— Chester Finch, “The Ballads of Chester Finch - Volume 12: Hell Freezes Over At High Noon,” page 415
‘Today is going to be a great day,’ Emily thought to herself. Or at least, she hoped it would be.
Of all the things she would be learning to do as a monster hunter, this was the one she had been most anticipating. Sure, she never wanted to be a monster hunter in the first place, and some mornings she woke up questioning if she should even go through with it, especially after what happened at the barn. But, she pushed on. Her wounds had healed enough for her to return to training, and it filled her with a sense of vigor. After sitting around for weeks, it was nice to get back up and do something productive again.
After breakfast and a set of morning exercises, Emily hurried to the training yard. Mina was already there, standing in the stone courtyard. A bundle of wooden swords, daggers, and long thin poles lay at her feet.
Mina glanced at her. “You're late.”
Emily frowned. “Barely.” Mina had stopped waking Emily up, so it had been up to her to settle into the new morning routine. Some days it was harder than others, but this was not one of those days.
“Late is late.” Mina crouched and picked up one of the wooden swords, running her fingers along its surface. “What do you know about swordsmanship?”
Emily shrugged. “Not much. I know they hurt if you get hit with one.”
Mina let out a half scoff, half sigh.
“Oh! I did see a play once,” Emily hurriedly added. “The hero fought with two swords at the same time! It was amazing.”
Mina rolled her eyes. “Theatrics. They’re trying to hit each other’s swords and put on a show. You’re striking to kill.”
“Am I not supposed to be knocking their weapon away?”
“If you can. But it’s not your goal. You should aim for the vital areas of your target. You’ve been reading that anatomy book I gave you, right?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Emily said with a sigh. “But wasn’t Draven using two swords when we fought him?”
“He wouldn’t normally.”
Emily smirked. "I don’t know. He seemed pretty arrogant."
“Most vampires are. They believe brute strength is all they need to win a fight.” Mina tossed her the wooden sword she had been holding. Emily caught it, nearly dropping it. “That arrogance is your advantage. Use it. Exploit it. But understand that a sword is never your first option.”
Emily turned the weapon over in her hands. “Because guns are better?”
Mina nodded. “A gun keeps you alive. You can kill from a distance. But what happens when you run out of bullets?”
“I… use my sword?”
“Was that a question?”
Emily straightened. “No. I use my sword.”
“Good. In situations where your enemy is faster than a bullet, or when you’re forced into close combat, you’ll need to use both at the same time.”
“You want me to use a gun and a sword simultaneously?”
“In due time. You already know how to shoot. Now, you’ll learn how to swing.” Mina paced a short distance away, then picked up a wooden sword and turned. “This will be the hardest part of your training. Monsters don’t fight like humans. The same move won’t work on a vampire and a banshee. You need to adapt.”
Emily nodded, gripping the sword’s handle tightly. The weight felt foreign in her hands, but she liked it. She gave it a test swing, listening to the heavy whoosh it made as it cut through the air. “This is what we’re—”
CRACK!
Pain shot through Emily’s thigh. She yelped, stumbling back as Mina struck her with another wooden sword.
“What the hell!?” Emily recoiled, clutching her leg.
Mina swung again.
Emily barely managed to twist out of the way. She tripped and scraped her knee against the ground. Mina was on her in an instant, hammering at her leg, once, twice, three times. Each strike sent fresh agony coursing through her. Emily whimpered, desperately flailing her sword in Mina’s direction.
It was knocked clean from her hand.
Mina struck one final time before stepping back. Emily lay curled on the ground, gasping. Tears burned in her eyes. Her leg felt like it was on fire.
“Get up,” Mina ordered.
Emily shuddered, barely managing to lift her head. Mina stood over her. There was no sympathy in her eyes.
“I—” Emily tried to speak but winced as pain flared in her thigh. “What the hell was that?”
“A lesson.” Mina tapped the ground with the tip of her sword. “You must be alert. Prepared for anything. If I strike, you block. If I sweep your feet, you jump. If I take your weapon, you find another.”
Emily gritted her teeth. “How am I supposed to defend myself if I don’t know how?”
“You learn.”
“You couldn’t have taught me first?”
“You think a vampire will wait for you to be ready?” Mina shook her head. “You can't rely on what you know. You must improvise.”
Emily forced herself upright, glaring at her. “But I don’t know anything!”
“And that’s why you failed,” Mina said simply. “You’re slow. You hesitate. But we’ll fix that.” She nudged the wooden sword toward Emily’s feet. “Pick it up.”
Emily hesitated, then snatched up the weapon.
“Now, do as I do.” Mina took a rigid stance.
Emily copied her as best she could, her legs trembling from the pain.
Mina gave a nod. “First lesson. Footwork. Without balance, your sword is useless. If you move wrong, you die. We’ll begin there.”
Emily stood with her legs slightly apart, the wooden training sword held out in front of her.
Mina shook her head. She kicked the back of Emily’s left leg so it was more forward and twisted Emily’s hips so they were facing forward. “Always keep a proper stance. Remember, you’re not here to do anything fancy.”
Emily grimaced but adjusted. “Don’t you do fancy stuff?”
“Fighting monsters is different from fighting humans.”
“Then… shouldn’t I be learning to fight monsters?”
“It all stems from the basics.
“Okay, well, you didn’t have to kick me.”
“You didn’t have to be standing wrong.”
Emily bit her tongue. There was no point in arguing. She wasn’t sure what was up with Mina today, but she seemed more stern than usual.
Mina was already back in her own stance, her training sword steady in both hands. “Watch closely. Do as I do.” With one smooth motion, Mina stepped forward and slashed horizontally through the air. A basic cut. Emily mimicked her, stepping forward and swinging. It didn’t feel natural, more like an exaggerated movement.
Mina didn’t make any comments. She demonstrated again, and Emily followed. And again. And again.
Minutes turned into hours.
It hadn’t taken long for the pain to start creeping in. The muscles between her thumb and index finger burned the most. Though she hadn’t known it at the time, she had been gripping too tightly. Each swing sent a dull pain up her arm. Her shoulders throbbed. The wooden sword was heavier than she had expected, and she felt every ounce of it.
Her movements slowed eventually as her swings lost their strength.
“Keep going,” Mina said.
Her arms shook with every repetition. The wooden blade wobbled in her grip. She tried to compensate by tightening her fingers again, but that only made the pain worse.
“Loosen your grip,” Mina ordered. “You’re not trying to squeeze the life out of something.”
Emily adjusted, and though the sword still felt heavy, but it moved easier, smoother.
Finally, Mina nodded. “Better.”
The next morning, Emily woke to her body aching. Her hands were sore. Her shoulders felt stiff. Her thighs still carried bruises from yesterday.
Mina didn’t care. Training resumed at dawn. “You can’t just swing wildly,” she said. “Footwork first. Movement second. Strikes last.”
So, Emily spent the morning working on only footwork. She stepped forward. Stepped back. Again. Again. Mina corrected her every time. Her stance was too narrow, her weight too uneven, her steps too hesitant. She felt ridiculous, stepping back and forth, over and over, without swinging.
But then Mina finally let her put it into practice.
Emily stepped forward and struck, and Mina blocked her effortlessly.
“Again.”
Emily stepped forward. Struck. Blocked.
“Again.”
It went on for hours.
“Faster.”
Emily grit her teeth and swung harder.
Mina slapped her sword aside and smacked her in the ribs.
Emily gasped, stumbling back. “Ow—!”
“You're slow. Telegraphing every move.”
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“Maybe because I’ve never done this before?” Emily shot back.
Mina ignored the complaint. “Your body is rigid. You need control, not brute force. A sword isn’t just for swinging. It’s for cutting, deflecting, redirecting.” She took a step forward and demonstrated, her sword sliced through the air with such speed it was almost a blur. “The difference between a trained fighter and a dead fool is efficiency. Strength means nothing if you can’t hit your mark.”
Emily wiped the sweat from her forehead. “And what is the mark? You keep talking about efficiency, but what am I aiming for?”
Mina tapped the training dummy beside them. “Think of it as a body. Where are the vital points?”
Emily hesitated, thinking back to the anatomy book Mina had given her. “Heart? Lungs? Carotid artery?”
Mina nodded. “Good. That’s what you go for.”
Emily squinted at the dummy. “But monsters don’t have the same anatomy. Some don’t even have blood. Why am I just focusing on this?”
Mina stared at her.
Emily shifted uncomfortably. “What?”
“You need to know how to kill a person before you can kill a monster,” Mina said, shaking her head. “Once you master this, then you’ll learn the rest.”
Emily didn’t like that answer, but she didn’t argue. Mina did have a point, after all.
The days bled together.
One was bright and sunny, the next was cold and gray. Then rain. Three days of it. It made no difference. Mina still dragged Emily out to train. Between her exercises, magic lessons, studying, and guns training, there was always time to learn how to swing a sword.
Her body learned to endure the soreness. The blisters on her hands thickened into calluses. Her swings became sharper, and her footwork quicker. She learned to keep the sword raised near her head, ready to strike from either side. Without a shield, she had to account for every opening, from her ribs to her legs and her stomach. One mistake and Mina exploited it ruthlessly. It was a strike to the arms when she held the sword wrong. A smack to the legs when she stepped too slow. A blow to the ribs when she left herself open.
Some nights, Emily crawled into bed bruised and battered, barely able to move. She tried to massage her sore muscles, but every touch only caused her body to ache more.
Then the day came when Mina started actually sparing with her.
“Step forward! Swing! Step back!” Mina barked.
Sweat dripped from Emily’s face as she tried to keep up. She struck. Mina blocked. Again. Again.
“Turn your wrist! Step back! Strike! Good! No! Don’t spin around!”
Emily gritted her teeth. She swung again, only to miss. “You’re moving too much!" Emily groaned.
“Monsters won’t stand still and wait for you to hit them.”
“I’d appreciate it if they did!” She lowered her sword and took a second to catch her breath. She half-expected Mina to whack her for it, but she didn’t. The vampire merely stood there, with the brim of her hat tilted slightly to keep the sun out of her face. Her silver eyes shimmered brightly despite being in the shade. Mina looked like she had barely broken a sweat, and here she was gasping for air.
“What if…” Emily hesitated. “What if you turned me into a vampire?”
Mina narrowed her eyes.
“If I had enhanced speed and strength, maybe I wouldn’t be so slow. Maybe I’d actually land a hit on you.”
“No.”
Emily frowned. “Why not? You could—”
“I wouldn’t,” Mina said sharply. “Vampirism isn’t a gift. It’s a curse. You think it’ll make you stronger, but it’ll take everything from you.”
“But what if it helped?”
“It wouldn’t. You have no idea what you’re asking for.”
Emily simply stared back.
“Besides, there’s no telling how it would react with your blood.” she stepped back into position. “You don’t need supernatural speed to win a fight. You need skill. Now stop talking and try again.”
Emily exhaled. She tightened her grip, raised her sword, and swung.
The pendulum was an elaborate contraption Mina had put together, and for weeks, Emily had dreaded the day she would be forced to use it.
It considered two main components, the first being a balance beam that Emily needed to walk across. It was loose, and wobbly, held up by only two short stretches of rope. The other main component was the massive steel-studded log hanging above it. It was wrapped in chains, and stuck in perpetual motion thanks to the heavy counterweight atop it.
“You really use this thing?” Emily asked, skeptical.
Mina, who was hanging small sacks of fruit and sand from the beam supporting the pendulum, barely glanced at her. “Mhm.”
“Why?”
“You won’t always be fighting on even ground. This will teach you how to move with instability. Adapt to the terrain. Dodge while staying balanced. If you can’t do that, you’ll die the second the ground shifts beneath you.”
Emily looked at the wobbling beam, then back at the pendulum. “And the giant murder log?”
Mina smirked. “Evasion training. Think of it as an enemy’s weapon. It will hit you if you’re careless.”
Emily frowned. “And the fruit?”
“A reminder that dodging isn’t enough.” Mina wiped her hands clean. “Avoid the attack, but strike back. If all you do is run, you’ll never win.”
Emily nodded. It made sense, in theory at least.
“Observe,” Mina said as she stepped onto the balance beam. The ropes creaked under her weight, and the beam swayed, but she moved effortlessly across it.
The pendulum swung toward her, and with a quick strike from her sword, not hard enough to stop it, just enough to redirect its momentum, she twirled with the movement, using the force to step around it. In the same fluid motion, she slashed through two sacks of fruit, sending their contents spilling onto the hard stone below. Then, with a final graceful pivot, she hopped off the beam and landed lightly on her feet.
Emily clapped. “That was awesome.”
Mina smirked and gestured to the beam. “Your turn.”
Emily hesitated, then hopped onto the balance beam. The second her foot touched it, the whole thing lurched. “Whoa—!” She flailed, struggling to find her footing as the beam wobbled under her. Every step felt like she was walking on a tightrope during an earthquake.
The pendulum swung.
Emily yelped and ducked, barely avoiding it as it rushed past her. The air whooshed loudly, and she lost her balance, flailing her arms. She swung her sword wildly, trying to hit one of the sacks.
She missed.
The pendulum swung back.
Before she could react, it slammed into her side and knocked her clean off the beam. She hit the ground with a hard thud, knocking the wind out of her. A sharp pain exploded through her shoulder, and she realized immediately how much this was going to suck.
Mina crossed her arms, looming over her. “Still think it’s easy?”
Emily groaned. “Yeah. Just… warming up.” She climbed back on. Five seconds later, she was on the ground again.
“You’re flailing too much,” Mina said with a chuckle.
Emily lay flat on her back, rubbing her arm. “How am I not supposed to? Everything’s moving! I can barely stand still!”
“Then stop trying to stand still. Move with it. Don’t let it move you.”
Emily sat up, scowling. “Easier said than done.”
“You’ll get the hang of it.” Mina offered her a hand, pulling her up. “Think of the pendulum as an enemy’s weapon. If it touches you, you’re dead. So, what do you do?”
“Dodge?”
“If you can’t dodge?”
“Block?”
Mina shook her head. “That’ll get you flattened. Instead, redirect.” She gestured toward the pendulum. “You’re not strong enough to stop it, but you don’t have to be. You just need to guide it away from you. A small push in the right direction is all it takes.”
Emily frowned. “You really think I’m strong enough to parry that thing?”
Mina smirked. “Your strength isn’t in brute force. It’s in your size.”
Emily looked down at her scrawny body, confused. “Uh… okay? Not seeing how that helps.”
“Strength isn’t just about muscle. It’s about control. A troll’s club, a Cipactli’s claws, those are things you can’t block outright. But rather than trying to stop them, you can redirect their force. Think of it like a river. You can’t halt the current, but if you drop a stone in the right place, you can change the way it flows.”
Emily’s brow furrowed. “So… instead of blocking, I move with the attack? Turn it against them?”
Mina nodded. “Exactly. Use their momentum, then counterattack. That’s what I did to the pendulum. That’s what you’ll do in a real fight. It’s about finesse and timing, not brute strength.”
Emily took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure she got it yet, but she was willing to try.
She climbed back onto the beam.
The pendulum clipped her shoulder, sending her sprawling onto the ground again.
Mina sighed and helped her up.
Emily groaned. “It hurts.”
“Pain means you’re learning,” Mina said.
“I think I’ve learned plenty.”
Mina raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Have you mastered it already?”
Emily huffed. “…No.”
“Then get back on.”
Days turned into weeks.
Some of the sparring sessions brought Emily to a patch of flat dirt next to the training yard. Wooden posts were unevenly spaced apart, barely wide enough for both feet to stand comfortably. They weren’t high off the ground, but their distance from each other made balance a constant battle. Each misstep meant falling and striking one of several of them on the way down.
Emily started simply, just moving between them. Some days, Mina let her wear sturdy boots, others thin shoes, and on the worst days, she was barefoot. By the end of those training sessions, her soles were riddled with splinters. Every step became an agonizing effort that she had to push through. The only sympathy Mina showed her for those injured was when Emily needed her help plucking a few of the deeper ones.
Only when Emily learned to move with control did Mina allow her to spar atop the posts. Now, Emily wasn’t just focused on swordplay. She had to divide her attention between her weapon and her footing, weaving, dodging, and striking while keeping herself from tumbling.
The clashing of wooden swords echoed across the training yard as Emily danced between the posts, blocking where she could, dodging where she couldn’t. Her breath was ragged, her body slick with sweat, her limbs burning with exhaustion. Blood stained the tops of some posts from scrapes from where she had fallen, or from when the soles of her feet were stabbed too deep.
Still, Mina didn’t let up.
“Can we break?” Emily panted, nearly losing her footing as she parried another strike.
Mina’s stance remained unshaken.
Emily hesitated. She wasn’t ready. She knew she wasn’t. But she didn’t have a choice. She braced herself, exhaling shakily. Mina had shifted to a neutral stance, her sword held loosely in front of her. Emily hesitated again, waiting for some cue.
But none came.
Emily waited a moment longer before taking the initiative and striking.
The moment she swung, Mina’s wooden sword caught Emily’s, twisting it to the side until it locked against her crossguard.
“Now, I’ve blocked your attack,” Mina said calmly. “Push my sword away from you.”
Emily stared at her, her heart hammering in her chest. “You’re gonna do something,” she said warily.
Mina didn’t respond.
Emily gulped. Slowly, she pressed against Mina’s blade, pushing it downward and away from her.
With a sharp pivot of her hip, Mina twisted her arms upward, crossing them for just a split second before spinning her sword free of Emily’s.
Emily gasped as the force sent her staggering back—
Her foot missed the post.
With a sharp yelp, she tumbled, rolling between the wooden columns just as the tip of Mina’s sword stopped inches from her eyes.
For a moment, neither of them moved. Emily lay flat on her back, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Mina remained still, her blade poised, and her silver eyes locked on Emily’s.
You did do something,” Emily said breathlessly.
Mina lowered her weapon, offering a hand. Emily took it, wincing as she was pulled to her feet.
“There’s a lot to learn when it comes to fighting for your life.”
“No kidding.” She rubbed her back where the post had struck her. The skin was already tender. She couldn’t wait to soak in a warm bath tonight and let the pain ease away with the grime clinging to her body. “And I have a lot of weapons to learn with.”
“Stick to the shortsword for now,” Mina said.
Emily groaned. “You mean I can’t use any of your fancy weapons?”
“Master one before you pick up another.”
Emily frowned. “Then why do you have so many? All I ever see you use is a sword, but you’ve got axes, spears, knives—”
“Because not every monster fights the same. Some weapons work better for different enemies. Spears keep distance between you and bigger beasts. Axes can cleave through tougher skin. A sword is versatile, but it’s not always the best tool for the job.”
Before Emily could respond, Mina shifted her stance.
“Block.”
“Huh—”
Mina’s sword came down hard.
Emily barely managed to raise her weapon. The impact sent a shockwave through her arms. Her grip faltered, and her sword flew from her hands, landing in the dirt with a thud. Panic flared in her chest as Mina tapped the underside of her jaw with the tip of her weapon.
“Now what will you do?”
Emily froze.
“You’re unarmed,” Mina continued. “Your opponent won’t wait for you to think. What will you do?”
Emily hesitated, then attempted to turn and run.
“Dead.” Mina struck her in the back of the knee with her wooden blade. Pain shot up her leg, and she crumpled to the ground with a strangled gasp. “You took too long.”
Emily groaned. “Yeah, no kidding,” she wheezed. “I didn’t expect it.”
“And that’s exactly what they’ll count on.”
Mina lowered her sword and stepped back. “You can stop for today. Rest. Study.”
Emily clenched her fists against the dirt. Rest. Study. That was always the answer. But when would she get better? She looked back at Mina, rising to her feet. “I want one more round.”
Mina raised a brow. Then, slowly, she smirked. “Very well.”
They took their positions.
Emily’s grip tightened around her sword, and after a brief pause, she lunged.
Blocked.
A second strike. Deflected.
Before Emily could react, Mina disarmed her again. The sword flew from her hands, and Mina was already raising her blade for another finishing blow.
But this time, Emily dropped, dodging under the swing.
Fire erupted from her fingertips.
Mina gasped, instinctively leaping back as a scorching trail of flames ignited the grass between them. A pillar of fire and smoke rose in the fading light.
Mina’s eyes darted toward the flames, momentarily distracted.
Emily seized the opportunity and stretched out her hand. A surge of telekinetic energy shot to her fingertips, and her fallen sword flew at Mina.
It struck her in the back, but Mina didn’t flinch. She merely looked back at the blade as it crumpled to the ground, her eyes wide in surprise.
Emily steadied herself, still panting from exertion.
Slowly, Mina turned, and then, to Emily’s utter shock, Mina laughed. “Well,” she murmured, eyeing the scorched ground before looking back at Emily. “I didn’t expect that.”
Emily grinned, still breathless. “That’s what they’ll count on,” she replied cheekily.
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