12 — The Honorary Valkyrie

12 — The Honorary Valkyrie

I woke up even earlier than usual and after magic practice, started to inflate myself with imaginings of the beauty of dual-wielding. Today was the day Elizabeth and Ripnear would begin teaching me.

In my mind, dual-wielding was the art of trickery, of toying with your opponent with nimble movements. It wasn’t the end-all of strategies, but there could be no fighting style more suited to buying as much time as possible. I was sure that not everyone shared the philosophy, but it was my own.

I thought back to the time in Merratoni where I had tried to one-hand a greatsword. Gulgar had seen my efforts go to waste, so he tossed me a pint in consolation. And not a pint of ale, mind you. Now that I thought about it, that was around the time they stopped diluting my Substance X.

Three knocks came at the door.

“Who is it?”

“Elizabeth of the Valkyries. I’m here to fetch you.”

No Ripnear today. I wondered if Elizabeth was some kind of aristocrat. She always had a regal air about her. I downed my Substance X, cleaned my mouth with Purification, and opened the door.

“Good morning, Elizabeth. Thank you for coming all this way.”

“You’re quite welcome. I hope you’ve prepared yourself. Today you learn to dual-wield. And you will learn it well.”

“Um, are you upset about something?”

“Nonsense. Let’s be off.”

“Okay then,” I said, resigned. Something told me not to bother asking any more questions.

We headed for the training grounds. The regiment stood in formation just like the week before. They had all been waiting on me.

“Good morning, Luciel,” Lumina greeted me. “Thank you, Elizabeth.”

The paladin saluted her leader before joining the others in line.

“Good morning, everyone.” I moved to follow suit, but Lumina stopped me.

“Luciel, I’d like you to have this.” She held out a card for me, and I took it.

“What is it?”

“This card indicates your connection to the Valkyries. Please, it is yours. Carry it with you and you can freely enter the areas that are normally restricted to paladins.”

“Er, well, I’m a man and this is a women’s regiment. I know it’s only in name, but how can I be a Valkyrie?” This smelled like trouble one way or another.

“I spoke with a peer of mine and they were intrigued by the idea. So my superiors have allowed it. There’s nothing more to it.”

“I feel like there might be a little more to it.” Her “peer”? Who could that be?

“I would find your manhood and make peace with it if I were you, Luciel. Else you may worry the hair off your head. Now, let’s begin with warmups.”

Lumina jogged ahead. I heard giggling bubble up from behind, but when I turned around, the girls were already zipping past me. She had really hit me where it hurt. I wouldn’t have been such a punching bag if I weren’t so weak, but all I could do right now was try my best to rectify that someday.

“I’m not gonna go bald...”

I sprinted with everything I had.

No amount of gasping could have cooled the burning in my lungs.

“You’ve gotten faster,” Lumina remarked.

“You guys were still seven laps ahead,” I wheezed. That was one lap less than last week. A huge step up, but I still had a long way to go.

“I would call that fast for a healer, wouldn’t you?”

“Why are you asking me?” Did she have no other point of comparison?

“Moving along, ladies,” she called. “Except for Elizabeth and Ripnear, I want you all to form pairs and spar. Then you and your opponent will join a round robin. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am!” the paladins replied.

“Elizabeth, Ripnear, show Luciel a battle between dual-wielders. Then I want you to spar with him. No cutting or attacks to the vitals.”

No way; we were doing this with real swords? I’d better keep a High Heal ready just in case.

“Yes, ma’am,” the two answered.

“Disperse and begin.”

I fixed my eyes on the pair, ready to witness how Valkyries fought. Ripnear lowered her stance and quickly approached Elizabeth with a smooth elegance, then slipped to her left and slashed at her legs with her right sword. Elizabeth calmly parried, pivoted around Ripnear on her right foot, and went for her back with her left blade. But Ripnear, as if waiting for just that moment, flipped around and deflected it, using the momentum of the impact to distance herself.

One assaulted the other with a barrage of lightning-fast strikes, then the other returned in kind. I couldn’t bring myself to blink for fear of missing a single moment. Neither had the upper hand. What one could do, the other could mirror. There seemed to be no end in sight.

Their dance continued until Elizabeth blocked Ripnear’s double-bladed attack with a single blade of her own, then thrust the other sword forward, stopping only inches from her neck. And that was it. Ripnear’s mistake had undoubtedly been the moment she had tried to attack with both swords at once.

The fact that I’d been able to keep up with their match at all was impressive.

Lumina gave me a smile. “What did you think?”

“They were incredibly fast. And hyper-focused on each other’s weaknesses. It was like they were thinking dozens of maneuvers ahead, like they were reading each other.”

“And of dual-wielding?”

“It leaves you more open than I thought. The more you overreach, the more you drive yourself into a corner. And you have to stay on the offensive. You can’t let your opponent gain momentum. I have a few theories now.”

“Indeed, I’m glad you were observing carefully. Dual-wielding lends itself well to feints, but your balance suffers for it. Oftentimes the finishing blow is the hardest to land. Now that you have a grasp of its disadvantages, I believe it’s your turn.”

“I’ll do what I can.”

My first match would be against Ripnear.

The moment the match started, I raised my physical defense with Attack Barrier, held up my shield, and waited for her move. Her attacks fell on me like a tsunami. From above, below, left, right, everywhere. I was like a turtle stuck in its shell, but I managed to endure the assault. Her unrelenting speed reminded me of Brod, but she wasn’t as fast, not nearly as overwhelming.

I bided my time, noting her quirks, waiting for my chance. And I finally saw one. As she reeled back for a big attack, I thrust out my shield and watched. This was it! I caught her blade with my shield, killing her momentum, and cleaved my sword down. An intense, dull pain throbbed in my chin and suddenly I was staring up at the sky. My legs failed me and I fell to my knees.

Lumina came over to me. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m conscious, at least. But what happened at the end there? I thought I’d won, and then I was on the ground.”

“You blocked her attack splendidly, but just as you were bringing your sword down, she used the momentum from rebounding off your shield to kick into a backward somersault. And I’m afraid your chin was an ample target for her foot. You lost your balance after that.”

“Oh.” Yeah, that made sense. Brain damage didn’t sound like fun, so I cast Heal on my head and the strength returned to my legs.

I asked for another round, but this time Elizabeth was my opponent. If Ripnear’s style was pure speed and barrages of attacks, then Elizabeth’s was all about counters and craftiness. She parried and deflected my attempts expertly and never let an opening escape. Any crack in my defense was caught and kicked right through. Literally. Her patterns were so varied that I had no hope of getting an attack in unless I got smart.

I probed for an opening with a few feints, then charged her with my shield, hoping our difference in size would work in my favor.

“Unwise,” I heard, but not from in front of me. Elizabeth had vanished.

Before I could react, my legs were swept from under me and I fell forward. The gentle prod of a sword against my back signaled the end of our match.

“Um, what just happened?” I asked, bewildered. “How did Elizabeth disappear like that?”

“Her magic,” Lumina said. “Explain, if you would, Elizabeth.”

“Yes, ma’am. You see, Luciel, I have two affinities: fire and water. I used them to create an illusion, a decoy, if you will, to bait you into creating an opening.”

Not only had she used magic completely under my nose, but she had done so using diametrically opposed affinities. I had underestimated the paladins. They were in a league of their own. And not just in regards to their numerical levels, but their pure skill and refined technique as well.

“Thank you. This was an informative experience.” I lowered my head, humbled. I knew I had more to learn from them.

The three of us went on to participate in the round robin and after Lumina offered her feedback, morning training concluded.

After breakfast, the Valkyries split off into a five-versus-five match while Lumina and I observed and analyzed.

“I doubt you will ever find yourself leading troops,” she said, “but evaluating your own strategies and ascertaining the weaknesses of others could prove useful to you in other ways.”

“I pray that I’ll never have to make use of those skills.”

Once training ended, Lumina and the others left for their field exercises again while I hopped back into the saddle. However...

“My apologies; Forêt wasn’t feeling well, so I’ve brought you a different horse today,” Yanbath said.

And just like that, my plans were thwarted. Forêt’s replacement was a large chestnut.

“It sure is big,” I commented.

“Bigger than Forêt, for sure. And a tad rowdier, but you’ll not find another horse that can stand up to monsters like this one can.”

“A tough guy, huh?”

I pressed on his back to signal that I was about to mount and jumped onto the saddle. But the chestnut immediately reeled up onto his hind legs and threw me to the ground.

“Oof! Okay, that hurt!”

“Mister Luciel, are you all right?!”

“For the most part.”

I tried several more times with the same result, even after Yanbath brought out a second horse. I was an avid beater of dead horses, though, figuratively speaking, and didn’t give up. The Valkyries would never let me join their field exercises at this rate.

Dozens of times, right up until the paladins returned, I climbed onto the horses’ backs only to be flung back down to the ground. And it wasn’t soft. But I refused to let some stupid pony look down on me and declined to heal myself.

When Lumina saw me covered in dirt and bruises, she placed her hand on my shoulder and said, “perhaps we ought to hold off on field exercises for now.”

And with that, my second session with the Valkyries concluded. I headed down to the labyrinth to work up a sweat and cheer myself up.

The next morning, I woke up and did my usual stretches. No soreness, thankfully. It was time to get ready for the day.

After breakfast, I took my lunch from the usual serving lady and got straight to labyrinth-diving. I purified skeletons and ghosts in the tenth-floor boss room left and right. Zombies weren’t a match for my swordplay anymore. So I was planning on trying something new today.

I had three holy silver daggers that I’d gotten from the shop, which I had been keeping in my magic bag, and when I willed one into my left hand, it appeared there with almost no delay. I figured that would be useful if I was ever in a pinch or up against a flying enemy and needed a fast throwing weapon. That is, after I had trained enough to actually make use of it.

I was eating lunch in the cleared boss room, not a monster in sight, when a thought came to mind. “What would happen if I just stayed down here?”

It would require some investigating, so I decided to kill time for the moment and wait. I ran through my magic training routine and did some practice swings with my weapons so that I wouldn’t die of boredom in the meantime, but not a single monster appeared.

“Is that how it works? With this robe and an Aura Coat for good measure, maybe I can stay down here for longer than I thought.”

For three whole days, I continued to grind in the boss room, honing my new magic bag-enhanced combat style. And today, the day before my next session with the Valkyries, was the day I would be challenging the twentieth-floor boss.

I stood before the grand door and made my final preparations.

“Weapons, check. Armor, check. Recovery items, check. Area Barrier, up. Motivational Substance X, down the hatch.”

It was go time. I had studied all the undead and their moves on the tenth floor, and I was ready.

“God, Buddha, ancestors, lend me your strength. And please let me be able to use magic this time.”

The door creaked open into the same gloomy type of hall as on the tenth floor.

“Now, this is a boss room. I was getting a little too used to that last one.”

Just like before, the door slammed shut behind me as I stepped inside. Light filled the room, revealing a wight and two armored skeleton knights. Except these weren’t exactly skeletons. They were far more intimidating. These were death knights.

I had a bad feeling and immediately began to chant, “Oh holy hand of healing. Oh birthing breath of the land. Heed my prayer. Banish the impurities before me and shepherd them unto deliverance. Purification!”

Radiance engulfed the beasts and swallowed them whole... Not.

“Figures.”

The undead trio bellowed menacingly with a tinge of pain that didn’t go unnoticed. The spell had done something but not enough. I cast it again, and the knights thrust their shields out to charge me, unfazed.

They were fast. But I kept a cool head and read their moves. The Purification spell fizzled out when it hit their shields, only slowing them slightly. I readied my sword and shield and had managed to sidestep the charge when three blood-red lances of flame came flying straight at me.

So, that’s the gimmick, huh? These three were a dangerous team. This wasn’t going to be pretty.

I held up my shield to block the fiery spears, and as I took the blow, an image flashed through my mind—my shield melting away in my hands.

I immediately threw it at the death knights behind me, where it promptly combusted and began to dissolve, then summoned another one from my bag. I whipped around and fired a third Purification at the death knights from close range, stopping the creatures in their tracks.

It was now or never. I approached one of the defenseless knights and rent it with my magically-imbued sword. A chill, a warning, ran down my spine. I dropped the sword at once and drew out a holy silver dagger, flinging it, full of magic, at the head of the other death knight.

If this were a fairy tale, that would be where the story ended. But neither monsters nor reality were so kind. The dagger bounced off the knight’s shield with a clang.

I had to regroup and strategize, so I retreated, putting some distance between us. I’d taken one of them out, but now the remaining knight had gone into full defense mode, protecting the wight so that it could keep dishing out those unblockable flame lances.

They were an extremely powerful pair. The shield I had tossed away was lying on the ground now, molten and in flames... A fate that would have awaited my arm if I hadn’t reacted quickly enough.

While my mind was occupied with the wight’s magic, the knight charged me. I parried its blade, but not well and it sliced across my right shoulder. I had to do something fast or they’d back me into a corner.

“I’ve just gotta go for it!”

The wight shot its fire magic at me. This time, I didn’t take it head-on but used my shield to deflect it at an angle then tossed the shield away and rushed the knight. Just in front of its face, I chanted, “Oh holy hand of healing. Oh birthing breath of the land. Heed my prayer. Banish the impurities before me and shepherd them unto deliverance. Purification!”

But my enemy didn’t flinch and brought down its sword. I leaped to the side at the last second and summoned another dagger, throwing it in desperation. It landed cleanly in the monster’s skull.

“Yes!” I cheered.

There was no time to celebrate, though. The wight still remained. But the instant I was about to look away from the knight, a red glow ignited in its eyes. Its crimson pupils darted to look right at me. Fear welled up inside of me, but I stifled it with a powerful roar. I called a sword into my hand as I lunged at it and severed its head. It didn’t die immediately, leaving me with another nasty cut on my shoulder before it went. Still, I was lucky that it hadn’t dismembered me.

Searing pain shot through my wounds, even after staving off the immediate danger with High Heal. I wondered if it was some sort of phantom pain, but came to a sudden realization. A casting of Purification soon numbed the aching.

Sweat dripped from my face as I gasped for breath. “Was that the curse debuff? Come on, these are supposed to be illusions,” I groaned. “If my master hadn’t trained me, I would’ve thought the pain was real and probably passed out.” I pointed my blade at the wight. “You’re next! Let’s do this!”

I threw up Magic Barrier and Aura Coat and concentrated. The wight was getting impatient and prepared to launch five of the flame lances towards me at once. I threw a dagger at it, then readied my third shield and charged. It dodged, but I was on top of it now.

The fiend combined all five lances into one, seemingly in a fluster, and hurled it at me. I tossed my shield out and they collided in mid-air, sending the shield flying in the opposite direction. When the smoke cleared, I found myself right in front of the monster, unharmed. I kept the pressure on, dashing towards it and casting Purification in an effort to impede its magic, but it countered with a spell of its own and enveloped itself in a black force field, something similar to Magic Barrier.

“If I can’t beat it with magic, I’ve got plenty of sharp objects that’ll do the trick!”

I sliced with my blade and it reacted with magical crimson arrows. I retaliated yet again with Area Heal. The undead were no match for healing magic and this thing clearly hadn’t expected such a move. It froze in place and shrieked as the light enveloped it.

I summoned a holy silver lance and ran the creature through, then called up Brod’s sword and infused it with magic. With a clean and powerful twirl, I severed the wight’s head, which flew through the air in an arc and struck the floor, vanishing as it hit.

“Done,” I sighed heavily. “I feel like the other wight was stronger, but working out how to handle that new magic was rough. I guess those two death knights balanced it out.”

I picked up the wight’s massive gem and the two smaller death knight gems, all of which were darker and larger than the normal undead remains. And just like last time, there was additional gear left behind as well: weapons, armor, jewelry, and a robe. Before stashing them in my bag, I purified each of the items. They were probably valuable, but I’d have to hand them over to the pope anyway.

Once I’d collected everything, a door leading to a flight of stairs down to the next floor rumbled open.

“No surprise there. I wonder how many floors there are, though. Things could get rough if this keeps up. But oh well, it’s lunchtime.”

I enjoyed resting my weary body with a nice, relaxing lunch. While I ate, I meditated and concentrated on recovering my strength and magic. After recuperating enough, I decided, “Think I’ll peek at the twenty-first floor, come back and fight those knights one more time, then head home.”

I reached floor twenty-one and in no time at all realized that things weren’t going to be the same. Meandering zombies had been replaced by ghouls that actively sought me out and attacked. Purification still worked, but sheesh, it was terrifying. These new enemies moved at twice the speed of normal zombies, so I had a lot of reacclimating to do or I’d be in for a world of hurt.

I noted the orange coloring of the walls, then went back up to the boss room. After eliminating the sole remaining knight, I took a moment to calm myself down.

“So, the respawning knight doesn’t drop items and goes down with a single Purification.” I swore to myself and the gemified monster that one day I’d take it down without any magic whatsoever, even if that day was still a ways off.

My first month at the Church was nearing its end.