The Immortal Mist

Ch. 4

Vira hopped around the clearing, beads of sweat rolling down her body.
She held the wooden sword tightly, tight enough to cause calluses to appear on her hands.

Her opponent was powerful, but she was fast.

Erin swung his sword at her shoulder, which she quickly dodged, the tip of the mock sword just grazing her shoulder.

He feinted to the right, kicking her in the side when she moved to parry the blow.

She wheezed out a hoarse breath, claws digging at the earth as she scrambled away.

Baring her fangs, she regained her footing, before gripping her sword and rushing forward, swinging the weapon down on his head.

Erin was just barely able to raise his own weapon in time to block her assault, but the Vivari was swift, quickly landing another blow on his chest, and taking the opening to knock the sword out of his hand, and send it flying across the clearing, where Mana easily caught it in one of his higher hands.

Vira raised one of her long thin legs, kicking Erin square in the chest and knocking him to the ground.

Winded, he looked up at her in awe, her sword pointed at his chest and a smug smirk on her face.

He thought quickly, returning her smirk before he kicked her left leg with all his might, easily toppling over the Vivari.

She gasped, dropping her sword to clutch at her leg in shock.

Taking this opportunity, Erin stomped on the weapon, easily cracking the old wood, before kicking it away from them.

Not about to give up, Vira jumped up from where she was on the ground, though her legs ached, and rushed at the human hunter.

She pounced on him like a feral animal, paws raised to swipe at his throat and fangs bared to show dominance.

"Fine, I'll let you have this one."
Erin smirked, shoving her off when her grip loosened.

Mana cheered from the side, holding up Erin's sword and waving it through the air.

"Wait, really?!"

Vira grinned, eyes wide with shock and excitement.

"Yeah, really. You did well. Only took you two and a half weeks."
He grinned, getting up and offering her his hand.

She took it gratefully, laughing.
"Does that mean I get the cool blade?"

He put his hands up in mock surrender, still smirking.
"It means you get the cool blade."

Vira squealed, her tail beating the ground mercilessly.

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"See, the double blade is much different from the wooden sword you used. It's much lighter, and uses different techniques."

Erin explained, cautiously handing her the blade.

"But, you know the basics, so this shouldn't be so difficult for you. Let's just go until either you win or it gets too dark."

"Got it."
Vira nodded, grinning as she adjusted the blade in her grip, trying to get used to the weight in her paws.

After around an hour of sparring between short lessons, the two stopped, as, according to Mana, the air felt...strange?

"You're overreacting. Nothing too serious has ever happened near the town."
Erin sighed, glaring at the insectoid.