Chapter 643: Reflection II

He allowed the scene to unfold slowly in his mind, though he kept part of his attention on his surroundings, listening to the rustling leaves and the occasional movement from Cole’s side of the clearing.

Freeing Maya and Nora had been the right thing to do, and he didn’t think there had been much room to hesitate there.

However, once the monster had emerged and the actual fight began, there were several things he could have handled better.

His first attack on its head, for example, had been rather careless.

He had jumped into range, gathered mana around his sword and swung, expecting his strength and the ridiculous sharpness of his blade to do most of the work.

And they had, to some extent, but he still remembered the uncomfortable resistance when his sword slowed inside the creature’s flesh, after it used mana to protect itself.

Looking down at Kurogoroshi, he adjusted his grip and slowly turned his wrist, trying to recall the exact angle at which he had struck.

Even without the creature’s stream of mana, which had caused the resistance, he should have been able to cut through the flesh much faster than it should have been able to react.

’Too much of a sideways pull,’ he thought, his brows drawing together.

Once the blade had started sinking in, his body had continued moving past the wound, forcing him to drag the edge through the flesh instead of following the direction of the cut.

With enough strength, that hardly seemed to matter, but Uncle Dorian would have certainly found something to complain about.

Elion could almost imagine the man making him repeat the same swing until his wrist stopped turning at the wrong moment.

He lifted the sword slightly and slowly traced the movement again, stopping before the tip could reach the tree beside him. Then he adjusted his shoulder and repeated it, keeping his wrist steady this time.

Kurogoroshi gave a faint hum in his hand, and Elion glanced down at it with a small smile. "Yes, yes, I know. It wasn’t your fault."

The blade went quiet again, leaving him to examine the movement for himself.

Without the monster in front of him, he couldn’t be entirely certain that the adjustment would solve the problem, but he could already feel how much less awkward it was.

Then there was his footing.

Running along a wet, moving tentacle had probably looked impressive, but he had spent more effort keeping his balance than preparing his attack.

He had only made proper use of his earth magic during their next approach, when raising the ground had given both him and Yaana a much better position to strike from.

’I should have done that sooner,’ he admitted, glancing toward the dark outline of the lake.

There had been no reason to let the monster decide what they stood on when he could change the ground beneath his own feet.

The more he thought about it, the more small mistakes he began to notice.

He had watched the creature’s head so closely during the first exchange that Maya had needed to warn him about the tentacle coming from above, regardless of the fact that he had known it was coming.

And he had pulled Yaana out of danger without giving her much warning either.

It had worked, but only because she had reacted quickly and hadn’t fought against his grip. Remembering what had happened with Maya during their fall, Elion’s lips pressed together slightly.

’Right. A word before grabbing someone would probably help.’

He let out a quiet breath and lowered his sword across his knees again, considering the battle as a whole.

Maya’s commands had made things much easier, but he had mostly followed the openings she pointed out instead of noticing when the others were about to create one.

Mayumi had drawn the monster’s attention toward its wounded eye more than once.

If he had paid closer attention to her movements, he could have started moving before the creature turned, giving himself a little more time to attack.

"You keep making that face," Cole said quietly from the other side of the clearing.

Elion looked up to find the brown-haired young man watching him intently.

"What face?"

"Like someone owes you money." Cole moved against the tree, resting his forearms on his knees. "Is something wrong with your sword?"

Elion chuckled and shook his head, running his thumb lightly along the flat of the beautiful blade. "The sword’s fine. I was thinking about the fight."

"We won," Cole pointed out, though he didn’t sound particularly dismissive. "And no one was seriously hurt. I’d say it went pretty well."

"It did," Elion agreed, looking back toward the lake. "But there were a few things I could have done better. Someone told me I should make a habit of checking for those after every fight."

Cole nodded slowly, his gaze dropping toward the dagger in his hand for a moment. "I suppose I should be doing that too. That tentacle nearly took my legs out from under me."

"Uta reacted quickly," Elion said, remembering how the boy had intercepted the attack. "You two seem used to fighting together."

"We’ve had some practice," Cole replied, a faint smile appearing on his face. "He can be difficult, but he pays attention to what matters."

Elion nodded, finding that a fair enough description.

Their conversation gradually faded, and Elion returned to examining his movements, getting up on his feet and occasionally lifting his sword to repeat a small part of a swing.

Cole remained quiet, watching the path while the fire slowly settled into a bed of glowing embers.

Hours passed in silence.

By the time Maya emerged from her tent, Elion had gone through the fight several times.

He hadn’t discovered anything that would suddenly make him an unrivalled swordsman, but he had found enough to keep himself occupied during his next training session.

"Anything?" Maya asked quietly, tightening her outer robe against her petite frame in the cool night air. Uta appeared behind her a moment later, pushing his white hair away from his youthful face.

"Nothing close," Cole replied as he stood and stretched his shoulders. "A few noises farther down the slope, but nothing’s come up the path."

Maya nodded and moved to take his place, while Elion slid Kurogoroshi back into its sheath.

He was getting to his feet when he noticed Uta looking at the sword, his usual annoyed expression replaced by a thoughtful look.

"What?" Elion asked, catching his gaze before he could turn away. Uta’s brows immediately drew together again, as though he regretted looking in the first place.

"Earlier," the boy muttered, keeping his voice low. "When you said you could introduce me to someone who could teach me..."

Elion waited, giving him a moment to finish, but Uta only looked increasingly uncomfortable. After a short silence, Elion spared him the trouble.

"I meant it," he said, resting a hand on Kurogoroshi’s sheath. "You don’t have to give me an answer now."

Uta looked away, his fingers curling briefly at his sides. "I was just asking."

"Then now you know." Elion gave him a small nod and stepped aside, leaving the spot facing the lake for him.

Elion left Uta by the edge of the clearing and made his way back toward his tent, stepping carefully around the scattered stones.

Cole had already disappeared into his own, while Maya sat herself down beneath the tree he had been using, her gaze moving between the dark path and the quiet camp.