A flash of blue-green light flickered across the grounds. Without a sound, Rellana appeared directly in front of Mohg. He hadn't even been able to track her movements!
"Hah!"
Mohg let out a sudden war cry, his muscles bulging as he met Rellana's downward-thrusting blade head-on. His greatsword, wreathed in a white gale, swept upward like a rising storm.
An attack of such magnitude was undeniably powerful, but Rellana didn't exactly approve of this approach—especially considering Mohg's exceptional physical gifts.
Then, Mohg witnessed something that defied logic.
In mid-air, Rellana's body suddenly twisted. She didn't use a single point of leverage to pivot, and in that split second of Mohg's bewilderment, his attack whistled past her waist. The powerful gust from his own swing actually provided the momentum for Rellana's next move.
A piercing glint of sword light erupted. Mohg cursed inwardly, realizing he had overextended. He tried to pull back, but the opening he'd left was too large to recover from in time. He had no choice but to mitigate the damage.
White energy surged through his body. Weapon Art: Endure!
In simpler terms: Prepare for a beating!
Rellana's strike slammed into the right side of Mohg's torso.
Thwack!
"Ngh!"
A sharp, searing pain radiated from his right waist through his entire body. He reckoned that if he hadn't used Endure to tighten his muscles and dampen the impact, it would have hurt significantly more. Of course, a large part of the pain came from the fact that the greatsword was unedged—getting hit with a blunt object was excruciating. If she had used a sharpened blade, he wouldn't have just been hurting; he would have been complaining about being carved up.
Before Mohg could catch his breath, Rellana tapped the ground with her toe and drifted toward him with ghost-like grace.
Visually, her movements seemed slow, but Mohg—facing her directly—knew better. The speed was blistering; in the blink of an eye, she was back in his face. Any faster, and he would have lost track of her entirely. He suspected this was a unique movement technique of hers, one he had never encountered before.
Whoosh—
A chilling whistle of air came from his upper left, making his scalp tingle. His combat instincts took over, and without a second thought, he hoisted his greatsword to block.
Clang!
The ring of metal on metal echoed. Rellana's strike hit the top third of Mohg's blade, knocking it aside. With an elegant flourish, she followed through with a wheeling slash. A blue-green arc cut through the air, pointed straight at Mohg's throat.
Boom!
Sensing the imminent danger, Mohg stomped the ground and let out a roar. Seizing the moment where Rellana's stance was slightly offset by the follow-through, he recovered his strength and brought his greatsword crashing down.
Crash!
A massive boom shook the training grounds. Stone shards flew, and a cloud of dust slowly billowed upward.
As the dust settled, the two figures were revealed. Rellana stood calm and composed, her blade resting against Mohg's neck. Mohg's downward strike had been pinned to the ground by Rellana's foot.
"Well done, Gwyn. However, your weaknesses are glaring. It is understandable, given your lack of systematic training. Your combat style relies heavily on instinct and physical prowess. To have reached this level with such a method is impressive," Rellana said, slowly withdrawing her blade and offering a word of praise.
"Even if you say that, I can't say I'm feeling particularly happy about it," Mohg muttered flatly as he pulled his greatsword from the cracked floor. "I'm curious, Princess Rellana... exactly how much of your strength were you using?"
"That is a secret. However, the physical strength I used was roughly equal to yours—perhaps only slightly higher," Rellana replied, looking at him.
Mohg nodded. He could tell she wasn't lying. It was simply that her combat techniques were far more sophisticated than his. His current martial style was too slow on the uptake and even slower on the recovery, making his attacks easy to parry or dodge.
In other words, his "startup" and "recovery" frames were far too long. In a real fight, he usually relied on the power of Incantations, so it wasn't normally a glaring issue. However, he was more than happy to improve his skills as a warrior.
"Do you have any advice, Princess Rellana?" Mohg asked.
"Mm. Since you intend to use Righeius's weaponry, I will provide you with the Carian techniques for spears and halberds. However, I am not a master of those weapons myself. I can help you improve your proficiency through sparring, but I cannot offer much in the way of specific, high-level theory."
Mohg was satisfied with this arrangement. Long spears were very similar to the weapons he intended to use in the future.
"Very well. Break time is over. Let us continue."
"Huh?" Mohg looked up, staring at Rellana in confusion.
"What? Do you have an objection?"
"Uh... isn't the order of operations a bit wrong here? Shouldn't I go and study those spear and halberd techniques first?" Mohg asked in a small voice.
"There is no need. Today, training with the greatsword is sufficient. It is your current weapon, after all. Come, no more dawdling!"
Seeing Rellana resume her combat stance, Mohg felt a phantom ache in his side.
What to do when life is going too well? Find Rellana for a "sparring session," take a brutal beating, and you'll find yourself much more grounded.
"Lord Horulf, we have discovered a suspicious cave. It's inhabited by a low-level demi-human clan. The danger level is minimal."
"Excellent. Try not to kill the demi-humans if possible. Find a way to make use of them; handled correctly, they serve as a natural layer of concealment."
"Understood."
After a period of searching, Horulf and his men had scouted several caves along the coast. Two were crab dens, two were nests for Land Octopuses, and one was a communal gathering spot for various creatures.
The cave they had just found, however, was the most promising. It was deep, and its orientation trended toward the small island not far off-shore.
He had a hunch they had found the right place.
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Elden Ring: As the Consort, I Reject Miquella (412 Chapters – Ongoing)
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