Chapter 139 Buckler Yourself In

Just like I imagined, I had been woken by the less-than-soft knocking on my door. I reluctantly pulled myself free of Eira's sleepy grip, and making sure I had something resembling clothes on, I answered the door.

Just as expected, there was Smitty in all her white fluffy glory. Normally, I found her enthusiasm infectious. Today I found it nearly nauseating. I didn't want to hurt her feelings, and I had a feeling that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Hello, Smitty," I grumbled, the last vestiges of sleep struggling to hang on for dear life. I really, really, really wanted to go back to sleep. I swear even my toenails were exhausted.

"Friend Alta, it is time for training. We go now!" She declared, her tail whipping back and forth in a furry frenzy. I had no idea why she was so excited about this.

"Can I have, like...I don't know. Ten minutes to wake up? I've had a very busy day. I nearly died, you." I pleaded with her gently. "I think near death earns me just a little extra rest, right? Please? Pretty please? Smitty, I'm begging here."

"Friend Alta, if you allow death to interrupt schedule, then nothing ever get done ever. You nearly die every few months." The kobold stared down at me as though I had said the stupidest thing ever. "Death should be friend now."

"Smitty, I'm so tired though," I whined, trying my best to look as pathetic as possible, hoping to get some kind of sympathy that would give me enough wiggle room to get out of this promise.

"When friend Alta raise three pups, run village, and go to school at same time, then friend Alta may say is tired. No more excuses! It will be fun!" Smitty said with more sass than I expected from her.

I guess getting out of more physical exertion was not in the cards for me. Joy of joys. All I could do was sigh and admit defeat. And so I did just that.

"Some days, I envy your stamina and energy, Smitty. Simply amazing. Just...just wait here. Let me put on some better clothes." I shut the door before she could answer. I was also annoyed that she wasn't wrong about my brushes with death. Logically, I knew it was something dungeoneers had to expect, but I didn't like the reality of it. That said, one didn't do what I did if you were a well-adjusted individual. If I was, I could have been a town guard, or a guild receptionist, or doubled down on being a maid at the cafe.

Ah well. I wasn't built for a safe life, I guess.

I mumbled to myself as I looked around for something to wear that I wouldn't mind getting sweaty in. At some point I was going to look into getting my clothes laundered, or, gods forbid, do it myself. Not that I couldn't. I just didn't want to.

I finally picked out an outfit. Training short pants, chest binding, and a light tunic it was then. I was not looking forward to having to bathe yet another time tonight, but needs must, I suppose. A little twinge in my muscles said that it might not be a bad idea anyway. I wondered if what they say about sore muscles meaning they were going to grow was true.

If it was, I was going to be, as some of the male dungeoneers at school would say, totally ripped by the end of this. Not that this was a bad thing, mind you. It would make dress shopping a bit tricky. As if that was something I did often.

One more thought flashed in my mind, desperately looking for some excuse to get out of this, but I realized I had no chance. It was hard to turn Smitty down for any of her suggestions. She was just so thrice damned earnest; I didn't have it in my heart to disappoint her. This is also the first time she's offered to teach me something about her own fighting style, which I admittedly appreciated.

I was, admittedly, not the easiest person to teach, because there was some part of my brain that always insisted that I knew best, even though I of course knew that I didn't. Pride and insecurity are awful bedfellows. That Smitty was willing to try with me meant a lot. I couldn't just toss that in her snout. I was better than that. Probably.

I gave Eira a gentle kiss, at which she made a delighted hum but didn't awaken. Gods above, she was adorable. I really wanted to crawl back into bed with her right now, but I resisted. I quickly scribbled a note on the nightstand for her to find, in case she woke up before I got back. I even did a little doodle of love hearts. I stared at her sleeping face one more time, before turning to leave.

I opened the door quietly, slipped out, closing and locking the door behind me as softly as I could. I turned to face Smitty, sighed, and rubbed my eyes, which were protesting at the brighter light of the hallways. I had a sudden deep craving for a coffee right now. Even terrible cafeteria coffee would do at this point. The kind that could strip grease from armor hinges would be perfect right now.

These weird events had completely destroyed anything I had that resembled a sleep schedule. It was starting to make me miss the stale regularity of school life. I was never going to complain about routine ever again. Chaos had its place, but I was just done with it.

"C'mon Smitty, let's get going," I said, holding my hand out, indicating for her to lead on.

Where we were going, I really had no idea, as I had no sense of direction in the main resort building. Which bothered me, as I usually had no problem in a dungeon, which is definitely more labyrinthine and confusing. But this resort felt odd; at least it did when I tried to get my bearings. The paranoid part of my brain wondered if it was some kind of enchantment, but others didn't seem to have the same problem, so it was likely just some kind of personal problem.

As if I didn't have enough of those as it was.

We eventually came to the door marked "Training Hall and Spa." The spa part caught my attention, and I made a mental note to consider making a visit. A spa day sounded heavenly.

We entered, and it looked a lot like the training hall back at school. Padded flooring and walls, racks of training weapons, various training armors, a dispenser of clear water, with what looked like an ice crystal thrumming away, keeping it cool. Very nice indeed. Which means it was like the training hall at school, if it was actually decent.

I strode to the center of the room with the tall Kobold, beginning to shake my tight muscles loose.

"Ok Smitty, what did you have planned, exactly? You said something about teaching me how to use a buckler?" I asked as I began stretching out of pure habit.

"Yes, yes! I hear friend Alta say she wish to give up magic. Friend Alta need something else to use with sword. Alta very quick-fast, need to stay moving. Smitty big, wide. Built like wall. Living siege. Alta like red fox in forest. Quick, tricky. But need protect." She explained as though she was lecturing in a class. Which I suppose she was.

"Smitty, sorry to interrupt, but what happened to your language lessons? You seem to slip back into your old speaking habits." I asked, curious as she continued talking.

"Lessons boring. Too expensive. Teacher no like Kobold. Broke their nose. Dropped out." She shrugged, completely brushing off my line of questions, before glaring at me. "Friend Alta no change subject! Stop! Bad elf!"

I actually managed to look embarrassed at her scolding. No wonder she was able to wrangle all those pups of hers. The best look my own mother could give me was contempt, which was easy to brush off. Smitty's glare made me rethink my life choices.

"Sorry, Smitty. Now, back to what you were saying." I said, clearing my throat in an attempt to redirect her disappointment.

"Yes, yes! Buckler! Small, round, metal, light. Strong enough to stop direct hit, if use right. But direct block not the point." She said, finding a buckler in the style she seemed to have intended for me.

She tossed it to me, and I caught it. It was lighter than I expected, but not so light it felt flimsy. It was definitely small, and I was wondering how good of protection it could possibly be.

"This doesn't seem like much, Smitty," I said as I held the grip and used the strap on it to hold it to my forearm. I moved it around to get used to the weight of it, and was impressed at how easily I could move it.

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"It small, yes yes. But used right, very good. Grab sword. I show." She then turned and grabbed a buckler of her own and a training sword. I followed suit, grabbing a sword of the length I was used to.

I missed Ice Moon something terrible. A magic weapon was always nice to have, and I was very much used to its weight, to the point that anything else felt wrong. A training sword was too light to be comfortable anymore, and there's a faint tickle of magic at the edge of your senses that I miss. Like static but comforting.

I gave it a few test swings till I felt I had a good grasp of what I was working with. This would be fine, I suppose.

Smitty and I met in the center of the mats, and I stretched and moved around some to get used to the feel of the new equipment as a whole. Every time I felt like I was used to it, it went back to feeling awkward. I hated having to adjust to new gear, even if it was temporary.

"Should we wear the armor?" I asked, hoping that she would say no.

I was grateful when Smitty shook her head.

"We not go full speed today. That happen later."

I nodded in agreement and got into my usual stance.

"First thing, friend Alta, your stance wrong. You have sword ahead of you, and arm to side, for magic and balance. This no work. Hold buckler arm out straight." She demonstrated the pose for me, buckler arm held out straight.

I mimicked the pose, and it felt odd, but not uncomfortably so.

Smitty walked around me, checking my stance, and nodded.

"Yes, yes much good! When foe slash or stab, you move buckler to block. Big shield, you hide behind, hold firm. Buckler, move, block, slap weapon away as it attacks."

"Now. Watch. Try to block." She slowly swung her sword, and the little round shield interrupted the slash angle better than I expected. With my arm straight out, it took surprisingly little movement to redirect a blow.

"You can use shield to slap away stab too. Try." She said as she took a lunge with her blade, and I did exactly as she said.

"Well, I'll be damned. That works better than I expected!" I said eagerly. It felt like an entirely new avenue of fighting had opened up to me. It occurred to me then that if I paired this up with Eira's hand-to-hand combat training, I could be far more effective this way than I had been with my magic.

My mind, which had been hating the idea of using magic again after all my frustrations, started considering possibilities of mixing magic use with this new style. While the shield was held with a small handle, I could easily free my hand enough for quick spell use if I needed to.

"It not perfect. If foe also quick-fast they might get around it. You have to always move, so might get tired. Not good at stopping arrows." She continued.

She had a point. If I had to be more mobile, I would tire out quickly. I was already a pretty mobile sword-witch, but I'd really have to step it up. I realized that Eira's hand-to-hand training would be good there. Mixing this new buckler style with the stamina and speed work Eira was putting me through could be a game changer.

I'd have to experiment with all this. My sleep-addled brain started to wake up, and I ran mental simulations of dungeon scenarios beyond anything I had thought of before. I felt stupid for not thinking of this sooner, but a sword-witch with a shield felt ridiculous before. I knew for certain no sword-mages would ever do such a thing.

Everything she had told me was very valuable information. The buckler was starting to feel more and more correct in my hands. Still not perfect, but something in my mind decided that I really needed to stick with this.

"Thank you, Smitty. I'll have to look more into this." I said, doing a few more test movements. "How did you learn so much about this? I've only ever seen you use the spear and that massive shield you have."

"When Smitty young, learned fighting from other Kobolds. They had learned from free sword-slaves, who taught tribe to defend self. This mean Smitty have to learn to defend against many kinds of foe to protect tribe and village. Smitty have much trouble fighting buckler sword folk. Smitty remember how they defeat Smitty, and now I teach to you, so you can use it to defend self and pack." Smitty explained as she put up the equipment.

I thought back to the little shark goblins, and the Sahagin I had seen in the sunken dungeon earlier. They used polearms. Very nasty polearms. If it hadn't been for the enchanted armor, I'd have extra holes in me, and I didn't care for that on any level.

"Smitty? Do you think you could train me to defend better against pole weapons? I'm used to fighting things with claws, magic, or blades. I usually rely on you to help with that, and I realize I need to pick up the defense slack a bit. You are a wonderful defender, the best I could hope for, but...but we might not always be in a party together. Who knows what will happen after graduation, and I need to be able to stand on my own more often." I said out loud, finally admitting to something I had refused to address before.

We really didn't know where we'd all be in the future. After graduation, who was to say we'd all be together when I fulfilled my dream of founding a Dungeoneering company of my own? Myth had left us to pursue her own dream, Cori and Mariana had their own goals, and I had no doubt Smitty did too. She was a mother after all, and important in her tribe.

I couldn't base my life off of hopes and dreams. I needed to be prepared for things not to work out. I had definitely learned that the hard way this past year, and if I didn't start taking those lessons to heart, I was going to end up dead in some underground maze.

Smitty just looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite interpret. I had gotten good at reading her Kobold body language, but I was far from what I would call proficient. She just walked over, grabbed herself a spear and a greatshield, and returned to the center.

"Smitty help friend Alta train. Smitty teach Alta to become warrior, not just mage with sword. You shall become-" And she said some word I had no hope of ever understanding or repeating. The language of Kobolds was beyond the anatomy of my mouth to make accurately, and my ears were far from able to hear all the sounds she made.

"I have no idea what you said, but I thank you, Smitty." I bowed, like a student to a teacher, something I didn't even really do for my own instructors. I had much more respect for Smitty than I did for them. It's not like I hated them, but I didn't respect them exactly. Hard to explain.

"Enough standing around, friend Alta. We train. Smitty teach you to fight defenders." She said firmly, taking up her all too familiar stance across from me. It was decidedly intimidating from this angle.

"Take up stance!" She ordered, and I obeyed instinctively.

Over the next hour or so, Smitty drilled me in defense and offense of my new chosen fighting style. She taught me how to defend against her spear, how to get around her considerable defenses, how to recover from a failed attack or defense without losing my rhythm. We trained until all my muscles screamed at me in protest.

It hadn't all sunk in yet, but I felt more sure of my path forward than I had in a long time.

After I hydrated, I said good evening to Smitty and asked her to say hello to her mate and pups for me.

Just before I left, I turned to ask her something important, succumbing to my vanity.

"What do you think of my new hairstyle?" I asked, flipping my short hair dramatically.

Smitty just stared at me for a long moment. She looked at my hair, cocking her head from one side to the other.

"Smitty not notice." She shrugged. "Everyone not Kobold look the same to Smitty. Only smell is different."

That was a bit deflating, but fair enough. I left without another word and made my way through the hallways.

I was looking forward to getting back to Eira. I was drenched in sweat; I was sore and hungry, and I just wanted to eat food, have a relaxing bath with my beloved, and go back to sleep. Or maybe just sleep. It wouldn't be the first time I fell asleep hungry and sweaty. Eira would probably forgive me. Maybe.

I, however, got completely lost, and I regretted not asking Smitty to lead me back.

I wandered around for what felt like a small eternity, and eventually turned a corner to see even more hallway. This time though, I saw what I almost thought was a ghost; it was so pale.

A familiar pale at that. A tall, familiar pale that I had been convinced had died early on my little vacation. And then appeared again, very much not dead, leading some kind of cultish nonsense.

Caru. Gods damned Caru Gavyn.

My exhaustion immediately traded itself out for rage.

"Oh no you don't, you little wretch," I growled under my breath and bolted in the direction they had turned down. Muscle pain was ignored, and I ran as fast as I could manage. Instead of my target, I found a blank wall.

Something was going on here, and I wasn't going to let this go unchallenged, but I also wasn't stupid enough to face this alone. I had to make sure to tell someone.

I wasn't making that mistake again. I was going to tell someone while I could still remember it, before I found some other maddening bit of chaos to pull my attention away.

I needed to mark this place with something, so I could find it again. I looked around for something, anything. There was a wall sconce with a light crystal sticking out of the wall and nothing much else. I didn't carry any kind of writing implement, chalk, or anything else. There were no pockets in my training pants, and I didn't think to bring any kind of bag to carry sundries. I cursed my lack of preparedness.

I did the only thing I could think of, pulled my tunic off, and hung it off the light fixture. Sure, I was now wandering around in a chest wrap that barely qualified as a top, but desperate times and all that. This was a realm of pirates; they probably won't think much of it.

"Alta? What are you doing?" I heard Eira's voice. I turned to look, and she had a tray of absolutely amazing food. As hungry as I was, and despite how lovely it smelled, I had to ignore that for the time being.

"I saw Caru! She disappeared into this wall. I know I saw her, Eira!" I said, hoping desperately she wouldn't think I was crazy. My frantically slapping the wall probably didn't help anything.

She sighed, a deep, tired sound.

"If this were any other time, I'd assume you were tired or stressed out, but after the dungeon, the cult shit, and everything else, yeah, I'm just going to assume this is legit. Why not? Couldn't be any weirder than everything else we've gone through."

She looked me up and down for a moment and raised an eyebrow.

"And the tunic?"

"Didn't have anything else to mark it, and I keep getting lost." I blushed a bit as I explained. "That's not important right now! Caru! Here!"

"Ah. Gotcha. Stay here, don't fight anything; I'll be right back. I'm getting some help. Do not do anything Alta-y till I get back. Eat something!" She ordered me before handing me the tray of food, giving me a big kiss, and bolting around a corner.

It was quiet again. Just me, an empty hallway, a suspicious wall, my tunic hanging off a light, and a tray of food in my hand.

What an absolutely absurd day this has been.

Well, I suppose I might as well eat something before the next round of chaos unfolds.

Ooh, there were sandwiches! How delightful!