Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Elaine's First Training Session
Right now, Illumia, Maxim, Elaine, and I are at the spot where I usually train at. Currently, Maxim and Elaine are in the arena preparing for their first sparring session, though I have a feeling the smile on Elaine's face will quickly vanish once they begin fighting.
"So, are you not going to try and stop this, your highness? You did sound like you quite disliked the idea yesterday." Asked Illumia, checking upon Elif as he had yet to say a word since they arrived.
"I was merely venting my annoyance, that's all; trying to stop it would be useless; mother and father had already agreed for this to take place. Besides, I may have always claimed to protect Elaine yesterday, and while I always will, I may not always be physically capable of doing so. If the OverRealm is truly as dangerous as mother, father, and you've informed me of, then it would be best for Elaine to get stronger, lest she winds up in grave danger all because of me being overprotective of her." Said Elif with a sigh of defeat and annoyance while muttering the last sentence to himself before focusing back onto Elaine and Maxim as they were about to start sparring.
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"Now, your highness, are you ready?" Asked Maxim solemnly as he brought out a wooden lance from his dimension ring and wielded it.
"Ye-" Replied Elaine as she held her scythe with a smile, though she instantly went quiet when she noticed Maxim had arrived before her.
"This isn't a game, your highness; focus. If this were a real battle, you'd already be dead with a hole through your head." Advised Maxim as he retracted his outstretched hand, which held the lance directly parallel to Elaine's head before appearing at his previous location.
I didn't know what happened; in one instance, he was in the distance, and in the next, he was already in front of me; I only managed to register what transpired once he had returned to his original spot. When that occurred, for the first time in my life, I felt fear; I was scared, and the smile on my face instantly vanished; I could feel my arms and legs shaking from fright and nervousness, but when I heard brother's voice my fear slowly dissipated, the same couldn't be said about my anxiety though.
'Calm down, Elaine, everything's fine; Maxim merely showed you some of his killing intent, alright? He wants you to take this seriously, not think of it as a game you and I would play, ok? So just calm down and ease your mind; being distressed will only cause you to make unnecessary mistakes. I'll be supporting you from the sidelines!' Said Elif softly via divine sense.
Exhaling a long breath, I peeked at brother and saw him looking at me with his usual smile, except I could sense encouragement coming from him as well, and that made me want to show brother that I was capable of doing what he could do as well.
'Alright, Elaine, this isn't time for games; you're a big girl now, so I must act like one!' Thought Elaine as she tried psyching herself up before she faced Maxim.
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"That'll be all for today, your highness; congratulations." Said Maxim as he stored his wooden lance in his dimension ring, though Elaine had already gone to sleep halfway through his speech; luckily, Elif was there to catch her before she collapsed on the ground.
'Magnificent job Elaine, much better than me!' Thought Elif as he carried the exhausted and slightly injured Elaine in his arms with a smile while remembering his first-day training, something he would greatly like to forget.
With Elaine in my arms, I used my Qi to grab her scythe that had been flung out of her hands and stored it in her silver dimension ring before I made my way out of the training grounds while heading towards Ms. Lynda's office with Maxim and Illumia in tow.
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'His highness isn't angry with me, is he Ms. Illumia?' Asked Maxim via divine sense, slightly worried as every time he hit Elaine, he would feel Elif intensely staring at him.
'Not at all; his highness is very similar to his Majesty when it comes to managing his emotions, as he rarely feels angry. Though it's highly likely, he is annoyed at your presence.' Answered Illumia, chuckling at the end as she's been in his position before.
'How long would you roughly say he'll stay annoyed at me?' Asked Maxim; he sighed in relief, knowing Elif was easy to approach.
'Hmm, well, after his highness had learned that I'll be his training instructor, he was annoyed at me for about a month; however, considering you've injured his beloved sister, the same sister he greatly dotes and spoils on. I'd recommend getting comfortable with his highness's feelings towards you; he is one to hold a grudge.' Stated Illumia, feeling quite lucky that she wasn't Elaine's training instructor.
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Opening the doctor's office door, I gently laid Elaine down on a bed and was about to call Ms. Lynda, but when I looked up, she was already sitting beside me and checking on Elaine. Seeing as Elaine was already being examined, I sighed, sat in a chair on the other side of Elaine's bed, and waited for mother and father to arrive, which shouldn't take long.
Not even fifteen seconds had passed since I sat down, and both mother and father busted through the door and practically came charging at Elaine's bed, forcing me to quickly get out of the way unless I wanted to get trampled on.
"My baby girl." Said Maria sadly as she sat in the seat previously occupied by Elif and observed Elaine while Marcus was next to her and looked down at Elaine with crossed arms.
"Just like what happened to his highness, she is fine, merely exhausted, and the wounds will be quickly healed in a matter of hours." Stated Lynda as she stood up before disappearing into her office in the back.
Mother and father stayed by Elaine's side for a little longer before shifting their attention to Maxim in the distance.
"How did Elaine perform?" Asked Marcus as he sat down on a couch with Maria sitting right next to him.
"I'm here too, you know." Grumbled Elif quietly as he sat back in his seat near Elaine once mother had left.
"Her highness did exceptionally well; she was incredible in wielding the scythe for her first time in battle and matched me evenly in power with me suppressing my cultivation base to the late stage of the Foundation Establishment. She is very aware of her surroundings considering she was able to perceive my sneak attacks; however, her agility is something I've never seen before for someone her age; even when using my movement technique, her highness was still able to keep up with my speed, she was like a phantom, and as time went on, I noticed her speed would ever-so-slightly increase." Said Maxim as he smiled, still slightly surprised by Elaine's display of power for merely being in the early Foundation Establishment realm.
'Elaine's speed was indeed truly incredible; even I would find it hard to match her speed if we had the same cultivation base.' Pondered Elif with a slight smile as he was also quite shocked by her agility.
"Haa, my goodness, what did we do to have such gifted children?" Asked Marcus rhetorically.
"I don't know, but the other Immortal hegemonies are going to be hard-pressed to find anyone in their younger generation capable of matching Elaine, let alone Elif." Replied Maria with a smile as she and Marcus stood up and walked over to Elaine before kissing her on the forehead.
"Will you stay by her side until she awakens Elif?" Asked Marcus, though he already knew the answer.
"Yes. She should awaken in a few hours, given her state." Answered Elif as he looked at Marcus before closing his eyes once again.
"Well, your mother and I shall leave, seeing that Elaine is alright. Haa, being an Emperor is very boring." Said Marcus, sighing in dejection, before following behind Maria as they left the room, leaving Maxim, Illumia, Elif, and a sleeping Elaine alone.
With mother and father closing the door, the room went quiet as Maxim and Illumia silently stood in the distance. At the same time, I meditated, waiting for Elaine to wake up, and we all stayed like this for a couple of hours until we heard movement originating from Elaine.
"Ow, my leg, why am I inside a room? Shouldn't I be outside training?" Said Elaine confusedly, though after she observed her body and the surroundings, it was pretty easy for her to arrive at the correct conclusion.
"I wasn't that injured, was I?"
"No, you weren't Elaine; you had fallen unconscious from exhaustion as that was your first time training, don't worry; it shouldn't happen again, though you will probably visit Ms. Lynda frequently." Answered Elif with a smile as he patted Elaine's head affectionately.
"Ugh, do I really have to keep doing this training? It wasn't as fun as I thought it would be." Complained Elaine as she laid back down on the bed, feeling annoyed, and the response she got on worsened her mood.
"Unfortunately, you do, Elaine; it's required for all Royal Elfs to start training shortly after they begin cultivating. Though it's not all bad, you'll get to do some cool things because of it, and if you want, I can help you with the training, as I won't be as heavy-handed as some people." Said Elif kindly while eyeing both Maxim and Illumia in the distance, though he focused mainly on Maxim.
"Haa, ok, brother." Said Elaine, sounding quite dejected.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Ozonelayer
Ozonelayer Yolo!
For those who play BTD6, I had finally managed to defeat Bloonarius(Normal mode/Non-ranked)!
Now I just need to beat Vortex and Dreadbloon and I'll have beaten all the bosses at least once.
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone