Frenley sat next to the kind woman on a nearby bench, looking at the other trainies. Frenley's face had a slight flush, and his eyes showed signs of excessive crying. Frenley looked at the woman from the corner of his eye as he took a sip of water. The woman was taller than him; she seemed to be about 7 to 8 inches taller. Her long, silky brown hair was tied in a neat bun. She had the muscular body of someone who liked going to the gym, but not enough muscle to be considered a bodybuilder. She had curves in all the right places, and the tight leather pants and shirt she was wearing didn't really hide her femininity.
Frenley averted his eyes, trying to fight the blush that crept up as he remembered the fact that he buried his face in her large chest. He finishes his water and places the cup down, looking down as he fixes his hair and cleans his eyes.
“Thanks for the help..”
Her cheerful voice entered, carrying the sweetness of caramel but the energy of coffee.
“Nah, I did nothing, Love. I just provided a shoulder to cry on… technically a chest.”
“Sorry about that..”
“Haha, don't sweat it.”
The tan woman laughs as she pats his back.
“I am Frenley, you?”
“You can call me Mia. Pleasure to meet you, Frenley.”
“The pleasure it's all mine.”
He said, as he showed the woman a soft, friendly smile, who in turn returned it.
“So I take it you beat the boss today? I don't remember your face from yesterday, and I am quite good with faces.”
“Yeah, died a total of 2 times against it.”
“Damn, that sucks to hear. I did it my first time around.”
“Lucky”
“Haha, no luck at all, love, just pure skill.”
Frenley looked at the woman with a blank expression, and a defeated sigh escaped his lips as he returned to looking at the other trainies. Their moments were planned and smooth. There was no hesitation in their eyes. They were quick on their feet, dodging attacks that Frenley would have been forced to tank. Frenley looks at Mia from the corner of his green eyes.
“Did you also get beaten up by the cunt?”
“No, I didn't, raised on a farm, and I am used to the pain, but that doesn't compare to what he did to you. He really didn't show you any mercy. Broke my heart seeing you get beaten to a bloody pulp.”
Frenley bit his lower lip as he turned back to look at the sandy ground. Frenley didn't consider himself a manly alpha kind of man. God knows that those kinds of guys are just pathetic. But it still hurt his pride to be the subject of pity from a beautiful woman like the one sitting next to him.
‘Fucking pathetic, she saw me get beaten black and blue, and here I am feeling hurt because she does not see me as a manly man.’
‘You don't look much like a man with your current looks.’
‘You can hear my thoughts!?’
‘….’
Frenley didn't need to see Ailice's face to know she was looking at him like he was stupid, but the mental image nonetheless caused him to smile somewhat. Mia did not miss the smile that he gave her, confused.
“What are you smiling for?”
“Nothing..I just imagine the way Ailice must be looking now.”
“Right..who is Ailice?”
“Is the voice in my head.. Gosh, I sound like I'm taking crazy pills. You know the voice when you woke up and explained the tutorial to you.”
“Ah…Ailice is a weird name for that voice. He sounds more like a Thomas or Julius to me.”
“We all got different voices, it's supposed to sound like someone who will bring you peace. Mine sounds like a southern woman.”
“Ah, now that makes a lot of sense. Mine sounds like an old western cowboy.”
In a second, Frenley imagined what type of man Mia liked, a strong, tall guy. Chicel muscles, wearing some country clothes while he works on a farm. Cover in sweat. Absolute opposite of what he is.
‘The hell do I care if her ideal man is the complete opposite of me?’
Frenley shook his head of useless thoughts as he looked at Mia once more.
“Yeah, so I call mine Ailice, and I just figured out she can hear my thoughts.”
“They can?”
Mia said, looking into his eyes. It took a couple of seconds for him to gather the strength not to get lost in her warm brown eyes. A soft chuckle left his lips; his smile grew wider as he spoke.
“Haha, thank god I am not stupid, and there was someone else out there who didn't know.”
“Well, we can be stupid together all you want, love.”
The tall, tan-skinned woman said, elbowing him. Frenley giggles- like a girl- as he pushes her elbow away from him. The two of them continue to laugh and giggle for a few more seconds, causing some of the trainies to look at them with complicated eyes. As their laughter died down, Mia was the first to stand up. Frenley's eyes were naturally drawn to her back as she stretched herself.
A soft moan left her lips as her muscles relaxed.
“Well, I should practice some more before sunrise. Want to join me?
“That will be great, though I am not sure I would be able to provide much help. You saw how my fight with the instructor went.. Also, what is his name anyway?”
“No one knows, so we just call him an old veteran. But it matters not; we all start somewhere. Hell, I only started training yesterday.”
“Figure he wouldn't make his name known. Well, if you don't mind me training with you, then let's get to it.”
“That's the spirit, girly!”
The tall woman said, patting Frenley's back as he stood next to her. Frenley's face turns redder as he looks at her. Mia looks back at him, her head tilted to the side.
“I am a man.”
“Say what?”
“I am a man..I know how I look. But I am a man.”
Mia stared at him for a solid five seconds, silence consumed the duo, and Frenley could have sworn he noticed an increase in the red pigment in her cheeks. Mia opens and closes her mouth as she looks him up and down, her eyes wide open.
“No fucking way you are”
“Yeah, I am.”
“You sure you have a dick and balls down there?”
Frenley laughs at her comment, a soft smile on his face as he speaks.
“Yes, I do.”
“Sorry, sorry, you just look or sound nothing like a man.”
“My voice is different?”
“Yeah! It is very soft and smooth, like honey.”
“Huh..I sound the same to me. But good to know that my voice also changes. Anyway, can we stop focusing on my gender and get to training?”
“Ah, yes, yes! Sorry about that, love.”
“It's all good, dear.”
Mia shook her head as she led them to an empty stall in the small arena, whispering something to herself. Fren didn't really care to find out about what she was talking about. Some people just like to voice their own thoughts. Once they reach their spot, Mia turns around to look at Frenley. The redness in her cheeks has dissipated. Mia shook her hands, and soon a shield appeared on her left hand and a sword on her right. Her half-plate armor shone under the soft moonlight.
“How did you do that?”
“You can store your armor and equipment in your inventory, just think of doing that. But I do recommend not removing your armor if you don't wish to be naked.”
“Speaking from experience?”
“Yeah..”
The tan woman said as she scratched the back of her head, trying to fight the embarrassment she felt. Frenley did as she said, commanding his sword to be put in the inventory. As he did, his sword broke into shards of light and disappeared. He soon felt it, like the noggging feeling that he was forgetting something, scratching at the back of his mind. He found his inventory with no problem, feeling like he could store as much as he wanted in there.
“Huh, neat.”
He pulls his sword out of the inventory, letting the handle settle nicely in his hand. Frenley moved his sword around as he got into position while looking at Mia.
“Alright on the count of three…1..2..3!”
Soon, the two of them were at each other's throats. Frenley was faster than she was; he aimed to slash the left side of her neck. Mia raised her shield with no problem; the heater shield easily blocked the attack. Frenley's arms shake as he feels the weight of his attack transfer to them. Mia took a step forward, pushing his sword away and delivering a strike to Frenley's left leg.
Her sword pierced through the muscle, poking at the other side of his leg. Red fresh blood left his wound. The pain was immense; it took all of Frenley's will not to scream and close his eyes. Frenley's free hand grabbed Mia’s wrist as she tried to pull her sword out. Soon, a season bolt came out of Frenley's left hand. The sound of flesh breaking apart and of bone snapping echoes in the courtyard.
As the two of them took a step back and looked at their bloody hands. Mia was missing her left hand; nothing but a stump remained. An ugly wound, both frozen and burned, was what took her hand position. Frenley's left hand was a mess, too; three fingers were missing, and his palm was burned to the point he could see bone and tendons.
The two fighters scream for a couple of seconds, a scream filled with pain and surprise, till the arena healing kicks in and heals them back to full. Both look at their hands, wounds nowhere to be seen, but the fear, pain, and shock still linger in their system. Both of them lay on their asses as they try to calm themselves down.
“Fuck! No more magic.”
“I agree love.. save that for the big ugly monsters.”
Minutes pass as the two of them calm down from their pain high, and another minute passes before they take their weapons from the floor and stare at each other. Mia was the first to speak.
“Okay.. let's not do that again. Good training for pain management. But that shit ain't fun.”
“Agree… let's just do a good old-fashioned sword fight.”
“Perfect”
Like that, the two of them continue their training. Trading blows and injuries. But most of the time, it was Frenley who got wounded and was kicked to the ground. If they were keeping count, Frenley would be the undesputed loser. But with each lost, each wound earned and healed. Frenley started to slowly improve. He was still not at Mia's level, who fought with a coldness in her mind that made Frenley jealous. The way pain didn't face her was also something Frenley wanted for himself.
But as the moon started to dip down, Frenley was no longer the once-inexperienced fighter from the start. Not in terms of skills, he was still sloppy with it. But in terms of being battle-minded, he was no longer stunned by pain and was using his strength to land attacks. No longer focusing on only his sword and the enemy's weapon. Slowly but surely, he was adding movement to his combact, kicks, and punches, sometimes using his own body as a shield to deliver an attack.
With a fall to the ground and the burning sensation of a kick. Frenley looks up at the brightening sky. The few rays of light are being blocked as Mia looks down on him. Her brown hair has become slightly undone, with strands sticking to her sweaty face. Her chest rose up and down as she offered him a hand, which he gladly took.
“Good work, love, you are slowly improving.”
“Yeah..not as good as you, but getting there.”
“Haha, I am not that good at all. I fought a lot with my younger brothers.”
“Ah, older sister?”
“Yep, oldest of three. Little buggers thought that because they were larger than me and had muscles, they could stop listening to me. Haha, show them real quick that was not happening.”
“I am so jealous of you, I am an only child.”
“Jealous of me? I am jealous of you. Love them, but god can they be a pain in the ass.”
“Yeah, been told that…Well, I think it's time for us to go.”
“Yep..down to do the same thing tomorrow? I feel like I need to practice a bit more in real life and in here before taking on the explorations.”
“Same..gonna hit the gym first thing in the morning to build some stamina and sense of balance.”
“Smart man.”
“Well, Mia, thank you for training with me today. I enjoy every second of it, even if you slash my leg apart more than once.”
“Same here, love. I would say goodnight, but it's no longer that. So good morning!”
Frenley shook his head in disappointment at her shitty joke, but nonetheless gave a smile. His eyelids grew heavy and closed like the gates of a castle. The next second, he was wide awake in his bed. Birds are singing their morning songs as the sun peeks through the curtains.
“Alright, let's get this day done with.. night couldn't come any sooner.”