raining Grounds, South Eterna Forest
"You see that slope?" the tutor asked, jabbing a finger toward the uneven rise in the training field. "That's your trigger. You drop the rocks from above. Control the angle, control the damage. Tyrunt doesn't need to be fancy. He just needs to bring it down hard."
Tyrunt growled low, eyes locked on the jagged incline. His tail flicked once. He didn't like waiting.
I crossed my arms. "You hearing this, or just pretending to be interested?"
Tyrunt glanced back at me, teeth flashing. Half a challenge, half a grin.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now aim."
The tutor stepped back, boots crunching over loose gravel. "He's not aiming. He's posturing."
"He'll figure it out," I said.
"That's a lot of optimism for a fossil with anger issues."
"That's not optimism. That's experience."
Tyrunt reared back and slammed both claws into the dirt. Nothing happened.
"No good," the tutor muttered. "He's too close. You want Rock Slide, you need momentum and terrain. This isn't Bite. You don't generate the power. You weaponize what's already there."
"Try again," I told him. "Up the ridge. Build space."
Tyrunt shook himself, paws tearing into moss and dirt as he scrambled halfway up the slope. He turned, gave the rocks a once-over, then slammed a foot down and roared.
This time, the ground quaked.
Chunks of earth shivered, then fell—too early, too wide, like a mudslide trying to be a boulder strike. The rocks skidded. One rolled near the tutor's boot.
He grunted. "Cute. But we're not here to make avalanches."
"It's a start," I said. "Don't rush him."
"He's a dinosaur with jaws strong enough to punch through steel. You think the wild's gonna wait while he practices?"
"No," I said. "But I will."
Tyrunt growled again, not at the tutor, not at me—just at the hillside. He backed up a little farther this time. Climbed to the top of the rise. Dug in.
I saw the shift in his stance before it happened.
Tension in the legs. Weight forward. Breath held.
He jumped.
Not a big leap, but enough to crash down with force—claws first, mouth open, biting the dirt like it had insulted his ancestors.
This time the ground reacted.
Not with a quake.
With violence.
Boulders cracked and split. Sharp rocks splintered downward in a burst of momentum and noise, sliding and crashing together in a rolling wall that pelted the training dummies below.
"Now that," the tutor said, shielding his face, "was a Rock Slide."
Tyrunt landed with a snort, tail swaying.
"You feel that?" I called. "That's how you cut off a charge. That's how you shut someone up."
Tyrunt didn't answer. He didn't need to. He just stomped twice and stared at the ruin he'd created like it was prey.
The tutor gave me a side glance. "Not bad. You're lucky this one's a quick learner. Some of 'em take weeks to grasp terrain-based strikes."
"He doesn't get terrain," I said. "He gets winning."
The guy nodded. "Same thing, if you're smart."
He looked at Tyrunt again. "He's not going to do well in cities. Too much concrete. Not enough leverage."
"We'll train for it. He's not a one-trick fossil."
The tutor hesitated. "You know, if you ever want to teach him Earthquake—"
"No," I said immediately. "Not yet. He doesn't know how to hold back. Earthquake would kill someone."
"Fair enough. But keep it in mind. He's got the frame for it."
I nodded, watching Tyrunt claw a half-buried stone loose and chew on it like gum. Probably didn't even notice his gums bleeding.
The session ended quietly. The tutor waved off payment—I'd already bled enough coin this week—and said something about referrals getting me a discount next time. Doubt I'd be able to afford a next time any time soon.
We walked back toward the edge of the field, Tyrunt trailing beside me with his usual stomp-grumble cadence.
"You're a damn brute," I muttered. "But we're getting there."
He huffed.
I nudged him with a knuckle against the jaw. "Don't let it go to your head. You still can't dodge for shit."
Tyrunt snapped his jaws just close enough to make a point. I smirked.
The sun was already dipping toward the horizon. We'd be back on the road soon.
But for now?
We had momentum.