The bruises from Adrian's duel had faded to a dull yellow-green by the time I arrived at Training Ground Seven. Three days of healing potions and rest, and I could move without wincing.
For the most parts.
Professor Helena was already there, running through sword forms that would make most knights weep and stare her her for days with a dazed expression. Each movement she made was precise and deadly with no wasted motion, no florish. It was as if each of her moves were made to either stab or slash something to death.
What pure efficiency.
She noticed me approaching and stopped mid-swing. "You're early, Ravana."
"Punctuality is a virtue."
"So is not getting your ass kicked in front of the entire academy." She planted her sword in the ground. "But here you are anyway. Glutton for punishment?"
"I prefer committed to improvement." I said, looking at her wearily.
Helena's lips quirked. Almost a smile. "Six AM lessons weren't part of our arrangement. What do you want?"
I met her red eyes steadily, trying my best not to flinch. "To learn how to not die. You're the best combat instructor here. Teach me."
"I already teach you. In class with forty other students."
"I need more than that." I gestured at the empty training ground. "Private lessons. Real training. The kind that doesn't pull punches and hold back."
She studied me for a long moment. "I saw your fight with Adrianz you fight like someone who knows they'll lose but refuses to quit."
"Is that a compliment?"
"The highest one I give." Helena pulled her sword from the dirt. "Most students fight to win, but you fight to survive. That's real combat."
Something in my chest warmed. Recognition from a master warrior wasn't something to take lightly after all.
"So you'll teach me?"
"I'll try to teach you. Whether you can learn is on you." She tossed me a practice sword. "We start now. First lesson, momentum and redirection. Prepare yourself."
The training was brutal.
Helena didn't believe in gentle instruction. She believed in hitting you until you learned to not get hit.
"Again!" She drove forward, sword coming in low and fast.
I tried to block, but it was a wrong move! Her blade slipped past my guard and slammed into my ribs. Even blunted, it knocked the wind out of me.
I hit the ground. Again.
"You're thinking like a noble," Helena said, standing over me. "Block, parry, counter. Textbook dueling."
"What's wrong with that?" I gasped, trying to remember how lungs worked. That was the only training my host body, the character I was inhibiting has.
"Textbook gets you killed against someone stronger. You can't match Adrian's power, so stop trying, the difference is that big." She offered a hand up. "Use his power against him. Redirect his attack and stop trying to resist."
"How?"
"Watch." She demonstrated, moving in slow motion. "Enemy comes in hard, and you don't block straight-on. You deflect. Small movement, big result. Let their momentum carry them past you.
"Now, you try!"
I tried it. Failed. Tried again. Failed better.
By the tenth attempt, something finally clicked.
Helena's practice sword came in fast like quicksilver. Instead of blocking, I angled my blade, let her sword slide past, and redirected the force.
The move made her stumbled slightly off-balance but she recovered in split second.
"There." She scowled but there was approval in her eyes. "That's the principle. Now do it a thousand more times until it's instinct."
We drilled for another hour.
And we did more than momentum and redirection. She taught me vital point targeting and using the environment, also a bit of pain tolerance. It was must things the academy didn't teach because it wasn't honorable.
And I loved every brutal second of it.
When we finally stopped, I was drenched in sweat and covered in new bruises. Helena looked like she'd gone for a light stroll.
"You're tougher than you look," she said, wiping down her sword. "Most nobles would've quit after the first knockdown."
"I'm not most nobles."
"No. You're not." She sheathed her weapon. "Same time tomorrow?"
"Every day until I can hold my own."
"That'll take months. Years, maybe."
"Then I'd better start now."
Helena studied me with those sharp red eyes and for a moment, I saw something beneath the harsh exterior. Curiosity. Maybe even respect.
"Why?" she asked finally. "Why push this hard? You're already competent. Already survived Adrian once. Why keep reaching for more?"
I could've given her a dozen political answers.
Instead, I told her part of the truth. Something she would like to hear.
"Because people are depending on me. And I refuse to let them down because I wasn't strong enough, fast enough, smart enough." I met her gaze. "You can accept being good. I can't. Not when lives are at stake."
But I didn't tell her the whole truth. That I am selfish and did not want to die. Who knows what would happen if I die here in a book world? Will I return to the real world? Although, the real world isn't a place I am eager to return to as well.
Something shifted in her expression when she heard that though. "I was the best once."
"What happened?"
She was quiet for a moment. Then she said with a casual shrug. "Guild Master Krevic happened."
I already read most of it in the book and yet I waited. Helena clearly had more to say. Time to start building my relationship with her.
"I was a mercenary, one of the best. Blood Warrior, they called me. Could take contracts no one else could handle and fight enemies they avoid." Her hand tightened on her sword hilt. "Then Krevic decided he wanted more than just my sword arm. Made me an offer, something called marriage."
"You refused." I raised my brows.
"I'm no one's property." Her voice was flat and controlled, with a dangerous tilt. "He didn't take rejection well. Used his influence in the mercenary guilds, blacklisted me everywhere and made sure no one would hire me."
"So you ended up teaching."
"So I ended up here. Overqualified and underpaid, teaching nobles who think combat is about looking good."
I heard the bitterness in her voice and the frustration about the waste of talent. The frustration of a caged predator.
"His loss," I said simply. "Our gain."
She glanced at me sharply. "What?"
"A blade is a blade, if one person doesn't want it, another can still swing it." My heartbeat picked up from her heavy gaze but I still keep my face expressionless.
Helena was quiet for a moment. Then she added softly. "I miss real combat, it brings real purpose."
I took a breath. The words that hovered in my mouth was a risk, but risks sometimes paid off.
"When I need someone to lead an army," I said carefully, "I'll ask you."
Her eyes widened slightly. "Army? Ambitious for a mere academy student."
"I don't plan small." I shrugged. The book I am in might be like a low risk one but I've read some dangerous things there, especially for those without plot armor.
"No. I suppose you don't." She smiled, a real smile this time, sharp and predatory, almost all fangs. "I'll think about it."
As I turned to leave, she called out. "Ravana."
"Yes?"
"Same time tomorrow. And bring that enchanter friend of yours. If we're doing this, we're doing it right. I want to see what kind of combat enchantments he can make."
I grinned. "Consider it done."
[ANALYTICAL EYE: HELENA CRIMSONFANG]
[EMOTIONAL STATE: Intrigued, Hopeful, Cautiously Interested]
[MOTIVATION: Craves purpose, real combat, respect]
[RECRUITMENT POTENTIAL: 50% → 65%]
[NOTE: Offer concrete opportunity, not pity]
[RECOMMENDATION: Continue building relationship]