Chapter 57: Don’t Forget

For the rest of the following day, Linda had expected to think about the spar a few times throughout the day, but she hadn’t expected to be checking the time even before their first lesson was over.

Painfully, there were still several hours left, and looking at the clock wasn’t going to make them pass any faster. She turned back to the instructor, who was explaining some of the mistakes made during the previous day’s practical assessment, and forced herself to listen.

That only worked until he started talking about maintaining distance against an opponent with greater reach.

’That sword will be a problem.’ Linda thought to herself without even realizing it.

She had already seen how easily the Great Swordsman controlled the space around Dustin and Raul’s summons. Getting past the sword wasn’t enough either. They had managed to do that more than once, but always ended up standing somewhere the Swordsman apparently wanted them to be.

Linda rested her pen against the page as she thought about how her Yeti would deal with that. It wouldn’t fight the same way their summons did, but that didn’t mean she could ignore the obvious problem. If anything, she wanted to know how well the Great Swordsman could control the fight when the ground stopped cooperating with it.

Linda continued thinking about it until she realised she had missed part of the instructor’s explanation. She looked up, her eyes canning sideways if anyone had noticed her spacing out, and quietly caught up with what was being said.

She hadn’t felt this eager about a fight in a while... not after the tournament at least.

Aaron Grey had beaten her during the tournament. Linda had given him a proper fight, but she couldn’t honestly claim that he struggled much against her. The coordination between Aaron and his Python had been difficult to break, and whenever she thought she had created an opening, Aaron was already moving to close it. Even more embarrassing, much like the rest before Leon, he had basically fought her alone.

She had watched his fight against Leon afterward.

Even though there had been restrictions placed on Aaron during that match as well as throughout the tournament—and Linda understood how much they mattered better than most of the students who argued about the result, she also knew how much pressure Aaron could apply without using his Python’s constriction.

Leon’s Great Swordsman had fought through that pressure, which was more than impressive; now, she was going to fight it herself.

During combat practice, Linda caught herself looking towards Leon while her Yeti waited for its next instruction. He was sitting outside the practice area with one elbow resting on his knee, staring down at his phone. Dustin was saying something beside him, but from the lack of response, Leon either wasn’t listening or didn’t care enough to answer.

’What is he even reading?’ Linda wondered.

The Yeti shifted in front of her, causing Linda to turn back towards it.

That wasn’t relevant.

She directed it through the next exercise, making it turn sharply between two marked positions before striking the padded target. Its fist hit with a heavy thud, and Linda corrected the angle before having it repeat the attack.

Some time later, the instructor stopped their group to correct another student’s positioning, and Linda’s eyes moved towards Leon again. He had put the phone away, but rather than training, he was leaning back with his eyes closed.

Linda watched him for a moment before looking away.

’Just finish practice.’

She didn’t need to spend the entire afternoon checking whether Leon was training. Whatever he did with his time, she would have a much better idea of what his summon could do by tonight. That was what mattered.

Linda managed to keep herself occupied for the rest of the day, though once their classes ended, she couldn’t resist the urge to walk up to Leon before he could leave with Dustin and Raul.

"Leon." She called.

Leon stopped and looked at her as she walked up to him, her face and posture relaxed and normal.

"We’re still meeting tonight, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course."

"Same room I suppose?"

"Yes, the one from yesterday." He answered.

"All right. I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t forgotten." She said with a nod.

"I haven’t."

There wasn’t much else for them to say. Linda gave Dustin and Raul a brief nod before leaving.

"You remembered?" Dustin asked once she was out of earshot.

"I said I did." Leon answered while looking at him.

"That doesn’t always mean much."

"Then don’t ask."

Raul laughed quietly as the three of them walked away.

...

That night, Linda arrived at the training room early enough to find it empty. She placed her things beside the seats and walked onto the practice floor.

The room was better for the spar than the smaller ones they used during lessons. There was enough space for both summons to move without immediately reaching a wall, and the seating area was far enough from the marked boundary that bystanders wouldn’t get in the way.

Linda checked the time, then stopped herself from checking again less than a minute later.

’They’re not late.’ She sighed, choosing to put her phone away. She wished she had Leon’s number. Apparently, waiting was going to be the most annoying part of the day.

The door opened while she was looking over the far end of the room, drawing her attention. Leon entered first, with Dustin and Raul following behind him.

"Evening." Linda greeted.

"Evening." Raul replied, while Dustin greeted her with a nod and a curt wave.

"Have you been here long?" Leon asked.

"Not really."

Leon looked over the practice floor before placing his bag down. Dustin and Raul moved towards the seats, leaving Linda and Leon near the edge of the marked area.

Their greetings were polite, but none of them tried to start a proper conversation. They were classmates who never spoke to each other, and until recently, that had been the extent of their relationship.

"Just the summons?" Leon asked.

"Yes. I’d rather see how the Yeti does on its own first."

"Three minutes, then. If I tell you to stop, stop."

"Because of the death energy?" Linda asked while looking at him.

"Yes. You probably won’t feel anything serious tonight, but I don’t want you standing around in it for longer than necessary. Not interested in being part of any future investigations." He said.

"That’s fine."

"And no strikes aimed at killing. Mine will avoid the head and chest. Have yours do the same." he said, though the normal penalty, he had found, didn’t apply to him.

"I’ll keep the ice inside the practice area." Linda said with a nod.

"That would be appreciated." Leon replied as he looked towards the seats.

"You’re going to let it fight properly this time?" Dustin asked, sitting a little straighter after hearing them.

"That’s why we’re here." Linda answered.

"Good."

"You sound more excited than she does." Raul said as he took the seat beside him.

"Of course I’m excited. It’s a Grade 4 summon against a Grade 3. When are we going to get another chance to watch that up close?" Dustin asked.

"You could have another go yourself." Raul pointed out.

"I’ve had enough, thank you very much." Dustin answered with a damp laugh.