Chapter 28

Eska then steps towards Denise and tells her "With time" smiling at her, making her feel a bit better. Eska then turns towards the others waiting, as she gets closer one of them walks up to her. "You are the new one aren't you? Lets spar!" the man smiles confidently.

The voice inside her tells her "Learn from this Eska. You've never used this weapon, make sure to use this opportunity to understand it." Eska nods, showing a focused expression. She holds the spear with two hands, struggling a bit on finding the right stance. The challenger looks at her with disappointment "Are you kidding me?" He says with a bit exasperation in his voice. "Raise the spear sideways in front of you." The man tells her, she raises the spear in front of her. 

"Right!" She shouts as she finally finds a comfortable position. The man shakes his head while whispering to himself "Where do they find these newbies?" He readies his wooden sword and his round shield. "Ready?" He asks Eska.

"Read-" She begins to shout but the man's sword is already reaching for her throat with a wide swing. She instinctively jumps back to avoid the strike, barely avoiding it. But before she can even land another strike comes at her towards her chest. This time a tab.

"Your weapon Eska! Block!" Seech tells her.

She clenches her teeth, moving her right hand in front of the sword. She redirects the sword upwards, but just as fast as the man swings his sword, he swings his shield. It makes contact with her stomach, sending her flying backwards, hitting the floor with her back. She gasps for air as she struggles to get back up, grabbing at her chest.

Denise begins panicking "Eska!" She shouts worriedly. Jav is quick to stop her before telling her "This is training Denise. In real combat she would be dead." Denise looks at Jav with a worried look, then back at Eska.

Eska makes an effort to stand up while holding her spear. The man stopped after he landed a hit, he says as Eska attempts to recover "How did you join the Greyhounds if you are this green? Have you ever even held a weapon?"

She stands and looks over towards the man, he is taken aback as he sees her massive grin. She gets in a combat stance, holding the spear with only her right hand. She then shouts "Ready?"

The man understands and gets into his combat stance, raising his shield in front of him with his sword above it before shouting back "Rea-" His shield shatters in front of him as the spear makes contact with it. His body recoils back, his right arm is sent flying back behind him with the rest of the wooden pieces. In an instant, he can't help but close his eyes for a split second and as he opens it he sees her smiling face with her body ready to throw a punch.

The man makes an effort to bring his sword down and his right arm forward to block the next hit. He manages to bring them forward just in time as Eska's fist makes contact with the broad side of the sword. The man is sent back flying just like Eska did, but he manages to land on his feet, and regain his balance.

Jav and Denise are shocked at what just happened, a few of the members training also turn towards them. The man looks at her with widened eyes, his right arm shaking from both impacts. "What the shit was that" he says to himself. Eska walks back towards the weapon rack, and grabs another spear. She turns towards Denise and tells her "Would you mind giving him a touch?"

Denise looks at her and swallows before nodding, then rushes towards the man. "Are you ok?" She asks him as she begins to apply some healing magic to his arm. "What the shit was that?" He repeats himself towards her. "I-I don't know, but I think she wants another round."

After a few seconds, he tests his arm by clenching his fist and stretching his fingers. "I'm good now." He tells Denise as he goes back to the weapon rack behind him and picks up a new sword and shield.

They both stand in front of each other. The man addresses Eska "Sorry about before. How about we start from zero again. My name is Kael, Alaric Kael."

Eska looks back at him and gives him a sincere smile back "Eska, Just Eska." The man gets in a combat position, placing his shield in front of him once more and the sword on top of it. "It's nice to meet you Eska, I'm hoping you can show me your skill in the future" Eska then gets into the same combat stance he showed her before. "Same here Kael. I hope to learn many things from all of you."

They both look at each other ready, getting a feel for each other's timing. As if waiting for something they both get ready. Suddenly they both charge at the same time, clashing their weapons with each other. She stabs with her spear, but he blocks with his shield and follows up with his sword. They trade blows for a while, a few people watch their fight with excitement until Eska falls back and sits on the floor, taking a break.

The man stands above her, also breathing heavily but he can clearly keep going. "You are pretty good Eska, you are a quick study. I feel my pride shattering when I tell you that in a few more sessions you will probably catch up to me!" He says, ironically sounding proud.

Eska is out of breath but smiles back at him anyways "Thanks Kael, you are a good teacher!"

Denise walks towards them and looks down at Eska "You should not overdo it Eska! That's too much" She scolds her.

"I'm fine." Eska says while looking back at her before getting up. Kael seems in high spirits as he sees this "That's the spirit!" but then his face changes to confusion as Eska walks towards the weapon rack, and changes her spear for a sword and shield. She then looks back at Kael and asks "Do you mind if I try this?" He is a bit confused, but agrees with a shrug. "People don't usually change weapons mid session, but I don't see an issue."

They both step in front of each other and Kael once again gets into his combat stance. Eska does the same, with the same stance as Kael, except she wears her sword on her right hand. He notices and furrows his eyebrows, knowing what she is trying to attempt. He gets a smile on his face and shouts "Then lets go!" as he charges towards her. At the same time Eska charges and their shields collide, Kael then thrusts his sword forward but marina quickly slaps the sword away with the shield, jumping in the process and twisting her body. Her sword spins around her body, flying towards his right side. 

Kael brings his shield down to block the blade. His eyes widen as he realizes he has left himself completely open and Eska lands a kick to his stomach. They are both pushed away as Eska lands. Without skipping a beat she bolts towards him with her shield forward. Kael is quick to regain his footing and bring his shield forward as well.

Using her momentum, Eska bashes her shield against his, causing pain to reach his arm. Kael flinches and in quick succession, Eska thrusts her sword towards the center of the shield. She holds the sword from the bottom of the hilt with the palm of her hand, pushing it with all her might. Kael is taken by surprise by the amount of power behind the strike. He flinches once more at the pain on his shield arm.

Eska takes a hold of her sword once more and stands there. Kael is left standing, slowly lowering his shield as he is unable to hold it up anymore. Kael then says "You are a crafty one." Struggling a bit due to the pain.

A laugh is then heard from the side of the training grounds. "Bahaha! Such a move!" Everyone turns to see Arc without his armor sitting on a bench, enjoying the match. Arc stands up and walks towards them "Great display of skills my new friend!" He tells Eska as he ruffles her hair. She reaches for her head, attempting to stop him but he moves his arm away before she can. 

Arc then looks at Kael who is holding his right arm "Ms Ciela!" He calls out towards Denise and she runs to Kael saying "Right!". She uses healing magic to help him with the pain.

"Mr Kael!" Arc says once more and he immediately straightens up and greets him with a salute "Sir!" Arc approaches him, his face is filled with satisfaction. "That was a great match! Though it seems you underestimated lady Eska! She might be new but she is more than capable in combat. And it seems she also learns her lessons fast!"

Arc calms down a bit before continuing on a more serious note. "I saw the whole thing Mr. Kael. We will need to speak later." Kael looks down with some disappointment in his face. "I learned a lot. Thank you Kael" Eska says towards Kael with a smiling face, breathing heavily. Kael looks back at her and smiles back "As did I Eska."