far from the reality [ONGOING]

chapter 14: arc 3

[ Present Time ]

Artesiam is in a predicament, a hard one where she has to choose between saving her friend or killing her enemy.

She stood behind a thick tree, gasping for air after running away from her enemy. This has been going on for at least an hour now. She doesn't know how much energy is left within her, but her body keeps moving, disregarding any pain due to the adrenaline rush.

Artesiam clutches the axe in her trembling hands. A dumb weapon, really, considering her enemy is a strong asshole who slices everything in his path.

Her ears picked up the sound of leaves crunching, and that's when she left her hiding spot and ran for the kill.

Que sera, sera, bitch!

When her enemy's attention was divided between her and the axe flying towards him from the other side, she took advantage of his situation and rotated her hips to deliver a flying side kick to his face.

The air whooshed around them, leaves flying from the impact of her kick. Her chest heaved as she watched him with disappointment when she failed yet again.

"Smart. Nice moves," Louge complimented, though his tone was monotone. He let go of her ankle and sheathed his sword.

"I can't get past you!" Artesiam groaned, sitting on the dirt to catch her breath.

"Given that, you've improved tremendously in the span of three days. Your footsteps are more muted; I almost didn't hear you attacking me from behind. Your speed has increased; if I were a second slower, you could have landed a kick on me. It's dirty. Get up." Artesiam took his open palm and was pulled to stand up. She dusted off the dirt from her ass.

She could feel her body buzzing with excitement. Louge never complimented her; throughout their entire training, all he did was insult her. Well, maybe it was his way of criticizing someone.

"Your strength has relatively increased; I can feel the pain of your kick." To demonstrate, he raised his hand, revealing a blotch of red on his pinkish palm, and a slight scratch could be seen if she squinted just enough.

Her excitement intensified; she could feel the urge to squeal and jump itching her whole body. Unlike their first day of training, where she could barely land a hit on him and one of his shoves sent her flying a few meters back, she always ended up either injured or with a fractured bone.

Every time Instructor Shin scolded him for it, his excuse was always, "My ways of training are merciful compared to her (will-be) enemies." He was ruthless with his words and training.

Louge blinked slowly while delivering his words, as he always did. "It was also smart of you-which is rare-to throw the axe as bait and land a blow on my blind spot."

Her eyes narrowed at him. "Are you complimenting me or insulting me?"

Louge turned his back to her, muttering, "Who knows. It's lunch break; let's go back." He started to walk ahead, leaves crunching beneath his steady feet.

Before following Louge, she glanced at the axe, her weapon of choice that day, lying on the ground. It was cleanly sliced in half, as if both pieces were a Lego piece. No cracks, no breaks, not even a single scratch. Just a direct clean cut.

This dude is a menace.

"Artesiam."

She jolted a bit before moving away. "Coming!"

Since she was a special case, two words she'd like to call herself, her classes did not align with her classmates'.

After her two-hour class, she spent most of her time training with Louge and Instructor Shin. Although Instructor Shin mostly gave advice and tips on how to properly land a blow, deal with a blow, and take a blow with minimal damage to her body.