Brutal Journey Of An Unfortunate Female Heroine 21 Training

"Oh! Blair, tell Lydis what you did the first day patrolling!" She chuckled thinking about it and gestured for Blair to continue wherever she had left off.

"U-uh.. um. Do I really have to?" Blair shifted on her feet, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. The praise and excitement she felt earlier were slowly dissipating.

"Ah, if you don't want to." Valeri made a dismissive motion with her hand and whispered into Lydis's ear. "On the first day she was so eager that she agitated a nearby ant valley and we had to run all night long. Then the next morning when we thought it was over they somehow tracked her scent and we were surrounded. I really thought that that was where I was going to end!"

"Captain!" Blair was embarra.s.sed. To make such a rookie mistake was unbefitting her current demeanor and it wasn't something she had wanted to recall. Valeri stopped and gave Blair some face.

"Although a rookie new to our squad she fit herself perfectly and synched with the other members movements not allowing her to fall behind at all, instead I think a few were saved by her a.s.sists here and there as well as her kill count during the fight. You wouldn't believe she was a rookie if she hadn't caused the situation." Although still embarra.s.sed about the story, hearing Valeri Praise her Blair quickly let it go and was now swimming in pride at have been praised again by her captain. For her it was very lucky to get praise no matter how small from her captain.

"Hmm." Lydis seemed uninterested in the story and an awkward silence followed.

*hmph* "Little girl, come and fight me if you don't believe the captain. I'm sure I'll only need one finger to make you succ.u.mb." Blair was a bit annoyed at Lydis since she hadn't even heard her say 'thank you' to her captain and the little girl even casually called her captain by her first name! So rude and stuck up, Blair found a new source of pa.s.sion for wanting to straighten out and reprimand this ill-mannered punk.

"Eh heh… Don't mind Lydis. I'm sure you guys will get along just well." As Valeri got off the top of the crate Blair stopped her.

"If I may ask, why are you taking so much care for a random child we found?" Valeri stopped and the speed that her brain processed at that moment was faster than that of an advanced A.I., allowing her to come up with the right excuse in a second.

"She's a survivor of the train wreck. Though she doesn't remember much of anything of it. Or even herself. I guess the shock to her mind was too severe and caused her to have amnesia." Valeri gave Blair a sad look, trying to sell it as much as she could. Valeri raised one hand to cover her eyes. "And to be left without anyone to care for her I've decided to take her in as my adopted daughter. So, I hope you'll take care of my daughter." Blair was moved. Her captain really had a kind heart as big as the skies, to be able to take in a child as one's own and adopt them without a second though! Blair's admiration of Valeri grew even more than she thought possible.

"Yes ma'am!" Blair saluted and allowed Valeri to walk past her.

"I need to attend to some business so I won't be back until dark. I leave Lydis in your hands Blair." Blair nodded and kept saluting until Valeri had fully disappeared from the tent, the flaps falling together to cover the entrance.

"Now, Lydis." Blair turned around to see Lydis eating her fifth or sixth food ration. Blair a.s.sessed Lydis's situation and silently sighed to herself. How was she supposed to teach anything to a child who only has one arm? Much less spar with her. Lydis stopped eating upon noticing Blair's extended gaze at her missing arm.

"What? Never seem someone missing an arm?" Lydis waved her nub around in circles and pointed it at Blair. "Does it bother you?" Blair had been in the scouting squad for over six years and during her time there she had seen many sites filled with carnage and even more grotesque things. She had also seen comrades die and had torn her fair share of enemies apart.

"No. It's just the way it looks. The wound doesn't look old, but it doesn't look to new either. I'd say maybe year old?" Blair continued to inspect Lydis's arm. She walked over and lifted it towards the light. Lydis grumbled a bit but was too occupied finishing her sixth wrap to care too much.

"Interesting, the scarring of the tissue looks jagged and yet it also looks intentional. Like a sloppy masterpiece." Lydis gave a small grunt and began to rip open her seventh wrap. Just as the food revealed itself Blair took it from Lydis. She was about to go into a rage when Blair held up one finger.

"One hit. Land one hit on me and I won't bother you for the rest of the day." Blair waited for Lydis's answer while holding her breath. A short pause before Lydis nodded in agreement.

"Fine but, this also includes rights to this box." Lydis pointed the box she was on top of. It was another rations crate that hadn't been opened yet. Full to the brim and filled with a variety of steaming goodies.

"You drive a hard bargain but deal. Within one hour if you are not able to land one hit on me then you'll never be able to disobey any orders coming from me. Executing them without hesitation or question. No matter how harsh or cruel it may seem." At this last sentence Blair let out a little bit of killing intent towards Lydis. Lydis in turn raised her middle finger. Blair's mouth was half open before Lydis interrupted her.

"Sure. But, since you added more I also want my weapons back." Lydis had gotten another bundle from the other crate and was standing near the doorway.

*sigh* "That will depend on the captain's orders but if the chance ever does arise I'll put in a good word for you." Seemingly pleased with that Lydis nodded and tore off the wrapper to her silver bundle. It's savory aroma mixed in with the other smells. She took one bite and placed it on the crate she had woken up on.

"Alright, let's go." Lydis stretched her arms upward and headed for the door before stopping to turn around to look at Blair who hadn't moved yet.

"It'll get cold y'know?" Blair pointed at Lydis's bundle and the open one she taken from Lydis next to it.

"Oh, we won't be gone that long!" Lydis's cheeky smile caused Blair's face to twitch in anger.

"Little brat, seems like you don't know how high the sky is." Blair was about to explode on a rant when Lydis disappeared through the flaps of the door. "Calm down Blair, she is just a child who doesn't know any better. She has amnesia. She's the adopted daughter of the captain." After a quick pep talk Blair took a couple of deep breaths before following after Lydis.

On the makeshift training grounds Blair had chosen a reasonably clear area as the starting place and had removed trees to make the area bigger. Lydis was just arriving with Blair a few paces behind her.

"So, how will this go?" Lydis had her hands behind her head, lazily scanning and a.s.sessing what could be used and what couldn't.

"We'll treat this like you've just encountered me in the middle of a battlefield. Anything is allowed but I won't go for your vitals. If you need a break just say so and I'll postpone the one-hour timer." Blair was smirking slightly as she watched Lydis survey the surroundings. In her mind a child who's only eight and with no experience in any kind of combat wouldn't be able to last even the whole hour without a rest.

"Like I said. I won't need it." Lydis was near the edge of the clearing and had a handful of dirt. With her back turned to Blair she stuffed it into her pockets.

"There's a thirty-meter circle barrier set up from that pole in the ground over there." Blair pointed to a long black metal pole sticking out from the ground. It had four metal plates hovering around it. Lydis could see a faint blue mist collecting at the tip. "The only rule is you can't run outside of it. The point of this is to fight, not run away. We'll cover that later. For now I just need to test your abilities. So, the hour starts… Now!" As soon as she said 'now' a small timer popped out from her pocket and landed on the floor, a blue screen popped up displaying the time left, 00:59:47.

"Hmm." Lydis was already by the edge of the clearing so as soon as Blair said 'now' she ran into the trees quickly disappearing into the heavy shadows of the trees and shrubs.

"Didn't I say the whole purpose was to fight?" Blair called after Lydis but got no response. "Come on, if you wanted to play tag you should've just said so." In the next moment Blair disappeared from the clearing, a little cloud of dust falling where she had just been.

Lydis had already reached the barrier. It was only about ten meters from the edge of the clearing, so she was running along it. Behind her she could hear Blair coming. In the next second Blair was crouching in front of her, her left arm stretched out to clothesline Lydis in the gut. Instinct had told Lydis that Blair would aim for her abdomen since it was easiest to hit. Lydis was prepared for Blair's attack. She had been running low to the ground as soon as she entered the forest so she slipped right under Blair's arm, her red hair catching Blair in the face. The whip-like lash from Lydis's hair stung Blair's face while causing her to lose a moment of visibility. Lydis took this chance to pivot sharply on her heels and grab onto Blair's neck with her left arm. Using her momentum Lydis pulled Blair backwards towards the ground. As soon as she felt her body moving backwards Blair stretched her legs, springing up, her other hand reaching for Lydis's arm around her neck. Lydis was quick too, as she felt herself getting lifted off the ground she quickly let go and dashed away. Blair rubbed her face and neck slightly.

"d.a.m.n, what was that? Wasn't she supposed to be an eight-year old with no training whatsoever?" Although, no one had said that Lydis didn't know how to fight a little. Blair patted her legs off and stretched her arms upwards. "Looks like I'll have to try a bit more." She got in a running stance and half a second later she was next to Lydis in midair. She was diving with her hand aimed for Lydis's leg. Lydis wasn't fast enough to avoid the grab so she reached into her pockets for the dirt as she felt herself getting lifted from her feet. Blair dangled Lydis upside down by her left leg. Lydis kicked out with her right, her foot colliding with Blair's face. Even though she had just been kicked Blair didn't even flinch, more like she couldn't feel it.

"Is that all?" Blair shook Lydis slightly and in the next moment she was blinded by dirt in her eyes. In her shock she dropped Lydis and midair Lydis kicked off Blair's chest, propelling her towards a nearby tree. As she flipped in the air she landed on the side of the tree for a moment before pushing off of it towards Blair, carrying her momentum with her. Blair had just brushed off most of the dirt when she suddenly flicked her head to the right, dodging Lydis's kick but what she didn't count for was that Lydis also had her elbow aimed for her face. In the next second Blair's face collided with Lydis's elbow. The impact broke Blair's nose and a gush of blood poured down her face. Lydis had also injured her elbow by tearing her tendons a bit and dislocating her elbow. Lydis landed behind Blair, dust rising from her feet sc.r.a.ping against the ground in an attempt to slow her momentum. Blair pinched her nose and turned around to face Lydis's back, a grin on her face.