Displaced

Chapter 44

"Pathetic. I've seen ten-year-olds hit harder than that."

Gabriela kept her eyes on the training dummy lying toppled a good seven meters from her, trying not to let the insult upset her. She'd hit the straw-stuffed mannequin with everything she had, driving her wooden sword into its torso with every ounce of strength that her body possessed, but even her all wasn't enough to impress her instructor. Swordmaster Yrijan Pareketh glared at her from across the large stone training room, his gray eyes filled with disdain as if having to teach her how to fight was the most insulting and demeaning thing he'd ever had to do. It felt to her like he'd decided she wasn't worth his time from the moment he'd met her for the first time just an hour ago.

Though standing just a few centimeters taller than Gabriela, the broad-shouldered, gray-haired, battle-scarred old warrior's presence intimidated her. When she looked into his eyes, she felt like a tiny mouse huddling before a hungry cat, trapped with no way out but death. She had no doubt that the man could kill her in a hundred different ways should he so choose. How many people had he killed in battle before retiring a few years back? Gabby didn't know the answer, but she was sure it numbered in the hundreds, if not thousands.

"Is that really all that you can muster?" he growled in disgust. "Any Feeler worth a damn can do that with one arm."

"Swordmaster Pareketh," Chitra chimed in from her spot by the doorway, "Champion Carreno has been chosen by the Emperor himself to be the Champion in this coming conquest. I must insist that you use her proper title and give her the respect that she is entitled."

The man spat on the floor. "Bah! Don't talk to me about respect!" he ground out through clenched teeth, his ire now directed at the tall, beautiful Batranala. "Champion Valentus was my best friend, and I'll go to my grave before I dishonor his memory by using that title on a nobody just because the Emperor says so!" He turned back to Gabriela. "You want respect, girl?! Earn it! Show me you can hit with more force than a gentle breeze! Now pick the dummy up and do it again!"

Gabby rushed over to the straw mannequin and propped it upright again. Normally the dummy would be planted in the ground, but it seemed that the old man wanted to get a baseline for her striking power and was using the distance she knocked it as his way of measuring.

Taking a deep breath, Gabriela tightened her grip on the practice sword. The dense wooden weapon carried a serious weight that would have given the old Gabriela some difficulty, but that had changed since her arrival on Scyria. Now she could lift and swing the glorified stick with general ease. After a little testing on her own the day before, Gabby believed herself to be about three times stronger and faster than before, as well as having significantly increased endurance. It made her feel like an Olympic athlete, which had felt pretty darn great until Mr. Gruff had come along and stomped all over her vibes.

Setting her body into the only stance that Swordmaster Pareketh had taught her so far, Gabby swung her sword again, once more performing to the best of her ability the horizontal slash that her teacher had shown her. The wood plowed into the dummy's chest, throwing the straw and fabric object a good eight meters. Something told her that wasn't going to be good enough, and the old man's sigh only confirmed her suspicions.

"Disappointing," he said as he walked over to a nearby barrel filled with wooden swords and pulled one out. "Let's move on to other areas instead. Take your stance." He began to approach her.

"Hey! What the-"

Before Gabriela could even finish her question, the instructor bent his knees, lowering himself into a half-crouch, and launched himself towards her faster than her mind could comprehend. Desperately, she brought her sword up in a vain attempt to protect herself, but it made no difference. His sword slammed into her gut, violently forcing the air from her lungs and throwing her back. She twisted in the air, doubling over from the pain, and landed on her side, rolling over several times before coming to a stop. Her body wracked with spasms, she vomited her breakfast all over herself and the floor.