A choice that matters (Kris x Reader)

Chapter 8: Training session

(Y/n)'s POV.

We made our way through the abandoned town of the kingdom and turned right at the crossover, coming across the training grounds me and Ralsei had set up. On the field stood a cute, smiling dummy that looked very much like the young prince. 'I still remember when he made that thing.' I was hella confused the first time I saw it but Ralsei said that it could help me with my aim. But since I didn't like shooting my arows at a target that looked exactly like my friend, I never really used it. "Oh, Kris! It's the training dummy I made! Now seems like a great chance to prepare for the enemy." Kris rose an eyebrow, not really taking his eyes off the dummy, most likely in confusion.

"Well, we saw a bit of what you can do earlier in that battle with Lancer but... Would you like to learn how battling works around here?" I asked, curious about what he would answer. He thought for a moment before slightly nodding and shrugging his shoulders, basically saying: "Sure, why not."

"Ok, great. Get ready Kris! Because you will learn from the best!" He exclaimed pointing to me, to which I blushed at. "Ralsei..." I whined with an embarrassed smile. 'I mean, I know I'm good but still! No need to rub it in people's faces!'

Kris and I got into position in front of the dummy and he took out his sword, starting the battle. Immediately, his soul left his body and I was mesmerized. 'A red soul?! A determination soul?! I thought no one has these anymore! Then again... He is not from around here...' I shook my head to regain focus before starting my little lesson. "Allright, you see that heart, Kris?" He nods, looking down on it. "That is your soul, the culmination of your being. Within, it holds all your will... your compassion...your desires. Everything that makes you... you."

"If your soul is hit, your body will take great damage. If the damage of us all is so great we can't keep going anymore, we'll lose the battle. So it would be smart to avoid the enemy's attack. Earlier, I saw that you were very good at dodging. Let's try some of that to make sure that earlier wasn't a fluke." I teased with a grin and he turned towards me and gave a small grin of his own. "My, my, are doubting my skills, doll?" He teases me back with that deep voice of his. I swear when I first heard his voice, I felt my knees go weak. 'It's pretty deep for his age but calm and gentle. A voice I would love to fall asleep t-- wait... WHAT?! What am I thinking?! Pull yourself together (Y/n)! Focus!'

"W-We'll see..." I could have hit myself for stuttering. To move things along, I moved my hands, summoning my magic mist to create little pallets flying towards us. Since they weren't real, they would do almost no damage but meh... Their purpose right now was dodging practice anyway. I sent them towards Kris and he immediately started dodging like a pro. From the side, we heard Ralsei clapping in delight. "Great job, Kris! You're a natural!" "Yeah, not bad, Mr. Knight in shining armor." I teased again, making a bit of pink appear on his blue cheeks.

"Anyway, after the enemy attacked, it's your turn, Kris. You can either fight or spare your opponent. Let's start with fighting first." This was the part I was hella curious about. Like I said to Ralsei earlier, Kris is hard to read and in my opinion, he could do both fighting and sparing. 'I wonder what he's gonna choose on our journey...'

"Most of the time, fighting is unnecessary in this world. Sparing is a better option in mine and Ralsei's opinion but a lesson on it wouldn't hurt, I guess. Go on, try hitting it with your sword." He went to do exactly that, he ran to the dummy, prepared to swing at it but... he missed.... because I moved the dummy a bit to the side with my magic mist... and he seemed extremely confused by this. I couldn't help but let out a chuckle as I walked over to him. "You can't just swing your weapon and hope for it to hit your opponent. Think of your weapon as an extension of your arms. When you are attacking someone you have to expect them to dodge too. They're not just gonna sit there and take it. So move your blade to that spot you think they're gonna be." I explained, gently guiding his hands so that he would have better control over the sword. When my hands brushed his, I felt a tingeling feeling going through them and down to my stomach. He seemed to have felt it too since for a few seconds, all we did was stare at each other. And even if it was hard to see his eyes through his dark blue bangs, I could see a light red shimmer pass through them. 'Does he have red eyes? That would be so cool! And probably very pretty too...'