“Well, since Henrik opted out of today's lesson,” he drawled, stepping closer since I hadn't. “I think we’ll work on your coordination at hand-to-hand combat.” He tapped his torso, suspiciously close to where our glyphs were. “Try to land a hit on me.”
“That doesn't seem like a good use of official training time,” I commented.
“If I say it is, it is.” His eyes were alit with humor. “Are you afraid you'll hurt me?”
Oh, I'd hurt him alright.
Assuming a grappling posture like we'd learned, I prepared myself to lunge. I circled him, waiting for the best opportunity to strike. He stayed infuriatingly still, even as I went around beyond his blind spots.
Darting forward, I grabbed at air while he dodged to the side. I kicked out with my leg, hoping to trip him like he’d done to me, but he sidestepped it.
“A serviceable attempt, but not great,” he remarked. “You left yourself wide open to a counter maneuver.”
I gritted my teeth, moving further behind him. Waiting a few seconds, I rushed at him again. This time, he shot his leg out and toppled me onto the floor as I rushed forward. I picked myself back up, eyeing him.
“You're going to have to do more than make come-hither looks at me if you're going to land a hit,” he taunted.
I barreled forward, even though he had a clear line of sight on me. It didn't matter, since I'd tried to get him off guard twice from behind and failed. But as I neared him, before I could react, he hooked his arm on my waist and spun me sideways. I landed in a dazed heap, breathing heavily.
“That was even worse than before,” he chided. “Try throwing a punch, maybe a kick, instead of just trying to knock me over.”
Pushing myself back up, I faced him again. He had a point, I'd been charging at him on each attempt. This time I swung out with my leg, trying to hit him in the shoulder. He sidestepped, looking unphased. “Good,” he commented, as I followed up with a punch toward his face. He grabbed my forearm and twisted it around behind me, causing me to yelp.
His breath was cool against the sweat on my neck as he leaned in. “You're telegraphing every move before you make it. Follow your instincts, move the way you’re built to.”
My instincts were giving me some very mixed signals right now.
He released my arm, stepping back.
I spun around, trying to punch him in the chest and following it with a kick toward his opposite side. He took three quick steps back, avoiding me entirely. An animalistic noise of frustration broke free.
“I'd be angry too, getting shown up this badly,” Zevrial mocked.
I charged him, following one punch with another and another, swinging out with my knee. He dodged each intended strike with fluid ease.
His skill level was too far above mine. I’d have to distract him and hope it worked.
“Are you sure you're qualified to teach?” I asked, panting for breath as he continued to dodge every blow I sent toward him.
“Mhm,” he replied, twisting out of the way of my kick at his knees.
“I disagree,” I sent out my elbow in the hopes of catching him in the side of the face. No luck. “I might need to teach you a thing or two.” I grabbed at his hips but missed, again.
“I'm sure I'd enjoy that,” he remarked. “But only after you manage to actually hit me.” He swept out a leg again, tripping me for the third time. But as I went down, I grabbed his leg, dragging him down too.
Shock registered on his face before he hit the floor. I didn't give him the satisfaction of waiting before I swung a punch toward his side. It connected with an audible splat.
“Shit!” I yanked my hand back. My knuckles were damp with blood. “I didn't hit you that hard, did I?”
“I’m not that weak,” he grunted. “But it was a solid hit.” He pulled up the corner of his shirt. My breath caught at the sight of a large bandage underneath, edges seeping with blood.
“Holy Devourer...What happened?” I asked. The bandage stretched all the way from above his ribs toward his outer thigh. My eyes wandered rebelliously.
Down, naughty girl.
“You didn’t hit anything vital, just pulled a stitch.” He waved me back. Something dark and curving was peeking out from the lower edge of the bandage that caught my attention.
“Is that...” I leaned closer, ignoring him. My eyes bulged. “Do you have Skinscript on your thigh? That cannot be an officially approved location.”
