Chapter 24

Nash sprinted towards Yjhan and jumped as she prepared to wield her sword.

Yjhan grinned, 'Nice speed.'

Yjhan blocked her attack and pushed Nash away using his sword. The moment Nash flew away, he rushed to her and wielded his sword. Nash wasn't prepared, so she immediately jumped backward but her clothes were ripped.

"Focus!"

"Sorry!"

When Nash responded, Aidan and Idris both chuckled.

Nash attempted to block Yjhan's sword, but Yjhan was too strong, and due to her shoulder, she failed to block and her weapon fell. Nash flew away after Yjhan kicked her in the stomach.

"Ouch!" Idris whispered.

"Are you still willing to fight?" Yjhan asked.

"Of course she will. That brat won't be satisfied until she hits Yjhan," Aeries stated, watching the two dueling.

"Nash!" Yjhan called out her name.

Nash is already seated. When she flew away, she fell on her right elbow, which aggravated her shoulder. She was well aware that continuing would be dangerous.

"Shall we continue or not?" Yjhan asked.

Nash shook her head, surprising the others. "Please excuse me, but may I leave?" Yjhan took a step towards Nash.

"Why?" He whispered, so that only he and Nash could hear what they were saying.

"My shoulder is throbbing in pain. I'm afraid it'll become worse if I continue," she pretended to be okay since her friends were watching them.

Yjhan looked over her shoulder, recalling the childish argument between her and Kane. 'It must have been when Kane grabbed her shoulder.'

"Okay. However, once you've finished recovering, you must train at night. If we don't come here later, I'll ask Grin to keep an eye on you." Nash gave a nod.

She smiled as she headed towards the other members. "The leader is far too strong! Since his kick hurts my stomach, I have to go first. I'm sure I'll puke a dozen times. I'll see you later!"

She didn't wait for her friends to respond and dashed towards her horse's stable.

"What was that..." Idris said, his gaze drawn to Nash's receding figure.

"Perhaps she's constipated?" " Aidan remarked.

"It hurts so much!" Nash stated, she can't even stretch her right arms, making it difficult for her to ride her horse.

"Please allow me to assist you." Before Nash could respond, a stranger lifted her and sat her on her horse. Nash was shocked.

"You surprised me! Thank you very much, sir!" When she peered down, she noticed a guy with dark blue hair and a mole on the bottom of his eyes. "Are you here to train as well?"

The guy nodded. "I'm Ren. You're Nash right?"

"Woah! How did you know?"

Ren flashed a bright smile. "I suppose you're well-known."

"But I'm not even doing something to honor myself?"

"Well... that's because you're Squad 15's first female member."

The first girl member? How Corny.

"I see..."

"I think you should go now. You must not allow your injured shoulder to deteriorate."

"Haha. Have you noticed? Then I'll leave now, Sir Ren. Thank you very much for helping me!"

"Just Ren is fine," Nash nodded.

She left as soon as she waved her hands goodbye to Ren. She only holds the reins with her left arm. She tried not to move her right arm since it hurt her shoulder.

...

"What are you doing here, you don't have any training?" Francis asked.

"Could you please give me some ice to relieve my swollen shoulder?" Francis rushes to get some ice. "Thank you, uncle."

"Wait here while I go grab Katherine's healing ointment." Nash gave a nod.

'I'm glad they're here so close to me when my family is so far away,' she thought to herself.

Nash heard Francis walking down the stairs.

"Here, apply it to your shoulder. It'll take at least 2 hours to work since this is not the best healing ointment. Sleep in Katherine's room first. Change your clothes as well."

"Thank you, uncle. I'm thankful for your help."

"Of course, I'm your godfather. If your father is not present, I will look after you. Now go get some rest."

She also wrapped a bandage across her shoulder to avoid moving it too much.

...

"Hold your sword tightly!" Yjhan yelled at Aidan. "Push my sword away!"

He did as he was commanded and thrust Yjhan's sword.

Yjhan relentlessly attacked Aidan till he dropped on the ground.

"You need to work on your footworks. Among all of you, Nash has the best footwork but has weak knees," Yjhan looked at Jaxael who's currently having a fight with Aeries. "Jaxael, here. Aidan go train with Aeries."

He looked at Idris and Kane. Idris is fixing Kane's stance and is hitting a target that keeps on getting farther and farther.

"You can use shadows, right?" Jaxael nodded. "Can you wrap shadows around your sword?"

"Yes, but not completely."

"I see. Try to use it now," Jaxael did as he was told. Only the tip of the sword was obscured by shadow. "So only the tip is covered, huh?"

"Because you have 50% of your power, I'm sure it will be stronger than mine, as I only have 20%. But I have a different mana ability than you; I use mine to add force on my attack."

"Is that what you use when you kick Nash?" Yjhan shook his head.

"That's my normal strength,"

'It is?' Jaxael thought to himself.

"I see. Then how could I completely cover my sword with my shadow?"

Yjhan shrugged.

"I'm not familiar with magical abilities. You are the only one with magical ability in our team; the rest either have mana abilities like mine, which helps to power up our attacks, or use magic equipment like Idris," Yjhan explained. "In your situation, you can either entirely cover your weapon with your shadow or utilize it for something else."

"Like what?"

"Make a beast or something with your shadow so it could help you attack an enemy."

"That's easy," Jaxael made different kinds of animals with his shadow.

"What are you trying to do? Building a zoo?" Aidan joked. Idris burst out laughing. Both of them were attacked by birds, but Aidan sliced it and Idris hit it with his arrow. "Well that's weak."

"You could choose wherever you are comfortable. If you choose the latter, you must strengthen your shadow creatures." Yjhan takes a fighting stance. "We'll talk about that another time, but for now, let's continue our sword fight."

Their duel lasted until Yjhan pointed his sword to Jaxael's neck.

"That's good, but you need to focus on your footwork! Because you swirl around while battling, your foot will become entangled. Request Nash's assistance with footwork or train on your own. Your stance is strong, and the way you hold your weapon is great; you can actually defeat me if you simply rectify your flaws."

I knew he was a good swordsman the first time I saw him. Thank the highest that all my members are good. The problem is some are idiots but thankfully, it's manageable.

They continued to train for 8 hours. They arrived at the training grounds at 7 and finished at 4 in the afternoon. They ate between training sessions.

Nash, on the other hand, was supposed to sleep only for two hours but unconsciously fell sleep for 6 hrs. She woke up when she felt hungry. When she looked at the windows she realized it's already afternoon.

She changed into training clothes and hurriedly ran down the stairs. "Uncle! Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You didn't tell me to wake you up. I was actually about to wake you up for lunch, but you're sleeping peacefully. Here, take a seat, I'll prepare your food," Nash sat down at the counter waiting for her food.

Duke Barcley set the food down, and Nash began to eat.

"Did the ointment work?" Nash stop eating and move her shoulders.

"Whoa! It doesn't hurt anymore"

"Alright. Eat now so you can leave to train already. I heard you had to complete 24 hours of training. That's very harsh for newcomers."

Nash finished her meal and left afterwards.

'They must be in the inn by now,' she thought to herself, as she traveled towards the training grounds.