Chapter 95 Stein?

Shaman, Elysia and Wolfy made their way down to the small arena just outside and could see Stein and Arsia waiting.

'Now that I look at Stein, he seems rather familiar but from where?' Shaman had this feeling of familiarity with Stein but could not put her finger on it.

'I could tell you?' Rea spoke to Shaman knowing the answer to Shaman's thought.

'Well that was easy, who is he then Rea?' Shaman, expecting an answer, waited patiently for Rea to respond.

'Pffft, I'm not telling, figure it our yourself'

[ :P ]

Shaman froze for a moment as the brat Rea had just dismissed her.

"Uhh Shaman, are you okay?" Elysia saw Shaman stop in her tracks and wondered what was wrong. Shaman shook her head and continued to walk.

"Oh don't worry, just a stupid brat in my head is being annoying." Shaman's eyebrow twitched as she was unable to haggle information out of Rea as realistically Rea was the one in control.

'Rea what did you say?' Elysia could not help but ask what Rea had done as clearly Rea was having a blast annoying Shaman.

'I have the answer to something and I just told her to figure it out herself as it is a pretty easy answer if you ask me.' Rea explained what she had said and Elysia could now see why Shaman got a little angry.

"Pffft." Elysia could not help but laugh a little, causing Shaman to turn around and stare at her with an unimpressed look.

"Did she tell you?" Shaman believed Elysia would tell her if Rea did tell her where she recognized Stein from.

"No no no, I was just laughing at what Rea said to you. We need to hurry up, I'm sure you will find out who it is, plus you can just ask him." Elysia felt a little bad at laughing but Shaman's response was a little childish.

Elysia continued to walk and Shaman let out a sigh and resumed walking alongside Elysia and Wolfy.

*

They had walked into the flat arena with Stein and Arsia standing in the middle waiting for them.

"Alright, just on time, let's get this training started already." Stein did not waste any time and wanted to start the training.

"First things first, we are going to have a duel and see where you are failing and then we will get into routines that you shall practice everyday." Stein explained the plan and pulled out his own katana.

It was a completely Black sword and had chains making the hilt of the sword. The chains were also black but they also looked like they were moving in a constant loop. Shaman was unable to tell as she was too far away.

"Now, Elysia, you are going to fight Arsia and I will take on Shaman. Without further ado we shall now begin." With that said Shaman took her stance in front of Stein but she had also noticed that Wolfy had to sit out.

'Does Himeko have an issue with Wolfy.' Ever since Shaman broke free of the influence She could not help but be skeptical of everything around her.

'Tch, I guess we are going to have to make a trip to the Freya forest for Wolfy as it seems like she won't provide anything for him.' Shaman did not plan to go to the fox realm so early but it seemed like she needed to if they wanted to get Wolfy some training.

"Stop daydreaming, otherwise I might accidently kill you." Stein spoke as the duel was beginning and Shaman was still lost in thought.

Shaman grew vigilant and started to concentrate waiting to see if Stein would make a move.

Stein readied his sword and Shaman could not help feel like she had seen the same stance from somewhere. Shaman shook her head as this was not the time to be thinking about that.

Shaman took a step and was about to attack but before she could move Stein had already disappeared from view.

Something had taken over Shaman like she had already experienced this before and her body began to move on its own. She moved her sword to just above her head and managed to block the blow from stein.

Without any time to think what just happened Stein had moved again, and the same force Shaman had felt began to move on its own. This time with Shaman Slashing to the right and colliding with Stein's sword. A slight shake could be felt as the attack was rather powerful.

Stein could be seen with a smile making him look almost crazy. Shaman was a little surprised but soon flashbacks started to appear in her mind.

Shaman saw images of her previous instructor of Shaman and that's when it clicked. Despite Stein not having his usual navy blue attire looking like an admiral he now looked like an adult stuck as an angsty teen.

'He is my old instructor but why does he not recognize me? Is Himeko also able to remove or manipulate memories?' More questions about Himeko's capabilities started to rise but once again she was unable to think for too long before Stein began to move.

This time he steps forward parrying Shaman's sword and leaving her back open.

Stein pulls his other hand and begins to strike at Shaman's back with his palm, lighting also could be seen flickering around his hand. But before Stein's hand could reach her back, Shaman was able to move forward and do a handstand, jumping off her hands to get away.

"HAHA very good, show me more." Stein then charged forward with his katana and went to stab Shaman.

Shaman's body once again began moving on its own as Stein was making the same moves from her previous training and was able to know what to do. Shaman deflected the black blade and this time she used the element of wind to boost her attack speed. Shaman's Kotetsu striked at high speeds towards Stein's head but unfortunately and expected, Stein was able to dodge the strike.

Now Stein was under Shaman's blade leaving the whole front of her body open. Stein went for the palm strike again this time connecting right in her stomach. The lighting around his hand also gave the hit an extra kick.

Shaman could feel a pulse go through her body and feeling temporarily paralyzed, She then was sent flying across the arena floor till finally rolling to a stop. Shaman could feel her body still suffering the lingering effect of the lighting and the strike had taken the wind out of her.

*Cough, cough* "Jesus, that was intense and it really felt like I was living those memories rather than relying on muscle memory of the previous Shaman." Shaman felt amazing as although her body was moving on its own it was a great feeling experiencing the training herself.

"Not bad girl, you have great potential and the way you fight is similar to mine so i hope you are ready for the regime i got for you." Stein had walked over and was massively impressed with Shaman.

"Stein? Do you not recognize me, you used to train me before." Shaman wanted to see if he had really forgotten her.

"Hmm?" Stein leaned in and looked at her face.

Shaman looked around nervously as he was a little too close for comfort.

"No you don't look familiar at all but I do get a nagging feeling in my head when I do look at you but I just think that's the urge to teach you." Stein leaned back and gave an answer which confirmed Shaman's thought that Himeko clearly has wiped some memories.

"Anyway, shall we get this training done?" Shaman wanted to change the topic before any suspicion arose as Himeko was most likely able to get any information out of them.

'Good thing I never met Himeko when I was a kid, otherwise my attachment to her could have landed me in a terrible spot.' Shaman did not feel bad for screwing over Himeko as they never knew each other previously which made things easier for her.

'I don't think I will be able to free Stein and any other yet as going into a fight with Himeko at my level is just suicide and if I were to do it while she was not around I would rather not be hunted down for the rest of my life.' Shaman considered doing things the stealthy way but it would just cause more problems down the track.

"I agree let's get going, We have a lot to go over." Stein helped Shaman up from the floor and they began to go back to where they originally started to fight.

Shaman looked over to the side and could see that Elysia and Arsia were still fighting.

'Looks like Elysia is about to lose she looks very exhausted.' Shaman observed their fight and she could see that Elysia was struggling while Arsia had not broken a sweat.

'Good luck Elysia.' Shaman cheered for her, as she continued to walk with Stein.