TBATE-ALLIANCE

Chapter 22

Caera Denoir POV

Wiping the sweat from my brow, I leaned against my ruby sword. I was currently in the training room of the underground base and decided to take some time to train. The sound of metal clashing against metal from the rebel soldiers training around the room sounded through the air. After taking a few deep breaths, I picked up my sword, got into an attack stance, and stared at the three training dummies before me.

I willed mana into my legs and dashed toward the middle training target. I coated my blade in mana before swinging it down in a diagonal slash across its chest. With the first dummy cut, I spun on my right heel, spinning to the right, and faced the far right target. I followed through with my spin with three rapid cuts across the target's chest. Finally, I brought my sword back, thrust it forward, and plunged it into the target's head.

I quickly pulled the blade out from the target and willed mana to my legs again. Then, I dashed backward to face all three targets and focused my gaze on the far left one. Soul fire wrapped around my blade before I lifted it and swung it down vertically. A crescent of black flames flew through the air and hit the target, covering it in soul fire. Not wanting to destroy the target, I stood straight and waved my hand, dispersing the soul fire.

My eyes darted between the three targets, seeing my strikes and mentally going over my movements. I mentally scolded myself as I was a little slow on the heel spin, and a well-trained adversary could've used that opportunity to get a solid strike on me. I leaned on my sword and grabbed my chin, thinking about the different techniques I wanted to practice.

"One good thing about fighting a dummy," A voice said behind me, and the right corner of my lips rose into a small smile. "You can hit it as much as you want, and it won't strike back."

I felt their gentle, warm, and soothing touch as they placed their hands on my hips and gave me a quick kiss on my left cheek. My smile widened in bliss, and I looked over my shoulder at the golden-eyed man, who was looking at me like I was the only thing that mattered in the world.

"I guess I should consider myself lucky then. Who knows if I could defeat such ferocious opponents if they could strike back," I joked.

Callum chuckled, "I wouldn't worry about it."

I smirked and raised a brow, "Oh? And why's that?"

Callum smiled, "Because you are one of the strongest people I know. Physically and mentally."

My cheeks felt slightly warm, and I smiled at Callum's compliment. I stored my ruby blade into my ring before I turned to face him, with him keeping his hands on my hips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his head down, bringing him into a deep kiss, feeling his soft lips against mine. We slowly broke the kiss and smiled warmly at each other.

I tilted my head slightly to the right, "When did you wake up?"

"Not too long ago. I saw you weren't in bed and read the note you left, so I came here to see how the training was going," Callum responded.

I shrugged, "It's going good. My techniques could use a little work."

Callum chuckled, "There is always room for improvement. No one is perfect."

"I don't know, you're pretty skilled with a spear," I said.

A teasing smile formed on Callum's lips before he leaned down slightly, "Which spear are you referring to?"

My face felt warm as images of Callum and me in bed flashed before my eyes. I tried to hide my smile and shook my head playfully at him, "You know damn well which spear I was talking about."