บท 37: Dungeon Life (IV)
Bright sunlight doused the building. A couple days had passed. Snow was huffing and puffing, swinging her swords in front of the building. She struck and swung, bringing a fluid form that many would be jealous of. Still, her foot was placed in the wrong spot, throwing off her balance.
Quickly, she corrected herself. It was always the last step that threw her off; she didn't know why as she had practiced this movement many times for the past weeks. Annoyed, her form got worse and worse.
"Your balance is all over the place." Mr. Everrett spoke with a harsh tone. Dissatisfied by her movement as he watched her. "I have seen a child have a better form than that. Was this all you could do?"
Snow gritted her teeth, getting angry that she wasn't getting the pattern of movement right. This has been her fifty times, but the bend and flurry of quick move had kept throwing her off by a few seconds.
"I'm trying."
"Focus." Mer. Everrett spoke, "you are letting your thoughts control the movements. You want it to come to you naturally. Look at Tamaki." He pointed out.
Snow stopped for a moment. Tamaki was practicing alongside her though his training was a lot more intensive than hers. Still, when he was pointed out by Mr. Everrett, he repeated the motion for Snow to see.
"See how he steps?" Mr. Everrett pointed out her problem. "It's light. You need to move in lightly. Almost like you are a dancing fairy."
A smile crept on Snow's lips. Mr. Everrett's metaphor was a bit strange, but she still understood what he was trying to get at.
"We have been doing this for over a week since you asked me to train you, but if you don't pass this footwork, we won't be able to move on to the next phase." Mr. Everrett sternly said. He walked over towards her. With a quick motion of his right foot, he tapped Snow's right leg. Pushing it forward a bit to correct her stance. "Now, try again."
Snow nodded. She breathed in and out; eventually, she took a quick step swinging her blade. A crisp sound of the wind followed behind, bringing a tingling feeling. Excitement douse her nerves, realizing that she had done it correctly.
Mr. Everrett gave her a nod, not saying anything else.
Disappointment crawled up in Snow's emotions, but she quickly squandered it. Today was Mr. Everrett's turn on his family-style footwork with Tamaki's sword techniques.
Sometimes Snow regretted asking Mr. Everrett. Mostly because the training was hard, almost breathtakingly tricky as he wasn't lenient just because she was a girl. Which she was grateful for but wanted to punch herself for it. She kept her complaint to herself. She knew that her skills weren't on par with Tamaki and Mr. Everrett. Without these two during the Dullahan's fight, she knew that she would get killed without a second thought.
Many of the Players came over to watch them practice, hoping to get in on training. But Mr. Everrett and Tamaki didn't pay much attention to them nor converse them during their training time. Still, the Player's tried.
It wasn't a pretty sight to behold. Mr. Everrett would frown, crossing his arm and say, "I'll send you to a trainer." He quickly directed him to one of the other soldiers or Hunters.
Once again, a group of interested Players came over.
"Excuse me." A blonde hair teenager walked over with a large sword in hand.
Snow could see how he was having a bit of difficulty carrying such a sword by the way he wobbled walk, reminding her of a penguin. Even his samurai-like clothes made him stand out.
The group that he was in was filled with girls as the girls were pulling on his sleeves, trying to pull him back from coming forward. Mr. Everrett was giving off a strong presence, bringing discomfort towards the group.
"Yes?" Mr. Everrett spoke.
"I was wondering if you could teach me how to fight."
"No." Mr. Everrett clearly spoke.
Snow watched as the young man was crestfallen by his rejection.
"It's alright." A young girl patted the man's hand. "Almost all the NPC here you get rejected for the asking. There must be other NPC worth your time, you know."
"But I heard he is a master."
"Probably. Probably not."
The young man groaned, then he looked at Tamaki, who also shook his head. When he looked at Snow, she kept swinging her sword, not wanting to get caught up in his begging eyes.
"Boy, your body is not fit for that sword or armor." Mr. Everrett spoke, looking at him up and down. "I suggest you find Phil and change your weapon and learn from him. He will help you out."
Surprised, the young man's eyes glistened. He nodded his head and took a deep bow. "Thank you!"
Mr. Everrett didn't say anything else as he turned his back on them.
The Players scuttled away almost in an excited rush, leaving them behind.
Snow couldn't help but ask, "why do you turn away all those Players?"
"Because they aren't fit to learn from me. People's bodies need to be reconditioned, and the style I teach isn't right for them. It would be better if they learn from another who can help take advantage of their body type quickly in this dungeon. There is no leisure time for them to learn from me."
"Then, are you saying I have the right body type and skill to learn from you?" Snow asked excitedly, hearing this from Mr. Everrett was the first.
"No." Mr. Everrett cut her off. "It would take you fifty years to learn my techniques."
Snow's shoulder slumped. "Then why did you agree to help me?"
"Because you're able to learn a different style from my own. I have two forms." Mr. Everrett spoke with a firm dedication. "The masculine and the feminine. Your body is not fit to follow the path of the masculine form. It's not how your body is made for. Instead, take advantage of the feminine form and amplify it to your advantage. With the combination of the basic movements and learning sword form from Tamaki, you should be able to mesh the two to your own style. This should help you in this wretched dungeon, which isn't forgivable to our kind."
"I see." Snow thought over what he was trying to say at the same time she understood that Mr. Everrett wasn't someone to just throw people away when asked for help. She noticed that every time a Player came over to ask to learn, he would direct them to a specific person. It was impressive that Mr. Everrett already knew or figured out the different fighting style each person was good at from just a look.
"Get back into position." Mr. Everrett spoke sternly.
Snow quickly listened, moving her feet to recapture the movement once again.
Time slowly crawled by, she went through a few hours of body conditioning as she was drenched in sweat. It wasn't easy for her to get to where she was, but she could feel the slow but sure improvements.
"We are going to finish off the training with an endurance run." Mr. Everrett spoke as if it was nothing. "Your last few weeks, you have improved, but this is not enough. We will now move into a more intense body strength workout with your movements."
Snow sighed, realizing what this meant. More bruised body and fatigue. Still, she was grateful for the chance that was given to her.
"Mr. Everrett." Snow stretched to release the tight muscles that she overworked. "What do you think of the Players?"
"Ignorant, honest, and people you need to be careful of." Mr. Everrett spoke without a hint of sheltering his thoughts. "Ms. Snow, these Players are a blessing and a curse."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because of how they think of this world. By interacting with them, the Players have seen this world as some kind of an excursion or a game." Mr. Everrett clicked his tongue. "I have heard that their death in this world means nothing to them. They treat this world as a plaything."
"I wouldn't say it's like that with everyone." Snow spoke, knowing that she had met many others who weren't like that.
"There is something special about them." Mr. Everrett spoke with concern. "They can grow a lot faster than us, becoming deadlier. How strong they can be, I do not know, but we must also be wary of them. They will shape our world, Ms. Snow. Mark my words. Either it be destruction or prosperity, which I hope it's the latter."
Snow thought over what he had said, she could see what kind of danger that they were bringing. "Still, I wish that the Players would bring more blessings. I don't know why the Gods called them over, but there must be a reason."
"Yes, I believe so as well."
"Though why did you agree to take in Leo and Cloe even though they are Players themselves?"
Mr. Everrett went silent, making Snow very uncomfortable. "They reminded me of myself."
Snow was surprised at his words.
"Anyways, let's finish our training so you can go back to work."
"Yes!" Snow didn't ask any further and started off into a jog, leaving Mr. Everrett behind as he watched her back.
"Also, it's because my God had asked me too." Mr. Everrett whispered, which Snow couldn't hear as she disappeared off into the distance.
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