Chapter 480: Learning to Stand on Her Own

The following morning, Neria arrived at the courtyard before Jian Yue.

Damon discovered this by chance when he finished his own training and found her sitting on a bench near the wall, her hair tied back and wearing light clothes similar to those she had used during her balance exercises in Mirath. A wooden sword rested beside her, clearly taken from the training rack, although Damon suspected Jian Yue had left it there in advance.

Neria was observing the weapon without touching it.

"Waiting for her permission?" Damon asked, drying his face with a towel.

"I’m waiting for her to arrive."

"You could start by holding it."

Neria looked at him.

"Jian Yue said I shouldn’t learn anything incorrectly before she teaches me."

Damon remained silent for a few seconds.

"She actually said that?"

"Yes."

"Arrogant."

A voice came from behind them.

"Necessary."

Jian Yue crossed the courtyard carrying her own wooden sword and stopped in front of Neria.

"And you just proved my point."

Damon made a face.

"I was going to teach her how to hold it."

"And you’d probably start with whatever grip works best for you."

"Naturally."

Jian Yue pointed toward another bench.

"Then sit down and be quiet."

Damon looked at Neria.

She was already smiling.

"We haven’t even started, and I already regret coming."

"You weren’t invited," Jian Yue replied.

"Even worse."

Neria stood up and picked up the sword.

The first thing Jian Yue did was take it out of her hand.

"Before the weapon, posture."

Neria looked at her empty hands, then at Jian Yue.

"Damon started that way."

Jian Yue slowly turned toward him.

Damon crossed his arms with satisfaction.

"Did you hear that?"

"One correct decision doesn’t make up for all the bad ones."

"It makes up for some."

Jian Yue decided to ignore him and returned her attention to Neria.

She demonstrated how to position her feet, keep her knees relaxed, and distribute her weight without placing all of it on her right leg.

That last part required more care.

The difference between her two legs still existed, although it was much smaller than it had been weeks earlier, and Neria had an automatic habit of relying on her right leg whenever she needed to stabilize herself.

Jian Yue didn’t try to correct everything at once.

She adjusted the distance between Neria’s feet, asked her to shift her weight from one side to the other, and observed how she reacted.

"This is similar to what Damon taught me."

"It is."

Jian Yue gave her shoulder a gentle push.

Neria absorbed the movement and repositioned her foot without losing her balance.

"Except now you need to do it while holding something that changes your center of balance."

She handed her the sword.

Neria gripped it too tightly.

Jian Yue watched for two seconds.

"If you keep holding it like that, your fingers will get tired before the rest of you."

Neria loosened her grip.

"How much?"

"Enough that the sword won’t slip out of your hand. Not so much that you’re trying to crush the handle."

Damon spoke from the bench.

"I said exactly that when I started teaching Xue Mei."

Jian Yue didn’t even look at him.

"Do you want to leave?"

"I’m contributing."

"You’re making noise."

Neria laughed, and the movement relaxed her hand even further.

Jian Yue noticed.

"Like that."

She carefully repositioned Neria’s fingers, asking permission before touching her.

Neria nodded, and only then did Jian Yue adjust her grip.

Damon noticed the detail.

Small.

Almost automatic.

But it was there.

Months earlier, perhaps nobody in that group would have thought twice before physically correcting someone’s position during training.

Now, after Eir, Neria, and everything that had happened in Vermillion, certain habits had changed without anyone needing to turn them into written rules.

The training began without strikes.

Jian Yue simply asked Neria to raise and lower the sword in a straight line, always returning to the same position.

It seemed simple.

After ten repetitions, Neria’s shoulders began showing signs of effort.

On the fifteenth, her right hand started bearing more of the weight.

Jian Yue stopped her.

"You’re compensating."

Neria took a deep breath.

"I felt it."

"Good."

"Doesn’t seem good."

"Noticing before it starts hurting is good."

She had Neria lower the weapon and rest.

Neria looked at Damon.

"Did you do that too?"

"I still do when I get tired."

Jian Yue looked at him.

"Finally, a useful answer."

"I’m improving."

"Don’t exaggerate."

After two minutes, they started again.

This time, Jian Yue reduced the number of repetitions and began alternating movements, forcing Neria to reposition the sword without using unnecessary strength.

With every correction, Neria asked why.

Not merely how to perform the movement, but why her hand needed to remain at a certain angle, why her elbow couldn’t rise too high, and why her feet shouldn’t cross during a retreat.

Jian Yue answered without oversimplifying, and Damon quickly understood why he had called her a better teacher.

He knew how to fight.

He knew how to correct problems when he noticed them.

Jian Yue knew how to turn each movement into a progression that someone without experience could build upon without needing to imitate blindly.

At some point, Neria noticed Damon watching too closely.

"You’re analyzing."

"I’m watching."

"Your face."

Damon narrowed his eyes.

"This is spreading."

Jian Yue smiled.

"Focus."

Neria returned to her stance.

Ester appeared near the end of the twenty minutes.

Nobody had needed to call her.

Damon was beginning to seriously suspect that she possessed some supernatural sense dedicated exclusively to detecting people who were about to exceed their medical limits.

Neria was still holding the sword when Ester approached.

"Pain?"

"No."

"Weakness?"

"Tired arms."

"Expected."

Ester examined her hands.

"Trembling?"

Neria raised the sword a few centimeters.

There was a slight tremor, but it was controlled.

"A little."

"Then you’re done."

Neria opened her mouth, stopped, and simply handed the weapon to Jian Yue.

Damon raised an eyebrow.

So did Ester.

Neria noticed them both looking.

"What?"

Damon answered first.

"Nothing."

"You’re making the same expression."

Ester crossed her arms.

"She stopped without negotiating."

Neria made a face.

"I can learn."

Damon placed a hand over his chest.

"I’m so proud."

"Don’t ruin it."

Jian Yue laughed as she put away the wooden sword.

What surprised Neria came afterward.

Jian Yue didn’t put all the swords away.

She took a second training sword from the rack, checked its balance, and handed it to her.

"Keep this one."

Neria accepted it without understanding.

"Mine?"

"As long as you’re training with me."

Neria examined the simple handle.

There were no ornaments, symbols, or anything else that made the weapon special.

It was merely sturdy wood, slightly worn near the guard from years of use.

Even so, she held it with a different kind of care.

"Can I take it to the Valley?"

"You can."

"My mother will ask questions."

Damon smiled.

"Your mother will ask a lot of questions."

Neria looked at him.

"Do you think she’ll like it?"

"The sword?"

"Me learning."

Damon thought for a moment.

"She’ll be worried."

Neria waited.

"And she’ll probably be happy about it anyway."

That seemed sufficient.

Eir really did ask questions.

Neria returned to the Valley that afternoon and carried the sword with her through the Transfer.

Damon accompanied her because he wanted to speak with Eir about something else, although he completely abandoned the subject when he noticed how many roots approached the weapon as soon as Neria crossed through.

None touched it.

They merely surrounded it.

Eir spoke first.

"Dead wood."

Damon looked at the sword.

"Off to a great start."

Neria held it in front of her body.

"It’s for training."

"To hurt?"

"Maybe someday, with a real sword. Not this one."

The roots moved slightly.

"Why?"

Neria thought before answering.

"Because I want to learn how to defend myself."

"I defend."

The answer came so quickly that Damon immediately looked at Neria.

She didn’t seem surprised.

She had probably expected it.

"I know."

"Then why?"

Neria placed the sword across her legs and sat on a wide root.

"Because you won’t always be with me."

Eir fell silent.

"I could be."

"But I won’t always want you to be."

The silence that followed was longer.

Damon didn’t interfere.

Neria continued.

"When I went to the sea, you weren’t there."

"Yes."

"When I stayed in Mirath, you weren’t there."

"Yes."

"I want to be able to keep doing that."

The roots near the sword withdrew slightly.

"Sword helps?"

"Maybe."

"Could hurt you."

"That too."

"Don’t like it."

Neria smiled.

"I know."

Eir took a few seconds.

"But you want."

"Yes."

Another pause.

"Then learn."

Simple.

Damon leaned against the nearest tree trunk.

"You’re becoming frighteningly reasonable."

"You said to ask."

"That doesn’t mean you have to use my advice against me."

"Works."

Liora appeared before Damon could respond, saw the sword resting across Neria’s legs, and immediately picked it up.

Neria froze.

"Liora."

The little girl raised the weapon.

"Light."

"Give it back."

"Can I learn?"

Neria looked at Damon.

He raised his hands.

"Don’t involve me."

Eir answered before anyone else.

"Ask first."

Liora stopped.

Looked at the sword.

Then at Neria.

"Can I?"

Neria remained silent for a few seconds, just to make her wait.

"You can hold it."

Liora raised it again and performed a completely incorrect movement that almost struck a root.

The root moved aside.

Damon began laughing.

Eir didn’t.

"Dangerous."

"It’s a wooden sword," Damon said.

"Dangerous."

"Fair enough."

Neria took the weapon back before Liora decided to test it again.

That night, Damon ended up staying in the Valley.

Not because there was any problem.

It was simply too late to justify preparing another Transfer, and Eir had stopped acting as though every visitor staying there needed a reason.

Neria practiced alone for a few minutes before dinner, merely repeating the stance and movements Jian Yue had taught her.

No strikes.

No force.

Just positioning, breathing, and control.

Eir watched the entire time.

At first, every slight movement caused nearby roots to react as though preparing to catch Neria if she lost her balance.

After a few minutes, they stopped.

Damon noticed.

So did Neria.

She shifted her weight backward, allowed her body to lean a little farther than necessary, and recovered her position.

Not a single root moved.

Neria smiled.

"You didn’t do anything."

Eir answered from somewhere among the trees.

"You didn’t fall."

"Even if I did."

The roots remained motionless.

Eir took a moment.

"Would wait."

Neria fell silent.

So did Damon.

It wasn’t a grand promise.

Nor did it mean Eir would be able to calmly watch if Neria were genuinely in danger.

But it was one more small space she was willing to leave unoccupied.

Neria returned to her stance and performed the movement again.

This time, she lost her balance.

She fell onto her backside in the grass.

The roots tensed.

None moved toward her.

Neria looked around.

Then she placed the sword beside her, rested one hand on the ground, brought her knee beneath her body, and stood up on her own, exactly as she had practiced in Mirath.

Eir remained silent.

When Neria was completely upright, she asked:

"See?"

"Yes."

"I know how to get up."

"Yes."

Damon smiled.

Perhaps that was what all this recovery had been building toward.

Not someone who would never fall.

Not someone who would never need help.

Simply someone who could fall, decide whether she needed a hand, and, when she didn’t, stand up on her own.

Neria picked up the sword again.

"Again."

Damon chuckled softly.

"Naturally."