The blue sapling lunged at the violet mesmer, who deflected the sword attack with their scepter, clones appearing out of thin air. In response, the trainee formed a phantasm of his own, then disappears into a cloud of smoke. As the mentor's clones looked wildly for their target, the trainee leapt out of the shadows and struck the other sylvari, only to once again be deflected.
Being spotted, the blue sylvari teleported backwards and swapped weapons, from a sword and torch to a staff. The skill difference was noticeable the moment he swapped sets.
More and more of the trainee's clones appeared, shattering just as fast. The sapling got close, appearing as one of the clones before casting a chaotic storm and leaping backwards, a similar purple aura swirling around him. Before long, more clones appeared once the phantasms expired. It didn't help that there was an occasional sharp pain from a mantra sent their way. A quick pinch to throw them off-rhythm.
Too bad it doesn't quite work on them.
The trainee was distracted by a clone coming for him, practically demanding his attention. A quick close-range shatter or two, and the trainee was gasping for breath on the ground.
The blue sapling cast a healing signet, blinking away to the edge of the ring and casting more clones before swapping back to his sword and torch, leaping forward for a flurry sword strike. Once again disappearing into the air, the violet mentor cast one of their phantasms to again distract the sapling. The sword mesmer leapt out from the side and shattered his clones, a crystalline shield preventing him from harm for just a second or two. A second is a lot of time in battle.
Two more clones appeared from the blue sylvari, and all three sprinted towards the mesmer mentor.
Having had enough of this, the mentor used a shatter skill, dazing the trainee so much that he dropped to the ground.
It's now that the mentor notices the flowers in the blue sylvari's white leaves.
The mentor caught him by the wrist when he swings, twisting it behind his back and pinning him to the floor.
"That's enough, Chrysallus. You need a break," the mentor firmly stated.
The sapling, Chrysallus, struggled to get free. "I can- I can get this, Auri!" he grunted, fighting to stand. "One. More. Time."
Auri, the mentor, sighs. "You're obsessing again, Chrys. This perfectionism of yours is getting out of hand. No one learns everything in a few days."
"You will wear yourself out first, then where would you be? This would get you killed in a fight."
Chrys finally stops struggling. He loathes giving in, but he didn't have any more energy to keep fighting.
Auri lets him go. "We'll call it a draw-"
"I'm not pitying you, I'm acknowledging your progress," the violet sylvari huffs. "Stop shooting down praise that's rightly earned, you will not get anywhere being difficult like that."
Chrys sheathes his weapons, still looking irritable. Auri approaches and embraces him from behind. "Why don't we go into the Garden of Dawn? Unwind for a little while? Treat the bruises?"
After a moment of silence, Chrys pulls away and tugs them by the sleeve of their shirt. He never was particularly verbal when frustrated.
They link arms with him and lead the difficult sylvari away from the training ground, over by a small pool. Both of them dive in and swim to the other side, being met with a brightly lit space paved with smooth rocks and a small waterfall at the end. They sat down in front of it, and Auri wasted no time meticulously untangling some flowers from Chrys's hair.
"Aurienal." Hearing their name, they made a hum in response. "Do you know of any other sylvari like me?"
"These damn flowers. Pesky little things always being an inconvenience."
"Well, you refuse to take breaks when you need to, these 'pesky flowers' make it easier to give you that time," they reply. "A strange little quirk, but it's benign, for the moment."
Once the flowers are picked out, his mentor pulls him back to relax against them. "So, your body has a visual cue. If you had continued as you had, you likely would have forced yourself to collapse."
"I would have been fine!"
"I'd have to drag you to a mender on principle." That response earned a growl. "Don't growl at me, kitty cat. You're the one being difficult."
"No, but you share a lot of similarities with them!" Hearing Auri laugh, Chrys just huffs in annoyance.
"You're lucky I tolerate your pet names. But I don't want you using them in front of others."
They rest their forehead on Chrys's head, feeling him relax a little. "Not one word. But I reserve the right to call you 'kitty cat' when you're being difficult."
"Oh shut it, I'm not doing it on purpose."
Auri helps him settle, noting his yawn from exhaustion. "I know. Now get some rest. We'll get some food once you've recovered more of your strength, my treat."
