Blink of an Eye - a Guild Wars 2 Fanfiction

Chapter 13 - A Twinge of Conscience

"Very good! Now I'm going to attack you from the left and I want you to either block the tackle or dodge it properly. Understood?"

I nodded. While Aidan shifted his weight to the left side, I made myself ready to dodge towards the opposite direction, and while his foot moved a tiny bit forward, I let myself drop to the side – only to get hit by Aidan's greatsword. I stumbled to the ground confused, but got up again just the next moment. Aidan had switched sides in the last heartbeat and attacked from the right, where I wanted to evade his move. He laughed.

"Exactly what I expected. You rely too much on what I say! Stop using your brain and start to feel. You have to sense what your opponent will do next! If you start thinking, you're long dead before reaching anything. Brains are for labs, but out here you have to believe in your instinct. Once again!"

This time Aidan didn't announce a direction, but because he had just attacked from the right, I made the conclusion that his next move would come from the other side. But Aidan again chose the right side, and again I met the broadside of his weapon, but this time I managed to keep on my feet. It couldn't go on like that! I felt anger rising inside of me. Aidan had hit me with more than one painful stroke already this training session, but I still wasn't able to foresee his attacks. I would never become a good warrior if I kept on like that!

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Back during the training with Narru, I had already managed to listen to my instinct. But I wouldn't let someone badger me for a whole week until I was able to counter. Stop using your brain and start to feel...

Piece by piece I blanked out everything that wasn't important in that moment. The loud noises of Lion's Arch, the sea in my back and the rush of my blood faded to one consistent noise, rising and ebbing away with the rhythm of my heart. The shape of the town, the cliffs and the water around me faded until I only saw Aidan in front of me, getting ready for his next move. You can do this. Focus, listen to your instinct!

In the blink of an eye I noticed dozens of different signs. The flicker in Aidan's eyes towards the side he wanted to attack. The obvious posture to the other side with which he wanted to lead me astray again. The low-key scrape of his foot in the sand, as he shifted his whole weight. This time I wouldn't let him beat me up and I wouldn't dodge. I wanted to prove to the world, and most of all to me, that the many training sessions hadn't been for nothing. That I indeed was worth of something, no matter what others would think of me.

So I took a deep breath, tasted the salty ocean in the air together with the slightly moldy scent of the aged wood. Holding the hammer tight with both hands, I waited for Aidan to start his attack while trying to recognize every even so tiny movement of his body so I could foresee where he wanted to attack next. Aidan quickly inhaled a breath and in the next moment, his greatsword was rushing towards me with full speed. But this time I had guessed right, ducked down under the sword and used the sway that had been left in Aidan's move to throw him out of balance with a hard punch on his shoulder. It worked because Aidan hadn't counted on it, and while he tumbled for a second with surprise and let down his guard, I turned around with attitude and smashed my hammer against his back with a loud cry to finally down him.

But the Norn wouldn't let himself be defeated that easily; even though he had been surprised by my first counter attack, he had regained his senses quickly and hit back. He turned around with a pain-distorted face, lunged heavily while I was still gathering my balance from my last move, and let his weapon fall down right above my head. The helmet I wore would soften the hit if I wouldn't be able to move aside, but I wanted to prove that I could achieve more. It wasn't possible to dodge to the side, as there wasn't enough time left. Thus Aidan wouldn't strike my head but my legs instead as soon as I tried to roll, and those were way less secured than my head. Therefore I had only one more option, and with all the strength I had left, I heaved the hammer above my head so he collided with the sword with a loud CLONG!