Monster or Salvation

"You are finally here lad! I've been waiting!"

Walking into the familiar training room, I was met by Mike, clad in his signature suit, standing with his arms crossed. Although he said he had been waiting, it was weird as I had arrived ten minutes early according to my schedule.

Still, I couldn't be bothered to refute him. Instead, I walked forward awaiting his instructions for the day. Seeing that I wouldn't offer any apologies for not being late, he started our lesson, "Because there are only three more days until your duel, I thought it would be best for us to do some more serious sparring."

As today was Wednesday, there was not much time until our duel, which now had gotten officially announced to happen on Saturday, at 12.00. Thankfully, these last few days had managed to pass by without much happening. There had been so many things I had to deal with the first few days after my return to the academy that it had been nice to just get lost in training.

Having spent most of my time with either the principal or in the time capsule, my mana control was slowly getting to an acceptable level, although I still needed a lot more practice. The rest of my time had been spent studying or hanging out with Lindsey.

Weirdly enough, she hadn't changed the way she acted around me, even with all that happened. No, that was not entirely true but the way she had changed was actually a positive one. She seemed to have gotten more comfortable around me, her smiles and laughter getting to be a bit of a less rare occurrence.

"Now, before we start, let's talk about the duel a bit, so you will know what you should be thinking of." He sat down on the floor, cross-legged and I followed suit. His energetic demeanor dulled a bit, showing me that this was the time to listen carefully. When he showed this side of himself, he almost always had something valuable to give.

"Do you understand the biggest reason why you could so easily beat Arthur?"

"Yes. It's because of the mismatch between him being a mage and my speed, making it so that as soon as I closed the distance, I could end the match instantly as long as I didn't allow him to use any spells."

It was quite the obvious answer in my head. Although there were a lot of intricacies to combat, a lot of the time it was as easy as rock-paper-scissors. Speed types could often beat mages, who in turn could often beat tankers, who in turn could beat speed types. This was the general gist of it, but as stated, sometimes it wasn't as clear-cut as this.

He nodded, approving of my answer, "Yes, that's the biggest reason why you could win even though you had a lower star rating and M.G. But what about James? Even if you are a lot faster than him, are you fast enough for him to not even be able to react when you have gotten in range? I doubt it. Even if your attacks are faster, it takes less movement to defend than strike out, making it so that there is a high possibility that he will be able to defend against your initial attack."

He was most likely completely right about his analysis. So far I hadn't fought against anyone who could defend against my initial attack adequately but this would most likely not be the case against James. That meant that I had to prepare for the possibility of having an extended exchange with him and coming out on top.

"So I need to practice fighting in ultra close range, as that's where I should have the advantage with my daggers against his sword?" This was the conclusion I had come up with after thinking about it, and my teacher once again approved of my answer, "That's right. The worst thing you could do against him is to be at some sort of medium range, and as you don't have any tools for long-range combat, it is your only option."

Even though I had one skill that could be used at a range, I hadn't gotten nearly adept enough at using it for me to even dare think about it as being my key to victory.

His eyes became even more serious as he continued, "The problem is that fighting in that sort of range is scary, even more so when going up against someone stronger and bigger than you. Even if he will have some issues wielding his sword at that range, you will be incredibly susceptible to all kinds of attacks. Knees, elbows, and even headbutts. There are all numerous attacks that he could use and with your physique, you will probably not be able to take more than one or two hits before you get knocked out. So that means you will have to use your speed to its maximum potential, dodging and reflecting every single attack as efficiently as possible, as you keep trying to find an opening to launch a lethal attack."

Him mentioning a lethal attack brought back the memories of the weekend that had passed, where I had gotten openly assaulted because of this one teaching, the base of my way of fighting. He had been the man to give me that incredibly efficient, but also incredibly hated, tool to use. It was ultimately the reason why I was going to fight with James in the first place, and it would also be the tool to end it.

Probably seeing me get lost in thought, my teacher looked into my eyes, "Miren, I know how you feel about fighting, or I guess in your case, killing. I'm sorry for leading you unto this path, I truly am. But just believe me when I say that the way you fight, and the way you see your enemies, do not equate to what kind of person you are."

Looking at the big man, I could see his eyes quiver a bit as he spoke. "Miren, in this peaceful world you might not be seen as something great, no, most people will probably find it hard to even be around you if they see how you fight. But there will come a time when your abilities will be not only of great value, they will be needed. A time when you fight to kill in order for your friends to survive. In this naïve world, they see you as a monster, but when disaster struck I truly believe you can be an angel."

I didn't know where his words were coming from, and a part of me felt like it was all sophistry. To some extent, I had already accepted that I was, indeed, broken. A being that was unfit to walk with others. It was something I could accept as long as I knew I had some people at my side, even if they were few in numbers. It was the only part of me that my enemies would ever see before I ended their lives.

However, another part of me lit up at his words, finding hope. The part of me that I had repressed, the part of me that wanted to be with Sarah and Brad, hell even James to some degree. That part that felt like Lindsey had been a sort of salvation when I was alone as well as that small little boy that cried when I claimed a human life for the first time. That part that I could only set free when I was alone with Misa.

These were both parts of me now, and I knew that I could never let any of these go as it would spell the end for my future. I had to be ruthless enough to never let an enemy survive, as well as kind enough to do whatever was needed for the people around me. It was just as the principal had said, I was currently walking a very tight rope. But it was necessary.

In the end, I smiled. I smiled brightly at the teacher who I knew only wanted the best for me, who had seen what talent I had and cultivated it, no matter how horrid some may regard it. This was not the time for me to wallow in despair, this was the time for me to fight hard so that I could continue to smile in the future.

"Teacher, please teach me how to kill James!"

...

"Kid, I understand what you mean and all... Kill as in defeat because of the safety bracelets. But fuck, you look outrageously creepy when you say that with a smile."