Chapter 37 - Growth - IV
Every breath felt like a struggle. My body was in shambles, my skin still throbbing where the spear had pierced me.
Dália's healing magic had closed the wound, but it hadn't restored the energy I had lost. My chest ached, my muscles protested with every movement, and weakness crept through my limbs like poison.
But Lesley didn't care. She threw two daggers at me and waited. Waited for me to pick them up, to assume the stance. Because the training wasn't over yet.
The clashing of our daggers echoed like thunder in my head. My arms felt heavy, my body staggered with every blocked strike.
She moved like a blur, each attack relentless, forcing me to react even as my muscles screamed for rest. I knew that if I stopped, she would take me down without hesitation. So I kept going, each strike a sacrifice, each block a battle against the exhaustion threatening to swallow me whole.
"You're still slow," Lesley growled, easily dodging my desperate attempt at a counterattack.
The force of my own movement threw me off balance, and in the blink of an eye, she was behind me. I felt a fierce impact on my back, and the ground rushed up to meet me. My body hit the floor with a dull thud, the air knocked out of my lungs.
"Get up," she ordered, mercilessly.
My legs trembled as I stood.
"Do you think the enemy will pity you?" Lesley attacked again, this time with a flurry of strikes that forced me back.
"Do you think they'll wait for you to recover?" She didn't wait for my answer, and I didn't have one to give.