The Apprentice [Job]

Another day, another job. That's what Leila wanted to think, but it wasn't quite true. It was no job at all that had brought her to this heavenly tower. According to rumors, there was something very special at the top of this tower. A gem that no man was yet able to lift, move or break. Talk about something like that quickly intrigued Leila and her nature commanded that she had to explore and investigate. She was simply unable to leave this mystery unsolved for herself. Something like that would, without a doubt, be a great sin. And even though the climb was taking all of her energy, the idea of this all being worth it gave her the strength to continue until she reached the very top. Tumbling about, she fell to her knees. Finally at the top, but her energy completely exhausted. She like someone who just spend good hours intensely training in the gym. Her body covered in sweat felt cold when the winds started trying to push her back down. But it was indeed worth it, if only for the magnificent view in front of her. After resting for few minutes, she finally was able to stand up again, carefully moving to the edge of the highest platform. It felt as if she was the queen of the entire world. Capable of seeing everything, she looked in all directions. Not once in her life, she saw something like this. It was even better that the view you would get after climbing the great mountains of Joya's borders. All of the cities and other landmarks looked so small and insignificant, it gave Leila a strange feeling of serenity. As if she managed to get away from all of the world's problems. Breathing in the fresh air, Leila was finally ready to examine the structure that resided in the middle of this platform. A great altar with two masterfully made stone griffons. They were decorated with golden masks, ancient symbols along their bodies. And between them, the gem that she heard so much about. Was this thing truly unmovable and indestructible? There was only one way to find out. But Leila was reluctant to touch it. Somewhere inside her, something was screaming very loudly. Warning her. She didn't understand it, but she felt incredible sadness creeping up her back whenever she got close to the briliant jewel. The feeling of serenity from before was long gone now, as she sat down, her back leaned against the altar. Doubts have entered her mind, making her question if she really wanted to touch the gem or not. But this was a very unique chance! And there was simply no way Leila would get defeated by some strange feeling in the depths of her mind and body. It could have been just a defense mechanism for the treasure as well, something that would ensure that no one would have the heart to steal it from the top of this tower. With a gulp, Leila had strengthened her resolve. Sweat still pouring from her body, she stretched her hand forward. And with an audible sigh, she went for it. Her palm grabbed the diamond, as it started shining with a mystical golden light. And suddenly, that very same light was all around her body. The entirety of the tower she scaled just few minutes ago had disappeared completely. In shock, she tried letting go of the crystal, but there was nothing to let go of. It was gone, and so was everything else. Getting slightly scared, Leila finally realized that she was falling. The golden light started to dissipate, revealing a smaller body of water underneath her. And with a scream and loud splash, she landed inside of it.

---

Quickly emerging from the small pool of water, Leila spat out water that got into her mouth. At least it wasn't salty, just a normal water. Extremely confused she started looking around. What she fell into, it was a very small water altar made out of black stone. Trying to question how a fall into water this shallow didn't kill her, she noticed the scenery around her. Forests and meadows everywhere, it looked like a small paradise. Grass was perfectly green and lush, flower fields in the distance were stretching as far as the eye could see. The peacefulness and serenity from before were quickly back as Leila started checking her soaked clothes. With a sigh, she suddenly noticed a presence of another person. A big figure was sitting not too far in front of the altar she was currently bathing in. And that someone wore the very same cape she had on right now. The cape that only her father wore. "What...?" Was the only words that she managed to get out of herself. The mystery man lifted his face, only to reveal his appearance. And it was indeed her father, there was absolutely no mistaking it. Feeling her chest tighten, Leila jumped up to get onto her two feet and unconsciously made few steps forward. "Are you really...?" She asked, tears slowly starting to fill her eyes. The golem in front of her simply stretched open his arms. "Leila..." Before he was even able to finish, she had started running towards him, hugging him as soon as she was close enough. Shocked for a moment, her father finally returned the embrace. But it was also in that moment when Leila realized that this was all wrong. Her father was dead, she had seen his body herself. She even buried him next to his home. Quickly tearing out of the embrace and jumping back, she assumed a fighting stance. "Who are you and what do you want?!" She shouted, clearly angry as all of her feelings transformed in an instant. "Who? It is me." He replied simply. Leila only shook her head in dismissal."I... my father is dead! There is absolutely no way you can be him!" To that, he did not reply. He simply held his head low, seemingly thinking for a minute. "You are not wrong." He finally replied. Which didn't really clear up Leila's confusion at all. Noticing this, the golem turned to face away for a moment before turning his head towards his adopted daughter once more. "I better explain. This place, this me that you are seeing in front of you. Nothing of this is truly... real." As he spoke, Leila was forced by her mind to look around once more. True, this place did look a bit too good to be real. A truly peaceful place where seemingly no danger lied. But could this entire place really not be real? "This place and this me. Both created from your memory. That is power of the sacred treasure, gem of time. You were transported here in order to train with the one who helped you learn magic once more. For an entire week." Finally, she started to understand all of this a bit more. The crystal on top of the Sky tower, it was it's doing. All of this. Even the... illusion of her father. And maybe, this was why she felt the sadness when she tried to touch the crystal. The fact that her heart would be faced with seeing this one person again, her body somehow knew in advance. Spending a whole week in this place, it seemed both cruel and miraculous. However, the golem suddenly assumed a different stance as well. "Now, then... to fulfill this place's needs, let us test just how strong you have become, Leila." With those words, he suddenly launched at her, trying to strike her with his fist. Thankfully, it was a fairly slow attack that allowed her to dodge, even in that unprepared state of hers. Leaping back a few meters, she looked at the golem, surprise written all over her face. "Do we... have to? Do we absolutely have to fight?" To that, he moved few steps back. "We do not. But I want to see how far you have come. So... show me!" As he shouted, a small hole opened in the middle of his right palm. He quickly pointed it straight and Leila and from the hole, a small bullet shot. It was fast, but not as fast as an actual bullet. Now a bit more cautious, Leila barely avoided it by moving her body to the side, falling to the ground in the proces. But there was no pausing, as her father continued attacking. He jumped into the air, aiming to crush everything in the place where she was laying with his fist. Quickly starting to roll her body on the ground, she managed to get from the area of impact. Getting back onto her feet as fast as she could, she left on the ground. "F....fine!" She shouted, the ground beneath her suddenly rising slightly and continuing to rise towards him. He didn't even try to avoid her attack. Roots quickly tore through the soft ground, aiming directly at him. But it was to no use, he simply took a single step back, grabbed the left end of his cape with his hand of the same side and covered himself with the leather. He proceeded to swiftly swing it, creating a wave of air. Power of this one swing was enough to completely destroy all of the roots that were meant to hit him. Dumbfounded, Leila only stared at the display. She never even realized how strong her protector was until right now. He was a machine that traveled through the world, someone like him would indeed know how to defend themselves against all manner of opponents. It seemed completely hopeless. Was she really meant to fight her father, who was this strong?

"Come on, Leila! I know it is hard... but you have to strike me with full force! Otherwise, your attacks will never reach me!" Those words snapped her back into the reality of things. His encouragement quickly hardened her resolve and her firsts. Even if this fight was hopeless, he only wanted to see her skills. As he said, they didn't really have to fight. But he wanted to see how far she came. Magic was the reason she left him and came into Fiore all alone after all. She had to show him that it was all worth it! Having a new spark in her eyes, she removed her still wet shirt. All of her clothes were still wet, but all the extra layers were simply getting in the way like this. And she still had her undershirt on so it was no problem at all. Extending his way towards Leila, father signaled that she should go ahead and attack. And so she did. Concentrating, her arms were suddenly covered in the gray-colored tree-like bark and her fingers started extending, worming menacingly looking claws. Without any warning, she started running towards him. When close enough, he attempted to stop her movements with a heavy blow into the upper part of her body. But it was too slow for her, as she simply slid on the grass and got beneath his arm, swinging her claws on his stomach when she got the chance. And the attack even managed to land. But... it had absolutely no effect. She continued sliding between his legs, quickly getting up behind him and striking his back with her elbow. His body merely flinched as he clutched his fist. This time, his attack was way faster than before, turning his entire body to hit Leila. In the last second, she managed to form an armor around her body that absorbed some of the force. But his fist was still strong enough to send the light girl flying quite a distance before she hit the ground again. With few moans of pain, she tried to get back onto her feet and regain a balanced stance. It was now pretty clear to her that she stood no chance at all in melee combat. And before she had chance to form another strategy, father started running straight at her, his speed much higher that her own. Getting an idea, she moved her hands towards him, letting her magic fly free. Four wooden pillars formed around him, creating a square with him in the center. "Freeze!" With that shout, the spell activated and formed a barrier that should have completely froze him in the place. But... it didn't have the desired effect. He merely slowed down and stumbled a little before shooting another bulled from his hand and destroying one of the four pillars with it. That completely negated the barrier and he was free to continue. Still, he was slowed down and Leila had to use that opportunity to get some form of advantage. Quickly using another spell, she formed three different roots underground that interlocked and unearthed as one big spike, going at an angle, straight into his chest. He was quick enough to catch the the whole column and stop it after it moved him only few meters back. Two lines in the grass now marked his feet being dragged backwards as he stopped her seemingly devastating attack with his physical force alone. But the spike still managed to hit him in the chest as it moved his body, causing at least some damage. That alone was enough to return Leila's confidence. But she still understood that there was no chance of her winning in these meadows. Taking the chance, she started sprinting into the woods, the golem following her. Knowing the nature better than anyone, she was quick to disappear. From there, she applied a tactic of 'hit and run' to deal few hits here and there. She was mostly trying to attack him using her basic spells and then waiting for those spells to recharge again. But this also gave her target plenty of time to prepare his defenses. Several times he also managed to completely parry her attacks, quickly returning the strike and sending her flying back into the woods every single time. He really was a machine with fists that were way more powerful than any normal human's. Which made Leila quite proud of herself when her attacks at least grazed him. Though not a single hit was complete. Somehow, her father was capable of avoiding all of her attacks to some extend. Exhausted after few hours of semi-fighting and hiding, she fell to her knees. Father approached her and kneeled down as well. "For the first day, it was not all bad. You will have plenty of chances to show your true skill." His words embarrassed he slightly. It was like saying that she was trying to fight a dragon with naught but wooden stick. But ultimately, she had to agree. Together, they walked back into the meadows and through them, they eventually arrived to a small hut by a river. Just like she suspected, it was rather similar to her father's hut in the real word. Though that one didn't have any rivers near it. Leaning against the porch, she sighed loudly. Her father stood beside her, tall and silent as ever. "I'm glad I got to see you again, dad..." She eventually spoke. He merely turned his head towards her and nodded, one of his hands landing on her head. He always like to pet her hair. And she knew that he was nothing but creation of the magical crystal that took her memories as a construction material. But she was still happy that she got another chance to hang out with the person she loved most. After few minutes of silence, Leila bid him a good night and entered the shack. It was fairly well furnished, with two comfortable looking beds. Without doing anything more, she simply fell into one and closer her eyes. She fell asleep after minutes of thinking about all this craziness.

---

Leila's waking up was rather pleasant today, all things considered. Warmth of the sun crept into the shack through the open windows and singing of birds created a lovely lullaby. Yawning and then slowly opening her eyes, she realized that the whole yesterday was in fact real and not some kind of weird dream. That made her both relieved and worried. After all, since it was all still happening, she had to fight her father. With mixed feelings, she got up and properly stretched. Which might have been a mistake, because it painfully reminded her of a few bruises from yesterday. Father really packed a mean punch. Sighing, she looked at the big room in front of her. It was just like yesterday, the furnishing fairly minimalist, yet very space consuming. Father's bed was already empty, the sheets neatly folded on top of it. He was probably already waiting somewhere, ready to spar. Not exactly how she would imagine their reunion. But she still made her way to the wooden door. Naturally, it was a big surprise when she saw him just outside of the door, sitting at the edge of the porch. "Slept well?" With that question, he turned to face her. And only to see a big, warm smile. This scene reminded Leila of all those morning they spent together. It was unbelievably nice to have all this back. "Yesterday was not all that exhausting. But still, I do think that you deserve break." As he spoke, he got up and turned towards the river. "I will be at the meadows where you arrived. Feel free to visit me there after you are done with all your needs." After saying that, he started walking off. And Leila had suddenly naught to do. But since they had water this close to their little abode, she decided to have a little bath. She had one yesterday too, when she was unwillingly transported into this strange world. Though that one was with her clothes still on. Jumping the railing, she landed on the grass and walked towards the running water. Testing it's temperature with her hand, she realized that it was actually quite warm. That was rather unusual for rivers and lakes this early in the morning. But then again, this words was made out of her memories, apparently. It seemed that many things were possible here. After another stretch, she looked around, checking if there was anyone spying on her. There was no one. A little sigh of relief escaped her mouth as she started undressing herself. Folding her clothes on the ground next to the river, she jumped in. Washing her entire body, she started remembering all of their travels together. She would do this every morning when they were near some body of water. After all, you don't really have access to bathrooms when you're traversing abandoned land, filled with nothing but trees and flowers. And really, who needed a shower or bath when you could just dip your body in natural river? This was the strange link to nature that Leila missed after starting to spend more times in cities of Fiore. She still had time to visit parks and other places filled with nature, but it never compared to this. With a smile, she was actually able to relax like this. After roughly 30 minutes, she got out of the water, letting the warm sun dry her body before putting all those clothes back on. Only, this time, she left her father's coat in the shack. Here, she didn't need it. It was actually a bit weird seeing it twice in this words. She had the real deal while the fabricated version of her father had... well, fake. Apparently not everything in this world was perfect as she thought at first. When she was finally done with her morning hygiene, she headed to the meadows as well. The path there was made out of trampled dirt, slowly getting smaller as grass started to spread on it once more. Indeed, for a words that was made by some weird crystal, all this was rather realistic. When she finally got to the meadows, she spotted father just sitting in the middle, staring into the distance. "You still like these places." She spoke to him, getting behind him and sitting down. She leaned against his own back and started running her hands through the tall grass and occasional flowers. "Of course. You remember me liking them, after all." His reply was... a bit unsettling. "Now you're really talking like a robot. Created by this world." "I was under the impression that you do not wish to mix this world and the real one." "Yeah... yeah..." Her reply was filled with sadness. A deep, dark sadness. Perhaps he actually sensed it. Or maybe it was just the world they were in that sensed it and pulled the string. But Leila didn't really care. His robotic hand was suddenly resting on top of her own. And she wanted to enjoy this until it lasted. Since she was already here and knew what she had to do, there was absolutely no reason to avoid everything that was happening. She probably had the option of completely refusing him, refusing this false happiness that was given to her. But why would she? Why would anyone refuse it? It was like a little gift, a bit of extra time to spend with her father, her master and mentor. When she discovered her magic, it was him who helped her develop it. Even though he is not a mage, his knowledge was still vast enough. He was still capable of helping her, and only thanks to that, she was able to enter this place. Now she fully understood what the rumors meant by 'learn with one's master once more'. Who would have thought that there was such a gem. Something with power to bring back your old master, even if only for a single week. Laying on top of the Sky tower, it was probably gift from gods themselves.

"It is still morn. Would you not like to see the rest of this place?" His words penetrated the silence like it was nothing at all. Not capable of refusing him, Leila nodded. They both stood up and looked at each other. Other people always though that her father's face was really creepy. And true, it didn't have any eyes, nose or mouth, but he was golem. Something like that was completely normal. Not to mention that she knew that he has his eye under that face. In fact, she was really glad that he didn't use it in their 'training' yet, it would really complicate matters for her. All of a sudden, he offered her a hand. "I'm not a little girl anymore, you know?" She pouted, placing her palms on her hips and leaning forward a little. Her expression clearly said that she was agitated after he said that. But he only slightly tilted his head. "Is that a no?" Sighing out loud, Leila grabbed his hand and turned in his direction. From a distance, they maybe even looked like a real father and daughter now. Though it was a bit awkward, her father was rather tall but it wasn't like Leila was small either. In any case, they started walking just like that, not caring about anything. Since this was their world, they didn't have to worry about anyone who would question them or look at them cross-eyed. "So... what's our destination?" After asking, the golem narrowed his hand and pointed at a distant field of red poppies. It certainly looked beautiful from distance and as they eventually got closer, it became even prettier. They walked past the fores, on few small wooden bridges that lead over the river and after approximately two hours of walking, they arrived. The field was wast, bigger than any she ever saw. The ret petals were waving in the pleasant wind, some dancing in the air after leaving the rest of the flower behind. Squatting down in front of them, Leila took one into her hands and removed it from the ground. "Is the place to your liking?" The robotic words from behind her were slightly muffled, but she still understood him perfectly. "Yes, it's beautiful here! And not a single words about how I made it beautiful with my memories or whatnot, please." She turned her head and smiled at him. It was a big, childish smile of innocence. Golem only laughed for a bit and then took his place next to her, overseeing the whole field. "But it really is big, I don't think I can see the end of it." Leila said as she stood up again, getting on her tiptoes to see as far as she could. Two big hands suddenly grabbed her around the waist, pulling her up. And suddenly, he was giving her a piggy ride. With his height, Leila felt like she just climbed a tower. Everything was suddenly much more visible. The field, the forest and even the meadow with the shack in the distance behind them. It was very impressive to say the least. "Hmm, I quite like it up here. Maybe I'll stay~" She shouted teasingly, trying to make fun of her father. But he clearly took it to the heart, as his grip on her tightened and his whole body turned. With a loud "Whoa!" from Leila, he started running along the field. Wind was making her hair and clothes fly as the refreshing feeling filled her body. After few minutes, he finally stopped and turned back towards the meadow. "They way so long, let us go back." Leila simply nodded, grabbing his head as he started walking again with her on his shoulders. It was pretty funny, just sitting on top of him and having this high-up view. And instead of going on the same path as before, this time they entered the forest. Looking all around her, she tried to memorize location of every single tree. To some, it probably seemed impossible. But Leila knew nature more than her own boots. To her, every tree was unique in some way, allowing her to remember it without too much of a trouble. If she wanted to ever beat father, she had to use absolutely everything to her advantage. Few hours passed and they left to forest, right next to the meadows. Golem kneeled down for a moment, letting Leila down onto her own feet again. It seemed that they spent more time walking around that they realized, as the sun was already starting to approach the mountains in the distance. With the sky slowly turning golden, they started walking towards their little hut together. Once there, father started preparing few fish from the river as their meal. Leila was never particularly picky about food, travelers had to eat whatever they got. And a well done fish was far from the worst she had ever eaten. Though, it always felt a little lonely. Her father had absolutely no need to eat food like humans, since he was a machias. And that left Leila alone at the table. Which was why she went outside the moment she finished eating to join the golem again. They were both leaning against the porch, just like before, staring at the river. The sun was already behind the mountains and darkness started spreading across the beautiful landscape. "You better rest up. Tomorrow is another day of training." His voice was more serious this time. Indeed, today was only so that Leila could recover and get used to this place. And when the sun rises again, they will have to fight once more. She didn't like that thought at all, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. Feeling defeated, she bid the machine a good night for the second time and went back inside, tucking her body under the blankets. It took her a while to finally fall asleep, but she eventually did. No pleasant dreams approached her that night, only worries of what tomorrow will bring.

---

As far as mornings go, this one was actually one of the better ones. Leila got up quickly, looking around with her senses already warning her about danger. Father was long gone, his bed empty and blanket neatly folded just like ever. And somehow, she already knew where he was waiting. Leaving the room in fairly high spirits, she started jogging towards the meadow. Thankfully it was really close so she didn't get tiret just from getting to the battlefield. Her father was already standing there, facing the other way. But as soon as she entered the tall grass, his head turned to the side. "Ready?" An unpleasantly chilling air started blowing as Leila clutched her fists, gulping loudly. "I don't think I'll ever be ready... but... here I go!" With that shout of hers, she slammed her fist against the ground. But instead of making a hole, the ground rose up, a path of dirt making it's way towards him. He recognized the attack immediately. Once again, he grabbed his cloak and once the roots shot out of the ground, he swung it. The air wave he created was strong. But this time, Leila was taking all this seriously. And just like her resolve, her spells were strong as well. Wind alone was no longer able to break apart the roots of Eden that struk the golem with great force and entangled him inside of them. A field of 15 meters in diameter was covered in these roots, sticking from the ground menacingly, like a miniature dead forest. But in the end, even the brutal strength wasn't enough to stop a machias for long. Using his strength, father tore the roots that were holding him apart and freed himself. However, Leila had already disappeared. Locating several footprints in the grass, he quickly learned where she had gone to. The forest. With a small chuckle, he started running in pursuit. And once inside the forest, he stopped. After looking around for a bit, he sighed. "Today will be different. I will not allow you to hide any longer." With those words, he swing his fist at the nearest tree. And surely enough, the trunk got completely destroyed on impact, letting the rest of the tree fall down on the ground. Leila saw and heard all of that from her hiding spot and gulped again. Everything just got considerably harder, although there was plenty of trees in the forest. But the golem as going around and destroying every single one that stood in his way. Finally deciding to strike, touched the ground again from behind one of the trees that have not been destroyed yet. In the next moment, the ground beneath him raised up and out came a giant spoke from three separate roots, trying to impale him. He managed to side step and look in the direction of Leila, seemingly tracking her magical power. "Show me something new. These old tricks will no-" He did not finish, as a second spike just rammed into his back. The spell was able to create chain after all. Leila used it twice, once to create a spike underneath him and then from the same spot, slightly angled spike that would him in the back when he least expected it. It was the first strike she managed to completely land, sending her father flying for a bid. But he was quick to recover, standing up right after he landed again. His mechanical armor was strong and her magic wasn't all that strong yet. It affected him, but didn't hurt him. At least not as much as it would hurt a normal human being on Leila's rank. Problem was that he now knew where she was hiding. And before she was able to change her position, the tree she was hiding behind got cut in half. Trying to flee in mild panic, she noticed he was using a new move. His fingers were razor sharp and he used them to cut the tree into two with no effort at all. Not only were his punches extremely strong, his very fingers were apparently sharp as swords. While running, Leila used another of her higher ranked spells, created a flower with bright blue fruit in her path. While running past it, she grabbed the fruit and slid behind another tree. In the meantime, father was simply walking in the same direction as she was. "I saw where you went, Leila. Come out and fight." Trying to fulfill his wish, she climbed the tree and stationed herself on one of the branches. And when he approached the tree in order to destroy it, she used her spell, creating a whip from the ground behind the tree. This whip went around the tree and him and then back to where it originated, binding her target to the tree's trunk for a moment. With that chance, she jumped off and threw to bomb fruit at him while he was binded. When the explosion occurred, it looked like a direct hit. But once the dust settled down, she noticed that his cloak was torn into piece. And his body didn't have any additional marks of damage on it. He blocked it with his cloak?! That though went through her mind and was followed by u punch from the one who was standing right in front of her. She managed to block the punch with her hands, not that it reduced the damage though. But at least he didn't hit her face and she had a bit more stability when she managed to land on her legs instead of her back. With her spells needing some time to be used again and most of her cover gone as well, she started retreating. He was following her, but it seemed that he wasn't much faster than her so she was able to run quite far away before he caught up to her again. And when he did, they were already outside of the fores, next to the red poppy field they visited yesterday.

Not waiting one more moment, she activated one of Eden's abilities that allowed her to regain magical energy much faster than any human ever could. It didn't feel like they were fighting for that long, but the sun was already indicating that it was well past noon. Breathing heavily, Leila stood at the edge of the field, looking straight at her opponent. He, on the other hand, was standing on the end of the forest. Though, he was staring right back at her. "I am afraid that no trees will protect you here." His words were clearly meant to scare her. But instead, she returned a devilish smirk. "But the tall poppies just might." As soon as he heard those words, he let out an annoyed grunt and started charging forwards. Leila quickly recreated her fingers into claws, just like on the first day. And when swung at her with his own razor-sharp fingers, they clashed. Looking like two sumo fighters trying to knock each other out of balance, they were both staring each other down in this little test of strength. Her father would surely win, but instead of pushing her back with his hands, he kicked her back with one of his free legs. Landing on her back in the poppies, Leila coughed out. Being kicked in the stomach by a mechanical leg was surprisingly painful. But she had to keep moving, as she already saw the very same leg going down, trying to crush her head. Rolling out of the way, she quickly got on all four and tried carefully moving through the flowers without moving them too much. It was enough to confusing for now. Clearly angry, he started cutting the red flowers down as much as he could, but his fingers were not very long and build for cutting down fields. Questioning if this was his plan yesterday when he took her here, she moved around him, keeping a good distance between their bodies. After few minutes of frantic searching, he simply stopped and stood still. Thankfully, Leila immediately recognized what he was doing. Searching for any and every sound in the field that could be caused by a girl crawling through it. Covering her mouth, she tried to reduce even the noise of her breathing. Right now, she was not allow to move a single muscle, otherwise he would find her. Minutes passed and he suddenly twitched, rising his hand into the air and shooting something shiny into the sky. In manner of seconds, it came back down and caused explosion several meters next to Leila. Mortar?! That was one unpleasant surprise. "Hmph, just an animal." It was during those words Leila saw her chance. Thankfully, she had already recovered some of her lost magical energy naturally and some more thanks to her special ability. Activating another special ability, corruptor's rush, she began her attack, quickly forming four pillars around him that were meant to restrict his movement with a barrier and several roots that shot out of the ground, both at the same time. Not expecting the attack, he got restrained strongly enough to prevent movement for few seconds. This was Leila's last chance to deal proper damage to him. Using her chain spell, she summoned three great spikes by using her magic energy and then she activated one of Eden's dark abilities, the corrupted's rush. With that, she summoned a fourth and let them all strike the golem at once. Not giving him and break, she also summoned the fruit bomb plant and quickly threw the shining fruit at his body along with the spikes. With all that, she fell to her knees. Her body was completely out of juice, one more spell would probably knock her out. With heavy breathing, she looked towards the place where her father just stood. "I am here." Those words suddenly sounded behind her. She slowly turned, her facial expression clearly saying that she was a bit scared right now. He was standing right behind her, but he wasn't attacking. And now that she had a good look at him, she noticed that his chest plates were damaged a fair bit. Her attacks had quite the impact on them, it seemed. "Well done. I would say that we had enough for today." Taking her into his arms, he princess carried Leila back. Their battle in the field took a while but the way back took even longer. By the time they reached the meadow, the sun was already behind the horizont, letting the starts illuminate their path. "Using so many spells at once and almost completely exhausting your magical energy, that was quite irresponsible." He meant well and Leila knew that. She simply smiled and closed her eyes. "Well... I had to hit you hard. Nothing else seems to work." Golem held his head low, looking like he was thinking about something. But they finally reached the shack and she stopped him by pulling his tattered coat. "Here is fine. I already regained some of my energy..." Nodding, he carefully let her go as she stood on her own legs again. "Thanks..." With those words, she smiled at him one final time and entered the shack's door, only to collapse on the bed seconds later. Today, she had absolutely no problems falling asleep the instant she closed her eyes. In the meantime, the golem leaned against the porch like always, looking at the river. He was slowly realizing that they were quite the poor match for fighting. His body armor was strong, nearly impenetrable. And the girl was focus mainly on speed of her attacks and not so much the strength. Even though some of her roots were capable of keeping him in one place, they were definitely not strong enough to actually harm him. Siding his arm over the broken chest piece he had, he nodded to himself. There was a new idea in his head for their next fight. Making sure that he doesn't forget it, he finally entered the shack as well, laying down on his bed and trying to get some sleep too.

---

Feeling a bit unwell after yesterday's fight, Leila slept for a long time. It was almost time for lunch when she finally got out of the bed. Only only because she smelled something good in the nearby area. Finally opening her eyes and cleaning up drool from her chin, she noticed her father sitting at the table with a plate of scrambled eggs in front of him. "I am glad that this little trick still works, even after you grew up." With a small pff, she joined him at the table. "Food will always work on anyone. Especially after going through a fight that lasted... well, basically the whole day." After spending so much energy on running around and unleashing spells, she was pretty hungry. In fact, these scrambled eggs were probably not enough to sate her. "I take it that today's another day off?" Father placed his hands on the table, looking as if he was thinking about the answer. It took him few moments before he started speaking. "Pretty much, yes. Although, I would like to have a little session later today." Session. That meant he wanted to teach her something, or go over basics. Probably because she wasn't performing as good as she possibly could yesterday. It was understandable, after all, this golem was created from Leila's memories of her father. So ti was only natural that he still cared about her just like the real deal would. Nodding, Leila finished her plate and stood up to stretch a little. "If you are still hungry, you can go ahead and try to catch a fish." With that little recommendation, Leila practically stormed out of the hut and jumped into the river. The sun was still shining, so there was no need to be worrying about her clothes being wet. Although it probably still wasn't the best idea to just jump into a river with all of her clothes still on. But she was hungry, no time to undress. And fishes probably didn't care if she was nude or fully clothed either. Using her magic, she transformed her hands into tree claws again and started looking. Not moving her legs at all so that the fish won't get spooked, she eventually found her target. And with one swift swing, she colored her claws the the fishes' blood. She sure was a pacifist... when someone's hungry, they'll do anything for some food. She carried the fish back inside the hut and waited outside as father prepared it. Laying on a big, flat stone, she sunbathed and dried her clothes at the same time. Her skin was still pale tho, even after a good hour of sun baking it. But the fish was finally ready. And it was eaten even faster than the eggs. Letting out a pleasant sigh of relief, Leila patted her stomach and looked outside the window. Father had already left for the meadow where she was to meet him later. She couldn't help but think about what he wants to do with her. Sure, she had the option to go there already and find out... but she preferred to laze around a bit more. Mainly because her woulds from yesterday were still hurting. "Why do we have to fight anyway?" She suddenly started complaining about her situation, puffing her cheeks at no one. She was never one that would happily engage someone in combat. And when she did, she always tried to make her target unconscious instead of actually killing them. After all, fear of death was greater than any other. Thankfully, she was fighting her father in this world. Not exactly someone that would try to kill her. Even though it looked like he already tried few times when they were sparring. But surely, he would stop his attacks if she actually got into mortal danger, right? That was what she liked to think, rather than knowing the truth for sure. Trying to not think about it too much, she moved back to her bed and laid down on it with a big sigh. "I wish Ori was here too..." Apparently he wasn't part of the transport when Leila touched the gem of time, because she arrived at this place completely alone. Wondering if he got left alone on the top of that giant tower, she started to worry a bit. He was smart, but if she was actually spending a whole week here, he would get really hungry up there. Although, she did have some reserve food in her bag that didn't make it in here as well, so it was probably alright. That, however, didn't change the fact that she wanted to cuddle with her furry pet very badly. The whole situation made her a bit restless and as a result, she couldn't keep her position in the bed. Getting up again like a hyperactive pet, she crawled her body outside. Feeling like the sun was taking away her energy, she leaned against the hut's wall and closed her eyes. Feeling the wind in her hair and the sun on her skin, it was so pleasant that she could even consider staying in this strange place for longer than one week. Not that it was really an option. It really made sense that this world was created to suit Leila. Any other world would not be so pleasant and peaceful. Although she had a strange feeling that it probably won't be so pretty and peaceful after all the fighting ends. Father seemed to posses some weapons of a great and massive destruction, that didn't really bode well with the nature all around them. Slowly sliding into a sitting position, Leila pressed her legs against her chest and embraced them with her arms. Looking up into the sky, she wondered if she was doing okay in this place or not. The peacefully floating clouds certainly didn't hold the answer. Which was probably for the good, because it would be most likely the latter, rather that the former.

Getting bored after a while, Leila finally decided that it was a good time to visit the meadows and see what father was up to. With her lazy attitude and step, she got up and started marching on the dirt path once more. She was a bit unsure if she actually wanted to even go there on such lazy day. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that she will be forced to do something that requires physical activity. After all, she knew her teacher very well. But since she was already almost there, there was little point to turning around and going back. Not to mention that it would probably make a coward out of her and that would not please her deceased father very much. Suddenly, she shuddered as the though of her father being actually dead but still showing up in front of her in this words entered her mind. Trying to clear her thoughts, she finally arrived at the meadow. Father was already sitting there, watching a little bird that was hoping in front of him. It was rather adorable scene, but the bird flew off as soon as she approached. "Not every animal likes me, I guess." She shrugged and smiled, letting him know that she arrived. "Indeed. Beast type creatures always liked you more than any other animals." And he wasn't wrong. It probably had to do something with her magic and whatnot. After all, she was pretty farm from the normal sort of people. Sighing, she sat next to him. "So... what are we doing?" "We shall meditate." "Eh? That's it? That's why you wanted to see me?" "Yes." It was a conversation, alright. Hanging her head low, Leila assumed a meditating position and closed her eyes. At least she didn't have to use her energy much. "Meditation is good for accelerating the process of gathering magical energy into your body. Tomorrow is another fight, you will need all the energy you can gather." He sure wasn't wrong. Last time, she almost ruined her body when she went on trigger happy spell casting spree. Something that mage should never actually do in the middle of a fight, even if it looks like you're facing your last opponent. Some more could always show up and when you have zero magical energy, it gets pretty hard to defend yourself. Noting all that in her mind, Leila tried to delete every unnecessary though from her head. Meditation required something like that, after all. After thirty minutes of sitting on one place, Leila gave up and laid down into the grass. "You give up quickly." "Sitting in that position is super painful tho! Not to mention how bored you get..." "You would not get bored if you properly concentrated on collecting magical energy into your body." Not wanting to disappoint him, Leila sighed and returned into the position, trying it again. This time, she managed to hold it for a good hour before she returned to laying on the grass and watching clouds go by. "You were never one to sit still for too long." He eventually commented. Apparently he was more than capable of siting in one position for hours without even flinching. "You know me... always wanted to know and explore everything. Won't accomplish that by just sitting on one spot." "But you also will not accomplish that by getting reckless. I simply want you to be careful." "I know. Good half of the stuff you do was for me." She smiled at him as she got back into position. "Guess I can explore the effects of meditation myself." She mumbled as her eyes closed, her mind cleared and breathing calmed. Training by meditating was harder than it seemed. Especially 'being one with the nature' was no joke. Leila couldn't help but admire those who do it daily as part of their training. Trying to think of something pleasant and get lost in that one thought. That was her goal. And suddenly, a voice pulled her back into the reality. "Good job. That was six hours long meditation. You will get a passing grade from me." Upon hearing the number six, Leila quickly looked up. And sure enough, it was already almost nighttime. "Sheesh, meditation is dangerous." Complaining slightly, she tried to get up and stretch her stiff legs. "Is this what you planned to do with me at some point? If so, you wanted me to have one brutal future." She commented on the whole situation when her father got up as well. "I do not plan, ever." He simply reminded her. "Ah right. Leave the future problems to future Leila. I almost forgot you were that type of person." "Not necessarily person. But yes... a true traveler never plans ahead. They go where the road leads them and make the best of what they have at to moment, not of what they will have at some point in the future." That was his philosophy about life alright. The great traveler who had seen most of this continent on his own. Which also probably meant that there was at least some truth to what he said. In fact, she often lived by that saying too. Leave future problems to future Leila. It was a good excuse to just not care about problems that were clearly approaching. Just deal with them when they finally arrive. At least as long as you're good enough to find a way through. "Since our training for today is done, shall we get going?" With a nod, Leila started following her father to the hut on the already familiar path. This time, they actually entered their little hut together and went to sleep and the same time, looking more like a family than ever before in this place. She was here only for four days, yet it felt like eternity. Probably because her life here so far was filled with so many memorable moments. Somehow, she didn't want it all to end just yet. And with that little worry, she tried to fall asleep for tonight, anticipating events of tomorrow.

---

Leila just woke up and already felt an unpleasant feeling going down her spine. It was another day of non-stop fighting against the mighty golem. For a moment, Leila thought if she could get away with just staying in the bed and not leaving for for the meadow. And then she realized that her enemy had a mortar in their arsenal which made her get up faster than anything in this world. Taking a few deep breaths, Leila started going towards the meadow. As all the other days, it took only a moment before she arrived. And as all the other days, he was already standing in the middle, his back turned towards her. He was probably ready to completely destroy her again. But something felt odd. He was somehow different and Leila was just about to find out how. "You are here. Only today and then the seventh day remain. Taking that into consideration, I have rebalanced the scales." When he finish his little monologue, He removed his coat, revealing his body that was... different. Plates that once forming him and protected his insides were completely gone. His body was now mainly made out of thin-looking wires that formed shape of a tall man. It was actually quite horrific sight, at least for Leila. "W..why?" She asked, tears slowly filling her eyes. For some reason, it was painful to look at him in this state. He just looked so... miserable. "I realized that your chances of actually harming me were near zero with all that armor on. It was a natural part of my body, so I had to permanently remove it. But fret not... after all, I am but a creation of your memories. There is no need for you to feel sorry. Especially since I am your opponent. Now... be on your guard! Our last two sessions, this is where we finally get serious!" With all those words, he assumed a fighting stance. Somehow, only that managed to intimidate Leila. He felt different and not only because his body changed. He was really taking this seriously. A proper fight, that was what he wanted. Swallowing her fear, Leila assumed the stance as well. Breathing in, breathing out. Clearing out the mind and calming down the body. The reason they were meditating yesterday... it was because of today. To face a fierce opponent like him, she had to stay absolutely calm. Even in the most hopeless situations, she had to keep her head cool and think of a way through. After all, she was a true traveler. And those live in the present, making the most of what they have without truly planning ahead. Even a small smile appeared on her face. That actually threw the golem off. It was something he didn't anticipate, something that took him by surprise. Just like a stab in his back, it felt sharp and sudden. The resolve of one single girl was enough to make him feel all this. He felt... honored and proud. It was his daughter that made him feel like this, after all. "Heh... hehehe. You really have grown." With those words, he started focusing and started moving forward. But it was already too late to do that, as Leila took the first step. She was already in front of him with her body partially transformed into the one of Eden. Her hands were claws and her gaze the one of a predator. It was strange to him, seeing how much difference could confidence bring. And before he was able to react, a sharp pain ran through his side. It was Leila's hand, cutting right through him. Now that he had left his armor behind, his body became fragile. He was never much of a fighter, yet he never realized how fragile one's life can be when they throw all their defense away. Injured, he stumbled to the side and tried to swipe his own claw-like fingers at her. His land connected, only not with her actual body. A wooden armor that was covering the entirety of her body, one of her spells. She used it to negate a good portion of the strike and remain close to him. Another slash and the golem felt more pain in his leg. Her fist penetrated it like a sword that was meant to cripple him. In that one instant, he realized that he was actually loosing. All it took was to remove what protected him. Scolding himself internally for not being careful enough, he finally got the grasp on her speed, blocking her third attack with his own, taking the opportunity to jump back. Looking at her now, it suddenly seemed as if he was fighting her, not the other way around. "Well... look who has been slacking off the last few battles." "I... I just cannot afford to loose anymore! Because I fulfilled your wishes and found human friends! I have to defeat you here to become strong, so that I can face them in the real words without having to worry that I won't be able to protect them!" Her words alone were capable of moving mountains right now. But the only thing they really moved was his mechanical, yet still feeling heart. "I see. In any case, I am glad that you are taking this seriously now." Regaining his posture, his body made out of wires grew stronger, the injured places slowly starting to repair on their own. He, too, didn't want to lose. After all, when children surpass their teachers... well, that's just it. There is simply no more use for them. And it felt even more painful when the teacher was also their pupil's parent and caretaker. Because of all that, he absolutely didn't want to loose. He was no mage, no warrior. But he was born machias, a race of sentient, thinking machines. And he had a fair share of knowledge and secret weapons up his sleeve, ready to show them all if necessary. With confidence, he looked straight at Leila. "Show me all you have!"

Not waiting for anyone, Leila started sprinting forward. Wanting to use the same strategy as before, she tried getting to the point blank. But this time, she failed. Golem made a quick step backwards and with all of his force, he did a spit and at the end of it a powerful kick. Leila just barely managed to cover her body with her hands, letting him hit her in that position. The armor that was protecting her shattered on impact, still absorbing most of the strength but not being able to serve any longer. Flung backwards, Leila, changed a strategy a bit and started running around him instead of charging directly to him. Out of her palm, a thin whip formed that she started using. It's strikes were rather weak, but the small magical rope eventually found it's way around his arm. Wrapping around it, Leila pulled and managed to stretch out his arm. "Not sure what you are trying to accomplish there." With those words, he shot his magical missile out of the captured hand, easily penetrating the whip. But as he was focusing on his attack, Leila got low and once again close the distance between them. Not afraid of her attacks anymore, the golem quickly swung his other hand, bearing it down on her body with intend of smashing her into the ground. She noticed the attack but did nothing. The fist game down on her head, sending her down to the ground. Strike like that was sure to cause a mild headache. Thinking that it was all done, golem sighed. But before he even knew what was happening, Leila was back at her feet and pushing him against a tree that was behind his back ever since he tried to create some distance between them. "Cannot run from spot like this. My roots!" Not giving him a chance, a spike of roots emerged from the ground and flew up into the sky. Still, golem was much stronger than human and he managed to push Leila away and dodge do a degree. The attack still went through his body, taking away a solid chuck from his other side. Leila, who landed on her butt as she got pushed, quickly placed her hands on the ground in front of her. "There is still more!" The ground itself started rising as the roots started burrowing underneath it. At this point, golem knew very well what this attack did. In an instant, his hands snapped and his palms completely opened up, revealing cannon-like insides. But it was no cannon. Instead, pure fire came out. "F..flame thrower?!" That was a surprise Leila was not happy about, not at all. Roots that came out of the ground in order to damage her oponent instead went up in flames, being incinerated almost immediately. In the end, fire was Leila's greatest enemy. Quickly picking herself back up, she started running deeper into the forest. But she was not getting away, as she heard loud feet bearing down to the ground behind her. He wasn't waiting for anything either and quickly started the chase. Creating another whip, she threw it at a nearby tree, wrapping it around it. Thanks to her momentum, she was quickly able to fly around the said tree and kick her pursuer into the side along the way, sending him back quite a bit. Releasing the whip, she instead created a plant near to where she landed, grabbing it's bomb fruit and throwing it at the golem when he was in daze from her surprise kick. But before it landed, one of his hands snapped again, bending the wrong way to reveal a sharp knife that flew out of the back of his hand, cutting the bomb into two and letting it explode all around him. Yet, he sustained next to no damage. Quite terrified from his arsenal, Leila tried to assume a proper fighting stance again. "As I said before. If you plan on using old tricks over and over again, you will have to get more creative." Leila gulped at his words when he suddenly started closing their distance. Transforming her hands into claws, they engaged in a swift melee combat of metal knives and wooden claws. It was obvious from the very beginning who would win an encounter like that. But Leila had her resolve and as she started loosing, four pillars all around them suddenly rose from the ground. Staggering golem's movement, she was able to hit him again. Her claw cleanly went through his wire body and buried pretty deep in his chest. There was a squeal of pain from his body, but he still laughed in the end. No matter how hard she tried, her hand was no stuck in his body. Quickly grabbing her other hand, the golem headbutted her and followed it with several strong strikes. Creating more that a few bruises on Leila's body, her knees eventually gave out and so did her spirit. "I give up! I... I'm giving up... no more..." Letting go of her, she was finally able to pull her hand out of his body as she fell to the ground. She was nearing unconsciousness as she saw the machine's great shadow looming over her. And slowly, her vision faded. Next time she woke up, it was in the hut with her father beside her. He had his coat back on to hide his weakened body, though most of his wounds were already fixed, like they never even existed. "I lost... didn't I?" Were Leila's words as she tried to get up, fighting a great headache. "You did. But there is no shame in loosing here. After all, I am your teacher. And pupils do not conquer their teaches just like that." Somehow, it sounded as if he was proud about something. Giving up and laying down, she closed her eyes again. "It is evening of the same day. Sleep through the night and you will surely recover over the course of tomorrow. You need to be prepared for the seventh day." With those words, he got up and walked out the front door. Doing exactly what he said, she kept her eyes closed and slowly drifted into nothingness once more.

Waking up and still feeling the pain all over her body. Leila certainly lived through better morning than this one. Her body will remember yesterday for quite a while, it seemed. Moaning uncomfortable for a bit, she eventually managed to crawl out of her bed and get to the table. There was already some sushi waiting for her. "Well, better than nothing... I guess..." not exactly sure if this was a proper thing she should be having for a breakfast, she started eating. Though, of course she left out everything that was green. No matter what, there was no forcing her to eat seaweed or anything else. It didn't take long before she finish the meal and wobbled outside, basically falling on top of the railing. To her surprise, father was nowhere to be found. Perhaps he didn't want to see her at all after what happened at the end of yesterday. In order to keep the same image of him that she had before she came to this place, she had to always remind herself that he wasn't real. He was a creation from her memories and nothing more. But even repeating that wasn't sometimes enough. In the end, he looked just like the real machaias that was her father. And emotions were one thing Leila had little control of. "Uuugh..." She felt strength leaving her body as she hanged over the wooden fence. And yet, she also knew that today she had absolutely no time to laze about. She already saw the pattern that was going on here. With each day that had passed, her father grew more aggressive when they were fighting. And tomorrow they were supposed to fight for the last time. If if he was to be even greater thread than the last time, she would have to do everything she could just to survive. But there was a glimmer of hope. Even though she completely lost the last time they fought, she managed to deal some heavy damage to him. If she only had a better hit, a victory was not out of the question. "Okay!" Clenching her fists, she tried to straighten her body again. Her muscles were still hurting, but it was nothing compared to yesterday. Nodding to herself, she looked around. And then, a voice came from above. "You woke up early." It was him, sitting on the roof and looking friendly as a giant robot ever could. Jumping down from there, Leila was quite surprised that his weight didn't make a hole in the wooden floor they were standing on. "But that is good. We do have a lot of work ahead of ourselves. Come." Not even letting her protest, he basically started dragging her by her hand to the side of their hut. And before they even arrived, Leila started noticing that there was something different. Chopped up blocks of wood were laying scattered everywhere, sawdust covering the ground. And there it was, just behind the corner. A training pendulum. In other words, several logs in a row with one big log that was hanging by a rope above them. To train balance and many other factors, one had to remain on the logs without falling down while evading the swinging one, not letting it hit them and knock them to the ground. It always looked like a perfect device to train ninjas, not mages. "Hold on! This definitely wasn't here before! How did... did you...?" Several questions floated around in Leila's head, all related to this. And father was clearly more than happy to explain all of this. "I made it during the night, when you were sleeping. Machias do not require sleep after all." Almost not believing him, she looked over the whole contraption ahead in slight amazement. And it didn't take long before father offered her a piece of black cloth. "And this is?" "It is a blindfold." "Right. What for?" "For the pendulum, of course. In order to train properly, your senses must be on their absolute peak. Outside of battle, something like that can be only achieved by removing other dominant senses, like sight." Those words instantly destroyed Leila's spirit. In fact, she was pretty positive that the sound of her soul crashing into milion pieces was loud enough for others to hear it. "You can't be serious! You want me to train on this thing... blindfolded? I'll die!" "There is absolutely nothing lethal about the pendulum. But if you do not wish to be prepared for tomorrow, I will not force you. It is your day of recovery." Slightly irritated, Leila grabbed the blindfold and put it on. "I swear, this will not end well for me..." slightly worried and completely blind, she started searching for the logs with her hands. Once she found them, she climbed up and tried to prepare. Only standing straight on one of these logs was hard enough, how was she supposed to dance around the pendulum like this? The feeling that she would soon end up with more injuries than she woke up with this morning suddenly got a lot stronger. "Prepared?" "No!" "Perfect." With that single world, Leila suddenly heard the rope being used. The pendulum was moving in front of her and she was supposed to conquer it, just like that. "I don’t even know where the other platforms are. There’s just no way I can make it. Come on, at least let me find my surroundings." It took a moment of silence and thinking, but father eventually agreed. Stopping the giant log that almost smacked Leila in the face. Sighing, she tried moving her left leg forward until she felt a solid ground beneath it. And just like that, she memorized where each platform is. Although it did took few minutes and a good amount of falls before she was absolutely certain and confident that she could walk on this contraption without trying to step on air and nothing else. Still didn’t change the fact that she was rather afraid of that swinging piece of wood.

"Ugh... fine, I think I'm ready!" With that confirmation, the golem released the pendulum again. It swinging could be heard at close distance, allowing Leila to somewhat grasp it's location. "Now, make it to the other side without hitting it." That was the first test, the first training. Breathing in and breathing out, she tried to calm herself and start focus all she could. After few seconds, when she though that the log just passed the middle, she made few steps, hopping on the platforms. Given the fact that there was no pain and hard fall, she probably made it."Good job. Now, get back." The same thing she just did, simple enough. She turned and prepared once more. And when she heard the sound of a rope swinging close by, she went for it. It was another success, only she almost slipped on one of the platforms. But thankfully, the momentum managed to aid her in keeping the balance. "Let us say that this was good enough for a warm up. Now, transform your hands into claws, just like you did during our fight. Get back to the other side, turn and slash at the swinging log. She heard his steps getting further away and then back closer. He must have been walking beside the contraption, observing all of her movements. Simply nodding, Leila gulped and turned again. With a sigh, she started hopping again when the time was right, turning as fast as she could at the end and swiping her claws forward. She felt a resistance and then a pull. She was closer that she had thought and her whole hand hit the swinging piece of wood, knocking her out of balance and ultimately making her fall to the side. That was another hurty on her bum. "You almost made it. I suggest you keep trying." "Right, right..." Knowing that he won't let her go, she removed the blindfold for a moment to reorient herself and as she climbed back up, she covered her eyes again. Seriously, how exactly is this gonna help me? Not quite grasping what her father had in mind, she still continued. After all, every time they did something, it came useful later on in one way or another. Surely even something like this would help her in tomorrow's great battle. This time she barely completed the task that was given to her, still loosing her balance when she managed to hit the pendulum. But she managed to recover her footing and stayed on the wooden platforms. Alright, getting hang of this... I think. "Keep on going. Think of that log as your enemy. You need to strike it as many times as possible, going from one side to another in order to avoid their attacks. Strike, dodge and keep your balance." Another brutal request. But Leila was trying. This whole ordeal went on for hours until she fell to the ground and refused to get up. "I had enough... at this rate, I'll actually go blind." Removing the blindfold, she assumed a sitting position next to the contraption she was training on until now. Father nodded, probably judging that it was enough for her. "Very well. There is still some time left in the day. I had prepared several training dummies behind the building. Or you can go and rest, it's up to you." With those words, he left. Going god knows where, Leila didn't question him. Staying where she was for few more minutes, she tried to regain some of her strength. And once that was done, she got back on her two feet. Sighing, she looked around. Since he took the time to make some dummies, she might as well check them out. Slowly going around the corner of the hut, she saw them. Human-sized sacks on sticks with red targets on them. Poking them with her finger, it seemed that they were filled with hay. "Not the words thing ever, I guess..." She commented half-bakedly and looked around. There was nothing else to do, she might have as well. Transforming her arm, she took a swing at the dummy. The sharp claws tore apart the cloth, but they hay stayed intact. It was somewhat sturdy. Meaning that they were actually usable. Trying out few stabs and attacks, she eventually started using her spells to tear the dummies apart. In the end, they weren't sturdy enough to stop magic. Which was quite understandable, given the materials they were made from. Wondering what to do next, she decided to have another bath in the river. Since the golem was gone, she had her privacy and all. Thankfully the water was still warm. And after a little relaxation in the natural water, she went back to the hut. Her body was completely clean, mostly recovered and her mind clear of all unnecessary thoughts. Wondering about all of what had happened here, she sat down onto her bed. Apparently, she only had one week in this place and not more. That was what father kept saying to her. Which meant that tomorrow was the last day of her staying here. And she had to spend it fighting her father. Not exactly a pleasant thought. Suddenly, she wished that she would spend more time with him today. It was the last day she would spend in peace. But she already decided to spend it training. Still not sure if the pendulum was actually helpful in any way, at least she was now capable of jumping around platforms without having to use her eyes. Not exactly a skill that seemed all that useful, but one never knew when it could come in handy. Shaking her head, she laid down into the bed, trying to not think about it too much. "Well... whatever. Another day, another night." Wondering what had passed in the real world, she slowly dozed off into the land of dreams. Tonight, she dreamt of the old days, when she was still travelling with her father through different lands. It was a pleasant dream, filled with hope. And then, it faded into darkness

---

The final morning was oddly... hot. Hating heat, it rudely awoke Leila. With her eyes still closed, she suddenly smelled something really bad. It was forcing her to cough and finally open her eyes. To her unpleasant surprise, the whole hut was engulfed in flames. Shocked, she quickly threw her body from the bed that was only seconds later crush a bit big wooden support that fell from the roof. Not really knowing what was happening, she covered her mouth and ran out of the front door, jumping over the railing and rolling on the ground towards the lake. There, she finally managed to recover her composure and looked towards her temporary home burning down. "What... what just...?" She was confused. But everything soon cleared up when she saw the golem who walked into her vision from behind the burning house. He really planned to fight the entire day, from the moment Leila woke up until one of them dropped to the ground, defeated. Fixing her gaze at the enemy, she slowly stood up and swept the sweat from her forehead. "Do we really have to fight?" He didn't answer, only silently walked closer still. Gulping, she got ready. He already removed his clothes before his first attack, his body fragile as before, only made out of wires and metal frame. But even with that, she still lost to him. Could she really win today? There was no time to think about that. As she continued scanning him with her eyes, she noticed that one of his hands looked a bit different. There was some kind of a device on it. And suddenly, he just sopped in his tracks. He moved that hand into the air and out shot a bright light. It was a ball that shone with white light and flew with terrible screech. After few seconds, it stopped rising and slowly started falling. And in next few seconds, it landed on top of the hut that served as their home for the past week. A strong explosion almost blinded her as the entire shack exploded into pieces. It was much stronger than any attack he used so far. In fact, if he used that when she was sleeping, she would surely be dead right now. That thought alone wedged immense fear into her heart. Her body started shaking as she felt cold sweat everywhere. Maybe that was his goal... to send her into this state by invoking thoughts of death. Or perhaps it was just a side effect of him showing the strength he posses right now. Whatever the case, he was moving forward again. With every step he was closer. And when he was only few meters in front of Leila, he pointed that cannot straight at her. The shock of seeing it snapped her back into reality and forced her body to dodge to side as the white ball shot out and flew right past her. As it landed, it caused another huge explosion behind them. Clenching her teeth, she started charging towards him. That weapon had immense firepower, but that was also it's weakness right now. If he fired that thing at something close to him, he would be caught in the blast as well. That made getting close to him seem like a good idea. But his other hand quickly started changing as well, splitting into two and letting a long blade slide out from the slit that was created. Quickly transforming her own hands, the two clashed. He easily blocked her attack with that blade. Suddenly, he started putting a lot of force into his hand, pushing Leila back. With a smirk, she secured her footing and let go of the hold, his bladed arm flying past her face as she got closer to his other hand. Grabbing it with those claws, she had seemingly just enough strength to tear the weapon away, rendering it unusable. Once that was done, she was free to make some distance between them again. Slipping around his side, she started running past the ruined home and into the meadow. There, she would have more room to work with and no river that she had to be worried about falling into. As she ran, the weather started suddenly changing. Until now, it was always sunny with only few clouds in the skies. But now, the heavens were darker than the night itself. In no time at all, it started raining. And soon after, sounds of thunder followed. Along with another screeches from behind her. Zigzagging, Leila started avoiding bombs that were falling from the sky. Thankfully, these were way weaker than the one from just a moment ago. When she eventually reached the middle of the meadow, she turned to face the golem. He was right there, following close behind. But he still kept some distance. A sudden lightning hit one of the trees of the forest next to them, setting it ablaze. It took but moments before the fire started spreading, consuming the forest that she was always hiding in when they were fighting. Looking at it, the golem nodded to himself. And then, something very bad happened. Stitches that were seemingly holding his facial shield together came apart, the slit opening and revealing a big red eye, tilted by 90 degrees. She knew exactly what it was. Her father's single eye, it had the ability to see everything in 360 degree radius for a certain distance. And to make things worse, it was also capable of seeing through solid objects, rendering any and all hiding spots completely useless. That was why she was so afraid of it all this time. Because she was hiding very often, waiting for her chance. But with this, she was forced to face him head on, no excuses. The rain that was falling on them was creating a sound of the battlefield, the thunder in distance it's drum. Their final battle was about to commence. Praying to all gods she knew, Leila assumed the fighting stance.

With a scream, she started running forward. Rising his hand into the air again, he shot out several more bombs. Their trajectory was fairly straightforward, no too hard to avoid. But as she closed the distance between them, he recreated both of his hands into blades again. Starting to move forward as well, he tried to slash at her as soon as she was close. Aiming at her chest, she was able to quickly slide down, moving underneath the blades and between his legs to get behind his back. Taking few slashes at him, they only left slight damage as he stumbled forward and forcefully spinned around, hitting her crossed arms with one of the blades. Making her bleed slightly, she had to back away. Growling slightly, she raised the ground in 15 meters large area around her, letting the gray roots rise from the ground nearly instantly. Not having a weapon efficient enough, golem took the hit and stumbled again. But to avoid getting entangled in the roots, he transformed one of his hands back into flamethrower, just like the other day. Quickly jumping into safe distance, Leila made sure to not go up in flames just like her roots did few seconds later. Looking around, she tried to search for something she could use to her advantage. But there was nothing at all. The forest was burning fiercely and the area consisted of nothing but long, wet grass and occasional flowers. Starting to march towards her again, she shook her head and created a whip from her arm, swinging it around wildly in front of her in hope to hit him. Easily avoiding the strikes, he grabbed the end of the whip and pulled Leila towards him, trying to slash her with the blade as she stumbled forward. Quickly creating wooden armor around her body, she was able to absorb some of the hit and remain in front of him, quickly slashing at him too. Of course, it had no effect as he dodged with a simply back step. Thrusting forward without any warning, he caught her by the neck and raised her into the air. Danging there hopelessly, she looked into his eye. He was looking directly at her with seemingly no remorse. But underneath him, a spike suddenly rose from the ground. That spell was really good in these situations. But the eye was doing it's work. Golem saw the attack coming as soon as Leila summoned the roots, and jumped to the side. But to turn her own magic against her, he suddenly threw her at the spike instead of him. Thankfully, she was in it's control and slowed it to the point where she wouldn't get impaled. Grabbing the column, she let it grow again to its full height of around 20 meters. Breathing heavily on top of this new obstacle, she looked down at the golem. He was unfazed and eager to get his hands on her again. Crouching for a moment, he jumped all the way up to where she was, trying to slash at her again. Letting go, she avoided his attack fairly easily but fell to the ground, which was a bit painful. Taking her spot, he grabbed the roots and now stood at top of the natural tower. And then, a miracle happened. Or perhaps it was jut his metal body, now higher up above the ground, that acted as a conductor. A lightning striked down, hitting his body at full force. As machias, lightning was his natural enemy. And gods were apparently helping Leila now. With a groan of pain, he fell from the column and crashed into the ground. But it was not enough to finish him. His body was smoking but he was still able to move. And now he looked really angry. A strange box popped from his back, opening and releasing smoke. A lot of smoke. The entire area was quickly covered and suddenly wasn't able to see as much as the tip of her nose. Hearing noise behind her, she instinctively ducked. A sift hand, filled with razor-sharp claws went above her. Remembering yesterday, she closed her eyes and moved back from where she just was. The rain made it a bit difficult, but she was at least somewhat able to tell from which directions his attacks were coming. Especially since he didn't try to exactly be silent. But she was only able to dodge his attacks like this, not really attack him. Only... if she timed it right. Listening for his steps carefully, she activated another spell when he got close, along with her special ability of corruptor's rush that allowed her to cast it without having to use her magical power. The four pillars creating immobilizing barrier. He almost hit her when she did it, but it took effect before his claws connected with her skin. Stunning him, she quickly took few steps back as she whispered "Hold it together, birds of a feather, Nothing but lies and crooked wings. Oh. Fly over me evil angel. Open your wings evil angel." It was her first time actually using this, but she kinda had to. A bright violet light enveloped her and out came Xiolan, the dark angel. "Grab the machias and move him far away from here, please!" Shouting her command, she acted immediately, charging forward as she spread her wings. Grabbing the golem by his neck, she started ascending while dragging his body up with her. The smoke quickly dissipated with it's source gone and Leila saw Xiolan throwing her opponent towards the ground after she got stabbed with his blade. it wasn't enough damage to break the summoning, but Leila still thought that she didn't more of her help. After all, that drop did even more damage to the golem, whose smoke box was now broken from the fall as well. "I say it's time to finish this." With those words, her entire skin turned gray and ugly, quickly bursting into flames. The angel landed next to her. "Alright, only one more thing. Please, throw me towards him as fast as you can! I beg of you!" Acknowledging her second command, the angel grabbed her arm and started spinning her around herself, eventually letting go and launching her towards the golem who was having trouble with getting up. Her arms were burning claws that soon sunk into her father's chest, the impakt completely breaking it, the sharp claws digging inside and ripping him apart. All of that damaged stacked and now, he was finally laying on the ground, unable to move at all. Releasing all of her active magic, the angel disappeared and Leila transformed into her normal self, falling to her knees. "Just as I though... I really do not stand a chance against a real mage." He finally spoke, laughing in the process. Leila only started crying, trying to cover her eyes with her palms. "Ah, no worries. I am but a creation of your memories, remember? You did good. Now you can rest easy, for your father finally knows that letting you go, so you could become a mage, was a good decision. I am proud..." With his last words, he patted her head. And with that, everything started to fade in a golden light.

---

Suddenly opening her eyes, Leila realized that she was laying on the ground with Ori right next to her, licking her cheek. Quickly getting up, she looked around her. She didn't expect to have such a wonderful view of the whole land, basking in the morning's sun. Suddenly, Ori climbed on her shoulder and shook her head. "E..er, yeah, I'm okay! I'm... back?" Still a bit confused, she had to take a moment. And finally, she realized that the entire week had passed. The jewel's effect had ended and she was back in the real world. Smiling at her furry pet, she sighed out loud for the final time on this adventure. "Sorry, I made you wait an entire week." She apologized, but he only tilted his head in confusion. That made Leila a bit unsure as well. She quickly grabbed her iLac and checked the date. Realizing how much time actually passed made her laugh. Looking to the side, she spotted the transparent gem. Walking up to it, she extended her hand for a moment. But with a smile, she turned away and started walking to the edge of the platform. "Once was enough..." With that, a smile from the bottom of her heart showed at her face. Once again, she had a new tale that no one will take seriously. With laugh, she looked around. "So... how am I getting down?"