Sweet Starry Shadows

Training

Sweet Starry Shadows

Chapter 7: Training

After they both finished their sandwiches, they both began to head out outside where Sakura stood in front of Lucy with a focused expression. The wind, cold but full of life, it danced around as it made their hair sway to its rhythmic tune.

There was a silence between them, to which the crimson smirked to what was currently going on.

"So, the first thing that we'll begin with, shall be improving your stamina. With your stamina, it is vital to have a lot of energy till the end just in case an enemy, or your opponent strikes backs unknowingly. If you're tired and worn out, it may be the end of you if they attack with a lethal attack which can cause high amounts of damage to you and your body," Sakura explained as she motioned the blonde to follow her.

Lucy following the crimson over to the waterfall, she watched the girl point into the water. "Water is one of the hardest things to run in. It has the resistance to go against you and it’s bound to stagger you and even make you tumble to your feet if you take the wrong step. It's the perfect substance to train when you want to improve your stamina and breathing techniques..." Sakura explained where she nodded.

Jumping in without any further haste, she knew that asking pointless questions wasn't going to get her anywhere considering her situation. She needed to become stronger to prove Lisanna's insults that they were wrong. Remembering Natsu's smiling face, she frowned where Sakura noticed it.

"Having a painful experience will open new doors and paths that were never opened for you to enter, to begin with..." she explained before walking over to the edge where she sat on the side with her legs dipped in.

The water cold where the blonde began to breathe slightly quicker, she watched Sakura smirk. "The cold can drain your strength really quickly. That's why it's important to regulate your body temperature and adapt to the coldness before you grow numb and lose your breath..." she began where she began to kick her legs playfully in the water.

"Please run laps back and forth within this pond. You can start steadily by walking, and then slowly make yourself go into a jog. Do whatever you'd like to get use to this," Sakura instructed.

Lucy nodding, she looked down to the rippling water that was up to her waist. Feeling the cold sensation run up and down her body like ice, she shivered.

She pulled her right leg up and then switched legs where she found herself having some difficulties. With the rough feeling on the bottom of her feet, she knew that Sakura had cemented the bottom to prevent herself from getting injured from what may once be on the bottom of the waterfall.

Struggling as she made it to one side to the other, she found herself breathing rather heavily during this workout. “This is harder than running on the shorelines of a beach,” she sighed. Slowly, she looked over to the girl that was watching her and waited for some kind of feedback to be given to her.

"Watch your breathing technique - Breathe too fast and you'll wear yourself quicker - Breathe too slow then you'll collapse," Sakura informed.

Nodding, she took in a deep breath and exhaled. Biting the bottom of her lips, she began to breathe through her nose at a steady pace and began to increase the pace of her walking. Looking over to Sakura to see if she was doing this right, she signed in relief when Sakura nodded her head and crossed her arms to watch her continue her exercise from where she stood.

As time passed, Lucy could feel herself getting used to walking in the water. Slowly going into a slow jog, she eventually found herself struggling where she fell into the water face-first. "You can't just change the pace straight away," Sakura stated once she pushed herself out of the water to stand with heavy pants. "You should've told me that in the first place Sakura," she complained as she rubbed her nose in pain with an eye closed.

Hearing Sakura chuckle, she gave the crimson a pointed look. "It's not funny, Sakura," she said with a frown on her face. The with long hair rolling her eyes and smirking to her, she held up both of her hands in surrender. "Right, sorry for laughing," she apologised half-heartedly before jumping into the water where she walked over to the blonde to place a hand over her heart.

"Well... Your heart is beating quite fast since you just fell, so let's get you moving straight away. Jog and get used to the slow pace. Just don't force yourself to fight against its viscosity or you'll end up tripping like just then. If it helps for you, try treading and jogging in one spot where, when you’re used to the pace, try to take a step forward in that jogging stance and increase the steps," Sakura instructed before moving out of the way in such ease which made the girl jealous.

Pouting, Lucy ended up listening to Sakura's instructions and tips. Before long, everything finally began to make sense as Lucy found herself moving along in the water with such ease. "Finally, I can finally move without having to breathe so hard!" she cheered, throwing a fist-pump into the air. "And I thought that this was mission impossible!" she cried out before looking over to Sakura who was clapping her hands.

"Great! Now climb against this waterfall and make it to the top," Sakura instructed.

Dropping her arm down into the water where water splattered everywhere, she gave Sakura a tired look. "You have to kidding me," she groaned. “There’s no way… It’s going to take forever,” she then complained.

Sakura raising a brow, she crossed her arms. "You wanted me to train you, and I can't really train you when it comes to magic. So, this is what I can only do for you at this point," she replied.

The blonde giving up, she nodded her head. "Alright, alright. I'll do it just so I can forget about everything and become stronger," she replied where Sakura sadly smiled. "If everything feels like it's going to end, please don't think about the negative. No matter what, just remember that no matter the differences, you will become stronger than him," she said as Lucy walked towards the waterfall.

Her foot on one of the ledges of a rock, she looked over to Sakura with a sad expression. "What do you mean?" she whispered, feeling her heart slowly sinking and tears forming.

Watching the girl grin, she raised a brow in question. Obviously, there was a pro rather a con to her heartbreak and rejection from him.

Waiting for Sakura to give her an answer, she shrugged her pull herself up where Sakura began to speak. "I will make you become more lethal. No matter what he throws toward you, you will always be able to return it with twice as much pain," she said where Lucy looked over to her and smiled.

"That would be good," she replied where Sakura smirked. "Set your heart to it and it'll work out for everything. When you're done climbing, climb back down and then repeat three more times," Sakura said before watching her continue what she was doing.

In her eyes, Lucy was indeed a strong opponent. She has her whip and her Celestial Keys - Train her, and she will become a level of a high assassin.

It's funny how they think that when someone summoning, they'll straight away think of them as a weak individual. They believe that when you're summoning someone, it means that they're asking for assistance, and how summoning doesn't require a lot of energy.

Calling and bringing someone from another world to here was a difficult task. Just compare her in this example... She may be an Elemental Dragon Slayer, but she doesn't have the power to call for Ace and Yuuto to go through their gates under her magic or theirs.

Now, look at Lucy... Lucy was still developing her magi. She has the power to call for her spirits and was handle two of them out at the same time. Imagine how much power it'll require for both spirits to come out of their gates simultaneously rather than one - Impressive right?

Sakura smiling, she knew that one day, Lucy will be acknowledged by the world. She has the potential to surpass her mother, in fact, maybe she had the potential to exceed those that are known to be highly skilled in Celestial Spirit magic.

Watching Lucy now stand in front of her with heavy pants. She smirked with a small “hmph” following. "Now that's the person that I've been looking up to," she whispered as Lucy smiled at her with such success.