Chapter 29:

  The training yard was cool in the in the early dawn light. Packed earth still damp from morning dew held feint imprints of the few who walked upon it at such an early hour. Wooden weapons lined the freshly restocked racks, and the faint clink of armor carried in the quiet air as the nightguard changed over at the gate. Beneath the shade of a pavilion that had been set out specifically for moments like these, Gabriel and Sela sat, a low table at their side. Beside and behind them stood Simon and Layla, the Lord and Lady Rodrigo’s personal aides. Outside of them, only the head trainer, Nasir, and Eli’s own personal aide in training remained on the sidelines of the dueling field that had been set up in the private training yard.

  The air was solemn. Cailean took up his place behind Eli at the edge of the field. In his hand he held a slate. His job was simple observation and preparation, though he supplemented that with encouragement and genuine optimism that his young lord could win.

  On the surface, this bout was painfully lopsided. A guard trainee double the age and size of the little boy she was pit against. The child who had trained as a magic combatant, prevented from using any offensive magic in a battle against an opponent with superior strength and reach. Presumably, all he had on his side was more time training. Of course, only he knew that ‘more time’ constituted centuries of memories that he was now working to improve, adapt and re-imprint on a much younger, much less developed body.

  As Eli walked to the center of the yard, he did so with the confidence he was going to win. He knew he would, the only real questions were how specifically, and how thoroughly. He met Kara in the center of the field where she stood waiting, helm under her arm, her skin slightly glistening with perspiration from earlier warmups.

  There, in the center, both combatants saluted first to Gabriel and Sela, then to Nasir. The head trainer was acting as referee and co-adjudicator. Finally, they bowed to each other before they stepped back to their starting positions.

  “Your future movements rely on the outcome of this match,” Gabriel said. His voice was steady, carrying across the yard. “I ask only once; are you sure.”

  His father was giving him an out. A way to save face and save him from potential injuries to his body or pride. While his body could be healed, a blow to his confidence at such a critical juncture in training could legitimately hinder a child’s progress. He also understood why his father was giving him this out. Eli had never fought Kara with his full power. He had treated every sparring match with her as exactly what it was training. He left his ego by the wayside and always sought to improve his skill and technique over ‘victory’ or ‘power’. Those were things he could either train himself, or that had no bearing on his true strength. However, it had also created a scenario where despite him being overwhelmingly technically superior to Kara, he had never scored an overwhelming victory, nor had he fought with his true strength against her. He didn’t plan to do so today either. He wanted to defeat her not kill her, and he wanted to do it with finesse. His self-imposed restrictions would turn this from a simple three round duel into a training opportunity.

  Efficiency at its finest.

  Despite declining his father’s invitation to bow out of the duel, Eli was once more grateful for his parent’s care and attention. They were good people, better allies, and he promised himself that after he won, he would accelerate his plans so that he could bring them into the loop all the sooner.

  “Alright,” Gabriel said, accepting his son’s decision – for better or worse. Then he gestured toward the practice rack and handed the rest of the proceedings off to Nasir.

  “Today’s duel is a single weapon, classic martial spar. Best of three. The weapon will be staves. A refresher of the rules. Classic meaning the win condition is to incapacitate, to force a yield, or to prevent continuation. You may use any skill or martial technique, but a martial spar prohibits the use of external magical attacks. Only physical force or techniques may be used to deal damage.

  “Do the challengers understand the rules?” Nasir asked, then continued when both Eli and Kara gave verbal confirmation. “Alright then, on my mark.” At this the trainer lifted a small device whose only purpose was to make a loud noise and flash a bright-but-not-blinding blue light. It was essentially a stone in a sealed glass tube. The enchanted stone sat at one end and when it hit the other end it activated a paired script and produce the phenomena.

  In his hands, the device - affectionately named a ‘boom bottle’ – was flipped over. As the stone descended a hush settled over the yard. Kara rolled her shoulders once, loosening her arms. Eli took a steadying breath, his grip tightening reflexively on the familiar wood of his practice staff.

  ‘Boom’

  The first round began.

  There were no sudden rushes to clash. Neither side charged in or sprinted towards the other. Instead, Kara advanced with her usual reach advantage, despite this she was cautious in her approach. Her foundation stayed steady, her form impeccable as she made her way silently towards the middle. Her left foot forward, her right slightly behind and at an angle as she crept closer, her staff held in an outer guard.

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  Eli kept his mana sealed. He was slightly less measured with his footwork, but that was only because his approach was more about speed and dexterity than stability and caution. Finally, he darted in for a strike. Their staves met and the sound of wood on wood cracked through the yard as Eli delivered a series of blows that were all parried or defended against with the concentration and certainty of someone used to maintaining their composure while fighting faster opponents.

  They traded a dozen moves in a matter of seconds, the speed astonishing, and at the high end of human capability. More than once, Eli landed a strike, but they were in non-lethal non crippling areas. If this were a ‘points’ spar instead of a ‘classic’ then she might be in a bit more trouble, but following ‘classic’ rules, she was happy to trade glancing blows for improved defence and a maintained reach advantage.

  Another few clashes were exchanged before Eli shifted from quick attacking to narrow strikes. Kara blocked cleanly, and instead of resetting, she pressed. Her overwhelming strength forced him back and into guard position. He didn’t let it last for long.

  He adjusted, redirected and used his speed and her own momentum to counter, slipping beneath her guard once, twice, and again to strike more substantial blows. She went back into guard before going from passive blocking to actively pushing every time their weapons collided.

  His arms vibrated with the force. Each time their blows connected, he came out at a slight loss in the exchange as the energy from the blows penetrated through his flesh and vibrated his bones. It was a martial technique they’d both been practicing that relied specifically on leveraging superior strength against an opponent. He tried to switch tempo and aim for her legs but she bull rushed forward forcing him briefly off balance and allowing her to coral him close to the edge of the field.

  On their next exchange his staff deflected hers, and he redirected the excess force to keep himself within bounds, however his focus on staying within the field had cost him any potential initiative, and Kara’s next strike was neither aimed to push him nor strike him. At the last moment, she engaged the martial technique and not just his arms, but his individual fingers trembled with the force of the blow.

  Grip weakened, and too far to go immediately on the offensive the next exchange ended with Kara’s disarming strike. Eli’s staff spun out of his hands and hit the dirt. Without missing a beat Eli scrambled forward, planning to attack her with his body now his weapon as unavailable. However, Kara’s innate height advantage plus the added distance from her weapon kept him at bay. He tried to use it to his advantage, grabbing the polearm and using it like one of the obstacles on the Gauntlet as he scrambled along it to get closer to Kara.

  It backfired when she dropped her own weapon, and Eli along with it, only to scoop up his staff from where it lay nearby and smash him across the ribs with it before he had even hit the ground.

  “Round, Kara,” Nasir called, as Sela was already rushing across the field to heal her son. It took all the mother’s self control not to lash out at the girl who had just broken several of her son’s ribs. She reminded herself of the healing formation around the entire training field. It prevented life threatening damage but did nothing for non-lethal or more slowly fatal injuries. The kind healers had time to get to and treat. Like she was doing now.

  The fact that her son was still injured was proof that the injury wasn’t immediately life threatening. Sela would double check the formation after this duel anyway. You could never be too sure.

  “Thank you, mother,” Eli said stiffly as he bent to retrieve the staff Kara had tossed back to him. His hid the tightness in his jaw and the tension he knew was in the sides of his eyes with a ducked head. He’d lasted longer than most adults at the same strength disadvantage would have. Most trained adults even. He was better, he was faster, but his body had failed him.

  It was not enough. He was not enough. He needed a better baseline, a stronger foundation. He would need to speak to his father about body tempering.

  Back in her seat, Sela’s hands folded neatly in her lap, the mother’s eyes lingered on her son. Gabriel’s face was unreadable beside his wife. Cailean and Nasir, as well as Simon and Layla were completely silent as they watched a boy go against a trained warrior over double his age and nearly come out the victor.

  As the second round began, Eli knew he needed to win. No more experiments, no more tests and training. The moment the boom bottle went off so did Eli.

  He drew on his body enhancement, feeling the mana running into his muscles, tightening and strengthening every fiber. His nerves hummed, reflexes sharpened. He had refined the technique during his time in the wilds. It had gone from merely strengthening him and making things clearer, to making the world so sharp and defined it was as though his perception of time was ever so slightly sped up.

  He shot forward with a speed that startled Kara and everyone watching.

  He struck and she blocked, but his strike rattled her arms. He pressed again, another strike, another concession. There was no pause. Where he had been quick before, now he was relentless. Each swing forced her further back; every blow jarred her enough that she couldn’t get her bearings. She tried to reset her footing, but he kept up the pace, one blow after another, Kara was pushed back.

  Eli landed a clean thrust to her chest, a martial technique caused the blow to strike lake a hammer, the force dispersed over a larger area with the same force, but less precision. More a push than a jab. She stumbled, stopped, made to retaliate and froze as Nasir’s voice rang through the training yard.

  “Point, Eli.”

  Kara looked down, closed her eyes, and sighed. She was out of bounds. Kara lowered her weapon, exhaled and tapped her staff against the ground in acknowledgment.

  In the aftermath, Sela’s gaze narrowed slightly, Gabriel’s eyes widened imperceptibly and Nasir’s lips thinned. Once more the yard was quiet, an air of anticipation threading through the small audience who had witnessed Eli’s ridiculous reversal. There would be answers to the silent questions that were almost tangible in the air, but now was not the time.

  With a score of 1–1 both Eli and Kara reset to their respective places as they waited for the third round to begin.