33 Old Bonds

"Damn you, Tyrien! You can't be serious; you have your eyes set on Riza‽"

"She is quite intriguing. I'll need to know her abilities better, but she's no less than these other geniuses here. Her potential will be wasted without me, that's for certain."

Matriarch Tyrien saw Sonalius' distraught and ignored it.

"Regardless, you're a prisoner, and your fate is in my hands now. She'll learn to appreciate me over time. As for you," She bit her lip, "I don't think I can bear with killing yet another former disciple of mine, even he deserves it."

"You killed your disciple, yet you think you don't deserve death for such betrayal?"

"You wish to talk to me about betrayal, Sonalius? How about betraying our empire during its critical time? How about when you left your post and helped those filthy Ghoras escape us?!"

Matriarch Tyrien's shouts were so loud that even Qwan, who was already down the hallway, heard it and almost lost his bowels.

"Enough!"

Riza kept looking back at the two in a stupor. She had no idea what past crimes they were arguing about, but isn't it ultimately her decision if she wants to be matriarch Tyrien's disciple?

"I'll freely become your disciple and work hard for you," Riza emphasized, "if you help kill king Sig'car."

"And what if I refuse?"

"If you refuse... I'll do everything in my power to resist then. How good of a disciple will I become?"

Riza's golden-eyes coldly looked at matriarch Tyrien with unwavering determination. The atmosphere was intense as time felt as if it slowed down. Suddenly, matriarch smiled and grinned at Riza.

"Such will, to see how powerful I am, and still defy me. Very few would ever try such a thing. You remind me of my younger days so much, Riza. Yes."

"Y-yes?"

"Yes, I'll help you enact revenge. So come and greet your master."

Sonalius stood in disbelief and anger. Matriarch Tyrien glanced at Sonalius and reformed her cold facial expression.

"I won't allow-"

"Sonalius, this is our best bet for freeing Lorea… don't take this away from me!" She gnashed her teeth and looked at Tyrien's petite body before bowing. "Disciple Riza Arriero greets master Tyrien!"

"So, former master, what happens to me?"

"I haven't decided. Either way, I cannot kill you now that I have this new disciple... But you're still guilty of treason. I'll petition the emperor to allow you to fight for your freedom, otherwise... It's life in jail for you. But, if you aid in taking out someone even worse than you, king Sig'car, then you'll surely get your freedom and redeem yourself."

"Then... Please ask the king on my behalf. I'll continue to train to breakthrough once I'm sent back to jail."

"Wait," matriarch Tyrien sighed, "train here with me. You'll need it if you want to breakthrough faster. Besides, it'll help to have a former student of mine train my new disciple."

"...if it can't be helped. I'll be training, then."

As matriarch Tyrien wrote the petition on parchment, Riza familiarized herself with the techniques available to her and the training space. She looked and saw one technique stand out to her: Silent Snake.

This technique was about sticking to the target so they could never hit you directly. By moving around to the target, skin to skin, one could be flexible enough to stick to their body and attack when ready. It also helped one to be silent. Silent Snake was both stealthy, evasive, and had the potential to be used offensively as well.

When Riza read this one, she realized that it'd take a lot of proficiency. After all... What if she didn't move around their body well? She'd immediately be struck fatally if she messed up! One needed incredible foresight to use this technique. Close combat assassination... Riza thought about it and picked up another technique as well from master Tyrien's wall of books: Seventh Mind

Riza looked at the old, tattered book and realized this one was more ancient, and it had to be translated. Riza read the basics of the book and saw that this technique was much more complex, but it'd ensure Riza's survival. Using her body as the base, Riza could infuse all of her energy into 7 different clones. And when they tried to tell them apart, nobody could! They'd have the same appearance, energy level, etc. And while they killed her clones, the real her, who would become camouflaged when she activated the ability, could silently slip away.

Matriarch Tyrien finished writing the petition and saw the techniques she chose.

'It would seem Riza knows her strengths well...'

As matriarch Tyrien thought, Sonalius glanced up at her and knew her thoughts well.

"You had better take great care of Riza." He stared at her with eyes full of hatred. "I promise you, if she gets harmed because of you... not even death will keep me from destroying you."

Matriarch Tyrien gritted her teeth. "I'll protect her, so don't. Neither of us can afford to repeat what happened last time."

"It seems that my former master understands then."

Sonalius smiled, but to Tyrien it was a frightening grin that made her nervous even to this day. Riza was unaware of their conversation as she engrossed herself in reading. Sonalius continued to train as he sat still and radiated life. Occasionally he splurted blood and his skin changed textures as he explored life.

Matriarch Tyrien also practiced. Her golden needles danced in mid-air with several afterimages forming. While she executed her long-distance techniques, she also pulled out two swords and practiced separate sword techniques simultaneously; very few people could split their attention to three separate skills and still be functional. Her practice was mind-boggling when Riza looked up at her.

Three days passed by quickly for them. Riza managed to understand the Seventh Mind.

"Master, I am ready."

"Very well, try it out."

Riza nodded and performed Seventh Mind. Seven images appeared from within her body as her energy depleted into all seven of them. They went from illusionary to solid as they ran in separate directions.

Tyrien looked at the seven and tried to tell them apart, but they were all similar. As for locating Riza… she couldn't sense her through light energy or by vision. But she could distinctly hear Riza's breathing, the vibrations in the air, etc. She locked onto Riza's position within a few moments and leg swept her to the ground.

"Not bad. Don't use it too often or your enemies will know that the clones are simply a distraction. Once they do and your energy is depleted, then it's game over. Practice a bit more. The petition has just arrived and it's confirmed, Sonalius is cleared by the king to go with us. The emperor wants to get this over with quickly. Thanks to you, we have his location. We'll leave tomorrow for our battle with Sig'car."