Master Of None

Chapter 1211 – 1211. Just Not Right

"Ha! Take this!" Remey's fist was covered in blistering flames while Gil jumped back and took the dagger from his chest strap sheath. He had allowed for her to get too close while they trained. The game of Remey dodging projectiles or deflecting them had turned in to one of him trying his best to avoid the insanely quick swapping of elemental fists. He didn't even have a hope of using his bow in between. But this was the pressure that he needed. 

"Just try it. You can't lay a hand on me!" His words were enough to push Remey even further. He had the tactic of annoying her down to a science. Now he just needed to put it in to practice so that he would be able to win this sparring match. 

The two had decided to test themselves to their limit. Gil had been training with the young archers and other forest elves. Especially his arrow making techniques. To say that he had missed out on close combat training with daggers would be an understatement. He had not done any at all! Remey, on the other hand, was attempting to balance herself better. She had to let out the frustration of a learning alchemist who decided to nearly blow up a lab that day by rushing their potions. 

You move so quickly but you can't make a decisive hit, that's why I have you use your dagger and not a wooden one! You can't touch me!" Remey had a very good point. Since Gil had not trained properly, he was still very uncomfortable using the dagger as defense. He had also not been very well trained using the bow as a melee weapon instead of just a ranged weapon. The techniques and skills that the forest elves used were very good and an arcane archer that worked as an enforcer was happy to show him. But for whatever reason, the style didn't seem to fit for Gil. Therefore, he had the idea for him to create his own. 

Being able to use both the dagger and the bow as melee weapons would make Gil more flexible. But he had to upkeep his training and maintain a good example for those he was teaching. It was all too impressive to have accuracy and long distance sniping. Unfortunately, those that he trained were not of that level. They would not be fortunate to always have far away targets or never be ambushed. "Come on, move your feet and arms together. It will give you faster and more powerful hits!" Remey was getting fed up. She started to coach Gil instead of just pushing him. 

"That's it! I'm using Ice. you will feel the cold and the heat. If you don't dodge then you will be at a loss. If you can't hit me in the next ten tries then I will make your entire academy escort my students for free!" Remey knew that Gil's pride would not allow him to just let this go. 

"Never! I will break you down right now!" Giving up on his speedy dodging that he had worked so hard to achieve, Gil used a method that Remey was famous for. He charged in. As much as Remey would have been surprised, she had known her battle style well enough and was also adept in dodging. She easily sidestepped the charge from Gil and added insult to injury by extending her leg for him to trip on. What she didn't realize though, was that Gil had been getting more muscular lately from his archery training. He had also grown taller. 

The additional weight pulled her off balance as well causing both to tumble down. Gil's arm flung out and managed to hit Remey's arm while she managed to have a grazing punch creating frost on Gil's side. They both looked at the cuts on their clothes and at the fact that their trash talking had ended up moot. 

"So, I think I am going to look in to some different dagger styles to see what fits me." Gil caught his breath and made the full decision to take a break from the bow and fully focus on using a dagger since he had lost a lot of his fluidity in using it. 

"That sounds good. I might try and train a little more. I feel like I lost some weight just sitting in the lab. Maybe some heavier armor to lug around." Remey still didn't wear much metal in her armors which made her faster but not as heavy. This in turn made her attacks a bit softer or, as had just happened, her being unable to pull someone down with her weight. 

The two split ways at the point with a lot on their mind. But Gil was pointing himself away from his archery academy. He had seen many close combat skills and dagger arts that related to archery. All of them didn't feel like the right fit. He was an arcane archer but that was unheard of in the world. A human taking a system that elves were known to use. He thought that he might need to replicate this and look outside the human and the elves for ideas. That was why he was looking toward the outer areas of Genesis. Specifically toward the place that the merfolk had begun to make their homes since it was close to water. 

He had seen some of the merfolk that migrated this way carrying thin knives that they would use in the water. They were made of some tough forged coral that was extremely sharp and light in the water. From what he knew it made them able to move faster while delivering decisive blows to fish. Then they would have a meal right there. If he could somehow learn it and change it to suit him he might just find what he had been missing. 

…..

….