"Again, Cloud!" Johnny commanded harshly. His voice echoed across the empty courtyard beside the Sector 5 Church.
"Again!"
Clang!
"Again!"
Cloud stumbled backward. Sweat flooded his pale face. Johnny had spent two full hours teaching him the basics of swordsmanship, but the young trooper's posture was a complete mess. Cloud's legs were too stiff, his swings lacked power, and his stance was wobbly. It was as if the kid possessed absolutely no natural gift for wielding a bladed weapon.
Johnny stood with his arms crossed, holding back a groan of frustration. At this point, he hadn't trained Cloud harshly in the true military sense—he wasn't hitting his hands, kicking his thighs, or striking Cloud's stomach so the boy's body would remember the pain and learn faster. Johnny was still trying to be patient.
"Alright. Stop, Cloud," Johnny finally ordered, letting out a long breath to suppress the anger rising to his head.
Cloud lowered the standard Shinra sword Johnny had lent him, his breathing heavy. He looked at Johnny with hopeful eyes. "How did I do... Mentor?"
"Bad," Johnny answered flatly. "Very bad."
Johnny stepped forward, pointing his large index finger right at Cloud's chest. "For two hours I've watched you perform all the basic sword techniques. Stab, Slash, and Thrust. And do you know what the result is?"
Cloud's eyes sparkled, hoping for even the slightest bit of praise from his mentor.
"A TOTAL FAILURE," Johnny snapped mercilessly. "You have no swordsmanship skills whatsoever. Your arm muscles reject the rhythm, and your mind is too rigid."
The sparkle in Cloud's eyes instantly died. His shoulders slumped, his expression turning incredibly sad and disappointed in himself.
Johnny massaged the bridge of his nose. He realized one thing: formal training and memorizing movements wouldn't work on Cloud. The kid overthought too much during practice.
"Alright, forget theory," Johnny decided quickly. "It's better if we just start a mission. Sometimes, field practice and life-or-death pressure force a person's instincts to instantly open up."
Cloud swallowed hard, his eyes going wide. "But... I don't feel ready yet, Mentor."
"There is no such thing as 'not ready' in the real world, Strife," Johnny cut in coldly. "Listen. If you get severely injured, bleed, or are about to die... only then will I step in to help you. But until that happens, you fight alone. Let's go, my subordinate."
"Y-yes, Mentor!"
===============================================================
Today's mission brought them to the ruins of the Sector 6 Expressway—an initially abandoned toll overpass, but now the roads were starting to look neat and organized. The concrete rubble and steel frames that had originally been scattered everywhere were gone. This was the result of the influence Johnny and his subordinates, Beck's Badasses, had exerted over the past year.
Their target this time wasn't a Wererat or an ordinary, small-fry monster. Their target was a Zenene, a mission assigned by Tseng.
From the shadows of a concrete pillar, the creature crept out. The Zenene was a terrifying mutation that moved on two muscular hind legs and two long front legs. Its body was hunched over, its head resembling a mix between a wild dog and a reptile, with a fiery red mane around its neck. Along its spine, a row of sharp spines jutted out menacingly. Toxic saliva dripped from its sharp fangs.
For Johnny, a monster of this class was merely a morning warm-up. He didn't even bother dropping down to the asphalt. Johnny sat casually on a steel beam suspended high above the road, his giant sword, the Dragon Slayer, still resting on his back.
"Now, you kill that enemy," Johnny ordered from above.
Cloud began to tremble violently. The air around him felt cold, even though he was sweating. His panic peaked, but he forced his legs to step forward, tightly gripping the standard Shinra sword in his hands.
"Whatever happens... if you really can't handle it, run, Cloud!" Johnny called out in warning.
The Zenene growled in anger. The monster darted forward with terrifying speed.
SLASH!
The Zenene flinched and let out a stifled shriek as Cloud's sword managed to slash the side of its back, leaving a shallow scratch. Cloud didn't use any technique; he just slashed randomly out of panic, driven by pure adrenaline.
"Dodge, Cloud! Evade!" Johnny shouted from above.
Hearing the instruction, Cloud immediately dropped to the asphalt, rolling away to avoid the Zenene's deadly swipe that nearly tore his stomach open.
"Run, Cloud! Run with all your might and look for an opening!"
The battle turned into a pathetic game of tag for a full thirty minutes. Cloud only ran in circles evading death. However, from atop the steel beam, Johnny noticed something interesting.
If taught by a trainer or his sergeant at the barracks, Cloud's mentality would immediately plummet and his movements would become stiff. Yet, under the pressure of a monster that truly wanted to devour him, Cloud displayed an extraordinary survival instinct. His focus sharpened. His evasion speed far exceeded what it was during practice beside the church. This kid had a hidden potential that only surfaced when he was cornered.
Losing patience because its prey kept dodging, the Zenene's eyes glowed red. The monster unleashed its deadly ability: Throat Clamp.
With one unpredictable, savage leap, the Zenene pounced. The weight of its body slammed into Cloud's chest, sending the young trooper sprawling onto his back, hitting the asphalt hard. The air was knocked out of Cloud's lungs.
The monster opened its jaws wide, preparing to slit and clamp down on Cloud's neck.
Cloud's eyes widened in horror. Death was mere inches from his face.
"BRUTAL THRUST!"
A heavy baritone voice boomed from the air.
A giant black shadow fell from the sky. Johnny plummeted from the steel beam. Before the Zenene's jaws could even touch Cloud's skin, the Dragon Slayer lunged forward with impossible kinetic force.
The thrust of the giant sword was so fast, brutal, and unstoppable. The tip of the plate-thick sword pierced straight into the side of the Zenene's head, shattering its skull in a matter of milliseconds, then dug deep into the asphalt next to Cloud's head.
SPLAASH!
Black and red blood spurted everywhere, drenching Cloud's face and uniform.
The Zenene died instantly, its body becoming a lifeless pile of meat that was shoved off Cloud's body by the force of Johnny's strike.
Johnny stood tall, slowly pulling his sword from the asphalt, then grinned widely from behind his sunglasses.
"It seems this method suits you best, Cloud. From now on, you have to train in life-or-death situations," Johnny said with a mock-sadistic tone.
Cloud coughed, slowly getting to his feet with trembling legs. He had almost died. He was well aware that for thirty minutes he had merely run around like a rat, trying to wound the monster to no avail. Yet right in front of him, the Mentor ended the fight with a single thrust of his sword. One second.
"Thank... you, Mentor," Cloud said, panting heavily as he wiped the monster's blood from his eyes.
"This is important to me," Johnny muttered quietly, looking up at the plate-covered sky of Sector 6. "Someday... you're the one who is going to save the world."
Cloud frowned, confused. "What do you mean, Mentor?"
Johnny winced, realizing he had said too much. "I don't know. Just forget it. That's why you need to get strong fast, Cloud."
As Johnny lowered his Dragon Slayer to clean off the remaining blood, Cloud's blue eyes were glued to the weapon. He stared at the giant black sword as if looking at a legendary heirloom, imagining the strength of a true warrior and a First Class SOLDIER.
Seeing that adoring gaze, Johnny smiled faintly. He placed the sword horizontally on the asphalt with a heavy thud.
"You want to hold it, Cloud? Give it a try," Johnny offered casually.
Cloud swallowed hard. He stepped forward slowly, setting his Shinra sword aside. He gripped the hilt of the Dragon Slayer with both of his leather-gloved hands. Cloud took a stance, took a deep breath, and then exerted all the strength in his scrawny body to lift the sword.
"Hnnnggghhh!"
The muscles in Cloud's neck tightened. The veins in his hands bulged. However, the sword only shifted a few inches, scraping the asphalt with a grating metallic screech. Let alone swinging it, Cloud couldn't even manage to lift the blade off the ground. The sword's weight was truly absurd for a normal human.
Cloud released his grip, panting heavily out of breath. "How... how can you wield a weapon this heavy with one hand, Mentor?"
Johnny lifted the sword back up with one hand as if it were just a light piece of wood, then sheathed it on his back.
"Training. Keep training, little brother," Johnny answered, gently patting Cloud's shoulder. "Someday, with enough training... you will also be able to wield Zack's giant sword."
Cloud straightened his posture, his eyes lighting up again with new resolve. "Thank you, Mentor!"