PHOENIX

Chapter Twenty Three: Training

As soon as Alyssa left, my training began.

"So Nix, you're the one who bitch slapped Dream right?" Sapnap asked from behind me.

Oh right, that happened.

"He deserved it" I defended, slowly turning around.

"Totally. You should've seen how mad he was when he had to wash your handprint off his mask" Sapnap snickered, completely unbothered.

"Pft. I'm sure he threw a little fit" I smiled thinking about it.

"You don't even want to know. Anyways, let's start off by figuring out where your strengths are" Sapnap gestured for me to follow him, bringing me into a more open space of grass.

"Here's a sword and some armor, we're going to fight and see how well you do with a sword and shield"

Putting on the iron armor, I mirror Sapnap's ready stance, waiting for him to make the first move.

Sapnap lunges towards me, his sword swinging fast. The best I can do is block him with my shield, backing up a little to gather myself. I move forward, my sword heavy in my hand. This was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Sapnap blocks my hit with ease, and immediately brings his sword to my open side, turning the blade sideways so it only hits my armor, and doesn't damage it at all.

Stumbling to the side, I quickly regained my balance just in time for Sapnap to come at me again, this time getting a bit of air, causing his hit to damage me more. His sword knocks me onto the ground, and I surrender with Sapnap's blade close to my neck.

"You did alright..." Sapnap backed away.

"Bullshit" I laughed, getting up from the ground.

"Okay, it may have been kinda bad but that's fine" Sapnap admitted, "This was just to test where you were at right now"

"A kindergartener's level?" I ask sarcastically.

"I've never seen a kindergartener swinging a sword at me, so I wouldn't know" Sapnap replied jokingly, then reached out for my sword.

"We can try out your axe and bow skills next, you might have better luck"

I nodded in agreement, and let him take my sword. Maybe he was right?

My hopes were crushed, along with my pride after trying out an axe.

Turns out I'm even worse than with a sword, losing to Sapnap about three seconds into the fight.
Damn Wilbur, you really put me at a disadvantage here with your anti-weapon rule. I was losing motivation quickly, wondering if Sapnap could even help me at this point.

"Um...We can work on that" Sapnap gave a small chuckle, trying to make it seem better than it was.

"Why am I so bad?" I let out a frustrated sigh, handing the axe back to him.

"Hey, let's give archery a try" Sapnap patted my shoulder reassuringly.

Trading my armor for some arrows and a bow, Sapnap leads me to a target practice area nearby.

"Just trying hitting the targets at least," Sapnap offered from behind me.

"Wouldn't have thought of that myself" I responded dryly, knocking an arrow.

Bringing the bow up, I stretch the string back, making sure the feather is in line with my jaw. I focus on the first target, aiming for the middle.
Releasing the string, the arrow flies and hits the red ring closest to the center

Not a bullseye, but pretty good for barely knowing how to use a bow properly.

"Nice shot," Sapnap said, letting out a low whistle.