![]() She still didn’t understand what the bow was capable of since the special effect was still locked. In Jerry’s hands, the crystal had grown darker, turning almost black. I found it after we slayed a hydra,” Riley said, eyeing the bow cautiously. “We managed to defeat a dungeon during our trip. Crystalline red roses had been embedded at the base of the grip, throbbing softly – as though they had a heartbeat. It was a recurve bow, the arms curling in an intricate vine-like pattern. “Now what is this fabulous device here?” He had grabbed at Riley’s bow that rested against the back wall. Jerry interrupted her with a wave of his hand. It’s terribly wasteful, but I can’t let my secrets getting out into the world after all.” Riley glanced at him sharply and saw the humor dancing in his eyes. “I expect you just hire someone,” Riley said dryly, wiping her blades clean with a spare cloth on a table near the training arena and then sheathing them. “Do you know how difficult it is to repair my secret little training center?” “So, you plan to take it out on my innocent equipment?” Jerry asked good-naturedly. She turned and yanked her other blade from the wooden machine, admiring the deep groove she had carved in the surface. “Just a bunch of stuff that I don’t really want to talk about,” Riley responded gruffly. She had only managed to knick his hat once and had promptly been sent flying into a wall. She would normally feel bad for throwing a dagger at someone, but she had about as much chance of harming Jerry as killing a dragon. Something troubling you?” He approached Riley and handed the dagger back to her with a small bow. “Although, now that I think about it, you do seem a bit on edge. Then his lips pinched into a thin line, his finger curling his moustache as he examined the blade in his hand. ![]() Must be all that frantic real-world experience you picked up in the north.” “Greetings, mademoiselle,” Jerry said politely. The innkeeper bowed deeply, flicking the tip of big big floppy hat with the tip of his finger. Then he glanced at her and a wide grin crossed his bleached lips. Jerry caught the blade between two fingers, looking at it with wide eyes as though he was surprised he had caught the object. Startled, Riley spun, hurling her dagger through the air towards the source of the noise. Her fingers tensed around the hilt of the remaining weapon at her waist, her muscles tight and ready to spring.Ī slow clap sounded from behind her. A part of her wanted to keep going to slam her daggers into the wood again and again. She stood there for a moment, breathing calmly and staring at the blade. The wood splintered under the blow and the machines in the room creaked to a halt. Her eyes flashed an unholy obsidian as the icy energy tore through her veins in a torrent.Īs the next blade swept at her, she ducked again, stepping in close and slamming her dagger into the target painted near the base of the machine. Even as that thought occurred to her, Riley involuntarily summoned her dark mana. The exercise also allowed her to forget the anger and frustration she had experienced at school earlier that day and the many days before it. She was forced to give herself up to the moment, acting purely on instinct. When she ran this obstacle course, there was no room for thought. Riley’s feet hit the hard-wooden floor with a soft thump on the other side. ![]() She palmed the metal, flipping over the arm and out of the reach of the machine that was approaching behind her. Her arm lashed out, a dagger intercepting a blade aimed at her abdomen and causing the machine to stop momentarily. She loved this room, particularly the whirring wooden machines around her. She could hear the creak of wood and metal as she danced, dodged, and spun in a mindless flurry of movement, navigating the gruesome obstacle course in the training room under Jerry’s inn. Then she dove forward into a roll, narrowly passing under another blade operated by the machine beside her. ![]() Riley spun to the left, avoiding a whirling metal blade. ![]()
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