Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 9

“YEEEEEEEEAAAAARRRTT!”

Ilyshn’ish jumped in fright as a burly man bore down on her, his fist flying forward. Stepping aside as she gingerly grasped his wrist, Ilyshn’ish flipped him with a twist of her hand. He tumbled in midair and her foot kicked out to launch him down the hall. The man flew ten metres, then skidded another five.

She tentatively peeked over at the result. He didn’t die, right? He probably didn’t. Though Master Tian’s instruction was refining the control that she had over her strength, it was still difficult to gauge how strong one was when they were all so pitifully weak. If he died, Ilyshn’ish would probably be dragged away by the authorities and sentenced to some grim fate.

After a few moments, the man rolled onto his back with a groan. Ilyshn’ish released a relieved breath and looked over to Master Tian, who nodded at the head of the hall. Voices of wonderment rose from the students seated along the sides of the hall. The man who she had sent flying stood up and returned to face her, bowing once before returning to his place on the sidelines.

When Ilyshn’ish returned to the dojo with Lady Wagner the previous week, they found that two dozen young men had made their way there in the brief time spent advertising in the plaza. Lady Wagner crossed her arms with an I-told-you-so smirk plastered on her face. Needless to say, Master Tian was pleased to finally have a batch of students to train.

The new disciples were dismayed to find out that Ilyshn’ish would only be present roughly once a week but resolved to show her what they learned when she returned. On her next free day, they had all reappeared: filtering in and out of the dojo at various hours. While sparring with her, they were quite enthusiastic: rushing at her gleefully much like the man she had just sent flying across the hall. As for how much they had learned…this was her first time practising with them, so she left it up to Master Tian to make the assessment.

Since she was the senior disciple – she was quite pleased to be treated with some of the respect that was due her age, for once – it was her responsibility to help Master Tian with practical instruction. As long as they didn’t scare her half to death in the process, demonstrating her superiority to the others was quite enjoyable: it was almost as pleasant as bouncing Zu Chiru back and forth between her claws. The brave little Quagoa never reappeared, but Ilyshn’ish supposed that it was just the way of things.

“I believe that is the last of those present who have yet to show their progress for the week?”

Master Tian looked around, waiting for anyone to say otherwise. As he did so, Ilyshn’ish felt the threads of her spellsong dissipate. Even when performed in a fashion more regular to Bards, songs of healing required an active performance. She had learned how to sustain them for a short period after ending her performance, but it still only amounted to half a minute or so. Fortunately, this technique was also applicable to spellsongs rendered through her newly-realized Dancer abilities.

The brief outing with Lady Wagner had allowed her to grasp a thread of the expression that Master Tian had described and, with not much else to do while performing deliveries, she pondered its application while testing out ideas during the long flights back and forth between E-Rantel and Feoh Berkana. Hejinmal became greatly confused as their flight path became more and more erratic with her manoeuvres, so she told him to just hold a straight course while she continued to experiment. Over the course of her shift, she steadily gained an understanding of how things worked, and she was ready to put what she had learned to the test.

With all of the bumps and bruises that the students were taking, Ilyshn’ish decided that it was an ideal opportunity to adopt an area healing effect through her new class ability. Songs of healing were some of the most basic spellsongs that Bards could perform, but it still took her most of the morning to figure out the basics. The first class – Master Tian had three classes of eight students each, which attended in the morning, afternoon and evening, respectively – had to make do with her singing, as she wasn’t able to grasp it before the session started slowing down.

The afternoon was filled with continued trial and error as she fumbled her way through the appropriate martial forms. The spellsong expressed through her movements would start and stop, though it was still helpful to the students. She wasn’t certain if they were aware of what she was doing, or if she just appeared like a crazy person flowing through all manner of random – yet graceful – movements. Whichever it was, they all continued to steal glances at her throughout the day. At some point, Ilyshn’ish decided that she was thinking too much about it and just went with how she felt, which ended up working out far better.

By evening, she was finally able to maintain the effect even while sparring. The other students could train far more vigorously with her enchantment filling the hall since it gradually healed any and all of the bodily injuries they sustained. After a demonstration between Master Tian and herself, she found that the dance’s effects were cumulative with her Ring of Regeneration. It still wasn’t enough to keep up in a pitched battle against a powerful opponent, but little things added up – especially with the methods that Frost Dragons employed in combat.

As the students had remained silent after Master Tian’s question, he divided them into pairs, walking up and down the hall to provide instruction as they practised. Since they were all so tremendously fragile, even broken bones were mended within a half hour. Though the healing effect was no different than when sung, Ilyshn’ish basked in the sense of power that she held over these Humans. She continued working through her drills, refining her form, and satisfaction mounted when she considered all of the advantages she had gained.

The greatest was that she no longer needed to rely on her voice or an instrument to perform spellsongs. Her body was now an instrument – or a lethal weapon, as Lady Wagner had so nicely pointed out. As long as she maintained her artistic form, she could do whatever she wanted: striking at her opponents, flying around, or even just strolling down the city streets. The form exuded her art through movement, and as long as she adapted all of her activities into that form, the tapestry of enchantment that she wove would follow her wherever she went.

As a supplement to her newly developed expression, the techniques that she had learned from Master Tian allowed her to harness the destructive potential of her draconic nature in ways she had not imagined before. While not all of the old Human’s instruction translated well to her Dragon body, he was still correct more often than not. It was quite uncanny, and Ilyshn’ish wondered if the reason Lady Shalltear had sent her to him was because he had instructed Dragons – or at least some race of Dragonkin – in the past.

Overall, his style of instruction was broadly coherent, and what he conveyed to Ilyshn’ish opened a sea of possibilities before her. A part of her hoped she would be able to find a Frost Giant when she returned to work, just so she could explore what came with her newfound strength.

As the hours passed, the Human disciples gradually left the dojo until only Ilyshn’ish and Master Tian remained. They sat across from one another, the old Human at his customary place at the head of the hall.

“You have been a great help today,” Master Tian said, “and it appears that you are beginning to grasp the fundamental elements of your Dancer class. Considering that you’ve been on the job since then and now, when did you begin to realize your abilities?”

“It was the last time I was in the city, actually,” Ilyshn’ish replied. “Lady Wagner provided some pointers that proved most useful.”

“Truly?” He raised an eyebrow, “I was not aware that she had any experience at this sort of thing.”

“She must have some intimate knowledge of it, at least,” Ilyshn’ish said. “Everything came together so nicely with just a few hints – something about my body being a weapon and learning how to express myself through actions…anyways, I was able to work out the basics shortly after that.”

Master Tian rose from the floor, straightening his garb.

“I am intrigued about your rapid progress – you were improving your form throughout the day, even when attending to your fellow students. It was quite remarkable when you were finally able to consistently maintain that healing enchantment during the last class. At a certain point, you started replacing conventional Monk elements entirely, replacing them with others I’ve not seen before. Dancers are rare in this city, so there must have been little in the way of any point of reference that you could work with.”

“Once I started to get a feel for it, I just moved in accordance to what suited the form through intuition. The one I’ve been working on today only expresses one of the songs that I’ve developed as a Bard. It is a simple piece that I thought would be the easiest to work with, and its effect on the other disciples allowed me to observe its effects.”

“Yes, I recognized that part – first level Bards often choose a song of healing as their first spellsong. It is common even amongst the Bards in the citizenry here.”

“First level?”

“Ah, hmm…it is the way that servants of His Majesty tend to measure the basic capabilities of an individual. As I understand it, a Bard is capable of learning one new spellsong every level. At higher levels, they may learn even more advanced spellsongs.”

Ilyshn’ish had developed seven spellsongs…did that make her a seventh level Bard? Perhaps she was higher than that and could learn more. Actually, that didn’t make much sense – why would there be a limit to how many spellsongs one could create? Or was it that coming up with a new song made one a higher ‘level’?

“Do these ‘Dancers’ you’ve referred to also have these ‘levels’?”

“Indeed,” Master Tian said. “All vocations have levels, regardless of martial or civilian nature. Dancers qualify as a Bard class, and thus give Bard levels. Speaking of which, congratulations are in order for obtaining this prestige class – you should have gained several benefits, as well.”

“You know what these benefits are?”

“Loosely speaking, it should amount to being able to perform using your body – which you have already started to harness – increased proficiency and potency with your natural weapons, improved defences and manoeuvrability, as well as several abilities analogous to those in your Bard levels. In addition, performances that are not available to regular Bards should become available to you.”

“When you first brought up this Dancer thing, you sounded like you didn’t know much about it…”

“Compared to more well-known classes, I do not. Dancers of the martial variety are rare in the Sorcerous Kingdom – you may in fact be the only one, as I have not seen any others at all in my time here. There is also the matter of your pursuit of a racial prestige class unique to Dragons. What I’ve outlined are those traits that I’ve found to be common between all Dancer class variants, so I’m sure there will be some things you find unique to your own.”

Ilyshn’ish squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stuff Master Tian’s words into her head. Why did Humans have to convey knowledge in such a difficult way? In the end, she discarded everything that she thought she would be able to quickly figure out for herself and made a mental note about new spellsongs that could only be achieved through dance. Hopefully, she wouldn’t forget.

“Now,” Master Tian continued, “I would like to gauge your improvement directly. I believe there is at least one important lesson I should teach you, as well.”

“Directly…? Oh, you mean by fighting.”

“Indeed. That is how you learn best, is it not?”

She wasn’t sure whether she should voice her appreciation for his consideration, or prepare herself for the inevitable experience of being tossed about. Ilyshn’ish placed ten metres between Master Tian and herself, entering into her provisionally-named Form of Restoration.

“I assume you understand that the effects of your form are also being applied to me.”

“Eh?” Ilyshn’ish frowned, “I-I don’t want that – how do I make it work on who I want?”

“It is one of the downsides to spellsongs of this type,” Master Tian told her. “Much like certain area effect spells, all who fall within its radius will be influenced. It may still be used to your advantage, however: as a Frost Dragon, your manoeuvrability allows you to put yourself out of range of your opponents, gaining you an advantage over a series of hit and run attacks.”

“That was one of the first things I thought about, actually…I wasn’t aware of that one particular downside, though.”

“I suppose it is all in how you apply yourself,” Master Tian said. “If you inflict greater damage to your opponents than they do to you, this spellsong becomes a stabilizing effect. With the strength and durability of Dragonkind, it should be the case more often than not – scratches and nicks inflicted upon you will heal quickly, allowing you to sustain combat indefinitely against the swarming attacks of much weaker opponents.”

“I-it’s still not a situation I’d like to find myself in,” Ilyshn’ish shivered at the thought of being buried in tiny humanoids, “and if I can control who is affected by my spellsongs, then all the better.”

“Spellsongs unique to Dancer classes address your concerns somewhat,” Master Tian said, “as they are primarily direct combatants rather than the Bard classes that more commonly serve a distant supporting role. Now, then: go ahead and strike me.”

She gave him a hesitant look, but Master Tian only raised a hand and beckoned to her with his fingers.

Ilyshn’ish exploded from her position, closing the distance to Master Tian in a blink. Her palm landed solidly in the centre of the old Human’s torso, enhanced through Master Tian’s conveyed techniques and the additional power provided by her new class. The air, violently disturbed by the force of the attack, whipped over the old Human and jostled the hangings off of the wall behind. Master Tian grunted in approval.

“You’ve improved much since the initial assessment,” he said. “The dedication to your training and your natural talents have brought you far.”

Improved? He had moved no further than before, neither did his suit have any sign of damage, or even wrinkles. It certainly did feel more powerful, but, measured against Master Tian, it appeared pitifully impotent. Just how strong was this old Human?

“I shall now demonstrate a critical weakness in your training today,” Master Tian told her.

“Wha–eep!”

Master Tian grabbed her arm and flipped her over his shoulder. She smacked into the floor with a hollow thud, and spots danced in her vision. The effects of her spellsong scattered away.

“Your training partners today consisted of Humans incapable of harming you,” he spoke down from above, “and thus incapable of breaking your form. You must realize that it can be broken, and you must be able to maintain it even when your opponent attempts to do so through special skills or sheer force.”

Ilyshn’ish sat up and rose to her feet, reestablishing her Form of Restoration. Master Tian walked up and booted her across the hall. Her form shattered again. Sitting up against the pillar that she had rolled up against, Ilyshn’ish wondered just how in the world she was supposed to be able to maintain anything against such disruptive attacks.

“The critical importance of this should be clear,” Master Tian said. “The Dancer forms that you assume will fall apart against every attempt at interruption, should you lack the discipline to maintain harmony between mind, body and spirit.”

Maybe that was why Dancers were so rare. Shouldn’t he have warned her about this first? Ilyshn’ish rose to her feet again, frowning at Master Tian.

“You’re so powerful that I doubt that I can maintain my form through any of your attempts at interruption.”

“That may be the case,” he replied, “but it should make for excellent training, yes? Opponents at your level will be simple to manage by comparison.”

She supposed he had a point. After a moment of thought, Ilyshn’ish reached up and started to loosen the front of her uwagi.

“What are you doing?” Master Tian asked.

“This is how I first grasped the ability that led to the development of this form,” Ilyshn’ish answered. “Since you insist on this impossible exercise, I’ll need every edge that I can get.”

A frown formed over Master Tian’s features, growing deeper the more her garb fell loose. The door to the dojo slid open.

“Lord Sebas,” a woman’s cheerful voice sounded from the entrance, “I’ve brought some late dinner for us to…”

A sharp look briefly rippled over the newcomer’s otherwise unperturbed features. She went in a straight line to Master Tian, placed her basket on the ground, and wrapped a hand around his elbow. Strands of golden hair fell over Master Tian’s arm as she leaned against him.

“Sebas,” she asked in a tranquil tone, “who is this woman?”

Though Ilyshn’ish had not spent so much time amongst the Humans that she could understand the full range of their expressions, she could still tell that the smile on the female’s face was probably not the usual sort. She tried to get a sense of her strength, but the woman attached to Master Tian’s arm appeared no stronger than most of those dwelling in the city. Beyond several articles of value upon her person, there was nothing special about her.

“Ah, allow me to introduce you,” Master Tian said, “This young lady goes by the name of Shiver. She is the senior disciple of our Justice Dragon Dojo. Shiver, this is Tsuare – Head Maid in E-Rantel, and a member of His Majesty’s household staff in the city.”

“What makes her a ‘senior disciple’, Sebas?”

While they spoke, Tsuare’s deep blue eyes traced over Ilyshn’ish. Ilyshn’ish furrowed her brow. This person was a personal servant of the Sorcerer King? Since Tsuare was openly doing so as well, Ilyshn’ish attempted to gauge her strength once again. She had little success – this Tsuare must possess some ability or item that masked her true power.

“She was the first student to enrol in the Justice Dragon Dojo,” Master Tian explained, “and has attended lessons for some weeks now.”

“…weeks?” Tsuare fixed Ilyshn’ish’s gaze with her own. “Does she come to see you often?”

“Indeed,” he nodded. “She has invested all of her free time here since she joined.”

“Hehhh…” Tsuare’s voice wavered slightly.

“In fact,” Master Tian went on, “Miss Shiver has shown remarkable progress in her time here. It would not be wrong to call her a prodigy.”

Ilyshn’ish allowed a pleased expression to suffuse her features upon hearing Master Tian’s praise. Despite the rocky start to their relationship, he obviously recognized talent when he saw it.

“Oh, that’s amazing!” Tsuare exclaimed, “In that case, you should send her to the Adventurer Guild.”

Ilyshn’ish’s smile froze on her face.

“The Adventurer Guild, you say?” Master Tian stroked his beard, an ominous gleam in his eye.

“Aren’t they still looking for people like her?” Tsuare said, “This seems like the perfect opportunity to send them someone from your dojo, don’t you agree? A woman of her…quality will be useful for their expeditions, far, far away from here…”

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