“So, didn’t think I’d need to cover hiding bodies in the lesson plan, but if you want to branch out into it I can give you a few tips.”

  Lindle nearly fell over into the snow pile he had created as Madam Holly snuck up behind him, the grey-haired woman peering into the hole he had dug curiously. When all she saw was a mass of black dust, she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Haven’t heard of trying to bury a body after it’s been incinerated before.”

  Regaining his balance quickly, he shot a mild glare at her. “It’s not a body, it’s a by-product of my crafting skill. It was building up in my workshop, and I needed someplace to dump it.”

  Madam Holly hummed. “Well, it does stand out, but I doubt anyone is going to see you with a ton of what looks like ash and magically figure out what your class is. It’s been a while since I’ve managed to get the jump on you this badly. It truly that important that you hide this?”

  Lindle made a so-so gesture. “Part of it is that I’ve just been distracted lugging a pack full of nothing but black dust into the woods, knowing that it’s going to get into everything that I put back inside later. I then spent half an hour digging a hole. The other part is that I’m not sure how worried I should be, which makes me more nervous.”

  Madam Holly made an understanding ah noise and gestured for him to continue.

  Lindle tried to put his thoughts in order. “I mean… I have no idea what would or wouldn’t tip someone dangerous off about my class. It could be totally unknown, and it would take me waving around an Artifact in people's faces for anyone to come looking for me, or it could set off an alarm bell the moment some Veteran or noble hears word of a weird amount of black dust is rumored to have been found.” He shrugged. “None of the Nine-tail adventurers have heard anything about it. Is it a secret? Is it a total unknown?”

  “And if you don’t know where the threshold for failure is, you play it safe and hold back as much as possible, all the while wondering if you’ve already crossed it.” She continued his thought process.

  “Yeah… I guess it just doesn’t feel real. The threat, I mean. Sometimes I’m worried I’m going to bring down something devastating on everyone I know, but most of the time I can’t really feel the danger, and then when I realize that I get paranoid that I’ve been careless and I’m worried again.”

  Madam Holly shrugged, giving him an unbothered smile. “No one expects you to fully grasp your situation just because someone else told you that you were in danger, Lindle. The fact that you’re aware of your ignorance instead of assuming you’re in control is better than most your age, and quite frankly, many much older than you would handle it.”

  Lindle wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so the two remained in silence for a time as Lindle worked to bury the dust. Eventually, Madam Holly got impatient and slapped the snow pile, somehow shoveling the entire pile into the hole in a controlled wave of aura.

  “That looked like some kind of variant of [Repelling Knuckle],” He observed.

  “Good eye.” Madam Holly confirmed, “Technically a higher tier version, but they’re flexible if you’re willing to waste the points. I take it that that’s the technique you want to start with today?”

  Lindle sighed but settled into the first form of the stance the elder had taught him, priming his aura as his hand hovered over the warhorn on his belt.

  She hummed curiously as she looked at the Wildhunt Warhorn, body entirely relaxed. “Fancy looking thing. Let’s see if it helps you last a little longer than usual.” She grinned toothily. “Hold me off for… let’s say a full minute this time without going into the trees, and I’ll hold off on ambush training for the foreseeable future.”

  Lindle immediately activated [Flow] to give himself a few seconds to strategize. Survival training was designed to give Lindle a way to protect himself in melee long enough for his party to rescue him or escape, so Madam Holly would simulate those conditions with a fierce opener, then try and whittle him down with her speed and strength (held back massively of course) advantage before, knowing her, switching things up right before the end.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  With a vague plan in mind, Lindle lashed out with a [Repelling Knuckle] immediately in Madam Holly's direction. She was already moving in his direction, but before she closed the distance, a burst of aura burst from his fist in a net-like structure to blow her back. Forcing the aura to travel through the air weakened the technique a lot. It was designed to move through physical objects he hit, but it would still slow her down to buy him another two seconds.

  Lindle backpedaled quickly as Madam Holly tore through the aura net and reached him. Her small hands moved in a blur even under [Flow] as he moved to block and parry with practiced motions. His only advantage over his teacher was his size and height, and he leaned on that as hard as he could to hold her off. Even without aura flowing through them, her fists felt like tiny hard metal hammers as he kept [Repelling Knuckle] flowing through his hands, bursts of aura countering the force of her blows.

  Every so often Madam Holly let the full technique wrap her up and fling her away before dashing around to charge him from another angle. Lindle winced as a particularly savage blow broke through his guard, feeling his HP drop several points. He dropped, rolling with the hit to strike the ground and inverted the technique, aura flowing over his body as it dragged him away in a burst of speed. A disorienting experience that would have likely unbalanced him without [Flow].

  As much as he loved the technique, between the heat of battle and slowed subjective time, the end of the minute was still several agonizingly slow seconds away. Madam Holly let out a short mocking laugh in a span of a second, watching him as he landed. Did she… laugh in fast motion so it wouldn’t sound slowed down to him under [Flow]?

  Before he could get too distracted, she blurred in a burst of speed. Eyes widening as Lindle lost track of her, Lindle spun and dodged in a random direction, grabbing the warhorn in the same motion. Luckily, he had called the attack correctly, as Madam Holly hit the space he was just in from above, giving him just enough time to bring the artifact to his lips and blow.

  The temperature dropped, a burst of snowflakes streaming into the air as the haunting trumpet of a mammoth filled the air. If not for the increase in cold resistance he felt fill his body, similar to the experience of downing a potion, Lindle would have likely started shivering uncontrollably. He felt the draw on his physical stats lessen as their energy swelled, allowing him to pull on them more.

  As for Madam Holly, with his heightened Dex stat, he was able to watch the minuscule shift in her expression to surprise as she froze, an outline of icy blue energy covering her from head to toe. The wind howled with malicious intent, and even as the artifact's user, Lindle still felt a sliver of fear go down his spine as the energy it released directed itself at his mentor.

  He looked in slight awe at the Veteran tier warrior the Wildhunt Warhorn had successfully restrained. Not for long however, as with a flex of force and aura, Madam Holly twisted, the blue energy around her shattering like ice before she dived at him like a spotted leopard.

  Stumbling backward in surprise, Lindle brought up his arms to cover himself and closed his eyes, bracing for the hit.

  …

  Lindle waited, but nothing happened. Hesitatingly, Lindle opened his eyes and lowered his guard. A sharp pain flared between his eyes as Madam Holly flicked him.

  “Come on kid, I taught you better than to close your eyes like that.” She reprimanded him.

  Lindle hissed in pain as he held his face. That flick had taken close to 50 HP! And that was with his physical stats from the warhorn still buffed.

  “Sorry, sorry.” He rubbed his face. “I was caught off guard, I thought the Wildhunt Warhorn would only slow you down, not stop you completely.”

  She held out her hand, and Lindle handed it to her, letting her read the description. She whistled. “Frozen Fear, huh? I figured it was a debuff like that. I had to use one of my Skills to break out of that early, and not one I got from my Apprentice class either. You’ve gotten a lot better.”

  She tossed it back to him, Lindle catching it with a smile at the praise. “Thanks, Nothing told me it’s a big jump in the types of things I can make. I should be able to finish their body now.”

  “Really?” Madam Holly happily smiled. “How wonderful. Everyone’s growing up one after the other.” Her smile gained a cheeky edge. “I hope you’ve been taking my suggestions under advisement.”

  Lindle coughed. Madam Holly had some… creative ideas for when it came to Nothing’s body. He didn’t care what she said, a crafting companion didn’t need anywhere near that many claws and muscles. Or three forms of breath weaponry.

  She laughed. “I’m sure Nothing will be happy with whatever you end up making for him.” She gestured for him to follow and they set off walking.

  “Well, that aside, a win is a win, so we can take a break from melee combat for now.”

  Lindle blinked, before realizing she was right, technically he had lasted a full minute, Madam Holly only breaking out of his artifacts hold a mere second before the 60th second. He grinned and did a little cheer under his breath.

  Looking up, he realized they had reached the edge of a cliff. Ahead, he spotted a flock of flying Talonjays. To their side was a pile of shattered boulders.

  “Your goal is to hit the entire flock out of the air before they dive-bomb you,” Madam Holly cheerfully instructed. “No moving from this spot, and only using these rocks and [Savant Throw].”

  His cheer faded.