The place immediately fell silent as soon as those words left Tian's mouth, leaving everyone stunned, mostly Ash, who was surprised by this development. He left the arrow he nocked, freeing it from his grip, hitting the bullseye.
Raids are one of the most important yet most dangerous part of their training before being put in the frontline , it was usually to give the soldiers the practical and real life experience that they need and at the same time it was to filter out the good ones from the bad and for them to know who were the ones who were needed and the ones who would be discarded .
Ash on his part didn't want to be discarded so he had to be serious about survival and using everything in his arsenal to survive as that was what he had been doing , but even upon this he was scared , scared of losing and worse still dying but quickly erased that thought he had to survive somehow even with all the odds that were stacked against him and it was somehow ingrained into him even if he doesn't want it and he felt that they was another reason for him being afraid but anytime he tried to remember the said the reason he is completely railed off , and he knew that a few things was going missing from his memory but couldn't do anything.
One of the biggest problems he hadn't been able to conquer was his inability to use mana, whereas every single member of the Marksman division and other divisions could use it, some better than others. He had enlisted Lily and Tian's help, but couldn't find anything. His only hope was Captain Kurt, who promised to help him with the issue, having more access to information than he could.
"So? .... Its not like you we planning to die or anything " Lily reply was in contrast to what he was expecting he turned to see her , now he was noting her expression which wasn't one of fear, it was excitement " its just a gate raid , its not supposed to that scary " she said with a smile on her face , while Ash and Tian were not too surprised.
They knew her to be a bit restless , but not reckless and now hearing him realize that she wasn't worried for any reason what so ever , she was even happy to be going on a raid " I'm worried for Ash ….. he is sti1ll too young to go on one but I'm pretty much sure there would still make him go " Tian said voicing his real concern .
Lily this time had a frown on her face then it turned into a thoughtful expression, and then a smile that sent shivers down both Tian and Ash spine , he was touched that they were concerned with his safety but now he was concerned with his own safety since the smile she had on her face was only worn when she's plotting something that never ends well .
"That's a problem we can solve by increasing his training by two-fold; it's not that hard. "Those words were said with a smile, but Ash felt chills running down his spine from hearing them. ' You too, Tian, 'she added in a tone that left no room for complaint . Ash could feel his worry in some sense since the probability of them being on the same team was lower; the raids were usually done in teams of six or fewer, most times having members of other divisions mixed amongst them .
" I'm not that useless , even without mana, I can still hold my own, " Ash said in a reassuring tone , but Tian didn't reply, giving him a tired look. " I hope you can. "
*******************
Echoes of clashing blades sounded across the hall as two people moved, entangled in combat , the two being Ash and Tian, who were completely engrossed, not minding anything or anyone , it was already nighttime but none had noticed or didn't even mind at all, having all their concentration in the current activity .
Tian taught him close-quarter combat during the night, while Lily taught him other things during the day. According to Lily, they had to up his training just to increase his chances of survival , but they knew it didn't really matter, as when the time came, he could still lose his life .
Ash took a few steps backward creating distance between them to catch his breath but Tian wasn't letting him closing up to him aiming the dagger at his chest but Ash intercepted quickly trying to move away Tian was relentless in his assault not giving him the luxury of fighting back . " don't waste your time hesitating , always commit to your fights I have said this countless times already " Tian complained landing a hit to Ash side after failing to see through a feint .
Although Tian didn't seem strong, Ash initial thought was that he was weak but that changed when they had their first lesson . he was able to spot all of his mistakes and had been helping him up , the part that he saw on the first day was only a front he used to cover up to those who knew him he is a terrifying genius .
While they trained, Lily sat not too far from them , sometimes chipping things that usually made sense. The rest of the time, she spent trying to tease and distract them, which most usually didn't work due to both of them having all their concentration elsewhere, but she did sometimes manage to get a reaction.
Ash soon began to feel the of exhaustion washing over him; his movement soon grew weak, but that was the whole point of the training: Lily wanted him to be able to fight when he was already exhausted and was already out of stamina or when he was overwhelmed . It was something that didn't make sense at all if he thought about it, so he didn't and just went through with the flow .
Soon, his body gave in to the stress, and he lost his balance after being tripped by Tian. Both of them were exhausted, but Tian was having it worse. He was already exhausted from having to train all day, and now teaching him was taking a toll on him; everyone could see it .
Both of them lay on the ground, breathing heavily, letting the silence envelope them for a while. " Ash, I have two questions for you, and I need your answer, so listen, " Lily said in a calm tone, drawing the duo's attention.
"What is the use of combat ? "