The Horseman of Calamity

Epilogue - Farewell

"Master it already, Hung." Rodriga looked down at Hung who was currently sprawled out on the grass of the serene forest.

Veronica giggled, swinging her feet down the branch of a nearby tree as she watched them train from above, sipping on a glass of sweet strawberry juice as she did.

Hung groaned in frustration, "I can't!"

He fumbled around with his sword, failing to sheathe his sword cleanly.

"You can't use calamity, you can't fight, and you can't even put away your sword properly?" She sighed, facepalming, "What did Shitou even teach you?!"

"Nothing, I only worked on his ships, but Avery told me he's a bad teacher anyway. I can fight though, I've fought a lot of people."

"Oh yeah? And how did it turn out for you? Because you seem to be missing an arm." She barked back at him.

Collecting herself to not blow up on Hung, Rodriga used her hands to calm herself, "It's a miracle you made it this far. Alright, we're starting from the basics, from here on, you're going to forget everything you've learned, kay?"

"Yes."

"Death energy is iffy, it is a true energy in that it cannot be created or destroyed, only recycled. Think of it as blood flowing through your body, it will always be there, even if in an infinitesimally small amount. Its applications are almost endless if you know the proper techniques to use it. Pick up your sword and swing it at me, full force." Rodriga then tightened her posture, waiting for Hung.

"I know all that stuff already, I was trained by a knight."

Raising her eyebrow smugly, Rodriga grinned, "Well now you're going to be trained by a dragon."

After fiddling with his sword, Hung drew it, slashing at her head with all of his strength.

Taking a sharp breath, her arm flowed up, parrying and redirecting the blunt side of his blade, knocking it out of his grip in the process.

"That was the best you could do?" She disappointedly asked.

Hung walked over to where his sword fell, picking it up, "I can't use calamity, as embarrassing as it is to admit, my sword's powers are what's kept me in battle. And to be frank, I have no idea what its limits are."

Scratching the back of her head, she looked at him, "Good grief, we've got a long road ahead of us then. I'll be taking your sword until you can fight without it."

"Shouldn't you be worrying about your men and status? Why are you so focused on trying to train me?"

Rodriga smacked over the head, "I can do what I want for god's sake! Besides, my status doesn't matter anymore, I'm no longer recognized as the Horseman of War, that goddamn bastard stole it from me."

"Ow... can you not hit me so much?" Hung rubbed his head, trying to soothe the pain.

Completely ignoring his request, Rodriga shifted her attention to his stump, "We're gonna have to fix that too, running around with one arm is no good."

At the prospect of somehow getting his arm back, Hung brightened, "Are you saying you can get my arm back for me?!"

"Maybe I can, who knows? But I'll only give it to you once you're ready. Now take a seat, I'm gonna dedicate the rest of today's lesson to the basics of calamity! So you better be happy!"

Sitting down, Hung focused to the best of his ability, locking his mind into this practice.

"To use calamity in its most basic form, you have to know how to concentrate it to where you need it whenever you need it. You want to increase your speed? Move the energy to your muscles. You want power?"