EG 3 Ch 22 (Patreon)

"Go easy on me, okay?" I said, standing across from Violet, the practice saber out.

For our training she wore a skintight black suit with a griffin on the chest. Though she had it unzipped down to her navel and it was perfectly clear there was nothing underneath. Her hair seemed deceptively messy, like she’d styled it to be a little messy today. Perhaps that went well with hiding some actual messiness that might come from training.

She tilted her head. "What do you mean, go easy on you? Today is just going to be you practicing your forms. After any time off, that's the best place to start. Practicing actual sparring without the fundamentals reinforced is worse than worthless. It's downright harmful to your learning."

"Ah. Okay," I said, squaring up my hips and beginning to swing the saber over and over.

"That's good, that's good," the Kikai nodded along as I just started chopping the air repeatedly.

"Is it, though? It just seems fairly boring." I continued to swing.

"Focus," Violet snapped. As a teacher of the saber, she was rather strict. "Perhaps if you practice with the saber enough, you'd be able to fend off a few blows from a divine."

"Even I somehow doubt that. It's like saying that if I practice enough, I might be able to stop a car barehanded. Some things are just outside the realm of possibility." I told her.

"The divine I fought at Mershad was very poorly trained," Violet told me, as if that made all the difference in the world.

"Okay, and?" I prodded.

"Even someone partially trained could have seen her attacks coming from a mile away. Surviving her attack would likely be easy enough by just predicting where she was going to swing and making sure your saber was already there. You shouldn't give up, even against the perceived notion that a divine will be able to overpower you. Who knows, you still could develop some form of extra strength." She told me.

I squinted at her. "I thought the leading theory was that enhanced divine strength was actually still some form of active usage of your abilities and I lacked the neural pathways for it."

"Be that as it may, we just have too little data to make a call just yet, Captain. And certainly too little data to give up." She glared, as if giving up were a cardinal sin.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd prefer to keep any divine Kikai I might encounter, besides you of course, at a distance. A very long distance."

Violet grinned. "Probably for the best. But still, we train not for what we expect, but for the unexpected." That was clearly another of her master's favorite sayings based on the way Violet had a massive grin on her face, like she'd been looking for some excuse to use it and finally found it.

So I went through a hundred swings and the forms a dozen times before I chugged some water and turned to her. "What's next?" I asked.

She looked up at the ceiling. "Aikari, load training program six."

"Are you certain?" the AI asked.

Violet cleared her throat. "Training mode six, please."

"All right." If the AI were here, I was certain she would be shrugging. She was quite expressive for an AI. Though admittedly my experience with them in this time was limited, I got the feeling that she was fairly unique.

The scenery around us suddenly changed to a bunch of divine Kikai that pounced on me immediately. I squawked and threw my hands up, only to fail as one of their sabers sliced through me and the whole simulation dissipated.

"Again," Violet barked.

This time I twisted out of the way even before it began.

"Better. Now, I said you can block a divine if only you can predict their blows. This is your chance, Captain." She spoke like I might revel in the opportunity.

I did not. Instead, I barely managed to keep my head above water, or in this case my head on my shoulders as divine Kikai seemed to pop out of the woodwork all around me.

"I thought I needed to practice the basics before we did sparring." I grumbled.

Violet chuckled. "This isn't sparring. This is simply a blocking exercise." She folded her arms behind her back. "You'll know when we get to the real sparring." She gave me a savage grin.

My cute Kikai admirer was gone, replaced with this brutal coach. Well, she was still cute, so at least that dulled the edge a little.

"No more needless thoughts," Violet said, and I wondered if she could read minds as a divine now too. "If you have that much time to think, then perhaps we need to increase the difficulty," she said sharply. "Aikari, raise it ten percent."

The sudden ambushes became increasingly frequent, and I glared at her.

"Oh, do you have energy to make it even harder?" she asked with a Machiavellian grin.

The glare instantly fell off my face into a very practiced neutrality. "I am not sure what you mean. And stop distracting me, it's hard enough already," I grumbled, causing the divine to cross her arms behind her back with a smug smile.

"I knew adding you to the harem was only going to make the captain better," Lily said from above.

"Of course. If there's one thing we can agree on, it is the absolute requirement of the captain's safety. And making him more capable only makes him safer." Violet stated.

"Agreed," Lily said eagerly, and I squinted up at her.

"I have you to thank for this?" I grunted out between rolling to the side and coming to my feet to block more holograms that dispersed the second my practice saber met theirs.

"No thanks necessary," Lily said smugly. "Besides, wipe that grouch off your face. We both know that you'd rather push your capability to new heights than be spared in this exercise."

I squinted at her briefly. "You've been spending too much time with Melgara, I think." Though, I did enjoy learning. The trainers I had been using in the holodeck were actually quite fun.

"The doctor is a wise woman on many matters," Lily said.

"Remind me to thank her for her assistance in so many things later." Though I said that last bit mostly for their benefit. "For now, I am focusing on my lessons." I said it with an upturned nose. As much as I balked at the training, the reality was it would be very good for me, and perhaps I wouldn't even need Lily to hover quite so much. “Maybe later you can let me do more things on my own when we leave the ship?”

"I see. If that's suitable motivation, then we can discuss," Lily said. "And if you'd like, I've been working with Melgara on creating more genetic modifications."

"It's too dangerous." Violet apparently had some strong opinions on the topic of my modifications.

"Him remaining susceptible to a large number of attacks is what is too dangerous," Lily snapped from where one of her sensory nodes was nestled into the ceiling.

"Take it outside," I said quickly, grunting with the effort of keeping the training going and a conversation. "Some of us are trying to train here. And besides, I am trying to improve. Don't talk like you two are the only ones putting in the work."

"I'm sorry, Captain," Lily said quickly.

"Me as well." Violet dipped her head in apology. "We will take this outside if need be." Violet bowed low.

"No need," Lily said in haste. "Please continue with your training, both of you. And Violet, I expect Captain back in one piece."

Lily's presence disappeared from up above, though I did frown before glancing back at Violet. "Well, you two are getting along far better, it seems."

"Much better," the divine Kikai agreed, her tails swishing behind her.

"Well then, we ought to hurry up our date here soon, so that you can take full advantage of her improved impression of you." I offered.

The resulting grin from the woman was absolutely massive. So much so that it was infectious, and I grinned back, even as she resumed the training at an increased speed.

***

I lay on the floor of the holodeck, using a towel to wipe away the sweat that threatened to bead down into my face and make the exercise harder than necessary.

"You are improving," Violet said, standing back and watching. Her fourth tail had adjusted fully, and it was obvious by the way its coloration had changed to match the purple and white of her others.

"Only because I have a good teacher. Aikari, time until mission start?" I asked.

"Five hours," the AI answered.

I stood up, stretching my arms overhead and letting a satisfying pop of my vertebrae bring a smile to my face. "All right, that's all the training we're going to have then, Violet. I'm going to wash up and then get ready for the mission."

"Food in thirty?" she asked.

I checked in with my stomach, glancing to the side before nodding. "Yeah, let's go. You too, Pip." I glanced at the leviton that had been dozing in the corner.

"Pip pip." It perked up at the idea of food and shot over like a bullet.

The little leviton was a glutton, and we were still trying to refine its diet. Unfortunately, it wasn't as if he came with a manual, though Minnie had certainly helped with some information of his race. Other parts, well, weren't things the nutripaste dispenser was exactly made for, like incredibly dense metals or radioactive elements that you wouldn't find stable outside extreme environments. Apparently they were just the kind of things that a young space whale needed to develop.

Though she was insistent that we could take our time and that levitons were very adaptable and at the worst it would delay and not stunt his growth.

Pip plopped himself on top of my head as I thought about how large he was supposed to get. Levitons were generally larger that dragons and Minnie told me there were ancient levitons much like her and were even bigger with metal and crystal encrusted hides that made them the focus of more than a few people trying to make a buck. A leviton corpse was filled with so many rare minerals and metals that they could easily set someone for the remainder of their life.

There was just one small hitch of course, someone had to kill a space whale weighing in the billions of metric tons.

Though, their reclusiveness made more sense if they were walking vaults of feds.

“Pip?” The little leviton asked.

“I love you too Pip. Let’s hurry up so we can snag some food.” I continued back to my quarters, spotting Minnie along the way. "The mission commences soon," I reminded her, to which she gave a shallow nod.

"For the Void," she nodded, and continued on her way.

"Wait a second, Minnie." I stopped her before she got far. "I just wanted to say thank you for joining us, and for all of the help you have been." All I’d gotten from her was that she was here to observe Lily and had some faint friendship with Melgara.

"I've come to satisfy first Melgara's curiosity, and then my own. No thanks are necessary." She told me.

"Perhaps not for you, but for me. Your presence is very reassuring. After all, on Sage Shores, they were obviously giving me some substantial preferential treatment simply because of your presence." I dipped my head in thanks.

Her mouth parted. "They would. But feel no obligation toward me, Captain. I am simply doing as I desire."

"And you often call me void-touched. I was wondering if you could tell me exactly what that means." I teed up a topic that had been nagging at me and might keep her talking long enough to build something.

"The Void is where we all go to die. It's where stars and planets do too. For you to be void-touched means you've died once before." She told me.

"Haven't we all?" I chuckled. "I mean, there are some religions that suggest we're all just recycled soul matter."

"Few things return from the Void," she paused, staring at me with a small glimmer in her eyes. "Thus I hope you will forgive my curiosity, and accept it for what it is."

"Of course. You've given us so much help, I wouldn't ask for any more. Though if you do ever run out of curiosity, do let me know before you leave," I requested with a big smile on my face.

The black dragon suddenly stepped up next to me. Her being so close made it once again clear that she was massive, having another head of height over me. And when she got this close, it put my eye level square with her extraordinarily large chest. She grabbed me by the back of my head and pressed me in with an almost motherly softness.

"I am curious to see what you will accomplish, and why the Void has seen fit to spit you back out." She told me.

I turned to look up at her eyes, which was incredibly awkward given how she was holding me, but I would be damned if I didn't try. While also ignoring just how soft those massive mounds were as I had to sort of push my chin into her chest. “Why so interested in the Void?”

"While I may not touch the Void for many, many star-lives to come, it is my eternal companion. The one absolute in my life." She told me.

"Perhaps when the universe is dead and the stars have wasted, I will see you in the Void." I smiled at the thought it was macabre but sort of sweet.

"I would never wish the Void upon anyone." Minnie smiled. "I will not rush to its embrace, but I will accept it happily when it comes. It is inevitable, and there is no sense in trying to fight it."

"There may not be sense in it, but I will put up some resistance," I said with a chuckle that Minnie did not return.

"Understandable. Life is addicting, and if you wish it's high to end do talk to others," She cupped my cheeks and pushed me out of her warm embrace.

“I don’t think that’ll happen anytime soon. There’s simply too much for me to do, after all I came back from the Void once, I can only imagine that’s because I still have far too much to do in this life,” I felt almost bad when I suddenly missed the comfort the hug had provided.

"Now, unless you have more topics to discuss, I do believe Melgara asked for my assistance before this next operation." Minni stated.

"Is everything all right?" I asked, and Minnie shrugged.

"She needs me to move things," the Dragon of the Void said.

I blinked. She really was okay with being a glorified fork lift. An ancient being of no small renown was fine just being used as cheap labor. I suppose if she didn't mind, who was I to say anything about it?

Minnie was quite the oddball. Though apparently she gave really fucking good hugs, I admitted to myself, feeling the warmth of her touch still lingering against me. For all her talk of the Void, I really thought she would be colder, both somehow in personality and physical temperature. Then again, she was a dragon. Dragons probably ran hot.

As for personality, I felt like I had for a moment stepped past her walls and realized she had a very warm gooey center.

Our conversation had piqued my curiosity in one way. She measured time in star-lives. That was a very interesting tidbit, and I wondered briefly how they standardized the lives of stars, as obviously they could be quite varied. I mean, we'd be talking red dwarfs, blue giants. The combination of possibilities for how long a star lived was terrifyingly large. Then again, when it came to measuring large durations, I supposed stars were really the longest-lived things that would be readily available in the universe. Though perhaps that could wait till later. At least until after we finished the present mission.