Chapter 33: Five days

Twilight Initiator(S), Zed, Son of Shadows, Shadow

Imperial Calendar: Year 1596, Month 4, Day 10

City of Valenwood, north of the Imperial Territory

-That hurts.

Feeling a sharp pain in my ribs, I grit my teeth and grip the handle of my sword tightly.

Cristina swung her sword gracefully as she approached, her movements swift and precise, sharp and lethal. They hurt a lot. She ran at great speed and attacked.

The target was my upper muscle, no, it was a feint. Her sword aimed directly at my chest. With some difficulty, I managed to dodge, but even so, her sword diverted and struck my shoulder. She didn't miss any opportunity and quickly spun, giving a small jump. Her sword moved in circles, striking my sides, adding much more pain to my already battered body.

She crouched a little and delivered a low blow. My reaction time wasn't fast enough, and she managed to land a solid hit on my leg, breaking my center of gravity and causing me to fall to the ground.

-I can almost hear my bones breaking...

She is cruel when we train. She doesn't hold back in the slightest. She has more strength than I do and sharper senses. She's much stronger than I am. I'm still amazed at how such delicate arms can possess such tremendous strength. Five days have passed since we returned from the cabin. I buried the girl's body in the garden beside a tree. I spent a few minutes searching the cabin for any information or clues, anything to find the responsible party. There was nothing; they were very good at covering their tracks. In the end, we left the place.

During these five days, we spent our time in the training field. It was easy to convince Cristina to teach me the art of the sword, so the rest was just training and suffering, from morning until the sun was completely set. There were small breaks of a few minutes, and then it was back to pain. Usually, the ground of the field had some bloodstains, and of course, all of them were mine.

-That's all for today.

-Thanks for breaking my bones.

-You're welcome. You did a little better today than yesterday.

-If you mean the extra five minutes I managed to stay on my feet, it sounds more like an insult than anything else.

-You're resilient. We need to make the most of that quality of yours. Your bones are hard to break. If it were another boy, he might be crippled by now.

-Could you hand me a potion, please? Someone is dying inside right now.

-Oh, right, I forgot. Here.

She tossed a small vial containing a pale green liquid with a slight glow. Receiving the vial in my hands, I quickly brought it to my mouth. The cold substance slid down my throat, warming my body slightly, and I heard the crunching of my bones as they reconstructed themselves. It sent a sharp but bearable pain through the center of my brain. Gritting my teeth, a few minutes passed.

-Phew, that's refreshing.

Cristina had what looked like a towel with which she was wiping her face. Some of her silver-white hair clung to it. In her hands, she held a bottle of water.

-Can I have some water?

-There's only one bottle.

-I don't mind. Do you?

-No, here.

Tossing the bottle of water, I drank from it, feeling Cristina's gaze on me.

-Just like that?

-What do you mean?

-Never mind, forget it.

-Are you shy?

-You're annoying...

She turned away, hiding her embarrassment.

-I've been curious, what kind of magic do you use?

-Do you really want to know?

-Yes.

-Hmmm, it's a bit complicated, you know. I'm not sure if I can trust you.

-Trust issues? It seems like quite a secret.

-The truth is, I'm not even sure how unique it is.

-From what I've seen, it has something to do with shadows. They react to your presence.

-Yes, it's something like that.

-It's strange. In the classifications of magic, there's no element of shadows... Unique magic? In none of the gods or churches are there people with that kind of magic. Do you know how it works?

-No, I'm still a novice. I'm practicing for now.

-I see... I'll keep your secret, but still, I'd like you to trust me more... after all, we...

With those last words, Cristina left the training hall.

Sitting, I reflected. In the meantime, I've been observing Cristina. She does the same with me. From what I've seen, she's a simple girl, like me, calm and calculating. The noble lord wasn't wrong when he said she was like me. In her free time, she spends it in her room or reading a book in the library. After that, she spends time with me. On the other hand, since I don't have much to do, I spend time with her. Actually, now that I think about it carefully, we spend a lot of time together.

But even so, I don't think it's the right time to talk about that. The problem is that she always asks me the same thing. She's very curious about it.

A friend, that's what it would be called in these cases. I never had one on Earth. Everyone stayed away from me. According to them, I was very scary. Most of the time, I was completely alone. During recess, I spent the rest of the time sitting quietly, watching the other children play and laugh among themselves. Sometimes I tried to approach them, but they ignored me until I understood that they didn't want me around.

In secondary school, it was the same, always alone. In university, the same, always alone. But now I'm 15 years old and have a friend. Well, that's what I think. I don't know what she thinks of me. I don't know how she sees me in her eyes.

Our relationship is supposed to be just friends. I have no experience in this matter, so I don't know how to feel about it either. It's confusing. These feelings are strange. It's the first time for me. They are good sensations. I always wanted to be someone normal. Now I am, and I'm happy.

Standing up, I dust off my clothes. Putting all the swords in their place, I leave the training hall.

-Do you have a moment to talk?

In a corner stood the noble lord, with a serious look in his eyes.

-It's fine, if you don't mind the smell.