I woke up earlier than I normally would like. The sun hadn't even started to properly rise yet. I couldn't really see my timepiece on the bedside stand, as my eyes hurt too much. They felt like they had been rubbed raw and then set on fire. I could feel the redness.
I had cried myself to sleep the entire night before, despite having Eira there to comfort me. Myth had been the first person I had really worked with closely when I came to the dungeon school. Hells below, we even went into our first real dungeon together. Tower of Ash and Blood, which I still think is a stupid name for a hole in the ground. I hadn't thought much of her then, but she had grown on me.
She had stuck by me with everything that was going on. The wedding, the dungeon core, helping me recover when I lost my magic, and many other things. And I had stabbed her in the back, metaphorically speaking. There were many justifications I could think of as to why I had to do it, but it didn't lessen the feelings of guilt in my heart.
I carefully extricated myself from Eira's grasp. Poor thing looked as tired as I felt. I gave her hair a soft pet, and I kissed her temple gently, to which she stirred and made a happy little mumble.
I wrote Eira a little note explaining why I left early, so she wouldn't worry, and slipped out her door with my gear bag in tow, trying my damnedest best not to let the clacking of the locks wake her. She deserved a rest after putting up with me all night.
I would have to treat her somehow. With everything she had going on, helping me out on top of everything else must be putting a strain on her.
My thoughts pondered various ideas as I trundled through the cool silence of the morning towards the training hall. I jumped slightly at the sound of movement from the trees in the garden space. The wind was still this morning, so it couldn't have been that. An animal? A person? Paranoia runs wild? Probably that last one.
I let out a sneeze that echoed in the empty courtyard between the buildings, and it echoed slightly. I sniffled. Damned allergies. Already this morning wasn't going my way. Typical.
I hurried along to the training hall, where I found Farina waiting outside the building. As she unlocked it, she whispered to me.
"There's been developments in the villa. I need to meet up with you later. I'll have an advisor with me this time. My office, 7th bell." She opened the door and let me in. I responded only with a nod.
I was getting very tired of the cloak-and-dagger aspect of all this. I was a front and center, spell and sword in the face kind of gal. But as long as Farina kept paying, I'd keep playing along.
As I walked into the training hall, I saw the lights of the sparring hall shining. The rest of the hall was dark, and it gave everything a bit of an unreal feeling. I was used to this place being full of other dungeoneer students and staff going about doing whatever it was that they did. It was surreal seeing it so empty. It was so quiet I could hear my footsteps echoing into the darkness.
I squinted a bit as I transitioned from the darkness into the searing brightness of the sparring hall.
"Good morning, Miss Marchesi!" A far too cheerful voice called to me. It was Noah, already doing his stretches, alongside Adhara. I realized I'd never really seen a bastetian in combat before, and I wondered if they fought any differently. They both were wearing workout clothes. With the dungeon school symbols on them. At least they were trying to blend in.
"Morning. Good or not is up for debate," I grunted as I dropped my gear bag on a nearby bench.
"You're a chipper one." Adhara quipped as she stretched out her back in ways I was certain would be impossible for anyone else. My spine ached looked at it.
"Yeah, well, I had a rough night. I also skipped breakfast and my coffee, so my mood is a bit sour." I began my own stretches, loosening up my tight shoulders.
"Well, hopefully you can work out some frustrations today, milady." Noah laughed at his own joke.
Gods above and below, I couldn't wait to sock him in the face.
We each went through our own routines for a few minutes. When I was feeling limbered up and more awake, I went and found a training sword.
"So we're supposed to have a light spar or something? Shouldn't we have some kind of officiant or something? Feels weird not to have someone higher up involved." I noted, giving the sword a few test swings. I had gotten so used to Ice Moon's weight that it felt weird swinging a bit of wood around.
"Sorry about that. Had to get my kids ready for school, and wrangling orclings is not an easy task." I heard a familiar deep voice come from the entrance.
It was Kugarth, the large, muscular orc, who looked every bit like a sleep-deprived boar right at the moment.
"Good morning, instructor," I said politely with a slight bow.
"It's too early for politeness, Alta," He grunted sleepily. "I'm only here this early because the Headmaster asked. We don't get many transfers, so I guess he wants to see how these two stack up. Why he asked for you to do it, I don't know, and frankly, I don't give two halves of a damn."
"I've no idea either, but when the headmaster says jump, I ask if he wants me to grab pastries on the way down." I shrugged. Kugarth actually laughed at that, a deep rumbling sound.
"You're alright, Marchesi!" He patted my shoulder strongly enough that I almost lost my balance. "Ok, you three, gather around. Gotta set some ground rules for these spars."
"We're listening," Adhara said, her tail curling this way and that. I knew both bastetians and kobolds emoted a lot with their tails, but I'd be damned before I knew how to tell what the movements meant.
"Ok, simple stuff. The match ends when someone yields or five minutes pass. No head shots, no crotch shots. This is a spar, not a barroom brawl. No magic either, either offensive or enhancing spells. I'm here to access fighting prowess, not finger-wiggling, mana-slinging. If I call for the match to end for any reason whatsoever, you take a knee and hands off your weapons immediately. Got it?" He said firmly, slipping seamlessly into his instructor tone. I imagined it was second nature to him at this point.
"Yes, sir." We also said in unison. I noticed that Noah and Adhara had unconsciously slipped into a very military stance. I guess you can't hide training drilled that deeply.
"Now, I'm going to guess that the two transfers, Noah and Adhara, it says here," He looked at his clipboard, "Have fought each other, so no need to test them against each other. Which sadly means you've got back-to-back fights, Marchesi. You ok with that?"
I sighed internally. Of course, I'd have to do back-to-back spars. Ah, well, that was the way of things sometimes. Dungeons often threw fight after fight at you. If you couldn't bounce back quickly, you were done for. That said, monsters and knights were different things altogether.
"Yeah, as long as I can get some water between matches, I guess." I tried to play it off nonchalantly.
"Good enough for me. I'm going to assume you introduced yourselves while you waited for me. Last thing we need is- Ah! There you are. Seems I'm not the only one late today!" Kugarth snorted as a drakekin in a white healer's smock trundled in with a case, likely full of potions and various other healing items.
"Aye aye, sorry about that, Kugarth. Mate accidentally disassembled the timepiece in her sleep. Again. I swear." They let out a hiss, which I assumed was some kind of laugh.
"Everyone, this CrawNaTeekTeek, they will be here in case one of you manages to actually hurt someone, or yourselves," Kugarth said, pointing at the drakekin setting up by the benches. "Please do your best not to make them have to work for their pay, yeah?"
We all made our greetings to the newcomer, who gave a slight bow to each of us in turn.
"Alright, let's start with Noah, then. Before we start, we have padded armor that they want you all to use. Let you really go for it. Put that on and then get in positions." Kugarth pointed at a rack in the corner.
The armor, if I were being generous, looked ridiculous and was obviously an attempt to go for a one-size-fits-all thing, but it was uncomfortable, and it was better than broken bones and such. It was leather, padded, and smelled like someone else's sweat. I was going to need such a shower after this.
We both walked over to the sparring circle, and I got into a wide fighting stance, both hands on the grip of my sword. Usually, I left one hand free for spells, but since we were going without magic for this spare, I decided to go into the stance I trained with when my magic left me. I still wasn't as proficient with it as I would have liked, but I had to adapt.
I took a good look at Noah's stance and weapons. It was definitely not what I expected. My experience with knights involved either overly large swords or sword and shield, maybe a spear. Instead, he was wielding two war hammers. He seemed more the type to wield one of those narrow-bladed swords, a rapier or whatever they called it. He seemed like a deeply unserious person, and for some reason, I just assumed he was a duelist.
"War hammers, huh?" I asked as we waited for the signal.
"Good against armor and carapace. Middenveldt has a lot of insectoid monsters." He shrugged as he lowered himself into his stance.
"Begin!" Kugarth shouted.
Noah moved with a surprising grace, given what he was fighting with. He knocked my sword aside, pulling my blade toward the ground, and swung for my shoulder, which I barely dodged. In response, I drove my fist into his guts, the padding absorbing the blow. Noah let out a grunt of pain and backed off immediately, which allowed me to return to my fighting stance.
He was quick. And strong. If I had let that hit me, I would likely be feeling it for days. He dashed forward again, this time going for my knees and core at the same time.
He was focusing on disabling attacks. Interesting. A very different fighting style than I was used to. In the few times I fought another person for real, they focused on killing blows, hoping to end fights decisively and quickly, but Noah was trying to make me submit. A very curious strategy. There was a good way to deal with that. Probably.
He made another move to strike my sword aside, and I adjusted my stance so he hit nothing but air, putting myself into a quick spin. As he went to block my attack, I drove my foot against his leg, knocking him off balance. As he fell to the floor, I moved quickly to knock him on his back, and as I thrust the tip of my sword for his chest, he dropped the hammers and held up his hands.
"I yield, I yield! Damn girl, you fight dirty, don't you!" Noah laughed as he stood back up. I couldn't help but scowl. He had held back. I just felt it in my guts.
"Of course I fight dirty. Monsters don't have rules like Mortals do. You fight dirty, or you die dirty." I said with a grimace. That sounded way better in my head. I really should not try to sound cool right after a workout.
"Fair enough." He shrugged, and we both went and grabbed some water. While Kugarth and the healer chatted.
"Seriously, though, that's a brutal fighting style you've got there. Do you really use it to fight bugs?" I whispered.
"Partially. I tend to have to bring in armored foes alive, so that's what I've been trained for. Not to sound rude, but your style feels like an armed brawl." He smirked at me before taking a long drink.
"Yeah, well, my trainer wasn't the best, and the rest of it was self-taught, for the most part." I shrugged, and wincing a bit, a bit of stiffness.
"It's too bad you're a dungeoneer. A little bit of training with the swordmages and they'd make you into a really damn good slayer. The monsters in the woods wouldn't know what hit them."
"I'm fine being a sword-witch, thanks. Swordmages are too stuffy. At least the ones I've met." I scoffed as I drank greedily.
"Alright, hurry it up, you two! I want to get you all done with the sparring and simulator run before this place opens up." Kugarth grumbled at us.
"Hurray, I get to fight your cat friend now," I mumbled.
"Be careful. There's a reason she's my bodyguard and not vice versa." He whispered as I walked away.
I couldn't help but roll my eyes as I approached the sparring ring again. Adhara was standing there, bouncing on her feet as I approached. I had to admit I was a bit nervous, as I had never actually fought a bastetian. Or seen one fight, for that matter. They weren't a very common sight in Revenstahd. Not rare by any means, but most of the ones I had met weren't the fighting type.
I gave her a long, appraising look. She had a bit of height advantage on me, and she was lithe and wiry. As for armaments, she had a single short sword, barely longer than a dagger. I had no doubt she was going to be fast. I was going to have to play this defensively.
"Are you two ready?" Kugarth called out.
"Yes!" I replied.
"Affirmative!" Adhara added.
"Begin!" The orc shouted.
I tensed waiting for her attack, but it didn't come. She stood there in a ready stance and waited.
Dammit, it all, she was going to make me make the first move. Fine then.
I shifted my weight and made for a quick lunge at her center of mass.
Everything after that was a blur, and before I knew it, I was on the floor on my back, disoriented.
"What the hell just happened?" I growled to myself as I stood back up. Adhara said nothing as she bounced on her feet, dagger in front of her in a reverse grip.
Oh, she was going to be a tricky one. Let's try something a bit tricky.
"So, are you in the habit of waiting for someone else to act first? Seems a bit cowardly to me." I said, hoping it would rile her. These knights all seemed to be prideful; I doubt she was different.
She just shrugged at me. I guess she was different after all.
"Don't suppose you could save time and yield like your boyfriend, huh?" I continued to prod at her. Her fur bristled a bit at that. Noted.
I shifted to a single-handed stance and took a swing at her. She dodged out of the way, just as planned, and swung my fist at her side, hoping to use her momentum to strengthen the blow.
Yet again, I found myself dizzy and on my back on the floor.
"Ok, you know what. I yield. I have no idea how you keep doing that, but I'm not fond of being on my back this often without dinner first." I heard Noah cough violently as he was apparently mid-drink when I said that. He barely composed himself from laughing. Adhara was unreadable.
I winced as I stood. My backside was not enjoying whatever Adhara had repeatedly done to me.
"You fight well, Marchesi. Very suited for monsters and the like, but you need training to deal with more Mortal opponents." Adhara said, holding her hand out. I took it.
"Fortunately, fighting monsters seems to be what I do the most. Hopefully, I shouldn't have to deal with Mortals more than I have to." I said, giving her hand a firm shake.
"We all wish that, but life has a sick sense of humor to those like us." She let go and moved to join Noah.
The little drakekin came and checked me over to make sure I hadn't injured my back. As they did, I considered the two knights. Their fighting style seemed entirely around disarming or incapacitating their enemies. Their moves weren't about kill strikes or anything like that.
They said they were here to deal with rogue knights. Was that a new job, or something they had already trained for? It was a mystery, and as loath as I was to admit it, it might be a useful skill to pick up.
"Alright, that's enough for the sparring. C'mon, let's get the simulator dungeon up and running, and see what you transfer students got. I wanna see what they're teaching you lot in the guilds." Kugarth said with a huff and left for the simulator hall.
"Oh, I'm excited too," I said with a smile to the two knights, who just now seemed to remember that they're supposed to be dungeoneers. "I wanna see your corridor clearing skills up close and personal."
"Uh, yeah. We'll see you there in a moment." Noah said, with a soft grimace that tried to pretend to be a smile.
This was either going to be fun, or it was going to be stupid.
I was hoping for either. I didn't get nearly enough frustrations vented in the spare, and beating the ever-loving tar out of monsters, even simulated ones, sounded exactly like what I needed this morning.
