Vance

I steadied my breathing as I raised the training greatsword for another bout with the three other dungeoneers who had been forcing me to invent new ways to defend myself. In just a few hours, I'd dodged, blocked, or deflected more attacks than I had in the past three months. I could feel the sweat dripping off my forehead, each droplet threatening to get into my eyes and force them shut.

The dozens of bruises I'd suffered had been healed repeatedly by Lilly, who was watching over me like she always did; with compassion and exasperation in equal measure.. Even Serena had come to watch, although she currently had her nose buried in one of her books.

I turned my attention back to the sparring session only to get smacked in the side by a quarterstaff, a sting of pain coursing through the immediate area for a moment as I let out a surprised yelp. I could hear Serena giggle a bit as I swung the training greatsword in a wide arc in front of me. The three dungeoneers were spread out in a semi-circle, each of them wielding a different type of training weapon. One was the quarterstaff that had just smacked me; wielded by an older fellow who had the [Monk] class, who was grinning at me mischievously. The second was a wooden short sword held in the hands of a much more diminutive man, who had proven to be much quicker on his feet than I had first thought, despite the fact that he only came up to my waist. I assumed he was a [Rogue], because he hadn't spoken much other than to agree to help me train. The third dungeoneer helping me spar was Ivy, who had proven to be the least troublesome for me, as she mainly fought defensively instead of offensively. She was currently attempting to get behind me to split my attention, lashing out with a training longsword every so often, and blocking any attempts at retaliation with a wooden shield. Overall, I was outnumbered and outmatched. Exactly the situation I'd been in on the fourth floor.

I could still feel the cold steel sliding in between my ribs and into my heart, the sharp pain too much to bear as I slipped into the black nothingness. While that had been the attack that killed me, what I remembered most from that entire battle were the numerous cuts, scrapes, and bruises I'd suffered again and again. I hadn't been able to block them all, and my attempts at dodging were miniscule movements at best. I had to be better, otherwise it might not be me going down next time. The thought of dying again scared me, but I was still far more scared of seeing someone else's body lying on the ground because I couldn't save them.

I slapped aside another slash from Ivy, and stepped back as the [Rogue] stabbed at me with the short sword. I had specifically taken the role of being the party [Guardian] because of my father, who had retired a few years ago. He had so many stories where he'd fought off dozens of monsters at a time, with little more than his greatsword. I still only had my greatclub, but it did the job well enough most of the time. It was thick enough to shrug off anything other than an axe, and sturdy enough that I could swing with wild abandon and not break it. I desperately wanted to be like my father, if only to prove to him that I could do what he did just as well as him. Maybe then he'd shut his mouth for once about how great he was.

The quarterstaff whipped toward my face almost faster than I could register, and I felt it whistle over my head as I ducked in order to avoid a potentially painful and embarrassing bruise. However, I failed to anticipate the [Rogue] stepping inside my guard and taking another opportunity to try and poke me with the blunt tipped end of the training sword. I was forced to essentially fall sideways, letting go of the training greatsword with my left hand as the ground rushed up to meet me.

From there, I ended up rolling for about five seconds as Ivy ran ahead of me, and tried bringing her own weapon down to strike at my exposed torso. I lashed out with my leg, knocking her off balance enough that her attack missed my shoulder by a few inches. At that point I very quickly lost ground until I was forced to concede for the seventeenth time. Each time I had to do so, Lilly would walk over, chide me for pushing myself too hard, and then heal the bruises, scrapes, and other minor flesh wounds that I'd accrued.

Each time I lost, I would force myself to stand regardless of how exhausted I might feel, considering that monsters wouldn't give me the luxury of rest, so it would be smart to learn how to fight; especially when I was tired. The problem with this particular training however, was the fact that I risked running myself ragged, and possibly getting sick from overexertion. To help combat this, I'd made sure to keep my waterskin topped up on water via Serena's water spells. While I didn't trust her to make a reliable and complex spell, her simple spells were passable in my eyes. I wouldn't hold her inexperience against her though. Nobody could compare to my mother, who I once saw summon an actual storm when there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. It had been incredible, seeing all the rain fall down upon the crops that had been suffering from a rather severe drought that summer.

She was different from my father. Less talkative, less arrogant, and far more compassionate. For awhile I didn't see the difference, so I couldn't help but view her in the same light as him. She could burn forests and calm the sea, but she almost never used any magic that complex. My view of her only changed after I saw her help out during a major disaster, where the earth shook and the wind tore through houses and fields alike, throwing people up into the sky only to smash them against the still shaking ground. She had created a stable platform for people to rest on, while deflecting winds that would've carried off any lesser man. Afterwards, she had helped with the rebuilding efforts, even helping cultivate crops to feed those who lost everything. Until Serena was at that level, I don't think I could ever call her a proper mage, not that I would say the same things to anyone else.

Putting all of that aside, I shook my head to regain my focus. Reminiscing about the past wouldn't help me get any better at staying alive. I wiped the sweat from my brow and took hold of the training weapon again, the wood and leather grip feeling well worn in my hands.

Enough defending. Time to mix things up a bit.

"Again." I took a ready stance, watching my three sparring partners warily. Each phantom bruise and cut still let itself be known, despite having been healed. The monk feinted a step forward, inviting me to defend against him first; only for Ivy to be the one to charge at me, swinging at my neck. Instead of ducking I stepped into her range, angling my blade to deflect her attack. The one handed sword didn't have nearly enough force to push past my two handed grip, and I sent my shoulder into her shield to knock her off balance. Not many expect to be shoulder checked by a solid wall of muscle when already blocking an attack, and Ivy was no exception. Her backside hit the ground a second later, while I immediately went on the offensive.

Swinging the greatsword down at Ivy worked perfectly as a feint. Both the monk and the rogue attempted to seize the opportunity to strike me, but instead I twisted my body to the side just enough to swing the blade to the side instead, catching the monk off guard and striking him in the side. He cried out in pain before backing off, holding his ribs with one hand while grimacing. The rogue however ducked under the swing and jabbed twice into my stomach with the pommel of his daggers, knocking the wind out of me.

"That's eighteen times you've lost now. You're getting better, but at this point any more would be overdoing it. It's time to rest, for all of us." The rogue spoke quietly as he relaxed his tensed muscles and began heading back over to the weapon rack, twirling the training daggers in his hands as he walked.

I grumbled a bit as I helped Ivy back to her feet, wanting to continue practicing despite the fact that they agreed that doing so would be overdoing it. I could still feel the cold steel in my chest even now, the memory of the blade flashing in the back of my mind even as I put the greatsword away, wiping the sweat from my brow.

Lilly walked over to me and tossed me the waterskin she'd kept on hand, having been kind enough to keep it filled so that I wouldn't suffer from dehydration or heatstroke. The water was nice and cold as it slid down my throat, a refreshing feeling even though my muscles still ached from all the practice that I had been going through. I wouldn't fail to keep them safe again, and furthermore, I wouldn't fail to keep myself safe either. "Same time tomorrow?" Turning back to my sparring partners I spoke, feeling a firm resolve taking root alongside the core desire to protect those around me.

The rogue nodded up at me. "We've got nothing better to do, so this at least keeps our skills sharp in the event that someone comes up with a job for us, though if the lockdown on the dungeon doesn't lift soon, we'll be moving on before we run out of coin." He brushed some loose dirt off his shoulder as he then turned and headed for the guild bar, lazily waving once with the monk following behind, giving me a small smile and a bow as he swiveled to follow after his diminutive friend. Ivy was still brushing off the stains and dirt from her clothing. "I'll be around with the rest of Kingsfoil too, but we'll probably be leaving soon for another city. I personally don't want to go back into that dungeon again until things have settled down. If we're not gone by tomorrow then I'll happily help beat you to a pulp again." She gave me a fierce grin before heading over to find some others that were sparring, wooden sword and shield in hand.

"Well she's certainly energetic, especially for someone who just helped lay you out a dozen times." Serena spoke up from where she was reading, her staff resting across her legs. She didn't look up at me as she continued, content to turn the next page. "I know you're worried about what happened down there you big lug, but don't forget that we messed up just as bad. We'll just have to do what we can in the future so that nothing like that happens again. That means you don't get to burn yourself out training just because you're scared. Sit down before your muscle brain gives out like your body."

I would've had a response if I didn't feel as awful as she was saying. While I could definitely go a few more rounds, I had felt myself becoming more sluggish as each fight dragged on. Instead of responding to her banter, I just sat down against the wall and drink deep from the waterskin, while staring up at the sky.

I won't let that nightmare happen again.