51 A Swordswoman's Test

"Of course, none of you actually know what the Steelshade Autumn Tournament is about, right?" the brown-haired woman mused. Pursing her lips in thought, as if to uncover some great mystery, she hammered her fist into the palm of her hand. "To put it simply, the reward for placing in the top four is a weapon from Duke Hycinth's personal master blacksmith."

This was a revelation. Though Jacob had heard of the tournament from Lieutenant Edward during his time as a city guardsman, but he was never told the reward for placing so well. Lieutenant Edward had come close, he knew, to winning it all. Did the man have a masterwork weapon?

The woman – who Jacob had now guessed to be the leader of the Relentless Blade College – continued. "You're not expected to participate, if you do not choose to do so. You can recover from your battles at the dormitories, and you can train with our students if you wish to do so. We've all heard of your deeds from the messengers," she paused, sweeping her gaze across the assembled soldiers. "That being said, if you do wish to participate, Relentless will allow you a chance to earn an invitation as one of Relentless' representatives. After all, what warrior doesn't yearn for a weapon like this?"

She pulled out a gleaming blade from the sheath at her waist. It glistened silver, the sword's curves catching the light streaming in from the high windows. Reminding Jacob of some Arthurian legends, he could easily see why people would want to own such a weapon. Given the sad state of his sword after the Battle of Writha Pass, as it had come to be known, Jacob considered his prospects of winning. He wasn't a true warrior; his feats at Writha had only come to pass because of the new entanglement of magic with his bladework he was pioneering.

Furthermore, while Will's training with the heavy sword had given him much experience in the weapon's use, he saw the benefit of using a lighter weapon. The longsword felt better to him during the battle, despite his relative inexperience with the weapon. Would he participate with a heavy sword or a longsword?

As he thought, the woman preempted his decision-making. "Your test is to land a single strike on me with a wooden blade," she motioned for one of the college members off to the side to bring her a pair of wooden training swords. "If you have the balls, you'll step up now." The soldiers of the Fourth muttered among each other. "Oh come on, if you can't beat a woman in a fight, the lot of you are useless louts."

She knew exactly what to say. Immediately, a line of men with bruised egos formed before her. The first, a certain corporal Jacob had more than passing familiarity with, picked up the weapon. James was not the greatest of fighters, but he was better than most of the Fourth. "I'll begin when you move," the woman said, eyeing James' stance. It was a fairly standard guard position, with his blade off to the side and ready to intercept a strike.

Taking the words as an invitation, James shot forward. His long strides carried him to the sword-wielding woman, bringing him immediately within striking distance. He led with an overhand slice, but the Relentless warrior used her own blade to redirect James' force to the ground. It was masterfully done, as if Will had been in her place.

The combat was over shortly afterwards. James had never recovered his tempo from that first, critical mistake. A quick jab to his gut had taken him out. With his defeat, many of the men in line gaped at the woman. Some removed themselves, knowing that they were worse than James. Having their pride thrashed as James just did wouldn't do. A few braver, or perhaps more angry, men took their chances to beat her, but they all failed. Eventually, the line emptied.

"Oh, come on. There has to be more of you. That was maybe, what, fifteen? Of the two hundred of you?" she asked, incredulous. Her piercing grey eyes scanned the soldiers once more. Jacob didn't know what possessed him, whether it was greed for a weapon such as hers or the opportunity to test himself against one of Will's caliber, but he stood to challenge her.

Retrieving the fallen wooden practice sword, Jacob took up guard. Upon receiving a nod from his opponent confirming that she was ready, Jacob advanced. It was a slow thing, almost a dance. He meticulously maintained distance, careful not to enter her deceptively long reach. She was almost the same height as him; he was reluctant to close the gap without a plan.

Deciding upon a standard stab to the chest, followed by disengaging under the predicted block, Jacob launched. As expected, his attack was met with a parry that he was waiting for. He moved the tip of his sword underneath the woman's in as tight a u-shape he could. When the woman's blade whiffed over his, he lunged.

She jumped backwards, avoiding Jacob's attack but throwing her stance and footwork into disarray. From that point forward, Jacob pressed the attack, careful to avoid having the swordswoman recover her footing. Just as he was about to end the spar with a quick slice to the side, his opponent rushed forward. Instead of dodging the attack by retreating or parrying, she slipped under it and counterattacked.

Jacob, now on the defensive, held out for as long as he could. As untrained as he was with the lighter weapon the wooden practice longsword was modelled on, it was only a matter of time before he made a mistake that would see his thus-solid defense crumble. In this case, it took only three minutes for the circling shark the woman represented to find a weakness. She attacked low on his torso, weaving her blade into a location Jacob had rarely ever needed to defend: his waist.

"Well done, soldier!" she called, sweat lining her forehead much like Jacob's. "My name is Sara Thomson, head of the Relentless Blade College. I never expected any of you to give me such a challenge! I'd like to extend an offer for you to represent our school at the Tournament…"

"My name is Jacob of Leafburrow," Jacob nodded his head. The next part, he said while smiling, "I'd gladly accept, if you would have me."