Complete Eastern Brisshal Newbie training

[Fina Drago]

By the time Cleo finally returned to her sane self, Fina's breathing was both faster and heavier, a full-face blush present along with it. "It… it's fine." Finally correcting her posture, her own hands ran over the ears and clasped them to her head for a moment. 'Nothing…' So that kind of sensation was present only when someone else did it. A bit like with how one could never quite tickle themselves, she supposed.

Despite everything, the feline tried to regain her composure. Something that was a bit difficult to do with a tail that was swishing from one side to another, unable to be stopped. 'What am I, a dog..?' The girl internally tried to reprimand herself before letting out a sigh. "Um… good job on the throw. I'm… ehm… I'm afraid I can't really offer any advice as you did for me, though…" Doing her best to continue the conversation as if nothing had happened, the girl fought through her flustered state.

"But, um…" Then, she suddenly spoke up again, her eyes darting from side to side for a moment as she tried to carefully think how to say what she wanted to in a sensible manner. "Thanks." A moment later, she quickly added more as she realized there might have been a misunderstanding about what she was thankful for. "F-for calling me cute, I mean! Even if anyone can be cute or sexy in this world without any effort…"

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Well hopefully she hadn't just made Fina think she was weird or some kind of predator or something like that. Not after things had been going so well up until just now. Of course she'd screwed things up getting carried away with what was supposed to have just been a kind, playful gesture. She hadn't expected the kind of reaction that it had gotten, but it wasn't something that would've been impossible for her to predict, so the blame really did lie with her for all of the issues that were bound to crop up because of this.

The wagging tail was interesting. She wasn't sure that was a behaviour that dogs and cats shared, but she could only hope that it was a positive sign and not a negative sign. Didn't cats have a tendency to flick their tail when they were upset or irritated by something? She wasn't an expert on cat behaviour, but even if she was, she had no clue if those tendencies carried over to the beastfolk counterparts.

Ah, it's fine. Just giving me an opportunity to practice with somebody rather than by myself is help enough. It can get pretty maddeningly boring, doing nothing but throw a spear at a rock or a tree without anybody to talk to.

She waved a hand, though when Fina thanked her, she chuckled, nodding. She wasn't entirely sure why calling Fina cute had warranted thanks, but she'd take it.

Anytime. You are adorable after all. And I hope you don't mind me saying that. It doesn't matter if everybody is attractive in this world or not. The appearances of other people don't suddenly render your own charms and appearance invalid, just as things like that aren't the case in the real world either. Somebody else's charms, or talents, or skills, don't detract from your own.

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

"R-right…" Cleo might have said that Fina was better company than the literal rocks and grass around them, but that was a relatively low bar to pass. Walking over to one of the benches carved out of fallen tree trunks, the girl let her body fall onto it with a heavy sigh as her hands briefly covered her eyes. "Sorry, I'm not a very good company." There was no doubt to be sensed in her words as if she was saying something she knew to be unequivocally true.

As her hands slid down, they'd reveal a more serious expression, a gaze slowly drifting toward Cleo. She really didn't know what to do or what to say, but all of a sudden, she felt horrible about herself. Maybe it was the praise? The girl knew that, in reality, she was a very different person. In the game, she tried to be more approachable and friendly, but out there, she was nothing short of mean most of the time. In her mind, that only meant that she was lying here, deceiving others. Ultimately, she just looked away and sighed again. "Sorry. I guess things would be better if Vina were here instead of me."

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Huh, what do you mean you're not good company? You're some of the better company I've had in this game, you know?

Did Fina struggle with her self-esteem and stuff like that? She was starting to get the impression that Fina really didn't have that good of an opinion about herself. It was concerning. There was no telling what a person with that kind of mindset would do or get themselves into in a game like this, where danger could be around literally every corner imagineable. This wasn't really something that she could just leave alone, not when Cleo's main concern had always been helping people, keeping them safe and happy.

She wandered over to sit on the same carved out treet trunk that Fina had sat on, leaning into the cat girl and brushing their shoulders together, her hand grabbing onto Fina's knee supportively. She gave it a small squeeze of reassurance, before draping that arm over Fina's shoulders instead.

Vina might be nice, but I agreed to spend the day with you. Don't get so worked up over who is and isn't here right now. You're plenty good company on your own, I don't really care if you happen to think otherwise. I happen to like you, at least from the time we've spent together.

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

"I'd question who you've been meeting then." The girl almost scoffed. It was a bit of a conundrum for her. She felt that she was lying to people by trying to be someone other than her identical self in the physical world. But if she were to admit that, it would, in her mind, do even more damage. So would it be better just to continue and internally torment herself over it? The girl didn't know that if she were to 'spill the beans', so to speak, people would be hardly upset.

Cleo got closer and tried to make physical contact again as she thought about all of this. Though as she grabbed one of Fina's legs and squeezed it a bit, the feline quickly jumped up and out of the other girl's grasp. "A-awfully touchy, aren't you?" This time, she was a bit louder. Though seemingly realizing that right after, her ears drooped down, and her gaze was averted. "Fate hates me, so all of this is bound to collapse sooner or later anyway. Sorry, but I'm just not all that interested in empty motivational speeches."

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

I've been meeting all sorts of people, some good and some very much not good, both in this game and in the real world. I can absolutely, positively, with one hundred percent certainty and confidence, tell you without a doubt, that you are far from the worst person I've ever met, or the worst company I've ever kept. Hell, you're not even in my ballhouse for bad company, which may or may not mean a lot. That honestly depends on who you are and what kinds of people that you compare yourself to.

Though she raised her hanbs as Fina stood up and move away, realizing that the girl probably didn't appreciate the physical comfort all that much. She'd run into that before. Some people handled different forms of comfort differently. Sometimes people would cling to her and cry until their throats were raw, when she told them that a loved one had passed, or would be facing life in prison. Sometimes people would scream and shout at her, demanding that she go away and never come back.

All she could do was shrug, really.

I dunno about fate hating you. I'm not really a big believer in such metaphysical, unprovable things such as fate. I'm a woman of science, if you will. I'm also not all that interested in empty motivational speeches either. Frankly, I'm pretty offended that you'd call my actual, honest to god opinion nothing more than an empty motivational speech.

Cleo sighed, rubbing at the back of her neck, shrugging to the cat girl again. This whole outburst over some light ear petting and some training didn't make sense, so there was clearly something else going on here. Something that cut deeper, underneath the surface. Thoughts that weren't being expressed, or trauma that was bubbling up. She had no way of knowing exactly what it was.

The simple truth is that so far, I've found you to be nothing but pleasant. If you take issue with that opinion, well first, I'd ask why? And then I'd ask what I've done that makes you want to push me away?

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

"Not the first time I've offended someone, it won't be the last either." The girl dismissed Cleo's complaint as she walked a bit further away from the makeshift bench. It was really all that was worth discussing in her mind. Praise or even positive honesty was not exactly something she took very well at all. That much wasn't about to change in one meeting with a person she honestly barely knew.

"We were here for training, right? Let's just resume that." Even if they were to continue in complete quiet without uttering as much as a single word to one another would be better than whatever it was that was happening right now.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Just because it's not the first time, that doesn't mean that offending people should be the acceptable result when they've not done anything wrong to you.

Okay, now she was starting to feel like this girl was probably a teenager in real life. If she recalled correctly, a lot of people had attitudes like this at that stage of their lives, though Cleo herself had been something of an exception to the rule. There hadn't been any room for teenage rebellion or attitude when her goal had been to make it into the police academy and get a job in law enforcement. Did Fina have that kind of dedication or regimented structure in her life? Any discipline?

Cleo shook her head, though she shrugged when Fina suggested that they return to training. If Fina wanted to knuckle down in order to avoid whatever issue this was, she'd allow that. She didn't exactly have the right to dig into the girl's secrets or feelings, no matter how much her curiosity demanded that she figure out exactly what the hell was going on here and what she could do about it, if there was even anything she could do about it.

Well okay then. Next up is fighting in tight spaces. Careful now.

She focused, more arcane brick walls constructing around her, though this time, they appeared at either side of Fina, like she was trapped in a narrow corridor. Another projection, something shaped roughly like a person, appeared in front of the catgirl.

Try fighting in a space like this. If your weapon hits one of the walls, or the ceiling, you have to drop that weapon.

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

Not getting into anything too deeply was probably the best way to conclude this session with something other than one of the girls stomping off in anger, leaving the other alone. Fina certainly wasn't going to step down either, but she opted against making another snarky comment to respond to Cleo's comments about things being acceptable or not.

When enclosed inside of the arcane box, she would just slowly glance over the whole setup. "What arbitrary rules…" Clearly, she was just in a permanently annoyed mode now. Still, she readied herself and soon wielded a dagger in each of her hands. The setup seemed perfect to just go with what her body was familiar with, close-ranged attacks from all directions that she experienced while still trying things out with the combat assist turned on.

For someone who just showcased devastating blows using a heavy weapon, her movements and attacks were surprisingly fast, the sharp blades creating cuts on the dummy. Along with the motion of her hands, she moved her whole body to get around the target, strike from behind a few times, then from the side, and back to the front. Though not like she was about to destroy it the same way she did the wall before. These weapons were just not meant for that.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Where the hell had the pleasant person from earlier gone? Now she couldn't even set up a training scenario without getting a snide remark or something. How the hell could she possibly get through to somebody like this that she barely even knew? Maybe it would be a good idea to take a page out of her old drill instructor's book or something? Probably not. If people could just log off to not deal with somebody, basically nobody would actually make it into law enforcement or the armed forces, no matter which branch they were going into at the time.

Still, the girl moved well when she was being contained within an enclosed space, moving her whole body to get around the target, slicing into it. Why on earth did the girl insist on wielding a giant axe when she clearly had more skill with daggers? Unless this dagger skill was coming from real world experience, which would be pretty worrying.

Still, it was time to up the challenge a little bit more, as Cleo made a second dummy appear on the other side of Fina, this one shaped to have an extension, like an arm that was carrying something. A shield or a weapon or something along those lines. She figured if Fina was going to be a little bitch, then she'd wear the girl out with constant action, whilst practicing her speed and accuracy with constructing things that weren't spears.

On your six! And there's more coming after this!

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

Rather than anything else, it was perhaps anger that fueled Fina's actions. It sure helped her wanting to have something to let it all out on. But anger and frustration were not always a good combination, and even as she danced around the dummy, actually nearly cutting it into ribbons, she just paused when Cleo shouted out again. Looking at the second dummy a bit lazily, she just side-stepped to a position where those two alight as she thrust both of her hands forward after dropping the knives.

Before the motion finished, a large and long spear materialized with a cross guard positioned around mid-way through the handle. Grabbing onto it with one hand and the handle with the other, she generated enough of a force with her whole body to pierce both of the dummies at the same time, then letting go of the weapon only to kick it a moment later, making it force its way through the already cracked first target, tearing it apart.

She didn't say a word as she frankly didn't know what to say. She just didn't want someone to bark commands at her… or try to lecture her as if they were so much better than her. That was about the last thing she was in the mood for. Then again, she wasn't in the mood for anything. Such were the effects of frustration on her. Not to overcome a challenge but to lose all drive for things related and unrelated.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Fina was impressive, that was for sure. It was definitely suspicious how skilled the girl seemed to be, when a moment or two ago she'd fairly clumsily swung a giant axe at a wall and only caused something of a minor scratch in the grand scheme of things. Was this one of those cases of somebody that actively did better when they were upset and frustrated about things? Or had Fina just been playing down her abilities the whole time and was just slipping up now due to being emotionally caught off guard and open for the first time? Whatever it was, Cleo felt a surge of irritation, before pleasure replaced it.

At least the girl was giving her the ability to practice rapidly forming and moving constructs into place, as Fina seemed to tear through the dummies that she'd been making. Another dummy spawned in, being moved to progress towards Fina, whilst another appeared behind that one, a third appearing behind Fina herself, closing in to sandwich her between them.

The moment Fina dealt with those three, a blunted spear would emerge from one of the walls, one that would force Fina to dodge or parry it in some way. Hastily constructed, it lacked piercing power and would honestly shatter when struck. Sweat began to gather at Cleo's brow as she focused, trying to make her arcane constructions faster each time, trying to make each one just a little sturdier.

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

The girl was starting to have just about enough of the whole thing. It didn't feel like training but some sort of a weird punishment directed at her by Cleo. Picking the spear back up as the three dummies appeared, she planned to stop the whole thing by just spinning around with the weapon and cleaving the three constructs down. Of course, that also meant the long weapon scraped across all four walls surrounding her. Not that she planned on playing by the rules if she wanted this to end anyway.

The problem was that as soon as the arcane constructs were done for, the feline felt a fairly sharp pain in her side. "Hnf-" Staggering, the spear would fall apart as her body fell to the ground. It wasn't a bad fall, her hands planted firmly in the ground… but she wasn't getting up after it. The area where she got hit was ready, and a bruise would probably appear in a few days or so, too.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Seeing the impact of the blunted spear, Cleo winced, allowing the walls to dissipate, as they crumbled apart into magical energy, the lancer collapsed to her knees, panting as sweat dripped from her forehead. She swallowed, her tongue feeling inflated in her dry mouth, breathing heavily in an attempt to get her lungs to work for her again. A hand rose up to limply wipe at her forehead, if she'd had a towel she would have been dabbing it against her face right about now, but instead she could only settle for the back of her hand, groaning.

God damn. How the hell is magic more tiring than just doing suicide sprints all day? Christ alive.

It took her a minute to regain her breath enough to start panting, though when she did, she stumbled to her feet, retrieving a vial from her inventory and rolling it over to Fina. Contained within was a red liquid that seemed like it was carbonated, like some kind of cherry soda. It would be immediately flagged on the girl's UI as a healing potion. Meanwhile, Cleo retrieved a bottle of water and brought it to her lips, taking a swig, before looking at the remains of one of her dummies as it crumbled.

Still too fragile. Not nearly as good as my spears and brick walls. This shit is harder than I thought.

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

Fina watched from the corner of her eyes as Cleo collapsed herself, though due to exhaustion rather than pain. Thankfully her own had dulled pretty quickly, though she certainly felt the spot whenever she moved or traced a finger over it. Pulling something like that felt… not great. They agreed not to attack one another, after all. Even if it wasn't meant to seriously hurt her, given how blunt the spear was, some damage was still clearly done. This whole encounter was getting worse by the moment.

As the red potion rolled over to her, the feline would just click her tongue and look away. Someone's pity was about the last thing she wanted in this situation. A trait she very much brought over from the physical world. "Some nerve, looking down on me like that…" The injury wasn't so bad as to prevent her from functioning normally, so she'd rather just let it heal naturally or through her own efforts. Stubbornness at its finest, perhaps. The fact that Cleo seemed to be more concerned about her own technique rather than how Fina was doing just reinforced that. Not that anything else could have been expected, given their prior head-butting.

@Cleo Looker