Chapter 216: Differences 

Lucia watched impassively as Hylon held up the spear, slowly twirling it between his hands as he examined its length. His grin was wide, and the boy laughed as Leif detached the spearhead and reshaped it, showing several different designs and variations. 

“Isn’t that like your sword?” Cerri asked, and Lucia had to stop herself from flinching at the closeness of her voice. She had been so focused on the spear that she hadn’t noticed the girl approach.

“Similar.” She said, trying not to let how conflicted her thoughts were leak into her tone. “The quality is good.” Lucia winced internally. What was she saying? It was basically an enchanted weapon, of course the quality was good. 

Judging by the wide eyed expression plastered on Cerri’s face, the red head could tell as much. Hylon started excitedly requesting different shapes for the spearhead, but his ideas quickly became absurd. Eventually he settled on a simple design for the weapon’s tip, a pointed blade flanked by two smaller blades on either side. 

Rou stepped forward to take a closer look, the large boy reaching out to poke the spear’s head with a finger. 

“It might be made of wood, but it's as sharp as any metal weapon.” Leif said, making Rou hesitate. 

“So… no touch?”

“Best not, big guy.” Hylon said, holding up the finished spear so it caught the light of the campfire. “It’s incredible. Thank you… uh, I can’t afford this though.” 

“Consider it a gift. Or perhaps an investment.” Leif said, nodding towards Silas. 

“Treat it with respect, boy.” The old man grunted, earning an annoyed look from Hylon. 

“Yeah, I know. I wish I had a way to store it like Lucia can with her sword. It’s so… eye-catching. Do you think a skill like that might come from my class promotion? Uh, I mean after the promotion.”

“It’s a common enough ability, so I don’t see why not.” The grey haired woman Lucia didn’t know the name of said with a faint smile. “Though it's quite rare to get at such a low level. From my experience, the system offers more potent abilities to those with the talent to use them.” 

Lucia didn’t say anything, but she did feel a small surge of pride. [Hidden Weapon] was a fantastic skill, and it felt good to have her accomplishments acknowledged. It made the conflicted emotions at seeing her mentor casually equip somebody else retreat slightly. 

I’m being dumb. She thought, letting out a breath. It wasn’t her power, she didn’t have any right in telling someone else how or when to use it. Besides, this was a good thing, it wasn’t like Hylon was a poor fit for such a weapon. Lucia didn’t know him or his siblings that well, but they were more similar to her than they were different. 

“Umm.” Cerri said, shuffling in place. “Would something like that be good for me?”

She was asking Lucia, but Leif was close enough that he heard her question. “I did consider it, but I’m not sure if it would fit your path. Maybe armour like Lucia has would be better?”

“She should make something out of bone.” Lucia said, but she paused at the horrified look on Cerri’s face. “Like, instead of wood, you could shape bone… What’s wrong?”

“T-that… isn’t that kind of… I don’t know?”

“Cool as shit?” Hylon asked with a laugh. “You should do it.”

“I don’t want to wear people! That’s horrible!” 

Her brother rolled his eyes. “Animal bones, obviously.”

“Oh… right. I guess that makes sense.” 

Leif clapped his hands once to get their attention. “You’re a little ways off it being a viable option, but you should consider looking into it.”

“You could carry around bone needles.” Lucia added, picturing it in her mind’s eye. “You could throw them and control their trajectory and speed.”

“There are chicken bones in the bowl over there.” Silas said. “Take them and scram, us adults have important things to discuss.”

“I can really have this?” Hylon asked Leif, holding out the spear. Leif waved him away. Hylon grinned and turned, pointing at Lucia. “Can we spar? I need to test it out.”

“Sure.” Lucia shrugged. “I’ll teach you. All of you, I don’t mind.”

“Go easy on them.” Leif’s voice said into her mind. She poked him with her aura in annoyance, and she felt his own ripple in amusement. 

“These bones still have meat on them.” Cerri complained as she looked dubiously into the bowl.

“There’s a stream that way. C’mon, let's go.” Hylon said.

===

“So, how do you want to do this?” Hylon asked as he limbered up, his new spear resting against his shoulder. “Best of three?”

“It’s a spar.” Lucia said, rolling up the legs of her trousers before stepping into the stream. The water was cool and not very deep.

Behind her Hylon fumbled to take off his own boots, hopping on one leg. He slipped off the first, then put down his spear to take off the second. He placed them neatly next to her own, then stepped into the water with a splash. 

“Right. But spar’s have rules, don’t they?”

She supposed he was right. “First blood?”

Hylon blinked, staring at her in confusion for several seconds. Then he chuckled nervously. “Haha, yeah… but really, what are we doing?”

“What’s wrong with first blood? The closer to a real fight one’s training is the better.” Lucia said. She was glad that she still wore her mask, because it meant he couldn’t see her baffled expression. Was he joking? How did he not know this? She thought it would be obvious.”

Hylon looked over his shoulder to where Cerri and Rou were picking clean the chicken bones. The large boy was humming away to himself, while the red-head kept wincing in disgust. Cerri cursed as one of the small bones slipped through her fingers, but she plucked it up out of the stream before it could get too far away. 

“First blood is a little… I don’t know… extreme?”

“No it’s not. Prepare yourself.” Lucia said, lowering her stance. 

“W-what if we get seriously hurt?” He asked, backing away, his eyes flicking between her two empty hands as he readied his spear. 

“My mentor is a healer. It’ll be fine.” With that she speared forward with her aura, and Hylon flinched in surprise as his senses betrayed him. His spear came up in a defensive position, the golden light it emitted was radiant as it mixed with the moonlight glistening on the surface of the stream.

But he was too slow, and the position of his weapon was slightly off. Lucia slipped under his guard and grabbed him by the throat, her leg sweeping him off his feet as she slammed him face first into the water. She hopped back, darting quickly away with [Light Footwork] to evade the splash. 

Hylon gasped as he scrambled up to his knees, water pouring down his face and plastering his blond hair to his forehead. He spluttered, and to his credit brought the spear up once again in a defensive position. 

“If I don’t need to cut you, I won’t.” Lucia said. “Best of three, was it?” 

Cerri cackled in delight, and Hylon shot her a filthy look. “I’d like to see you do better!” 

“You look like a wet dog.” 

Hylon flipped her off, then pulled off his shirt, throwing it to the shore of the stream. He brushed his hair up with a hand so it wouldn’t cover his eyes, then he fixed Lucia with a hard look. “Again.” 

Lucia studied him as she circled, her steps making no sound as she moved through the shin deep water. He turned to keep her in his sight, though his own movements were nowhere near as graceful or silent. The boy was well built with lean muscle, though he was maybe too skinny. She wasn’t actually sure, her perspective was potentially skewed from her time spent among the emaciated and malnourished. 

“How did you do that?” Hylon asked. “With your aura, I mean.” 

She shrugged. “It’s just an aura technique. Nothing special.”

He laughed. “Nothing special? You popped my aura like a bubble. What rank is your skill?”

“Two.”

He lunged forward, thrusting his spear towards her, but Lucia could tell from his posture that it was a feint. She didn’t so much as flinch, and Hylon gritted his teeth, following up by sweeping his spear in a wide arc. Lucia stepped forward and caught the shaft of his weapon, twisting his arm as her wooden sword materialised in her hand. She cut him lightly across the cheek, then backed away, the spear having fallen from his grip. 

“Oww, damnit.” He hissed, reaching up to his face. His hand came away red, and he stared at his palm for several seconds.

“Your weapon is floating away.”

“Shit.” He splashed over and picked it up, shaking out the arm she had twisted. “You’re so fast. It doesn’t seem fair.”

“I didn’t use my aura this time.”

He grunted. “I noticed. First round to you. We go again?”

“Sure.” 

“Wait, it's over already? Did you even last more than ten seconds?” Cerri jeered. 

“Seriously, I’d like to see you do better! Lucia is like… I’m actually not sure what level you are.” He said, turning to her. 

Lucia pursed her lips, but he couldn’t see that. She weighed up the benefits of telling them, then decided that it didn’t matter, she would be a higher level soon enough. “Fourteen.”

Hylon’s jaw went slack, and Cerri cursed again as she dropped another bone. “W-what? How is that even possible?” He asked. “How are you so much stronger when I’m five levels higher than you?” 

The answer was months of pushing herself to her absolute limits, endless sparring with Leif, and a single minded dedication to improving herself. “Training.” Lucia said simply. 

“There’s no way.” Hylon said, pointing his spear at her. “I train, I train a stupid amount. But it feels like you’re five levels higher than me, not lower. It’s like… a difference in raw attributes, not just ability. I mean, obviously you’re really skilled, but it has to be more than that.” 

“Oh, right. Displays of excellence can boost your stats. You need to earn them though.” She said off handedly. 

“I got one’o em.” Rou said happily. “Number go up.” 

Cerri and Hylon turned to him, their open mouthed surprise transferring from Lucia to their brother. “What? When?” Hylon asked. He almost sounded indigent. 

“When we were underground. I done with bones.” Rou said, handing the bowl to Cerri. The girl took it, then stared blankly down into the bowl as if it held the answers. 

“But… they’re supposed to be insanely rare! How many attributes do they give? And how did you get one?” Hylon asked Lucia. 

She had to fight back a laugh, she had never seen anyone’s eyes go so wide in her life. He looked like a puppy begging for treats. “The first one gave four, and the second gave eight. I have earned three so far.”

“That’s not possible. It can’t be possible. You’re like fourteen at most!” Cerri cried, throwing her hands up and almost sending her collection of newly cleaned bones tumbling into the stream. Rou reached up and took the bowl as the girl stood and pointed at Lucia. “T-that… that’s basically cheating!” 

“How did you do it?” Hylon asked again. “Please, I need to know.” 

Lucia considered. She could tell them, but… If she was Leif, then he would hold the information as a reward. She smiled, then pulled up her mask so they could see her expression. “Win a round, and I’ll tell you.”

“Cerri, grab your bones. We’re doing this together.” Hylon said. 

“Is… is that fair?” The redhead asked, her voice hesitant. 

Lucia shrugged. It felt like she was doing that alot recently. “Rou can join in too if I find it too easy.”

Cerri giggled in delight. “Oh, you’re so on.”

===

Lucia’s sword met the needle of bone and deflected it to the side, the projectile spinning off into the darkness of the nearby undergrowth. Cerri desperately back pedalled as she fumbled for another piece of bone from the pouch at her side. Hylon shouted and moved to intercept her charge, and Lucia pivoted to drive a kick at his sternum. 

He blocked, but she flared her aura and activated [Fade], knowing that to her two opponents it would look as though she had vanished in the instant their perception had been disrupted. Hylon spun, catching her sword as she lazily swung it at his back. He shouted with triumph, but Lucia was already moving away from him and towards Cerri.

The bone mage raised a hand as she blinked rapidly, and Lucia felt a jarring sensation of pain as her legs seized up. For a heartbeat she toppled forward, helpless. But her training kicked in, and just as Leif had taught her, she lanced her aura into Cerri’s own, suppressing her for just long enough that her skill dispersed. 

“Stop.” Cerri yelled, her words reverberating slightly, the night pausing as if to take note of her command. She was too slow however, and Lucia’s fist crashed into the other girl’s gut, doubling her over and breaking the working of spell and skill she had called into being. 

Hylon was hot on her heels however, and instincts trained over hundreds of hours of high intensity combat told Lucia that an attack was incoming. But if she had learnt one thing over the past hour, it was that the boy never aimed for her centre, instead choosing to strike at one of her extremities. 

The rules were first blood, so his strategy was technically fine, but it made him predictable. Without needing to look Lucia threw herself to the side, bringing up her sword to deflect the blow aimed at her forearm. She spun, splashed water up into Hylon’s face to distract him, then moved to put Cerri’s doubled over form between herself and him.

Hylon hesitated, and in that moment Lucia vaulted over Cerri, using the other girl’s shoulder as leverage, and cut a line across his upper chest and bicep. It was a shallow cut, barely enough to draw blood, she didn’t actually want to seriously hurt him, and she had enough control to restrain her attacks. Hylon’s upper body was covered in a pattern and thin slices, and he was more than a little bloody. Still, he was basically healthy. More or less.

Hy was out, but technically Cerri wasn’t. That was something else Lucia had learnt. The sister was more willing to play dirty than the brother, and she wouldn’t yield as quickly. Before Cerri could do anything, Lucia’s blade was at her throat. Their eyes locked, then the girl groaned, letting her shoulders sag. They were both soaked to the bone, while Lucia was more or less dry. Well, other than the very bottom of her pant legs, she needed to keep pulling them up. 

“Rou.” Hylon wheezed as he took in deep lungfuls of air. “Please help us.”

“We need you, Rou.” Cerri affirmed, coughing slightly and clutching her middle. 

The large boy glanced at them, then shook his head. “Look’in fo bugs.” He said with a wide, innocent smile. 

“I’m feeling like a bug.” Hylon sighed, running a thumb across the newest cut. “I hope this doesn’t scar.”

“Le- I mean Oak will heal you if you ask him to.” Lucia said. 

“Can he heal my dress?” Cerri asked, poking at one of the holes Lucia had sliced into it. 

“No, but I have some thread.”

“Should have taken it off if you didn’t want it ruined.” Hylon joked. 

“Oh, you’d like that would you?” She shot back. 

“Eww, no. Anyway, I think we’re done for the night. I think I’m going to die of blood loss any minute now.”

“You’re fine.” Lucia said, crossing her arms. “I didn’t cut you that badly. Most of your wounds are already closed.”

He gave her a look she couldn’t quite understand, then shook his head. “You’re really something else, you know that, right? You were impressive in the dungeon, but I’m still stunned at how strong you are.”

“Eh-heh, kiss ass. He’s just sucking up to you, don’t tell him what he wants to know, Lucia.” Cerri chuckled. 

“Bah, you want to know as well.”

“I’ll live.”

“You both fight strangely.” Lucia said, making the siblings pause. “I don’t get it.”

“By strangely, do you mean badly?” Cerri asked with mock offense. 

Lucia shook her head. “No… I mean strangely. You were both holding back even though I kept beating you.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.” Hylon said with a frown, “I can assure you that I really was trying my hardest.”

“It’s not about effort.” Lucia said, waving her hand from side to side. She thought for a moment as to how best to explain it. “You never went for lethal strikes.” She pointed at Cerri. “You could have tried to break my bones, but you never did.” She turned to Hylon. “And you kept trying to attack my arms or legs, or even my weapon. You know a spear through the torso is usually lethal, right?”

They both stared at her as if at a complete loss for words. The siblings shared a quick glance, then looked back at her with dumbfounded expressions. Lucia shifted uncomfortably as the silence dragged on. Why were they looking at her like that? She was right. 

“But… but we didn’t want to kill you.” Cerri said finally. “Or hurt you badly.”

“Right. This is a real weapon, I couldn’t bear it if I hit something lethal. Hells, your mentor literally just made this for me, how would I explain it to him?”

Lucia shook her head. “But it would be fine. Even if I did break a bone Cerri could just heal it. And as long as you got me back to camp fast enough I wouldn’t die even if you did stab me. There’s no reason not to go all out.”

They both kept staring at her as if she was crazy. Lucia felt her face heat. What was so difficult to understand? “Proper training needs proper stakes. If you don’t practise with everything you have then you won’t be ready for a proper life and death battle.” 

“Sure… but we can just fight monsters to learn those skills. No need to accidentally risk serious injury while sparing.” Hylon countered. 

“But it's different if you have a healer.” Lucia insisted. “There’s no real risk, so you can safely go all out.” They still looked dubious. She let out an exasperated sigh and gestured for Hylon to come closer. He hesitated, and Lucia felt a flare of annoyance. It was idiotic that she had to explain something so obvious. 

“What is it?” He asked.

“Stab me.”

“W-what? No!”

“I’ll dodge. Stab me.”

“Lucia… I.”

“Monsters and people are different. There’s a war going on and you never know when you might need to fight another person. So stab me.”

He looked very uncomfortable, but still raised his spear. He half heartedly thrust forward, but it went wide. 

“That wouldn’t have even hit my shirt. Don’t be so scared, this is an important lesson to learn.”

“Did… did your mentor teach you how to kill other people?” Cerri asked. 

Lucia paused. Leif actually hadn’t, his training was more generally applicable, though he had taught her anatomy when she had asked. Besides, even if he had taught her to kill people it wouldn’t change anything. She was a murderer before they had ever met, and while she wasn’t proud of that fact, it had been necessary for her to survive. “Yeah.” She lied. 

She immediately felt guilty and backtracked. “He taught me lots of other stuff too. Look, this is where the liver is, and the kidneys are here.” Lucia said as she pointed at herself. 

“Isn’t it lethal to be stabbed pretty much anywhere on the torso?” Hylon asked with a nervous chuckle. 

“The intestines can be… well not safe, but sometimes okay, it depends.” Lucia added, ignoring his question as she lowered her finger and poked herself in the gut. “The bladder can be bad though.”

Hylon laughed, Cerri looked bewildered, Lucia was deadly serious. There was a moment of silence only broken by the faint sound of water flowing between their legs, a distant owl’s hoot, and Rou digging through the mud. 

Lucia felt her frustration rise. Why weren’t they taking her seriously? She stepped forward and pointed again. “Stab me. I’m not joking, stab me.”

Hylon licked his lips and didn’t meet her gaz. He slowly raised his spear, though it was obvious that he didn’t want to. He pointed his weapon at her, but his stance was weak and the tip wavered. Lucia huffed in exasperation. Did he still not know even after she had shown him? 

“You need to commit to a lethal strike, but you only need to land one. Look, see. Aim for here.” She said, lifting her shirt. 

Hylon choked and looked away in a rush. Lucia just blinked, completely at a loss. She looked at Cerri, only to see the girl staring with her mouth half open. She turned and pointed down at herself. “See, kidneys, liver, the bladder is around her. The lungs are also a weak point but you need to get past the ribs so it can be a little tricky.”

She glanced up, and while it was hard to tell, she could have sworn that Cerri’s face had gone a shade darker. 

Hylon had completely turned around and was waving at her as if in a panic. “Yes, thank you Lucia. I get it, I understand.” He stammered.

“Prove it then.” She snapped. “This really isn’t so hard.”

Cerri stumbled forward and grabbed Lucia by the shoulders. Her face was definitely red. “Let’s stop for the night, it’s getting late.” She chuckled nervously. “You can stop, um, we’ve seen enough.”

Lucia glared at the other girl, but with her mask on her expression was hidden. She let her shirt drop and angrily took off her mask. “Why aren’t you taking me seriously? This is important! I’m just trying to help!”

“We… we appreciate that.” Cerri said placatingly. “But…uh, you know…”

Appreciate? And now she was lying to Lucia’s face? If she really meant that then they wouldn’t be acting so strangely. We’re they not as similar to herself as she had hoped? Of course they weren’t. Just because they knew how to fight didn’t mean they could relate to what she had gone through. Lucia felt like an idiot, why had she hoped that things would be different? 

Hylon said something but Lucia wasn’t listening. Her heart was hammering and she could feel the world closing in around her. She quickly turned and stalked away without a word. Ignoring the others even as they called after her. Lucia initially headed for the camp, but she felt so angry, so hopeless, and the last thing she wanted was for Leif to see her acting like a child. She spun on her heels and headed into the wilderness, she needed to kill something.