Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 165

Chapter 165: Theo's Training

Lysette made her way to the center of town with Mirae wrapped around her arm.  Though, with so many people wanting to exchange pleasantries and discuss various happenings throughout the town, what could have been a fifteen second flight was instead a forty-five minute stroll.  

She didn’t mind the delays at all— for the first time in weeks, there was no imminent threat barreling at her doorstep.  There were still numerous threats, no doubt.  But for the first time since her discussion with the Chancellor, Lysette felt she could take it easy, for a day or two at least.

The time spent among the people of Ciricu was not without long-term benefit, though it felt more than a bit icky to speak of the ‘benefit’ in such terms.  Specifically it gave her an opportunity to spend time with and among the human denizens of Ciricu, those who had generously accepted her as their goddess.

She’d been thinking about her own family and fellow villagers in the back of her mind throughout the flight to Ciricu.  About what she’d lost, and about the hole in her heart.  The connections she’d lost, and the ones she’d built to mend her weary soul.  It made her feel happy, at peace almost, to be among such kind and welcoming people.

And she wondered: Would the gods still be warring amongst themselves if they shared similar connections with their human believers?  Lysette struggled to imagine so.  One reason why the gods saw humans less as people and more as batteries, she figured, was that the two never had much in the way of direct contact.  Gods might commune with high-ranking priests and their Godslayer proxies from time to time, but they rarely seemed to have more informal communication.  And seemingly never with their lay believers, let alone adherents of other gods. 

“Miss Lyse!  Is that you?”  

Just as the distant shout finished, Theo came sprinting up toward her and Mirae from the northern edge of town, nearly knocking over an unsuspecting older man as he did.  Lysette nearly dashed at him to intercept, but once it was clear that Theo was going to narrowly miss the gentleman, she relented, sighing as she did so.

“It is, Theo.  Though, we’re going to need to have a discussion about making sure you’re being careful and watchful when you use your newfound strength and speed.  I did grant you the power to defend this village in my stead, but you just about used that same power to knock an elderly gentleman to the ground in your recklessness.”

Theo turned around and saw the man stumbling about.  Based on the cane in his hand and the way he was tapping it about, the elder man probably had both limited sight and mobility and neither saw nor could react to Theo’s relentless welcoming bonanza.  As he turned back to Lysette, his eyes sank and his face dropped with guilt.

“This is a good opportunity to teach you about your Cultivation and to provide you with some further advice.  Shall we head someplace a bit more private?”

“Uh… sure.”  Theo gestured toward the same community hall where Lysette and Mirae had first met with him and other community leaders weeks earlier.  After a brief and somewhat awkward pause, the three departed, entering the otherwise empty hall about a minute later.

“How are you feeling, Theo?” Lysette asked.

“I was feeling pretty great.  Physically, I still am, but after seeing what I almost did, now I can’t help but feel bad.”

“That’s good,” Mirae said.  “Not what happened, but that you feel remorse for what happened.  As I have been discussing with Lyse recently, she is not perfect, and neither am I.  Or you.  That you feel remorse and can show contrition for your missteps proves that you are still in our goddess’s good graces.”

Lysette blushed and looked away.  “I wouldn’t distance myself from you all by saying it like that, but more or less as they said.  Just be mindful— you are a lot stronger now, which means your mistakes can cause that much more harm to others as well.  I know I’ve made my share of mistakes along my journey.  And I would have made even more if not for Mirae, Serrena, and my other friends and comrades.”

“I–  I’ll keep that in mind.”  Theo paused.  “If I may change the subject, it sounded like you had some advice you wanted to give me?”

“I did.”  Lysette looked around for a bit.  “Do you have a piece of cloth I can borrow?”

Theo looked around, then went into one of the side rooms of the large meeting hall and pulled out a couple of small bandanas.  “Will these do?”

Lysette nodded and tied one of them around her eyes as a makeshift blindfold.  “This is perfect.  Now then, please, strike at me.”

“Miss Lyse, I must beg your pardon.  The last thing I would want to do is to hurt you.”

“May I see your sword, Theo?  I will give it right back.”

Theo acquiesced, dropping to one knee as he presented his weapon, still in its scabbard, to Lysette.  Lysette, for her part, did not much appreciate the formality, but shunted her distaste for ceremony aside.  She did not bother to remove her blindfold as she took the weapon out of its sheath and examined it with her aurasight.  

It was a fine weapon: a broad, slightly-curved saber, well crafted with a keen edge.  There was some evidence of dulling and a few imperfections along the back of the blade.  Lysette conjured a couple of shadows and ran them along the primary cutting edge, sharpening the blade and smoothing out the weapon’s divots and microcracks to the best of her ability.

Once she was done with the weapon, she gripped the handle with her right hand and pierced through the middle of her left palm.  It hurt, but it was a dull ordinary ache like many she’d felt before and would feel in the future.  Even before the sword was fully removed from her wound, her regeneration was already hard at work, stitching muscle and tendon and skin back together.  A few drops of blood headed toward the floor, but Lysette intercepted those with a shadowy tendril to avoid staining the floor beneath her.

“This is a sturdy and potent weapon.  However, as you can see, it’s far from sufficient to cause me any pain or lasting injury.”  Lysette presented the weapon back to Theo, and as he took it, she showed her left hand, now as fresh and uninjured as it had been a minute prior.  “So please, strike at me as though you mean to harm me.  A part of me wishes to command you as such.  However, if you truly cannot, then I will accept that; a far larger part of me does not want to be the sort of goddess who acts on commandment.”

“Very…  Well.”  Theo’s voice was shaky, nearly as much so as his stance and his grip as he assumed a fighting stance a few feet away from Lysette.  He gripped it with both hands and, after a few seconds of silent hesitation, he steeled himself and slashed down upon Lysette’s right shoulder.

Lysette sidestepped the first swing with grace, then stepped backward to avoid a piercing stab aimed at her torso.  Theo continued his assault with an array of thrusts and slashes from every direction, while Lysette danced about, avoiding every one of them without a care in the world.  As she did, she conjured a single shadowy tendril and allowed it to snake its way onto the ground, slithering over to Theo’s feet and slithering upward.

The serpentine appendage continued upward, wrapping around Theo’s waist and crawling up to his right arm, all while remaining loose and flexible enough for him to continue fighting unabated.  Lysette continued her stealthy assault unbeknownst to her trainee, all the while, feigning a position of weakness.  She allowed herself to be pushed backward near one of the corners of the large hallway.

But as soon as Theo readied a sweeping horizontal slash, Lysette sprung her trap.  Theo’s arm and sword were frozen in place by her tenebrous grip, and despite his heaving and grunting as he struggled to free himself, his arm remained stationary, held in place by her technique.

“Alright, that’s enough!” Lysette said.

As soon as she finished, Theo stopped struggling.  Lysette loosed her grip slowly, avoiding making any sudden movements that might cause him to flinch or move erratically in turn.  Once she no longer had any control over his movements, Theo examined his arm carefully, staring at it with furrowed brows as though he wasn’t sure whether it would continue obeying him or not.  Only once he was satisfied did he finally sheathe his sword and kneel before Lysette.

“Please rise, Theo,” she said.  “It makes me feel bad having you all kneeling and such.”

“Was that not the reason you had me duel you?  To remind me that I still had a long way to go in my journey to become Ciricu’s defender?”

“If that’s your only takeaway from this session, then I would still consider it time well-spent.  However, what I wanted to do was give you some advice on how you should proceed with your Cultivation path.”

“Please, continue,” Theo said.

“You have clearly devoted a good amount of yourself to improving your speed, and I agree that that’s the single most important physical attribute in a battle.  You can extricate yourself from unwinnable fights more easily, move to more advantageous terrain.  And probably most importantly, all the strength in the world won’t matter if you can’t hit your opponent.  But there is something nearly as important as speed.”

“What’s that?”

“Mental processing capability.  And perception, which is closely related.  Enhanced strength and speed are sufficient when dealing with dumb animals or lowly thugs.  But if you want to protect this village from trained soldiers who are Cultivators themselves, you will need more. You will need the willpower to overcome pain and despair, the perception to pick out stealthy attacks coming at you from your blind spots, and the mental acuity to analyze both your and your enemy’s attacks in the heat of battle.  Only then can you devise countermeasures and hope to turn the tide of battle.”

“I’m guessing you are teaching me this so I don’t accidentally harm a friend in the midst of battle as well.”

Lysette nodded.

“What about them?” Theo pointed to Mirae.  “Can they do what you’ve suggested?”

“Sure,” Mirae said.  They took the bandana still tied around Lysette’s head and wrapped it around their own eyes.  They turned around and continued.  “If you would like to try the same exercise with me, you’re welcome to do so.  Although I might end up poking you with some ice needles instead of grabbing your arm sight unseen.”

Theo laughed.  “That’s quite alright, Mirae.  I harbor no delusions that a sparring session with you will end any better than the one with Miss Lyse did.  And I wouldn’t want to keep you from any tasks you might’ve come here for.”

“You’re alright,” Lysette said.  “This time around, we’re in no hurry to run off.  Although, I’m curious if you’ve heard anything about strange occurrences up in the Spire Mountains.”

“I can’t speak to the mountains themselves, but we have been dealing with a phenomenon we’ve called The Whispers.  They’ve been a frequent occurrence every night for the last five days.  Thankfully, none have succumbed to their temptations yet, but if they grow stronger, I’m sure someone will eventually give in.”  Theo sighed.  “I didn’t want to bring it up just yet.  Not until I had some sort of lead on the matter.  But… I could really use your help with this.”

Chapter 164: https://www.patreon.com/posts/108863698

Table of Contents: https://www.patreon.com/posts/table-of-101896170

Chapter 166: https://www.patreon.com/posts/108950834