We head back out into the hallway and towards the stairwell on the other side of the lobby which takes us up to a rooftop training area overlooking the city below.
The roof has multiple fields laid out with targets placed between each one ranging from small animals up to large beasts.
"So here we are, this is our training yard. We have one outside of town for more destructive things but this place should do for tests, since we are high up the buildings won't impact our light either." Karna explains before gesturing to one side of the roof. "Please feel free to wander around as you like. When you are ready we can go through a few basics."
The roof gives a good view of the surroundings, the taller buildings of the city poking above the horizon like fingers. With limited vision to the roof it also means whatever magic I use will be more hidden. After a quick glance around the area I walk back to Karna to get ready. She looks at me briefly before starting to speak again, "As I was saying; we can start with a few simple things to warm up. Before we start your test you will want to grab a training weapon."
Choosing a curved sword I flip it around so it curved a bit forward to the surprise of Karna.
"Scimitars aren't meant to be held like that, are you used to a specific exotic weapon? Or is this how you hold normal blades?" She asks me curiously.
"I learnt with a forward curved blade and that's what I prefer to use so far, but I don't mind other styles." I answer casually while looking at the blade for a few moments. The metal is dull as it was likely made for training purposes and not for combat, but it has a beautiful blue-black hue to it.
"I see, that makes sense then," she says with a nod. "Since you seem to have an idea on how to fight lets try a 3 hits duel and see how you do."
I nod back at her while focusing myself for the duel and readying my stance.
A burst of speed as she lunges at me, trying to knock the weapon out of my hand. I shift it to deflect before moving into a cut. She backs off while keeping her sword in front. She seems to be right hand dominant but there does seem to be a bit of hesitation on her backstep from her right leg.
Launching an attack at her left side I pressure her back, watching her as she keeps blocking the strikes while maintaining my slight reach advantage. Striking in a rhythm for a few times I switch my pace, striking from high before switching into fast strikes on her legs, trying to force her to lose her balance when retreating her position. The lightness of her weapon forcing her to expend more strength to block my heavier hits forcing her to keep moving.
In the next burst of attacks I get one of the hits on her, a slight delay from losing the stamina to keep up with my attacks.
Withdrawing for a second to stabilise my breathing I check her direction and posture. After a moment it seems like she had regained some of her energy so with an exchange of nods we begin the second round.
This time though her attacks are slower than usual, I notice she is using more of her arms now instead of just her sword arm which makes her movements less precise as well as making me wonder if I managed to tire her out a bit in the first round.
After another exchange of blows she retreats again, this time without maintaining her full posture. Her eyes appear unfocused and her movements are sluggish. A third exchange of blows sees me getting three hits on her before she collapses onto one knee and then topples over backwards onto the ground.
Looking around in confusion there seems to be a guy sat down on the edge of our zone who has gotten up and starts to walk over towards me, stopping halfway to watch her. His hair is black as night, his skin tanned brown from spending time outdoors. He is wearing light leather clothing and carrying a small wooden staff, it doesn't look overly heavy though as he wields it easily. "Karna doesn't fight as much anymore, you might be a bit too strong for her to deal with in high intensity duels. I'm Aelric, Karna's brother."
"Ah, nice to meet you. I'm Meidu." I state as he approaches me, "She was testing my ability in fighting but I might have put a bit more force into it than I thought? I'm sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it," he replies with a smile, "it happens to the best of us." He bends down and starts carrying Karna on his back. "Follow me inside and once we've got her in the infirmary to rest we can finish up some more of your registration paperwork."
I nod along as we enter the building, following him down another hallway until we reach the last door before the infirmary. Opening the door there seems to be a lady on duty who greets us warmly before walking over to the table beside the bed. Checking Karna for wounds she then turns to Aelric and begins speaking quietly.
Aelric seems to know what she's talking about from the way he looks over at Karna. After a minute of conversation he nods in response to her question. She leaves the room and he closes the door behind her before turning to me and continuing his explanation.
"For now then it is best if we continue downstairs, you have shown your strength in the spar against my sister by fracturing her wrists and knocking her out from pain. However, strength is to be praised, the nurse went to go grab the healer so there's no damage done."
I'm taken back downstairs to a side room from the entry hall, a pile of papers and agreements which Aelric takes a second to sort through until he finds the right ones.
"You've joined up with our guild which is called the Retribution of the Lost, as such you will be representing us while on missions and through general conduct. From what I've seen you are disciplined and controlled as well as intelligent and patient. Since you managed to beat Karna our guild can assign you the highest rank we are allowed which is Silver. If you want to get a higher rank than this across any guild, you will need to find a higher tier guild or help us to grow our guild.
The growth of our guild depends on you and your strength, or if you so wish we can write you a note to be trialled at a tier 3 or 4 guild in exchange for a scouting fee they will pay to our guild. There are a lot of details which I'll explain after you sign these documents though." he hands me one sheet which is filled with a bunch of words and numbers, some were written in red ink but I don't see anything which seemed particularly suspicious. My biochip scanning for loopholes and storing a copy in its memory for future reference.
"So, if I sign here…" I ask carefully.
"Right." he finishes for me, "Signing this paper means that you have agreed to all the conditions stated within that document in regards to conduct, law and representation. It allows you to act in the name of our guild while keeping our guild somewhat liable for our members actions. Karna has already done most of the paperwork it seems, we just need to finalise. That means if you could remain here for a few days we can go over our guilds rules and conduct as well as get you some gear suited to your position and a mission or two to get you started.
