The Beginning after the end : Perfect Duo

New Comrades

**LILIA'S POV**

"Wake up," I heard someone shouting.

My vision was blurry, and I couldn't really distinguish anything.

Who's shouting? What am I doing here?

Ah yes, I was sleeping, and someone's trying to wake me up, but who is it?

My vision slightly improved, and I was able to see Jasmine's red eyes watching me from above. 
I woke up as fast as I could, which clearly made her uncomfortable.

"What is it? The sun hasn't even risen yet," I said while yawning and rubbing my eyes.

"I know you're sleepy, but I said I'd train you to get stronger," Jasmine said, already wearing her battle clothes and sitting on a rock nearby.

Well, yes, but not right now. I can barely understand what she's saying. 

"What kind of training are we talking about?" I asked timidly, still putting on my clothes.

"You have to learn to use something other than your fists if you want to be a strong opponent. I will teach you how to use daggers, starting now and continuing until the end of the two years. It's the least I can do," Jasmine said.

"Daggers? I DON'T EVEN HAVE THEM," I shouted.

"Say no more," Tom said, shaking the sleep out of his eyes.

Wait, Tom? I thought he was still asleep.

"So you woke up?" I said. 
I didn't want them to hear about my training.

"Of course he did; your voice was loud as hell, Lilia," Arthur said, removing the blanket from on top of him.

Dang it, I woke them all up.

"Concerning the daggers, I can make them for you, Lilia, just like I did when I made my own sword," Tom said.

Of course, he can. He can do anything at this point.

"You'll just need to pour your own mana into it," Tom said, holding some freshly conjured daggers.

He already made them.

"We'll help as well. We brought her here, after all," Arthur said.

"Okay, let's start then," Jasmine said.

I channeled my mana into the daggers, and they just vibrated in response, as if to acknowledge me as their owner.

Jasmine stood opposite me and took her daggers out. She didn't seem to hesitate.

Not like me—my feet were dancing on their own. 

It's the first time I'll be fighting using daggers, anyway.

"Are you afraid?" Jasmine said blankly.

What does she mean?

Is it "Are you afraid?" as in worried about me, or "Are you afraid?" as in me being pathetic?

Why is Jasmine always this mysterious?

Just focus, focus. I have to get stronger for these two who helped me change my life. I want them to acknowledge me as a friend they can rely on.

I can't use mana properly now.

It'll be just a 1 vs. 1, no mana allowed, except for enhancing my stats, but it won't be as astronomical as it was before.

Jasmine rushed at me with her double daggers in both hands.

I dodged to my right, and she changed her path by pivoting on her right foot. She landed on me, and I was pushed back, landing on the ground roughly.

"You're too slow, and your intentions are too clear for the opponent to read," Jasmine said.

She did it again. I wanted to block her with my dagger, but she was faster than me.

And we kept trying again and again until it was finally time to proceed to our first mission.

In all those times she attacked me, I was always beaten up, except for a few times when I was barely able to dodge her and another when I blocked her dagger.

We were now heading towards our first dungeon, with Jasmine leading us on her horse.

Arthur, Tom, and I were following.

Tom approached me.

"Lilia, don't be disappointed in your performance. She's very strong; blocking one or two of her attacks is a great beginning."

"I know, but it doesn't feel good to get beaten up that many times," I said, looking down at my horse.

It was a brown one. It felt nice riding it.

"I also wanted to tell you another thing: you shouldn't use that skill again anytime soon. You felt it, didn't you?" he said.

"Yes, my channels and veins were in total chaos after using it, but it's better now," I said.

"What Arthur and I taught you is a skill that overcharges your channels and veins, making you 5 to 10 times more powerful, but at a cost related to how long you keep it going. It might take you a few hours to recover, a few days, months, or maybe years in some cases, and you might even lose the ability to use mana again. You should be careful while using it—very careful," Tom said.

"Don't you feel like you should have told me this earlier?" I asked.

"Let's just say it was your only option to make it to the test," Tom said.

Now that he says it like this, I can really feel how weak I am compared to him.

I should get stronger.

"We're almost there," Jasmine said.

And we kept going just a little bit further.

We got closer until we saw a mountain with a big cave inside it, and adventurers were standing in front of it.

We kept going towards them until we reached our target.

A group of six adventurers was standing there.

"You're the last ones here. My name is Jaden. I am a 24-year-old B-class adventurer, a bi-elemental mage with both water and wind, currently at light orange," a blonde man with black eyes, wearing knight-like armor, said.

"He ain't a bielemntal by the way; he can barely control his wind attribute. Ain't counting that as an element in your arsenal," a young blonde woman with curly hair and glasses yelled from the corner.

"And that's my stupid sister. Her name is Jane, and she's lying."

"Nice to meet you, Jaden and Jane. You can call me Tone," Tom said, using his fake voice.

I never really liked that voice of his; it sounds scary.

"Who are these guys now?"