Will it be just a mere civil war?

///

[Ties] Skirmish 2

Grigorio Perez's crash course.

During the time Malachi was in a coma, Arlianne had undergone Gregory's supposed "special training" to boost her capabilities. In an unspecified location, Arlianne went through what most would claim as hell.

"Right then, Arlianne, " said Gregory, "How far can you run?"

" 'Run,' not 'jog?'" verified Arlianne, "Around 5 kilometers if I don't push myself, and 7 if I give it my all."

Gregory nodded in understanding.

"All right, change your clothes into these, " he handed her a set of clothes, "Afterwards, come back here so we could get started."

Arlianne received the clothes, went into a changing room, and came back after a while. The clothes she was given was the kingdom's military uniform or, rather, a battle dress uniform that the rank-and-file wear. Her uniform was tailored to her size, and she turned her body around to inspect herself. The uniform had a lot of straps to clasp around her body, but it was baggy overall.

Gregory nodded in satisfaction.

"Good, it fits you, " he commented, "It's a good thing we have people with good eyes."

Arlianne raised a brow in doubt.

"You have people watching me, Uncle Greg?" she asked, "That's rather..."

Gregory waved it off.

"Never mind that, " he said, "By the way, in here, you address me as 'Sir Perez' or 'Lord Grigorio.' Got it?"

"Got it, sir." She affirmed, "What do we do now, sir?"

Gregory walked behind her.

"Now, you run." he said before pushing her back.

Arlianne stumbled.

"Eh, wha—" she said before getting interrupted.

"RUN!" bellowed Gregory as he chased her with mad eyes.

Arlianne panicked and ran immediately.

"You call that running!?" Roared Gregory, "You're running so fast that a Rockfort Lizard could catch up to you, twice! Faster!"

Having been pushed to the limit so suddenly, Arlianne ran out of juice after 6 kilometers. Gregory looked at her with disdain when she collapsed from having run ragged. After this, she was given 2 minutes of rest. After resting, Gregory had her resume her exercises.

"Get up, we're not done yet, " he ordered, "Time for pushups, a lot of 'em. Be glad Malachi had taken the initiative to condition your bodies from an early age. Now, get up and push yourself off the ground!"

Arlianne struggled to get off the ground, her clothes already drenched with sweat. Positioning herself for a pushup, Gregory still reprimanded her. Going even as far as joining her exercise, he spat out extreme harshness that one wouldn't have found from him before this.

"Maintain your form as you push your body!" Shouted Gregory, "Back straight! Legs straightened out! One, two! One, two! Faster! Push it all out!"

Since she had been told to run as fast and for as long as she could earlier, she hadn't enough stamina to do as much as she could. Breaking herself at 42 pushups, her arms felt like spaghetti as she struggled her next pushup. Not being able to deliver the next one, Gregory gave her another 2 minutes of rest. Even with her bits of rest, she had still gasped and panted for air. Her heart rate was at an all-time high, and she literally swam in her sweat.

"Now, sit on the ground, " ordered Gregory, "Time for sit-ups. As many and as fast as you can without stopping. Go!"

Arlianne did as she was told, and Gregory even gave motivational comments.

"Is this all that Malachi could bring out of you!?" He roared, "Come on, put your abs into it! Feel the burn as you move! One, two! One, two! Put more effort! Faster! Crush your guts until you can feel no more!"

Once more, after 52 sit-ups, Arlianne collapsed by slamming her back onto the ground. Panting and gasping for air, her chest visibly rose and descended as she breathed. Another two minutes of rest was given to her. This time, though, Gregory crouched down next to her head and brought his face close to hers.

"What are you thinking about, little girl?" He whispered in a mocking tone, "What dark thoughts would be floating in your mind right now, eh?"

Arlianne, unable to answer him, still tried to bring as much air as she could into her lungs. Her eyes, however, looked straight into Gregory's eyes without flinching. Gregory smirked in response to her gaze.

"Good, " he said, "We will be doing this everyday with increasing intensity, repetitions, and length of time."

Days passed into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Arlianne was brutally trained by Gregory's hellish exercises, a level or two above Malachi's own training menu. By the sixth month, her training had changed. She still had to go through the usual exercises, but then came combat exercises.

"The soldiers of the kingdom, " said Gregory, "are merely not just well-versed in the usage of heavy weaponry. When the situation calls for it, one must be able to defend oneself from harm without the use of weapons. With thousands and millions of lives behind us, it is our duty to fight until we could no longer fight to protect the ones we hold dear."

Under the blazing heat of the sun, Gregory and Arlianne faced off one another. Wearing nothing but their respective uniforms, and wielding nothing but their fists and kicks, Gregory introduced Arlianne into a world of hurt.

"When fighting against an enemy, armed or unarmed, anything goes, " he explained, "Don't expect your enemy to give you time to prepare nor assume that they will be honorable. Honor saves no one but the victor. Be it you, or your enemy, only one may come out alive and well. In a firefight or a fistfight, the aim is to neutralize your enemy as fast as possible to minimize the damage that would be dealt unto you or upon your comrades."

Without warning, Gregory charged forward with a clenched fist against Arlianne.

"And, the best way to learn, is to be in a fight itself!" He shouted, "On your guard!"

Gregory ran forward and unhesitatingly sent a kick going to Arlianne's head. Arlianne reacted too late and was unable to Dodge. Instead, she raised her left arm, supported by her right, to block his kick. Unfortunately, Gregory's kick delivered enough force to still blow her away.

Arlianne was thrown far away by Gregory, and tumbled across the ground. Groaning in pain, she struggled to get up and prepare for the next blow only to see Gregory's fist already on her gut. Her breath left her, and she spat out phlegm and saliva from his hit. Rather than training, it was a one-sided slaughter. Arlianne dropped to the ground and clenched her body in pain.

"Fight for survival." Said Gregory suddenly, "We don't fight to win, we fight to survive. There are only two kinds of people on the battlefield—alive and dead. There are no good people, nor are there bad people. Mercy and honor are useless before us and our enemies. Of course, the unknowing would say we fight to kill, but we are soldiers tasked to protect our kingdom, our home. If there is someone who wishes harm upon our home, we will fight that someone to protect our home. Men and women, elders and children, royalty and commoners. We will fight to protect them all."

Gregory crouched down next to Arlianne.

"And for us to fight, we must survive."

///

"Ouch, you went through all that?" Said Malachi as he listened to Arlianne.

Arlianne nodded.

"Yes, " she affirmed, "I ended up with a lot of bruises, cuts, broken bones, and other wounds all over my body. Mama was mortified when she saw me... trashed beyond recognition by Uncle Greg. Mama was about to blow her top when she confronted Uncle Greg, but I stopped her, telling her that I wanted to do this. I wanted to change, I wanted to do everything to protect you, to be with you, Malachi."

Malachi gazed at the girl beside him. He saw the minute scars that were faintly visible on her exposed skin. Thankfully, due to Eskur medicine, they were able to minimize much of the scars from showing conspicuously. Malachi gazed up, and massaged the back of his head. Letting out a sigh, he embraced the girl beside him tightly and ruffled her hair.

"I did say that I will make sure that I will have you stay by my side, " he said, "but not to this extent. I wanted you to grow with me, by my side, as well. Now, it seems I have to double my efforts to catch up to you, now."

Arlianne blanked, then looked down in shame. Seeing this, Malachi pressed her head closer to him, and further caressed her head. A moment later, Malachi looked up, and released Arlianne. Confused, Arlianne turned her gaze to where Malachi was looking and found Gregory walking by with a squad of soldiers.

"And I think I have an idea how..." Said Malachi as he stood up.

Malachi left Arlianne and approached Gregory. First was a walk, then it became a jog. After a short distance, the jog became a sprint, and his footsteps attracted Gregory's attention.

"Malachi, wha—" before Gregory could finish his question, he immediately raised both of his arms to block Malachi's jab.

"Spar with me!" Yelled Malachi, "You did all that to Arlianne, let me have a taste as well!"

...

The impromptu sparring session ended with a draw. Both Malachi and Gregory merely collapsed from loss of stamina and fatigue for sparring—but was actually closer to an all-out fight—for a straight hour. The Royal Phoenix and a young man were both gasping for air, lying on the ground, and were watched by a squad of soldiers and a young woman.

"Are you... satisfied...?" Asked Gregory as he gasped for air, "When you... said Arlianne's name... I expected this..."

"Satisfied?" Questioned Malachi, "Barely... Uncle Greg... You did this... with her for a year... You expect me... to be satisfied...?"

"You... You mean to say..." Wondered Gregory.

"Oh... yes... I will 'train' with you... " replied Malachi, "Train... until I land a damned hit on you..."

Gregory smiled.

"Haha... Hahahahaha!" He smiled and laughed.

"Hahahahaha!" Laughed Malachi as well.

Due to their noise, a crowd of people formed. With them was Emmanuel who was greeted by two men on the ground laughing like idiots.

"What is going on here?" Asked Emmanuel, "Arlianne?"

Arlianne turned to look at Emmanuel with a stiff smile and she let out a dry laugh in response.

Unfortunately, after that, Malachi wasn't able to avoid Bashia's wrath.