“What? Are you sick? Your face became bright red.”

  "I’m fine, I think my allergies are back, there might be a lot of dust here.”

  “That’s strange, everything should be squeaky clean. It doesn’t matter right now; we have to go, and we have no time to waste if you want to get ready. Let’s go before the others get out.”

  Arwenwel took Chris by the arm and led him to a different room filled with weapons.

  “This is my personal training hall. I’m not supposed to let you here, but I’ll make an exception this time.”

  'Why are we here if I’m not allowed to be?'

  “Why are you standing there? Come here and try one of these weapons.”

  “What is going on? Aren’t you reading my thoughts?”

  “You asked me to stop, so I stopped. Now you want me to do it again, make up your mind. So, am I allowed to do it or not?”

  “No, no, it’s better if you don’t do it.”

  “Finally, now catch this.”

  Arwenwel threw a short sword toward Chris, but his sweaty and clumsy hands dropped it.

  “Noted. You have the reflexes of a grandma.”

  “I wasn’t ready.”

  “As you say grandma. Now pick it up and strike that dummy with it.”

  Chris took the short sword and lunged at the dummy. After his first strike, he dropped it. He wasn’t expecting the sword to rebound like that.

  “You held it too tight. Now you know what it feels like to hold a sword. Give it a few more tries, then we’ll try another weapon. I can’t make you a master, but I might be able to make you a jack of all trades.”

  He struck the dummy for an hour, but made no real progress. Learning the basics of sword fighting would take more time than he expected. Arwenwel offered tips that might one day save his life. She told him to forget everything he’d seen in movies or games. Spinning in circles didn’t add power; it just left his back open. A real strike came from stepping, lunging, or running forward. To prove it, she stepped in and, with a single blow, sliced the dummy from shoulder to foot.

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  'She is so sexy and gracious as she uses the sword. What is my horny ass thinking? She would kill me if she knew what I was thinking right now. I have to get my head back in the game.'

  “Get your head back from the clouds and pick up that bow and arrows.” Arwenwel averted her gaze as she was speaking with Chris; the tips of her ears turned red. “Now try to shoot it.”

  Chris nocked the arrow on the bowstring and was ready to fire it, but there was a big problem: he could not pull the string enough.

  “You were not kidding when you said you are weak. In my tribe, from the day you can walk, you begin to learn to use the bow. Give it to me, I’ll show you how it’s done.”

  At first, she took three arrows and shot them in quick succession, each one hitting the center of the target. Chris began to applaud this demonstration of her skill.

  “If you found that impressive, let me show you something that will blow your mind.”

  She grabbed three more arrows. Leaping into the air, she fired the first. Then, impossibly, she stepped on the air itself, fired the second, and climbed higher with another step. This time, she paused, floating above the ground. When she finally released the third arrow, it spun with a strange current of wind. It struck the target cleanly, pierced through, and cracked the wall behind it.

  'Wow, she is amazing. Her beauty matches her skills.'

  She stumbled when she got down, and for some reason, she got angry at Chris.

  “Are you alright? You were amaz….”

  He didn’t manage to finish his sentence before Arwenwel threw a spear at his feet, impaling it into the ground.

  “Take it out and give it a try.”

  Chris barely managed to take it out of the ground. It was taller and he could hardly hold it in his hand, but he still strived to use it. He could only use it to pierce the dummy, but he couldn’t throw and hit it from a distance.

  “It's time to take a break.”

  A towel hit him on the back of the head, then a bottle of water hit him in the chest as he was turning around.

  “Th….thank you, but couldn’t you just give it to me?”

  “It’s better if you get accustomed to the pain, you might drop your weapon when you get hurt. Now stretch your palms and let me bandage them. Look at how bruised they got from this light work. After we eat, I will show you how to cleanse a wound and bandage it.”

  “Why are you trying so hard to help me? I’m just a stranger to you.”

  “A long time ago, an employee helped a stranger when she was helpless. Now I’m doing the same.”

  “I can’t believe it, someone help you train for the hunt like you do now for me.”

  “Yes, they did. I, too, was a lost child who needed help when I was in your situation.”

  “Where is he? I should give my thanks to him.”

  “He is no longer with us.” She became sad.

  “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “Don’t worry, it was a long time ago, and I got over it. We rested enough, let’s get back to work.”

  'She said that she got over it, but I can see that it still upsets her.'