CHAPTER 47: SHE TOOK MY BREATH AWAY

"Begin whenever you’re ready," Sera said, settling into a fighting stance that looked deceptively casual but somehow conveyed the impression of a coiled spring ready to explode into motion.

Jack tried to mirror her stance, drawing on half-remembered martial arts movies and the basic combat training his system had provided. He raised his hands defensively and began to circle, looking for an opening.

Sera watched him with the patient attention of a predator studying wounded prey. "Interesting," she mused. "Your footwork is all wrong, your guard is too high, and you’re telegraphing your intentions with every muscle in your body. But please, don’t let me stop you from making the first move."

Stung by her casual analysis, Jack lunged forward with what he thought was a solid right hook. Sera moved like liquid mercury, sliding aside from his punch with minimal effort while simultaneously striking out with her palm to catch him in the solar plexus.

The impact drove the air from Jack’s lungs and sent him stumbling backward, gasping. But Sera wasn’t finished. She flowed forward like a dancer, her leg sweeping out to catch his ankle and send him tumbling to the grass.

Jack rolled away desperately, trying to regain his footing, but Sera was already there waiting for him. She grabbed his wrist as he tried to push himself up, using his own momentum to flip him over her hip in a throw that sent him sprawling across the lawn.

"Come on, dragon slayer," Sera taunted, though her voice held more amusement than malice. "You killed Spiralus with a single attack, and this is the best you can do? Where’s that legendary prowess?"

Jack pushed himself to his feet, his body already aching from impacts with the ground. His enhanced physical stats were keeping him from serious injury, but they weren’t helping him fight any more skillfully.

If anything, his increased strength was making his movements more clumsy as he tried to compensate for his lack of technique.

He tried a different approach, feinting with his left hand while launching a kick with his right leg. Sera caught his ankle mid-kick, twisted sharply, and sent him spinning to the ground again. Before he could recover, she was on top of him, her knee pressed against his chest and her hand positioned at his throat.

"Yield?" she asked pleasantly.

’No,’ Jack gasped, trying to get her off. But Sera’s position was perfect, using leverage and technique to control him despite his strength. His struggles only exhausted him further while she remained perfectly balanced.

"Your choice," Sera shrugged. She shifted her weight slightly, and suddenly Jack couldn’t breathe at all. Pressure points, he realized she was cutting off his air supply with precise finger placement against his throat.

Spots began to dance in his vision as his oxygen-starved brain started to shut down. With his last conscious thought, he managed to tap the ground in surrender.

Sera immediately released the pressure, allowing Jack to suck in desperate gulps of air as she gracefully stood and offered him a hand up.

"Not bad for a first attempt," she said with genuine warmth, as if she hadn’t just choked him unconscious. "You’ve got good instincts and your physical conditioning is excellent. But your technique..." She shook her head with obvious disappointment.

’Is terrible,’ Jack finished, accepting her help to stand. His legs felt unsteady, and his pride was considerably more bruised than his body. ’I get it. I’m not actually a fighter, I’m just someone with abilities’

"Oh, don’t be so dramatic," Sera laughed. "You’re not terrible, you’re untrained. There’s a difference. Terrible implies no potential for improvement. Untrained just means no one’s bothered to teach you properly."

She began walking in a circle around him, her green eyes studying his form with professional interest.

"You’ve got the physical tools, strength, speed, endurance. Your reflexes aren’t bad, and you don’t panic under pressure. But you fight like someone who’s always had magic to fall back on. You have no footwork, no understanding of leverage or momentum, and no concept of reading your opponent’s intentions."

’Is there a point to this analysis?’ Jack asked, still catching his breath.

"The point," Sera said, stopping directly in front of him, "is that you have potential. Raw, unpolished, completely undisciplined potential. With the right training, you could actually become dangerous in close combat."

"Are you offering to train me?" Jack asked, surprised by the suggestion.

Sera’s grin returned, wild and unpredictable. "Maybe. I haven’t decided yet. It depends on whether you’re worth the effort. But I will say this. Watching you fight was interesting.The fact that you’re willing to get thrown around and choked out for the sake of learning something new..." She trailed off, studying him with an expression he couldn’t quite read.

’That’s either very brave or very stupid,’ Jack said.

"In my experience," Sera replied, "the best warriors are usually a little bit of both."

Lyra, who had been watching the entire exchange with obvious concern, finally spoke up. "Are you finished trying to kill each other? Because Aurelius will be expecting Jack for the evening meal soon."

"Kill each other?" Sera laughed. "Lyra, darling, if I wanted to kill him, this conversation would have been much shorter. I was being gentle."

Jack looked at her in disbelief. ’That was gentle?’

"Oh yes," Sera nodded enthusiastically. "I didn’t break anything, didn’t cause any permanent damage, and I made sure you stayed conscious long enough to learn something. Very gentle by my standards."

She began walking back toward the main palace, calling over her shoulder as she went. "Think about what I said, dragon slayer. Power without skill is just potential energy waiting to be wasted. But power with skill..." She paused, looking back with that unsettling grin. "That’s how legends are made."

As Sera disappeared around a hedge, Lyra moved to Jack’s side with obvious concern. "Are you all right? She didn’t seriously hurt you, did she?"

Jack flexed his arms and legs to check for damage. Other than some bruises and wounded pride, he seemed to be intact. ’I’ll live. Though I feel like I just learned a very humbling lesson about the difference between having power and knowing how to use it.’

"Sera has that effect on people," Lyra said with a slight smile. "She’s... complicated. Brilliant, dangerous, completely unpredictable, but also one of the most skilled fighters I’ve ever seen. If she’s offered to train you, that’s actually a significant honor. She doesn’t usually bother with people she considers hopeless."

’And what do you think?’ Jack asked softly. ’Am I hopeless?’

Lyra considered the question seriously. "No," she said finally. "You’re untrained, like she said. But you also didn’t give up, even when you were clearly outmatched. That counts for something."

Jack thought about everything he’d experienced in the last day. Clearing Floor 1 of Tartarus Spire, learning a legendary class, and now being thoroughly schooled in hand-to-hand combat by someone almost foot shorter than him. Each experience had shown him new aspects of power and skill he’d never considered.

’I think,’ he said slowly, ’I need to start learning martial arts.’

Lyra nodded approvingly. "That’s probably the wisest thing anyone’s said in this palace for months. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up before dinner. And Jack?" She paused, her pale eyes looked serious.

"Don’t let today discourage you. Everyone starts somewhere." Lyra said with a slight smile.

With Sera gone, they made their way back to the palace.

’Lyra,’ he said quietly, ’what you said earlier about my family coming to negotiate... when?’

Her step faltered almost imperceptibly. "Soon," she said, not meeting his eyes.

Jack felt something cold settle in his stomach. ’And you think he’ll use that against me somehow?’

"I think," Lyra said carefully, "that Aurelius is very good at making people believe they have choices when they really don’t. He’ll present options that seem reasonable, generous even. But each one will draw you deeper into his web."

They had finally returned back to the palace, and Lyra turned to face him fully. "Remember what I told you about saying no, Jack. Once you start compromising, it becomes easier to compromise again. And again."

Before Jack could respond, a palace servant approached with a respectful bow. "Master Jack? His Majesty requests your presence in the private dining hall. He has important matters to discuss with you..."