Chapter 263: You’re Not A Burden, You’re What Drives Me Forward

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Despite her great agility, precise movement, and fluid combat style, Emma was still constantly falling into traps throughout the sparring session. Her awareness of the broader surroundings simply was not the best yet.

Ren decided to turn every mistake into a lesson as they fought across the open training field.

"Your footwork is clean and your sword paths are sharp, but you’re still fighting like the ground beneath you is completely safe," Ren said calmly, his voice carrying clearly even as he vanished into a swirl of living shadows. "In a real dungeon the ground is never safe. Traps, sudden pits, ambushes from below... the moment you stop scanning everything around you, you die."

Emma twisted mid-air with practiced grace, slicing through the shadow thread that had snared her ankle and landing in a low, balanced crouch. Sweat already soaked the back of her training clothes and clung to her forehead. "I’m scanning! I just... can’t see everything at once! I’ve been inside Gates before. I just... I get focused on the opponent standing right in front of me too easily."

"Then stop relying only on your eyes," Ren replied, already circling her again with quiet, predatory steps. Fresh shadow threads rose from the ground like grasping black hands. "That intense focus is both your greatest strength and your most dangerous weakness. Against a single strong enemy it can win you the fight. Against a group, or against an opponent who deliberately sets traps, it will get you killed. Learn to keep part of your mind watching everything else while the rest of you fights. Feel the mana density in the air. Feel the subtle displacement of the wind. Your Perception stat is higher than you think — you just haven’t forced it to open fully yet."

Emma nodded sharply and forced herself to widen her perception the way she had been taught. She stepped lightly across the dirt, deliberately testing the ground with each careful movement, cutting threads the moment they appeared while also listening for the soft rustle of leaves and the distant sounds of the other spars happening nearby.

She gritted her teeth and forced herself to stop looking only at Ren. She spread her senses outward exactly the way Label had once casually mentioned during a potion lesson. The shadow threads slowly became faint cold lines in her awareness. She rolled sideways, cut two of them cleanly, then pivoted on one foot and severed the third before it could coil around her waist.

Ren’s eyes narrowed slightly in quiet approval. "Better. Now keep moving while you do it."

They continued without pause. Shadow threads, sudden feints, sharp lunges. Emma’s dual blades flashed in tight, controlled arcs. Her breathing grew heavier but steadily more controlled. Every time a trap nearly caught her, Ren would pause just long enough to point out the exact moment her attention had narrowed too far.

"Again."

"You’re still tensing your shoulders the second you sense danger — relax them or your reaction speed drops."

"Again."

After nearly twenty intense minutes of relentless sparring, Emma finally managed to close the distance. She feinted high with one blade, dropped low with the other, and drove the second sword toward Ren’s midsection with all her strength. He blocked it with a crossed pair of shadow threads that hardened into temporary blades, yet the force of her attack still pushed him half a step backward.

Both of them stopped, breathing hard under the afternoon sun.

Ren dismissed the threads with a casual wave and gave a small, rare nod. "Not bad at all. You’ve got real talent for dual-wielding. Once your spatial awareness finally catches up to your blade work, you’ll become truly dangerous."

Emma wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her wrist and managed a tired but proud grin. "Thanks... I think. That felt like dying repeatedly without the actual dying part."

"That’s exactly the point," Ren replied, the corner of his mouth almost lifting into a smile. "Go drink a recovery potion and rest for five minutes. Then we start working on pressure-point targeting with your second blade."

Emma nodded gratefully and walked over to the side of the training field. Clair was still being mercilessly drilled by Hinata nearby, her face red with effort, while Philip was once again face-down in the dirt after another brutal exchange with Goki. The three friends exchanged exhausted, slightly traumatized looks that said more than words ever could.

Meanwhile, inside the quiet house, Riven stood outside Elisa’s bedroom door for a long moment. He took a slow breath before knocking softly.

"Elisa. Can I come in?"

No answer came at first. Then a muffled, grumpy voice drifted through the wood: "...Fine."

He opened the door carefully. Elisa sat by the window in her wheelchair, arms crossed tightly over her chest, staring outside with a stubborn pout. Her silver hair was slightly messy from earlier, and her cheeks still held a faint flush of residual anger and embarrassment.

Riven closed the door behind him with a quiet click and walked over. He knelt so he was at eye level with her, his expression soft and open.

"I’m sorry about earlier," he said quietly. "I should have stopped the hug sooner. Natalie was just excited about the potions and the new contract. There is nothing between us. There never has been."

Elisa’s eyes flicked toward him for a second, then quickly looked away again. "...I know that. Logically. I do. It’s just..." She exhaled sharply, her shoulders tensing. "Seeing another girl throw herself at you like that... it made something ugly flare up inside me. I hate that I acted like that in front of everyone. It’s just..."

"What’s wrong?" Riven asked gently, shifting to sit properly next to her wheelchair so their shoulders almost touched. "You can speak to me. You know that."

"I just feel like if someone else comes to you... someone way better than me... someone who can walk, someone who’s strong and whole... I’d lose you. Because... because I am useless..." She suddenly started crying, soft tears slipping down her cheeks. "Because I am a burden to you and—"

Before she could continue speaking those painful words, Riven wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, refusing to let go. His voice was low and steady against her hair. "You’re not a burden. I’ve told you already... you’re the reason why I am here fighting. You’re the reason I keep making so many allies and pushing myself to do so many impossible things. You always have been."

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