Another chapter at 60 power stones.
...
Gilgamesh was back in the dojo at night, looking at the array of wooden weapons arranged in front of him.
He had come here to practice and get better at using a sword so that he could use Ea properly instead of just swinging it around and hoping that the attack lands.
The predicament that arose was that there were no practice swords or other weapons similar to Ea.
After all, the Sword of Rupture wasn't exactly a sword.
If Gilgamesh was not wrong, Ea, the Sword of Rupture, predated actual swords, hence it barely had any resemblance to them.
Sure, it had a hilt, a guard, was long enough, and had an overall shape similar enough to that of a longsword, it would still, however, be wrong to call it a sword. The main part of Ea was more of a drill than a blade afterall.
Perturbed by the lack of options, Gilgamesh had no choice but to pick the wooden replica of a longsword, since it was the only one that was similar in length to Ea. The reason he wasn't using the Sword of Rupture was out of respect for it. He considered himself to be utterly unworthy to wield it, as he was now.
Gilgamesh tested the balance of the sword for a moment, nodding at its sufficient quality, and gripped it with both of his hands.
Throwing a few experimental swings, hacks, and stabs, he immediately felt that his moves were awfully awkward.
Being born in modern times, at first he had no reason to learn how to fight or how to use a sword.
However, the animes that Gilgamesh had watched and the mangas that he had read had left a deep impression on his mind, making him pursue the art of boxing, out of curiosity.
Later, when countries started to fall apart across the globe, he had resorted to using a knife and later, guns.
The stance that Gilgamesh had taken with the longsword was from one of the anime he had watched, barely useful in real life.
The sword swung down from above his head, traveling through the air with a snap.
'If I don't improve, I guess I could resort to just bludgeoning my opponents to a pulp.'
Gilgamesh laughed at the situation he was in right now. His pride not allowing him to admit that, perhaps, it wasn't the best idea to abandon the Combat Class.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw something moving.
Gilgamesh turned towards the thing that had entered the dojo this late at night. The 'thing' Gilgamesh saw was, in fact, a female, someone who he recognized quite well.
It was Nephis.
She threw a look at him briefly, before walking towards the wall where the wooden weapons were kept. She picked up a separate replica of a longsword with practiced movements.
"I didn't expect you to be a stalker, Nephis."
Gilgamesh couldn't help but tease her with a grin, wanting to see how exactly she would react.
Nephis turned around to look at him blankly, the longsword in her hand. The way the moonlight shone on Nephis's figure from the window, illuminating her body with a gentle glow, reflecting off her short, silver-colored hair and brightening her molten silver-colored eyes, made her look like a high-elf from Lord of the Rings.
(Image)
"I come here to practice every night." Was her curt response.
With the moonlight still shining on Nephis, she started to go through the motions of her battle style with the longsword.
Gilgamesh stood there, admiring her form as it transferred from one movement to the next fluidly, yet with enough force to cut a grown man in half with just one swing.
Her footwork was impeccable, constantly moving, yet always in the perfect position to push off, whether forward or backward, with effortless grace.
Gilgamesh picked up his longsword after getting motivated, attempting to slash and hack with as much grace as he could. But compared to Nephis's movements, his looked akin to a child clumsily waving their father's longsword.
"You need to start by fixing your footwork."
The look that Nephis gave Gilgamesh made him think that she was surprised at how bad he was at this.
Gilgamesh briefly considered ignoring her; however, when his Flaw did not flare up, he decided to listen to what she was saying.
Seeing that he was paying attention and had put his sword away, Nephis moved closer to him.
"You're trying to apply footwork meant for hand-to-hand combat to a sword. It simply doesn't fit."
A light flickered in Nephis's eyes while explaining.
"While the principles for both might be similar, no matter what you do, a sword can never truly be an extension of one's hand. Try to copy me."
The longsword that Nephis had discarded while explaining was picked up by her again.
As she kept the longsword in front of her, her feet parted, knees bending slightly. Her right leg moved back gracefully, pointing slightly to the right, while her left leg remained forward, turned to the left.
Gilgamesh copied the movement of her legs with his longsword held in front of him.
"Keep your weight on the balls of your feet but don't raise your heels."
As he did what he was told, Gilgamesh immediately noticed the difference between his stance before and now.
Nodding at his stance, Nephis demonstrated the next move. With the front leg pushing off the ground and the rear leg moving forward, maintaining the same distance, then the same movement, but going backward.
Gilgamesh copied her movement, feeling like a stupid crab while copying her movements.
After helping him adjust the minor mistakes in his stance with a keen eye, Nephis moved on to the next part.
"While this is most effective when fighting against human beings, it isn't completely useless against Nightmare Creatures. However, the creature will kill you if you waste your time checking whether your stance is correct or not. So practice it as if your life depends on it, because it will."
Nephis moved back, standing on the left side of the room with enough space in front of her to maneuver properly.
The grip on her longsword tightened with the perfect amount of force, and she adjusted her stance, dashing almost halfway across the wide room.
Bringing down the sword with force, as if slicing her imaginary opponent in half, she used the same movement of her legs to jump back.
Even though Gilgamesh didn't like to glaze anyone but himself, he had to admit that she was simply exceptional at using a longsword.
Nephis nodded at him, motioning to him that it was his turn to do as she had shown.
Gripping the longsword slightly above his head, Gilgamesh adjusted his stance to what Nephis had shown, keeping his weight on the balls of his feet. He skipped forward, landing in the same stance, and slashed down.
The slash was packed with power, slicing through the air with a sharp whistle.
Without wasting a moment, he jumped back to where he was standing previously.
Surprise in her eyes, Nephis looked at him with respect, impressed by his perfect execution of the maneuver on his first attempt.
Gilgamesh grinned at her before an idea appeared in his mind.
"How about I help you improve in hand-to-hand combat and you teach me how to use a sword?"
Thoughts swirling like whirlpools in her head, Nephis contemplated the offer while looking at him suspiciously.
With her decision made after a few moments, she looked at him with pale fire flickering in her eyes and nodded her head with silent acceptance.
...
The days slipped by swiftly. In the mornings, he tested his Aspect and Attributes, pushing his body to its limit to find where the ceiling for his strength and endurance was.
Out of the goodness of his heart—definitely not for any other reasons—Gilgamesh started spending time with Nephis as well.
While most of her words and sentences were awkward and usually devoid of emotion, she did try to improve and put more emotion in the way she spoke.
Sunny had avoided him for a while whenever he approached her, but later started to talk to him again.
Fencing was one of the things he had convinced Cassie to take up again at his request. As Cassie had little else to do, she decided to start practicing it again.
At times, other Sleepers approached him, asking if they could join his Clan in the future.
Gilgamesh refused all of them coldly. He didn't want pathetic subordinates who would die the moment they entered the Dream Realm.
The Sleepers in the Forgotten Shore, however? Gilgamesh planned to recruit all of them, even the Bright Lord of the castle himself.
Then at night, Gilgamesh spent his time training and sharpening his skills with Nephis.
He made drastic leaps in the art of using a longsword, and even Nephis had become significantly better at hand-to-hand combat. While he benefited the most from their agreement, Nephis didn't complain, considering that most of the time they would be using Memories to kill the Nightmare Creatures.
Being a Sleeper, Gilgamesh did not have to worry about sleeping. Most Sleepers could go days without sleeping, and while he still did sleep because he enjoyed it, it also relieved his mind from all the tension.
It was the final night, exactly one day before the Winter Solstice, Gilgamesh had his final practice session with Nephis.
...
The room was silent, the only sound that could be heard was the jaunty whistle of the wind pervading the air from the window. Two figures stood opposite one another. Both of them holding a wooden longsword in their hands.
Gilgamesh felt the cold wind tickle his neck while standing in front of Nephis. Since this was probably the last day they would be meeting each other at night, Nephis had suggested that he should test out all the skills that he had learned through their nightly fun.
The sword in her hand, her silver eyes blazing calmly, Nephis looked like a beautifully crafted statue by Michelangelo, even surpassing his works in beauty.
With his blood pumping at the thought of facing someone worthwhile, he entered a state of contemplation.
Gilgamesh's mind began to overload, momentarily forgetting the drowsiness that accompanied the Winter Solstice, calculating the battle even before it began.
He lost in most scenarios.
Facing Nephis, who had years of experience with her sword while he had only been learning for a few weeks, he was also limiting himself by not utilizing his full strength, as it was just a friendly spar to see who could touch the other with the sword first.
The thoughts disappeared from his mind as he entered a state of perfect calmness.
Without waiting for Nephis to react first, Gilgamesh dashed towards her. His wooden sword cut through the air, aiming mercilessly at Nephis's neck.
Nephis moved back, letting his sword pass by her by an inch. Raising her arms, she struck down with her sword, preparing to deal a horrible blow on his head.
Sliding back, Gilgamesh dodged the sword, pulling his arms back, he stabbed his longsword toward her overextended hand.
As the wooden sword inched closer to her hands, Nephis let her sword drop, releasing her hold on its hilt.
Gilgamesh, with his sword still extended, watched as Nephis caught the longsword before it could hit the ground.
As Gilgamesh stood there, he realized there was nothing in his arsenal of longsword techniques to counter what was about to happen. He could utilize his real speed and jump back, fast enough to dodge, but that would mean breaking the rules he had placed on himself. That would humiliate him more than any defeat ever could.
The sword was being held by Nephis with one hand as she crouched low, preparing to burst forward with a single swift movement, opting to end it quickly by not wasting time adjusting her grip.
Rather than watching the inevitable happen, he rushed forward, instead of trying to dodge, aiming himself right at her attack and bringing his own sword down upon her.
Nephis's eyes glinted with surprise; she hadn't expected him to rush right into her attack.
Both of their swords were centimeters away from each other.
Just when their swords were going to touch each other, Gilgamesh tripped.
Losing his balance, he threw the sword aside so it wouldn't accidentally hurt Nephis as he fell.
Gilgamesh landed right on top of her, making them both tumble down.
The shock that appeared in Nephis's eyes, as she too started to fall, was certainly amusing to watch.
As Nephis fell on the ground, Gilgamesh put his hand behind her head to prevent it from slamming on the ground.
He fell on top of her, positioning his hands beside her head for support.
Gilgamesh stared at her sinfully beautiful face, watching the red color lightly dust her cheeks, as their legs pressed against each other, tangling it.
A laugh tore out of his lungs uproariously.
Rolling towards the right, he laid there beside her on the ground.
Combing his hands through his hair, Gilgamesh finally stopped laughing at the irony.
"You dare use my own spells against me, Potter!?"
Not understanding his reference, Nephis turned her face towards him with a raised eyebrow.
"Ah, don't think about it. I just couldn't stop laughing after you utilized the same trick I used against you in our spar during the Combat Class."
Silence reigned around them, only the sound of their breathing audible for a while.
"Gilgamesh, what is your goal?"
Shifting his attention from the window at her sudden question, he looked at Nephis curiously.
"Hmm, I guess creating my own legacy clan and accomplishing my mission."
Nephis nodded her head silently, not prying further into it.
"What about you, Neph? What is your goal?"
She didn't answer the question, lost in thought for a few seconds.
"Revenge."
Nodding his head in understanding, Gilgamesh pushed himself up from the floor.
"I'd advise you to return to your room now; you'll need all the sleep you can get for tomorrow."
Not waiting for her response, he started walking toward the door with his hands in his pockets.
"Good luck...Gil."
Nephis's awkward tone was amusing. Smiling at her attempt to sound normal, Gilgamesh continued walking toward the door.
"Good luck to you too, Neph."
The echo of his voice resonated throughout the room a few times before fading.
...
It was finally the day of the Winter Solstice.
Almost everyone walked around drowsily, faces filled with solemnity and hopelessness, wishing each other luck and spending time with their friends, knowing it might be the last time they would ever see them.
Gilgamesh was one of the few who still appeared composed.
The cafeteria was filled with teary goodbyes, with a few people coming toward him to wish him good luck as well.
Not caring much about these NPCs, Gilgamesh walked toward the secluded corner where Cassie was, tears rolling down her porcelain doll-like face.
He went up to her and gripped her shoulders, steadying her.
"Cassie, don't worry, just remember what I said. No matter where you are in the Dream Realm, I will find you and protect you."
Gilgamesh was surprised when she launched herself at him, hugging him while crying into his chest.
"Plea-please, I know it sounds...hic...pathetic, but please protect...hic...me, I don't want to die."
The statement made him feel something he couldn't exactly describe, as his hand went to her back and patted it.
"Stand proud, Cassie, I have no doubt that you will survive this journey to the Dream Realm."
Helping her wipe her tears, Gilgamesh bade her goodbye and left her in the care of the social worker who was helping her.
The voices around the room seemed to dim as the Sleepers grew even more tired. Even he could feel his eyelids begin to grow heavy and droop.
Nephis threw him a nod with a solemn look on her sleepy face.
At last, Gilgamesh found Sunny eating far less food than before, which was concerning considering how much she usually ate.
Standing beside her, he spoke jokingly.
"Don't die on me, Sunny; you still haven't gotten the chance to bathe with me."
Throwing an arrogant grin at her scandalized face, he started heading out of the cafeteria before abruptly stopping.
"Right, I almost forgot to say, Happy Birthday."
Sunny looked confused, wondering how he knew it was her birthday when even she had forgotten about it.
"Good luck, Gil, and...thanks for remembering my birthday."
Heading out to accomplish some tasks, Gilgamesh was finally escorted to his personal room with the capsule.
As he entered it, his eyelids fell.
Gilgamesh fell asleep.
[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Gilgamesh!]
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Word Count: 2818.