行尸走肉第3季

Ryan stopped and looked at a small black antelope, who stared back at him with its big brown eyes. It stood about five feet high with short legs and long ears.

Its coat was covered in greenish spots that had white hair along the edges. However, the most distinctive feature was the long tongue sticking out between its front teeth, which seemed to be able to taste the air.

The creature\'s face was extremely peculiar.

"These things look like my ex-girlfriend!" Ryan snorted.

It blinked several times, not knowing what to make of Ryan\'s appearance. The situation would have been more humorous than alarming if it wasn\'t for how many others were starting to appear behind the creature.

Ryan figured he might as well not fight them alone, so he finally sent a prompt, and three figures appeared beside him.

Lizzy, Izzy, and Emily walked up together, looking quite surprised creatures.

There were approximately 11 E-Grade antelopes, 19 F-Grade antelopes, and a cohort of lesser beasts.

"Izzy, back at the dorms when I told you we\'d be fighting, you seemed excited, right?" Ryan smiled as he got ready.

"Yes!" Izzy said, licking her lips and pulling out her battle-axe. "I relish the opportunity to lick my enemy\'s blood off my axe. It sends shivers down my spine."

"What about \'the reaper\'? Why are you using a battle-axe?" Ryan asked.

"My family heirloom can\'t be used against such beasts, it\'s only fit for killing sentient beings."

Lizzy rolled her eyes. "She got these traits from our mother. Although mother isn\'t exactly this vocal about her… tendencies," Lizzy said, sighing and pulling out her dagger.

Emily looked at the ground with a forlorn expression, still distraught over what she had done.

Still, she mustered up some courage and pulled out her saber, which Ryan had returned to her.

Ryan pulled out his non-magic sword and surrounded his vital points with energy, as he had no armor.

A feeling of peace entered his mind as he held the blade, a familiar sensation that reminded him of the first time he wielded a sword back when he was four.

===

A small Ryan was standing in the center of a circle. The dirt below his feet was smooth, brushed free of pebbles and debris. White rocks lined the outside of the circle. He heard a voice say, "Stay inside the circle. The circle is your center, your area of control, and right now, the circle is the only world you know."

It was a female\'s voice that spoke to him. Familiar longing rang through his body, bringing a tear to his eye. He was small, so small.

The person towered above him. A flowing skirt blew through the wind, and as small Ryan looked up, he squinted at the face that appeared hazy in his memories.

"Here is your wooden sword. You will get your own sword later when you are ready. But for right now, we are going to study. You are going to learn. And you will be the best sword master our world has seen!"

Ryan remembered holding the wooden sword and gazing longingly at it. It felt good, the smooth handle shapely carved, and the end didn\'t have a sharp point as he had seen on most swords; instead, it was flat.

He remembered waving it through the air, around and around in a circle. He was shouting, yelling, and jumping.

"Velox," the voice said, "focus. This is not a game. You\'re here to learn. Stand quietly. And hold your sword outstretched in your hands just like this." Her hands, a delicate white, held another wooden sword the same size as his.

"Now place your left foot in front of you just like this. We call this the front foot, the leading foot that will lead you through the path of life. And you can rock just like this," she said as she rocked back and forth on her back foot.

"Your back foot is your stabilizer. That will keep you strong and true, and as you walk through life, you will keep balanced with one foot behind and one foot ahead."

"Now, feel your body standing centered. Your weight is equal to your front foot and your back foot. You are in balance, harmonious with the world."

Ryan remembered carefully placing his feet and rocking. Feeling the balance shift between his feet and finding his center as he finally stood, one foot in front and one foot behind.

"We stand like this, our hips are facing forward, facing our opponent. They are not sideways, like this," as she turned her body to the side, "we face forward."

"Now lift your arm and hold it at shoulder level. Bring it up again; smooth, not jerky. Smooth. Now bring your sword forward, and point it towards me."

"If my sword comes out like this," she brought her sword out and down, "you can hit it away." As she said this, she hit Ryan\'s sword very lightly, and he crashed his sword back into her sword, making it fly through the air. She started laughing. "Very good! Exactly!"

"See, I am leaving your circle," the lady said, stepping outside of the circle. "I am leaving your world, I have to retrieve my sword. Meaning you\'ve won."

Ryan remembered the words of praise. He felt pride as he stuck his small wooden sword as high up as he could reach and shouted, "I won! I won!"

He remembered her laugh as she said, "Now, back to the stance, one foot forward, one foot back, feel the balance. Bring your sword down."

"If you step straight ahead, you might get my sword in your stomach, but if you step to the side, you will most likely stay away from my slashing sword."

"See, I have just attacked. As you step to the side, I put my foot forward to slash my sword. Now you put your sword forward and look. Now I\'m off balance, so your sword can slash down and knock away my sword."

During her directions, Ryan remembered following her lead, doing what she said, and loving every minute of the game.

"Now, let\'s start again. Feet separated, sword out, step to the side, and this time tilt your head in the direction you\'re going. This way, if my sword goes out to slash, you have already dodged my sword, and now you can attack."

Ryan, remember the feeling of elation. The clash of the wooden swords. The joy in the defeat. The comfort in knowing that someone was instructing him.

Perhaps a beautiful lady? He tried to concentrate, his eyes tightly closed. He wanted so desperately to see the face… or her boobs. Either one so he could identify her. But all he could do was hear her voice.

\'Who is she? Is she my teacher? Or someone closer?\'

They had played many hours at sport combat. Ryan had moved up from a small wooden sword to a larger one and finally took a blunt-edged blade with a rounded tip used solely for sport combat.

The lady repeatedly said that they were preparing for battle. But he had yet to hear who they were fighting or why. So, in the end, he never got his precious sword.

But in his last memory, she showed him the sword he would receive as an adult.

Ryan focused harder, trying to remember the intricate details of the sword. It was silver and bent to look like a half-moon.

He drew in his breath, trying to hold the picture of the sword in his mind.

He could see an emblem engraved at the edge of the metal, very near to the handle. He took another deep breath to focus his sight on the emblem.

His eyes shot open. It was the same emblem. The emblem from his birthday cake and the emblem from the sign he had seen just a few days ago. It was the emblem of the Dawn Pavilion.