LINEAGE

Chapter 8

Elianna's skin glistened with sweat as she panted hard, trying to catch her breath. If she had learned anything this past year, it was that her father's combat training was far more intense than the physical exercises he showed her to strengthen her body. Though she may complain at times, she truly loved the time she got to spend with her father during her training. She definitely enjoyed her training days more than the days she had to stay home and study with Justine.

The cool breeze was a comfort as it brushed against her skin, and when she looked up, she was thankful for the clouds that covered the afternoon sun. Elianna closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing as she sat on the lush green grass in front of the headquarters building. She counted each breath to herself, noticing her respiration rate decreasing with each breath. Soon enough, she found herself relaxed and her breathing rhythmic.

"How are you holding up?"

Elianna looked at her father, who was sitting a few feet before her, smiling at her. He held a small black canteen in his right hand, similar to the one she was holding.

Lucian looked at his daughter curiously, "Do you need to take a longer break?"

Elianna shook her head, "No, I'm fine." She took another sip of her canteen, cherishing the refreshing water as it hit her lips.

Lucian smiled, "You sure? You can take a longer break if you want to. Don't push yourself too hard."

Elianna screwed the lid back onto the canteen and got back to her feet. "I know, but I'm fine. Let's keep going."

"Alright," Lucian got to his feet, storing his canteen in his spatial ring. He motioned to Elianna, who tossed her canteen to him, and he stored it in his ring as well. He took the sparing pads out of his ring and began to put them on, "We will continue with the two one-two drills."

Elianna nodded and reached back, tying her hair into a ponytail. When she first started combat training, her father had recommended tying her hair back to keep it out of her eyes. She tested out two different styles: the bun and the ponytail. In the end, she decided the bun was tedious and would sometimes come loose. However, she realized the ponytail was much easier to maintain, as she could undo and redo it quickly as she did earlier when she was cooling down.

Once she had tied her hair back, she looked at her father and saw that he had put on his sparring pads. Lucian held his hands up and smiled, "Ready?"

Elianna nodded and approached him. She got into her usual fighting stance, placing one foot in front of the other, and held her fists up. She took a deep breath, pushed mana through her body, and activated her mana guard, "Ready."

Lucian's smile faded, and he looked at his daughter seriously. He went into his training mode, as Elianna liked to call it. "Punch, kick, punch!"

Elianna burst into action, throwing a right hook to Lucian's right sparring pad and quickly following up with a left hook to his left sparring pad. She punched as hard as she could, feeling the connection of her punches. She brought her hands back and kicked up with her right foot. Lucian brought down his right sparring pad, meeting her kick, before holding his hand back up. Elianna quickly got back into her fighting pose and threw two more punches.

"Good!" Lucian yelled and took a step back. "Side kick, spin kick, side kick."

Elianna quickly adjusted her fighting stance so she was canted with her father. Using her right leg, she delivered two quick side kicks, which he blocked with ease with his right sparring pad. Elianna planted her right foot on the ground, spun on her heel, and delivered a spin kick to her father with her left foot. Lucian blocked the spin kick, taking another step back. Elianna quickly readjusted herself before delivering two more side kicks with her left foot, which Lucian blocked.