Arknights : Final Rebirth - Gladius Belii

Side Story 1 - Tenebrous Hero and Grey Serpent Idea of...

"Mono/Dialogue"

'Inner thoughts'

Narration

[Message/communication apparatus]

Date: 1078-79 (roughly)

Location: Somewhere in the Western region, Kazimierz.

POV: Młynar Nearl

A camp in the wilderness had erupted into a cacophony of noises and what sounded to be encouragement. They are now spectating 2 people practicing swordsmanship, between me and her to be exact. I can also see that a certain Sarkaz companion of mine arranging bets...

Well, that might be warranted since I'm teaching Nyx how to use a blade effectively while also increasing her repertoire of foundations of arms. This has been going on for 60 minutes or so, I noticed that it is not that she doesn't get tired, she just recovered her stamina just as quickly while her fatigue resistance is on a very high level.

With a powerful downward swing, I force her knees to touch the earth once more. The girl is capable I can give her that much, she has a promising foundation, but it is just that...

"Get up, your footing was lackluster. Even a toddler would make better progress than you." I said with concealed amusement, something really unlike my usual indifferent demeanor towards anyone who is not my oath-bound brothers and sisters or family.

Perhaps it was due to who I'm currently crossing the blade with.

"Tch, can't you be gentler when handling a lady?" She spoke words mired with contempt yet her face betrayed enjoyment and amusement like I do. Even with several bruises that marred her body, she came back up time and time again... I have my misgivings about certain... fascinations that she might be potentially acquainted with or, heavens forbid, interested in.

"Your hands and footing coordination are good for handling daggers, although anything with a better reach and you're moving like a limping burdenbeast." People have always said that they never liked my honesty, she is different.

I once taunted her with sugarcoating my words and the response was an immediate cold rage. It was a novel experience to fight the, not serious, but still dangerous, fabled Grey Serpent.

After a little bit of taunting, challenging, and to a lesser degree outright provocation, she deigned me on her usual combat style. It was a fruitful experience to face an opponent who pulled all the stops, I learned how to counter ambushes better and she learned and reinforced her foundation of combat.

There were a few full-blown combats between us, no holds barred. I won more bouts than her, with varying levels of success in terms of decisiveness. Her strength is something I can respect, her personality, the fake one, is something irksome at first for a few of my fellows but they are more or less used to it now.

She hides one thing well, there is something within her that is much more primal and dormant... My dear sister-in-law had alluded time and time again, discretely, that Nyx is not a normal Pythian, thus it might be wise to prepare for potential disaster.

There have been a few anecdotes on elders that are a cut above the rest, hers was suspected to be one of them. What is it exactly is not something either of us knows, even the person herself was genuinely clueless when Iolanta off-handedly asked her leading questions.

It is also another thing I noticed, Nyx is a horrible liar if you are perceptive enough to watch her eyes. She puts on a blank face most of the time, but her eyes can tell a lot more stories if you notice its minute change.