch some air. It wasn't planned! Really!" (Y)

"That's still not quite the source of this issue. But we're getting closer. Why did you fall? Why did you feel weak?" (R)

 

Right.
That was it.

 

"I, I was low on energy. I was so low, couldn't maintain my walking form, and fell." (Y)

"Of course you did. And then you drained the closest source. So, prize question. Why were you low on energy?" (R)

 

That sounds like a trick question, the way she stated it.
And I also kinda know what she means.

 

"Because I injured myself yesterday, and even before was not really stocked up." (Y)

"Partially right, but not quite. Let's do a bonus round. Why weren't you stocked up? You almost got it." (R)

 

I knew she'd go there.
I guess there's no way around this.
But the implications are making me sick.

 

"Because I didn't drain enough before." (Y)

"That's it! You got it! And do you know why that was so? No, you don't have to answer this time. Let me do so. Because you're avoiding doing it properly! I present you some perfectly sick dogs, and you just go 'Oh, poor doggy!' instead of doing what you have to! You are avoiding doing what is required, which is a terrible trait for a soldier, by the way. And look where it got you!" (R)

 

I can't deny it.
This happened because I was so low on lifeforce.
If I had been full, I certainly could've maintained my self-control.

 

"Yet I guess a practice like that makes sense as well, once in a while. We probably should starve you at times, to train it away from you that you'd lash out." (R)

 

I get that this is something to take care of.
But it also sounds like I'm gonna get tortured.

 

"For today, let's stick to the baselines. We were at training with daggers, right? Well, that's convenient. Your new classmate is as well. So it's best if you both get some practice." (R)

 

I don't like her saying the word 'practice'.

.

.

.

"Hey, Elin! Stay concentrated! We'll proceed till you get it right! There was no time limit for your training, so we may just as well keep at it for the next few months if you need longer, no problem. Yet I suppose you want to get done with it. And Yomi, you know how this goes! Care to block the blade in some other way than with your face?" (R)

 

And I knew why I did!
What transpired till now was, in one word, torture!
Over and over she beat up the both of us.
Yet while Elin at least got some kind of practice to work on between her bouts, something about breathing, special ways of movements, and maintaining a state of concentration, I simply got punched a lot.
Like, for real, the only breaks I got were when I had to drain some poor animal, which brought its own form of suffering.
There were no discussions with Relia, just orders: Drain in full, no survivors, no negotiations.
Just a lot of corpses of things that apparently are going to be turned into provisions afterwards.

 

"Okay, time for a break. Reset, and then back in full force." (R)

 

Full force?!
We can barely stand at this point.

 

"I'm going to bring more critters for Yomi. You look meanwhile inside yourself, to keep me informed about your exact state. I want to always know what's up with you." (R)

 

She's leaving?!
Then this means a real break.
I need to cherish every moment of it!
Hah, finally I can calm down a bit.

When I look over, it seems my co-student is lost in thought.
I guess she can't quite calm down after today.
I already got a bit used to this, and my sense of pain is dulled.
Not to forget, she seems younger than me.
Well, she also almost died...
Which I am responsible for.

I... I have to take responsibility for that.
At least an apology is warranted.
I can't leave it at this.

So I come to walk up to her.
The moment she notices, in an instant, she raises her training blades in my direction.

 

"What do you want?!" (E)

 

Maybe I should've expected this reaction?
We didn't have a good start.

 

"I, I just wanted to apologize for what I did." (Y)

"For what? Oh, you mean that part where you almost sucked my soul out of me? Yeah, I guess that was kinda annoying." (E)

"Y-yes, that. Sorry." (Y)

"Ah, you know, no bad blood, just let me tell you one thing, please." (E)

 

She comes casually closer.
Then suddenly, she pulls out a knife from out of nowhere and holds it to my throat.

 

"If you pull shit like that again, I'll slice you up so thoroughly you won't regenerate anymore. Is that clear?" (E)

 

I, I think I drastically misjudged her character.
Can I die from this?!

 

"Aside from that, I have some buddies who would care enough about my demise to possibly get back at you. And I tell you, those two aren't going to be impressed by this leech ability of yours. Not while they'll be removing your skin, and then the rest as well." (E)

 

What kind of crazy acquaintances does this girl have?!
It almost sounds like the crazy murder girl is considering herself the normal one in this relationship.
But more importantly, how am I getting rid of this sharp blade at my throat?

 

"Pl-please, I didn't want this. So, you could maybe remove the blade?" (Y)

"I don't know, should I, or is the draining going to start then?" (E)

 

I'm in a bad spot here!
What should I do to de-escalate?

Yet suddenly, I find a hand at the wrist that's holding the weapon.

 

"You know, slicing her throat probably won't work. Which is good, as it would be a shame after all the effort put into her." (R)

 

Both Elin and I look at her, stunned.
How did she slip between us both completely unnoticed?

 

"Interesting that you slipped a real blade in here. Not like I've got anything against it, but please refrain from killing military assets." (R)

"How the heck did you do this?! I thought you were a strength focus?!" (E)

"Hah, shows how little you know. Once you got the hang of it, spreading out is no thing of impossibility. Yet for you we need to start somewhere, don't we?" (R)

"Tsk!" (E)

"Just good that I don't care about attitude. But I see you're sufficiently heated up. Well, if this doesn't call for a training match between you two, I don’t know what does." (R)

 

Ehm, excuse me?