Nateaser: Reborn As My Love Interest

Nati - Ch. 85

They didn't pull their punches.

And an orc punch was no laughing matter. Still, if I learned something, my body could take more than my mind could imagine. Considering, I was now living in a woman's body, this did tell me about a few things that weren't particularly flattering.

"Okay, Nati, now you try to attack me." The leader of the hunters instructed me. I wanted to try but without high hopes.

I have spent the last days training. Not into magic as I would have hoped, but close-quarters combat. I wish they would let me use my crossbow instead, but they assumed I would be proficient already. They were dead wrong, and now they had me learn to use spears, swords, daggers, and the shield too. I was terrible with all of them.

"Don't aim for my weapon, aim for me instead." The hunter told me, but I was too afraid to injure him. It's not like I had the chance to score a hit. Avalon was nonstop shaking his head watching me practice, like I was not cut out for this. "You will encounter humanoid enemies in the dungeon too. If you can't kill them, they will kill you."

"I'm trying, but I never fought anyone before," I confessed, a bit embarrassed. I never had to, back in my world, not even as much as it would have been considered normal. When I was smaller, the kids my age would beat each other up now and then, but I lived in my own, secluded world, especially once my little sister was born.

I'd much rather hang out with her than with the other kids, so their aggression didn't rub off on me that much. Even when gaming, I preferred the more wholesome and chill genres than fighting other players to death.

"Okay, listen, I understand that you are afraid of being hit, but you can't be afraid to hit someone else." Gorgon walked up to us once he could no longer watch me struggle. His words were harsh, but I could see the truth in them, which didn't make it easier to digest. "Why are you so adamant on even going to that dungeon, if you can't fight? They would be probably better off without you holding them back."

"Ugh, I don't want to hold them back forever." I panted, struggling to even keep my sword up at this point. "Next time we're attacked, I don't want to be the useless one everyone needs to protect."

"You are far from useless." Charlotte intervened, joining the practice herself. "Your inventions saved countless lives, and once you learn magic, you'll be even more useful. But not everyone is born to be a fighter, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that."

"Well, we can't have her walk into a dungeon, untouched for a decade if she can't protect herself in any situation," Gorgon argued with the chieftain. He looked like a seasoned veteran with broken horns, offering to help train the villagers and set us up in deliberately mismatched pairs. We had many species, each having distinct advantages over the rest. The orcs for example were fearsome warriors and used their brute strength but the beastmen were much more dextrous.

"Oh, that much is true." Charlotte nodded, effortlessly blocking one of the veteran hobgoblin's attacks. She wasn't even looking. "I'm not keen on this whole dungeon idea to begin with. So many traps and unexpected events are waiting to happen, even seasoned adventurers could never be sure if they will return from one. And those were usually cleared out as soon as they appeared, this one doesn't seem like something that a bunch of green kids would be able to handle."

"I will be with them too," Gitaut noted, appearing on the scene. He carried a satchel, making me curious about its contents.

"Someone got confident lately." The chieftain mocked him while continuing her fight. She most certainly knew how to do it, and yet, when the Elder and her gargoyle attacked the village, she was just as helpless as the rest of us. "So you decided to be an actual part of our tribe now? Because it was about damn time you left your little hut."