I stared at my teacher, the environment around us was completely destroyed. Craters littered the ground, any kind of 'foliage' was devastated, and nothing more than scraps. There were places charred from intense flames, other places where ice had exploded out in hazardous thorns.

My clothes were ragged, my breathing was uneven and sweat mixed with blood as it dripped down my face.

A white light emitted from my hand, holding it up to my face to heal my swollen eye so I could see better.

Scathach walked towards me, each step the same length, almost like a predator who finally cornered their prey.

Despite the lackadaisical nature of her movements, there were absolutely no openings for me to exploit. This woman had not been going all out, but certainly not been going easy on me either, my body ached and hurt in every which place. Not to mention he several times she had just stabbed me without any remorse.

[Regret making her go this hard?] I heard my partner ask.

My lips curled up, even with my heavy breathing, I couldn't help but smile. "Never."

[Well said.] Ddraig mirrored my sentiments.

"Is that all you got!?" I shouted the distance towards her menacing figure. My sword slowly circled around me, never touching the ground.

Ascalon.

Mirage.

Dawnbreaker.

I relied on them heavily before, but now….I felt like I was the one in control. My connection to them, it gave me a certain confidence.

I steadied my legs, they were a little shaky, but I had enough in me to keep going.

Lightning danced across my hands, perhaps one of my favorite 'elements', one I defaulted to quite easily. I gestured with my hand and my three swords shot off like meteors, one from above and two from the side.

How much trial and error did it take to come this far? Teacher quite literally beat the techniques into me as we continued to spar until it reached a 'satisfactory' level, according to her. Well, stabbed the techniques into me.....mostly.

She deflected them with ease, even as their trajectory was disrupted, and their forms going flying in every which way, it merely took a thought to grab them again, bringing them back towards me, with lightning flying towards her face.

Scathach leaned down, ignoring my spells as they harmlessly passed over here and she broke into a sprint that displaced all the snow around her, and a shockwave appeared where she had been previously.

So fast, and this wasn't even her fastest.

Her spear was infront of my eyes, I narrowly dodged, her spear slicing the side of my head, blood flowing through the thin line opened up.

I moved towards her, our faces only a breath apart, my hand moving up to grab her spear.

She quickly shot her knee towards my chest, only for her to pull back as Ascalon rocketed from the side, ready to skewer her leg if she continued the attack. She was quick to adjust her footing, allowing it to pass in between us, only the fabrics on her clothing to get the slightest bit severed on its passing.

Scathach narrowed her eyes, casting a Rune with such speed that I barely even noticed, taking the initiative to flick it towards Dawnbreaker before I could follow up on my attack.

The spell collided with my sword, enveloping it in magical energy, and forcing it to drop to the ground. I could feel my connection to it still, but all my effort to call it were met with insane resistance.

Was it a gravitational increase? I had no experience dealing with such a thing, not something I could unravel at moment's notice in this situation.

Definitely something I'll need to be conscious of in the future.

"Lightning Cloak." I smirked at her as my handing holding her spear erupted in magical lightning.

I saw her grit her teeth, refusing to let go of her spear, and I used every strengthening spell I knew to keep it held back.

She dug her feet into the ground, and her free fist went straight for my face.

I caught it with my palm, the force made me almost shudder and I felt my hand getting numb at the initially contact.

With a thought, my final sword flew towards the back of her head.

I did not expect such an attack to work on a woman whose instinct and ability had been honed over the course of thousands of years.

So it didn't surprise me when she slightly moved her head to the side, letting it pass by without even breaking eye contact.

But she must have noticed something amiss when I smirked, letting go of her fist and grabbing the hilt before it could fully fly by. I then slashed down at her, redirecting all the momentum.

Her pupils dilated ever so slightly, her attack retreated, and a Rune appeared in her open palm as she used it to block my sword.

A Primordial Rune.

The second time I've forced her to use them so blatantly.

It wasn't actualized in a large capacity, merely used to absolutely defend against my singular attack. I could only speculate on the uses and requirements for her to cast such a powerful spell. I was currently working on the theory that they took a heavy toll to produce.

This was it!

I let go of her spear.

She noticed immediately, moving her nimble leg up to probably intercept me and disrupt my own attack.

Except….

*splat*

She stopped.

I stopped.

I think she took a moment to reboot, trying to realize what just happened.

Half her face was now covered in snow.

"Did you just…." She finally said.

"I think that counts as a solid hit." I chuckled.

I had conjured a snowball in my open hand and tossed it at her face in that small opening. She, who had been spreading her awareness out to an obscene degree to notice any attack coming at her. Lethal blades showering down on her, magical attacks that would destroy the land coming from angles she couldn't perceive. And I merely threw a snowball in-between all of that, was it any wonder why she was confused?

A hit, is a hit.

No danger to her, no killing intent. I doubted it would even register on her radar in the middle of a spar.

"You…" She reached up, and grabbed my cheeks. "You cheeky brat" She pulled.

My legs finally gave out as I fell to the ground pulling her with me.

She made….a sound I could only describe as cute.

I could feel her breath on my cheek, her nose almost touching mine.

"You have made great progress." She said quietly, eyes not leaving mine.

It was an honest compliment; one I couldn't help but take pride in her words. It seemed hard to gauge how much stronger I became when she just continued to stay at a pace that was just above mine regardless of what I did. It just went to show what a monster this woman was.

"You can get off me now." I responded, turning my eyes away. I definitely was not blushing.

"Hmm, what if I don't wish to move?"

"I can't feel my lower body." I quickly said.

"Don't worry, there's not much to feel down here." She wiggled her butt over my groin for added effect.

[Ouch.] Ddraig chimed in, sharing my sentiments.

What's sharper, her spear or her tongue?

Scathach's lips curled into a smirk, laughter escaped her lips. "You dare tease your teacher, huh?" She poked my cheek. "A snowball? I ought to beat your arse for that."

Well, turnabout Is fair play I suppose. On the other hand….I grabbed two handfuls of snow and smooshed them against her face.

"Brat!" She flicked my forehead, a small smile on her face, amusement clear in her eyes. "Fine, fine. I will allow you a moments respite due to your progress. We shall convene again on the morrow."

She slowly began to sit up, but I yanked her back down. She caught herself, hands digging into the snow to prop herself up over me. "What if I don't want you to go?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You play a dangerous game, boyo." Her tone lacking her usual aloofness. There was something else mixed in, her face wasn't so hardened, perhaps even possesing a small bit of longing, but she also was hesitant.

"I seem to recall you starting this game."

She shied away first, slowly pulling herself up and I didn't stop her this time. "Let us end this here." She stood up, wiping the snow from her body. "Take the remainder of the day to yourself." She said quietly, before walking away.

"Jeese, what am I even doing?" I sat up, staring at my empty surroundings.

I cast another healing spell, hovering over myself, feeling the warm sensation flow through my body. Oh gods that feels amazing, I didn't realize how much I was forcing myself at the end there. Her days-long sparring sessions are brutal.

"Did I do something wrong, Ddraig?" I let my body fall back into the snow, staring up at the clouded sky.

[I don't think there's any right or wrong there, just choices to be made.]

"Why do I feel so conflicted then?" I sighed, not knowing how to handle this situation. "Whatever, lets go beat some undead up, we can take the opportunity to train again."

The time I could sneak away to train with the boosted gear was not much. Not that I was keeping it a secret, but it wasn't really something she could help with much, so we never really focused on it much.

[Alright. I can feel it, we're getting close, maybe we can take those one to two steps needed to reach Balance Breaker today.]

And I can focus on just beating up undead things instead of worrying about other nonsense for now.

***

Alrighty slowly making our way to the end. Just a heads up, i may or may not have a chapter tomorrow, going to check out an apartment after work and don't know how long i'll be gone.

As always, if you want to read 5 chapters ahead, or just support me, visit my pat.reon.com/astoryforone