Moonhunter

Chapter 17 .:A Quaking Determination:.

Chapter 17

.:A Quaking Determination:.

            Three silver blades glinted brightly with the streams of sunlight pouring through the foliage of the trees around her. Her breath came rapidly, and her eyes were beginning to droop from exhaustion. “L-Lightfoot,” she stammered. “Level one!” She ran towards the tree, concentrated her energy towards the soles of her feet. Running vertically upwards, Leya flipped once she had reached a sizeable distance from the ground and allowed herself to hurtle towards the ground head first.

            The speed at which she was dropping was multiplied ten times, and she had just barely thrown the blades at a tree when she had to upright herself to avoid falling on her head. With two feet firmly on the ground, Leya looked upwards to see if her knives had reached the target. Two had, but the third one lay forlornly on the ground. Sighing, she sat back leaning against a tree, rubbing her aching forehead.

            Continuously using lightfoot was not easy, but it was merely a matter of maintaining enough energy. Using it with breaks in between was more physically demanded. She had been training by herself for a couple hours now, but had yet to get the target three times.

            “Try throwing the knives just a moment before,” a deep voice advised.

            She jumped, having gotten used to the solitary comfort of the trees. “Captain Egard…” Percival looked to be in better health. Better health than before, anyway. The last time she had seen him, he had acted drunk. “I was just training.”

            “I can see that,” he chuckled, glancing around at the many holes in the trees. She blushed. “I assume it’s for the tournament?” She nodded. “Hoping to get a seated position?” She nodded again, this time, with a deeper pink hue on her cheeks. “As I was saying, try throwing the knives a bit earlier. You’re rushing it and not aiming properly because you’re worried about falling on your head.” He looked thoughtful. “Tristen tells me that you’ve been out here since dawn. I won’t object to individual training but don’t overdo it.”

            “Yes, captain,” she replied sheepishly.

            “It’s nice to see you working hard.” There was an awkward moment. Although Percival hadn’t meant to, an irritated edge crept into his voice. Of the eight teams, Team 8 was last. Although they weren’t ranked based on skill, Percival had gotten a bad reputation when he first became a captain. Subsequently, the ones who got into his team were not always entirely satisfied with it and did not put in much effort.

            Truth be told, she herself hadn’t been too happy with the placement. Once she had seen Percival’s abilities for herself, she had thought that the placement wasn’t so bad after all. But not everyone thought so positively. In addition, the recent rumors that had flown around about Percival’s disgrace had apparently confirmed the other teams’ thoughts. Leya had set her mind to earning back some of the respect her team had lost.

            “This year,” said Percival slowly, “There has been a slight change in the tournament order.”

            Leya had been about to pick up her knives and start again, but paused and straightened. “In what way?” His tone was hard to decipher.

            “Firstly, the tournament will be open to all outsiders, as always, but this year, also to the Bellators outside of Bellatoria.”

            This made little sense. Most of the Bellators outside of Bellatoria were not entirely “legitimate”. She wasn’t sure if any Bellators from the outside would venture within the walls of Bellatoria again; so many had left in a state of humiliation and disgrace. When she brought this up, he simply shrugged.