Scáthach

Rai gulped as he saw the cold stare that he is being subjected to. The person is front of him a beautiful woman with purple hair and crimson red eyes. She is wearing something like a body suit which accentuates her ethereal beauty. Rai may have stared for a little longer than she'd like. He was brought back to his senses when he felt a cold shiver run down his spine upon remembering what the woman in front of him is capable of.

The woman in front of him is Scáthach, a warrior queen from Celtic Mythology. A prodigy in Spearmanship and Rune Magecraft. She is also known as the Queen of the Land of Shadows and the Witch of Dún Scáith. She is simply the perfect choice to learn from in Rai's perspective. She is also quite an accomplished teacher according to legend with her mentoring another Legendary Spearman Cú Chulainn.

They simply stood there staring at each other. Scáthach was keenly observing the child on front of her whereas Rai is thinking about how to break the ice. He can't simply say 'Hey Scáthach, I'm a big fan of yours. And yea I want you to train me' now can he? As Rai was having an internal monologue. Scáthach decides to break the ice.

"So, you're the reason I was pulled from Dún Scáith? I was told that I'm to be your trainer in all forms of Combat." – Scáthach

"Yes. Wait, who told you that?" – Rai

"I don't really know, all I know is that I felt a tug on my soul trying to pull me away from the Land of Shadows and before I tried to resist I heard a voice telling me to train someone." – Scáthach

"And you agreed. Just like that?" – Rai

"Well. First of all, I didn't think I could resist even if I didn't agree. Also, I was offered a deal that was too good to resist and I have been sitting there in the land of shadows for thousands of years. So, I also wanted a change of scenery." – Scáthach

"Ugh. By any chance am I the one who has to fulfill the deal?" – Rai

"Naturally. You can consider it as payment for mentoring you. Are you not willing?" – Scáthach asks with a dangerous glint in her eyes

"I'd be more than willing to as long as I am capable of doing whatever it is that you expect of me. But, I want you to teach me first." – Rai

"Good. From what I know about your situation. You can enter this space every day and with the time dilation you can stay for 2 days if you so please. So, you will be coming in here to spar with me every day from now on." – Scáthach

"What will you be teaching me though? I primarily use a Sword. A Katana actually. Can you" – Rai starts to speak but was cut off

"I have been briefed about you and I know that you wield a katana. But, I don't think you're good enough with it to claim that is what you use primarily. You only use it because you found an appropriate technique for yourself. And I will be training you in all weapons. I am best at using a spear. But I know enough about other weapons to be called a weapons master. And I will be drilling all of that into you. Also I will teach you hand to hand combat and Rune Magecraft." – Scáthach

"Rune Magecraft can be considered a higher form of this so called Fuinjutsu that is used here. And as long as you're good enough, the applications are limitless. Is that clear?" – Scáthach

'Ugh. This woman. Is that even a choice anymore? She's clearly saying that this is what is going to happen from now on like it's a done thing. But still, this is a good opportunity for me.'

"Yes." – Rai

"Good. Then let's begin. I first need to see, where you stand exactly. I've been told about you but I'd like to see firsthand." – Scáthach

Rai was taken aback by the change of pace, he still had a bunch of things he wanted to ask her. But he did as asked and got in stance.

They both stood there motionless waiting for the other party to move first. Seeing that this is heading nowhere Rai flickers in front of her, feints a punch and throws a sweeping kick at her. While Rai was in the motions of his kick, Scáthach simply leaps forward and knees him in the head, breaking his nose and making him fall onto the floor in the process.

Rai dazedly gets back up to see the same stoic face on her. He decides to try something else this time, he turns on his lightning cloak and with the boost to his speed he used pure speed to get to her side in the blink of an eye and tries a roundhouse kick. Again, just like the previous time, she easily handles this by stepping in with a pirouette and elbowing Rai in the face.

Rai kept trying to attack her but there was nothing he could do. Every time she would counter with ease with a hit to his face, ending up with him on the floor. Thhis must be her Clairvoyance skill or maybe she hasn't even needed to use that for such simple attacks. Rai was starting to see the downsides of only fighting mindless beasts for such a long time.

He wanted to give up, it didn't feel like he was learning anything. He tried to be on guard for the hit to the face but that caused his attack to be sloppy, she effortlessly dodged and again he received a hit to his head and ended up on the floor. This continued for hours. Finally, she stopped when he could take no more and was barely standing straight.

After resting for half an hour, they were right back at it again. Rai tried everything he could but he could never land a hit and could never dodge the counterattack. He was starting to get extremely frustrated. He started fighting more wildly. Charging straight at her using just his physical attributes to brawl with her. Beaten to the floor and getting back up again and again and again. But, there were changes though slight, he was reading her attacks better with the help of Observation Haki. He was starting to anticipate where and how the hit would arrive but was still not able to dodge or block.

2 Days passed this way with him getting constantly beaten down without being able to put up even a struggle. Rai came out with dead fish eyes, finally understanding the gulf in strength between them. But he did not let it get him down too much. He knows that he cannot just become able to hit her after one session or even a dozen of them for that matter. He can only hope for a lucky shot at most. But, after a bit of contemplation, he has a maniacal smile on his face anticipating how much he could learn off her.

One thing Rai noticed is that all his injuries vanished the moment he left the Arena. He was also recovering at an accelerated pace when he was in that space. This way he can go all out without any worries. He should be fine as long as she doesn't go for the kill and she wouldn't do that. At least that is what Rai is hoping.

He starts off with rest of his day. He is supposed to meet up with his new team in a few days since they are out of the village on a mission. So, Rai has a lot of time to kill. He decided to finally check out the Dungeon function. He will have to use a lot of SP in trainings with Scáthach, so he needs to make sure he has enough of it for using the White Room and he also wants to get some stuff that he has been eyeing from the store.