“Good,” a voice from behind him said. “It pays to be watchful.”
With a tingle of shock Rei dove into a forward roll. He wasn’t sure what made him do it, but instinct took over, and rightfully so as something he didn’t see screamed through the air exactly where his body would have been not a moment before. He came up sandy, the dirt and grit of the field sticking to him as the rain began to fall a little harder, wetting the ground. When he spun around, though, there was nothing.
Not even footprints in the earth.
“Oh f—!” Rei started to say, understanding dawning, but at that moment the cleaving sound of air rang from his left, and he lunged backwards, dodging desperately.
Dodging, and just in time to keep from being rent vertically in two by a coiling length of familiar black steel accented with red light.
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” Rei screamed to the air as the chain-sword—absent its owner—snaked away in a flash down another corridor, vanishing from sight again.
He might have been mistaken, but he thought he heard a laugh from above him, on top of the canyon cliffs.
******
For 2 hours the dexterity training continued like that, with Lennon only showing his face during breaks, and even then just long enough to toss Rei more water from the cliffs above, where he’d obviously set up camp. Had he had the mind for it, Rei might have been astounded by the A-Ranker’s ability to keep Invisible Hand engaged for so long, even staggered between attacks.
As it was, all he personally had the mental energy for was keeping on his toes and fighting not to keel over from exhaustion every time he got a reprieve.
The first couple of attacks, it transpired, had been warm-ups. Warning shots across the bow. After that they’d come not only faster and harder, but more frequently, until Rei was simultaneously working to dodge the deadly steel and sprint through the labyrinth of the ravines, trying desperately not to get trapped between the two chain-swords. The weapons were slithering through the gorges like monsters guarding some grand treasure within its center depths, and as the rain came steadily harder it become more and more difficult to hear them or see them coming. In the beginning, avoiding the blades had required quick thinking and good reflexes.
By the time the 2 hours had passed, dodging demanded every ounce of focus, forethought, and prediction Rei could afford himself.
He didn’t always succeed, and the explosive pain of being caught by either of the blades—wielded by a User with at least A-Rank Offense—had been enough to nearly send him spinning into the black on five different occasions. Still, Rei didn’t complain. He had no right to complain. Hadn’t he just been concerned about the first part of their training, had wanted more to be done as the race pressed on with the risk of leaving him in the dust? Lennon had certainly risen to his hopes, because every bout left him staggering and wincing, sometimes putting a shoulder into the nearest wall to help get himself to the ground without collapsing. Every time Rei thought he’d had enough, Shido was there to get him back on his feet, refreshing his limbs and steadying his breathing even in the brief 2 or 3 minutes of respite he was allowed. It reminded him of why he was there in the first place, reminded him of Valera Dent’s words.
You need to get stronger.
In the end, he wasn’t disappointed.
...
Processing combat information.
...
Calculating.
...
Results:
Strength: Lacking
Endurance: Severely Lacking
Speed: Severely Lacking
Cognition: Severely Lacking
Offense: Not Applicable
Defense: Severely Lacking
Growth: Not Applicable
...
Checking combat data acquisition.
...
Adequate data acquirement met.
Device initiating adjustments to:
Endurance. Cognition.
…
Processing.
…
Adjustment complete.
Endurance has been upgraded from Rank D6 to D7.
Cognition has been upgraded from Rank C1 to C2.
On his hands and knees in the now rained-soaked ground, Rei almost choked out a laugh reading “Offense: Not Applicable”. It was true, he realized. Not a single time over the last couple of hours had he taken a swipe at anything, given there was no real enemy to strike at. He suspected he would find the image of himself running around like a rat in a deadly cage amusing later, but for the moment he could only be grateful.
Endurance and Cognition now. Three specs in 6 hours. They could do it. They would do it.
But would it be enough?
“Anything?”
With his hands still in the sandy mud Rei looked up and around, into the storm. He could barely make out Lennon squatting at the edge of the cliff atop the wall opposite him, the A-Ranker’s expression inscrutable through the rain.
Rei nodded. “Endurance and Cognition,” he called up as best he could, shoving himself over to sit with his back against the stone. Under the overhang, he was spared the worst of the downpour.
“Still no Speed, though?”
Rei frowned. “No. Why?”
Thump.
Lennon took the 30-foot drop like he wasn’t doing more than hopping off the last step of a staircase, barely needing to crouch to absorb the impact of the fall. Kicking wet sand off his bare legs from where it had splashed up over his shin, the young man approached until he, too, was in the relative dryness of the outcropping.
“Speed is your strongest spec.”
The words came as a statement, rather than any kind of question.
Still, Rei gave the third year a blank look. “You just warned me about giving away too much information.”
Lennon made a face. “I’m not asking you to confirm, Ward. It’s obvious to anyone who has any solid experience in CAD-fighting. You’ve been leaning into it in almost every fight you’ve won, including the one against Catchwick earlier this week.”
Rei felt a twinge of guilt at being reminded. “Fine,” he admitted. “Sure. Let’s assume Speed is my strongest spec. All the more reason to up my others, isn’t it? Speed will handle itself.”
“Not if you don’t make it,” Lennon said with a shake of his head, rainwater dripping from his grey dreads. “As for upping the others, that’s all well and good, but being a User with no weaknesses is the same as being a User with no strengths.”
“I have strengths,” Rei countered.
“Yes. You do. Which is precisely my point. Your Speed is your highest spec, closely followed by Cognition, I’m assuming. They’ve been key to you so far, haven’t they?”
Rei thought to be dismissive—feeling like he was getting lectured a lot, lately—but suppressed the urge.
Honestly, getting lectured on improvement by Christopher Lennon was something he’d never dreamed of having the opportunity to experience.
“… Yeah,” he admitted finally. “So you think I should lean into it, is what you’re saying?”
“Until your Device decides otherwise, you’re basically a Brawler, Ward. You’ve got no reach, you’ve got low Endurance, and your Defense is probably nothing impressive either. But what you do have is mobility. Agility… Versatility.” He enunciated this last word deliberately, making sure Rei was following. “You’ve seen my Ouroboros. You think I leaned away from heavy defense plating because I enjoy getting skewered through the gut?” He shook his head. “My Device’s maneuverability is its strength. I’d argue it’s its only strength, down to the design of my weapons to my externals to my Abilities, Echo aside.” He pointed a finger at Shido’s bands around Rei’s wrists. “Your CAD is high Speed, high Cognition, and damage dealing. You’re unpredictable on the field, and talented, which makes you a lethal combo of adaptability. But you’ve got to embrace that to make it work.”
“So m
ore Speed?”
Lennon nodded. “More Speed.”
*****
As it turned out, the Canyons’ conditions had not been the extent of what Lennon could put him through, once they decided on the focus of the next part of the training. After a quick lunch that Rei was pretty sure he was going to lose later anyway, the Lasher summoned up a flat, Neutral Zone for them.
Then he’d called on Ouroboros, and again set the twin chain-swords to swinging.
It was a different kind of conditioning now, though, Rei realized soon enough. Whereas among the ravines and ridges of the Canyons he had had to be constantly on edge and ever-vigilant, in the open air of the Neutral Zone he could allow himself to be less proactive in his assessment of where the strikes would come from, and more deliberately reactive. The segmented weapons rolled and roiled together through the air, a blinding mess of dark steel and burning vysetrium, but Rei could see them now, watch their movements and respond accordingly. His neuroline still whined in overdrive, a constant, uncomfortable buzzing in the back of his head and down his spine, arms, and legs, but his NOED, too, came into play now. Without an opponent with a body to read—Lennon circled the field opposite him, almost always more than 15 yards away from his CAD—Rei found himself absent much of his usual instinct and insight. The neuro-optical became a lifesaver quickly, its red highlights sometimes the only thing that forewarned of an incoming attack from the swirling Device.
Fortunately, it was more often than not all Rei needed.
In an avoiding dance with similarities to the agility-training Michael Bretz sometimes put them through, Rei never stopped moving during the repeated 30 minute bouts the Lasher kept him on. Had he paused for even a moment he knew he would have been caught by the segmented steel, and that would have been game over once again. As it was, he lost limbs more than once, a particularly unfortunate circumstance to find himself in when one leg or the other got cut off from his nervous system, bringing him crashing down to the floor at once.
When it was a hand or arm that got cleaved into, though, Rei shoved the agony away into the dark part of his mind and just kept dancing.
1 hour. Then 2. 3 came and went, closing in on 4. It was well into the afternoon, in fact, when Rei staggered to one knee after Lennon had called for yet another break, dropping down to the fading field even as he wondered if he would be able to get back up again.
Not 30 seconds later, while he crouched there struggling to overcome a bout of lightheadedness, commitment flooded back with the wave of text that claimed his vision.
...
Processing combat information.
...
Calculating.
...
Results:
Strength: Lacking
Endurance: Severely Lacking
Speed: Severely Lacking
Cognition: Severely Lacking
Offense: Not Applicable
Defense: Severely Lacking
Growth: Not Applicable
...
Checking combat data acquisition.
...
Adequate data acquirement met.
Device initiating adjustments to:
Speed.
…
Processing.
…
Adjustment complete.
Speed has been upgraded from Rank C2 to C3.
“Score,” Rei wheezed at the projection plating beneath him, spotted with drops of sweat, as the upgrade notification faded away.
“What was that?”
Rei managed to lift his head, his grin probably more of a pained grimace when he found Lennon standing over him, ready to hand off the usual bottle of water.
“Speed,” he answered simply, not trusting himself to say much more when he lifted an arm to accept the drink gratefully, the entire limb shaking with exhaustion. “Made it.”
Lennon offered him a rare smile, then. “Nice. Were gonna take a longer rest now, then. Half-hour.”
Rei started, the clenching of his hand at this statement almost blowing the cap of the water as he forgot to control his Strength.
“W-What? No!” He tried to stand as he protested, but only ended up staggering a step sideways before falling back down again. Just the same, he didn’t look away from Lennon. “I-I’m close! I’m so, so close!”
“I know.” Lennon’s expression was strange as he answered, somewhere between impressed and sympathetic. “Four specs in ten hours. Unbelievable. I’ve got to say, Ward, you’re definitely something special, and I don’t just mean your CAD.”
“But then why… why rest?” Rei actually had to blink several times as stars bloomed in his vision. “We’re almost… there.”
In answer, Lennon looked at him flatly for a moment.
Then, taking a step forward, he put a single finger on Rei’s sweat-slicked forehead—the touch cool from having held the chilled water bottle—and shoved lazily.
Rei tried to get an arm out to catch himself, but his elbow and shoulder both gave rather than accept his weight. He crumpled backwards, reactive shielding absorbing what would have been a nasty bump on the head as he hit the floor. His vision spun and he groaned, but when he tried to roll back onto his side, intending to prop himself up, he found himself unable to move.
After a second of confusion, he realized that might have had something to do with the foot planted firmly on his chest, pinning him to the ground.
“Clearly you didn’t hear me,” Lennon said pleasantly, leaning over an elbow pressed into his raised knee, holding Rei down even more firmly. “You just ranked four specs in ten hours, Ward. Ten hours of straight training.”
“Wasn’t straight,” Rei mumbled. “And I’ve been doing ten hours all week.”
“Not with me, you haven’t. Laurent is an impressive User, Ward, but are you really going to try to tell me she’s as challenging a training partner as I am?”
Rei was pretty sure his silence gave voice to the obvious answer enough.
“Yeah,” Lennon snorted. “Didn’t think so.” He let off Rei’s chest. “You’re going to lie there, and you’re not going to bitch or moan for a half hour. Is that clear?”
Rei nodded, feeling his eyelids droop. With the Lasher’s permission had come an overwhelming, staggering fatigue. “Don’t think that’ll be a problem,” he muttered.
It wasn’t more than a minute before he was out.
CHAPTER 54
When Rei came too, he knew instinctively that he’d been asleep for way, way more than the 30 minutes allotted to him. With a jolt he sat up straight, wincing as sore muscles and abused flesh protested the abrupt movement, but he didn’t care as he checked the time.
1800.
Rei felt nauseous, and it had nothing to do with ripping out of sleep in a panic. 2 hours. 2 of the precious hours he’d already been struggling to take advantage of had slipped by him. He was angry, all of a sudden, angry at his stupidity, angry at his weakness.
Angry at the third year sitting by the door of the room far to his left, looking to be catching up on the day’s messages on his NOED as he typed in the air with one hand.
In a flash Rei was on his feet. “Lennon, what the hell?!” he demanded. “Why didn’t you wake me?!”
“Because you needed the rest,” the Lasher answered simply, barely even glancing at him through his frame. “You passed out, and given you stayed that way on a solid steel floor, I decided you needed a little more of a break.”
“But we only have four hours left!” Rei had to keep from raising his voice more than might have been forgivable. “What if we don’t make it? What if I don’t make it?!”
He couldn’t believe it. He honestly couldn’t believe it. It was true that his body felt largely recovered, but pain was nothing, fatigue was nothing. He could have pushed through those—would have pushed through those. Lennon, though, had left him to laze around, sleeping away the day.
“You’re going to make it.�
�
Once again the calmness of the answer took Rei aback, and the retort he’d had ready caught on his lips. Lennon was getting to his feet, having just closed his frame, using the wall at his back to leverage himself up. Once standing, he adjusted the seam of his combat suit around his neck while he approached Rei.
Approached, then passed him, heading for the other side of the field.
“How do you know?” Rei finally managed to get out between clenched teeth. “I cut my week’s training hours short for this day, Lennon. If I’d known you were going to—”
“I suggest you not comment on who is more inconvenienced at the moment, Ward,” the third year called back without looking around. “If you’d rather I not be here so you can get on with sparring with your friends until you keel over, be my guest.”
That shut Rei up, and he suddenly felt less than gracious.
“Sorry,” he muttered as loudly as he could. “I appreciate your help. More than you know. But if we aren’t going to take advantage of—”
“You were ready to pass out. You were literally falling over, and—if you’ll believe me—just short of going cross-eyed when you crashed. I told you we wouldn’t leave here until you made it or we ran out of time. By that I meant I would do everything in my ability to get you there, including making the call on when you’ve had enough.”
Lennon reached the other side of the field and turned around, taking Rei in critically with his arms by his sides.
“You’re a monster, Ward. In more ways than one. But I don’t care if you got gifted all the potential and drive of a god. Right now you’re still a C3-Ranked User who just spent ten hours training under the wing of an A.”
Rei sobered a little, not sure if he’d just been complimented for his pluck, and called out for being foolhardy.
Deciding it was probably a bit of both, he nodded apologetically. “Sorry,” he said again. “I know you’ve given up your whole day for this. And I know you’ve done everything you can to help me. I genuinely can’t thank you enough. I’m just—”
Iron Prince: A Progression Sci-Fi Epic (Warformed: Stormweaver Book 1) Page 95