Dark in the Dollhouse Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Training

Read chapter 18 of Dark in the Dollhouse by Haspberry on NovelPedia.

Varco rose out of the shadow of the front door of his house in Dokan. He walked up the stairs to his room and went inside. His room was as boorish as they got. A plain a wooden cupboard beside the bed and a wardrobe at the very end. The only thing worth noticing was the fine red carpet on floor, surrounding the bed on three sides. This time however, “Back so soon?” a smug voice announced. There was he, Evander, sitting atop the bed with his hands under his chin as faint streaks of moonlight peeked in from the open window. “So, how did it go?” Evander asked Varco with a grin on his face, a cold howling wind accompanying his voice. “I just had a little reunion with some of our old friends. It wasn’t anything very special, but the situation there doesn’t seem to be so good. We might be needed much sooner than the time we had originally wanted to take,” Varco replied with his usual relaxed eyes. Evander nodded. “Then we have to kick things up a notch. So, what you planning first?” “For now, I am planning to polish Yuliana more as an Artisan. Starting tomorrow, we’ll be providing her with immediate combat training.” Evander laughed. “Woo! I like the sound of that! I bet it’ll be quite fun. But I bet Yuli won’t be so pleased though. Nah, on second thought, she actually might be,” he said as he pondered with a mischievous grin. “Anyways,” Evander continued with a yawn, “We have a lotta work coming up. Hehe, it might turn out to be a blessing in disguise for all we know.” He waved his fingers and said, “Good luck,” before dissolving into a pool of darkness and making its way into Varco’s shadow. “A lot of work indeed...” Varco muttered with a self deprecating chuckle. A curtain of shadows enveloped him as his stubble disappeared and his clothes transformed into a two piece suit with silver engravings on the end. His hat and necklace disappeared and so did his boots. Running his fingers through his combed but erratic hair, Evander said as he plopped down onto the bed, “A blessing in disguise, or a curse masked as one?” he snickered and added with a sigh, “A week huh? Let’s see what I can do in that time.” 5 Days later... A bead of sweat ran down Yuliana’s face as she clutched her gothic battle axe tightly. She had put on a specialized three piece suit for women which was good for movement and acted as a rather unorthodox piece of armour. She looked around frantically as she did her best at keeping attention. “C’mon now, where are you looking? Didn’t I tell you to keep track of all directions? Even downwards.” A wooden stake drilled out from the shadow of Yuliana and stopped right beneath her chin. It glistened with the sharpness of a well maintained blade. Yuliana stumbled and fell onto her rear. She swung her axe skilfully and cut down the stake in a swift horizontal motion. “That’s the sixth time you’ve died today. If we hit seven, then no desserts for you tonight.” She clicked her tongue as a smile spread across her lips. She stood up and wiped her mouth with her thumb. “Now you’ve really done it,” she said as her smile widened. A laughter could be heard booming through the forest, shaking the trees and rustling the leaves with it. Evander popped out from the shadow of a tree with a big grin on his face. Without hesitation, Yuliana lunged at him by Repelling the air underneath her feet and boosting her dash. She swung her axe towards him with great momentum. But before she landed the decisive hit, Evander dissolved into a pool of black. She had missed. Not fast enough, she thought as she frowned. “You’ve certainly gotten better at handling the Repulsion Leap than two days ago. But that is not enough to catch up to me,” Evander said as he hung downwards from a tree very far away. Yuliana flipped a tiny switch at a spot a little down the back blade of the axe. Instantly, the carved steel of the axe burst into flames. She held the axe by the rubber sling at the end of the intricate black handle and swung it with great momentum, periodi