Changes in tactics

- Good morning, how did you sleep? - I turned to her in a sleepy voice, looking from her to the wooden house.

The daylight that penetrated through the fabric that covered the window gave a semi-dark atmosphere. The light did not reach the box and left some corners in shadow.

- Good morning to you too, did you sleep normally or did something happen last night? - The girl said and, suspecting something, narrowed her eyes.

It was clear from her behavior that she didn't want me to know about the nightmare she was having.

Trying to look more truthful, I shook my head, rose to my feet and stretched, I heard my sleepy body begin to wake up.

I decided that if she wanted to talk about what she dreamed, she would tell me, just like me, she had secrets.

- What are our plans for today? - I asked the girl who continued to look at me warily.

Her look said that she didn't believe me because I didn't hear anything at night, continuing to ignore her behavior and listening, I could only hear the tree, no possible monsters or animals.

- Today I hope we will be able to find more animals and we will be able to return back to the city. - Lualia spoke in a quiet voice, and noise was heard from her side.

I didn't need to look at her to understand that she stood up and began to get ready to hunt. Having gathered, we went down from the tree along the same stairs.

I was wondering what the girl would do with the ladder that was left hanging. Throwing a glance at me, the girl leaned her spear against the tree and began to climb the tree again.

While I was going down, I couldn't see anything because of the density of the foliage on the tree; sometimes I came across strange fruits; I didn't have the opportunity to pick them; Lualia came down after me.

While waiting for the girl, I looked at the tree with interest, the fruits were visible, but unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to get them, they grew too high.

Sounds were heard again that indicated that the girl was going downstairs. After waiting for her, I looked at her spear, which was near the tree.

Seeing my interested gaze, the girl followed him and saw that I was looking at her spear.

- Why are you looking at my Rikua spear? - The girl asked in a calm voice, taking a spear in her hand.

I felt the tension in her voice, neither I nor she fully trusted each other, thinking about what to tell her, and it only came to my mind to tell her the truth.

- I'm wondering how well your spear is balanced. Let me take the spear and take a closer look at it. - Answering her question, I looked into her eyes.

It was noticeable that, having heard the reason for my interest in the spear, the girl glanced warily at the spear and then at me.

I saw that the girl was considering my request, I heard her sigh and, approaching me, she lowered the tip of the spear down and handed it to me.

- Just try to break it and you will have to pay dearly for it. - Lualia spoke in a warning voice, addressing me.

As soon as my hand touched the spear, the girl lowered it, I began to feel the weight of the spear. From childhood, like other princes, I was taught to wield different weapons; we had to know the strengths and weaknesses of each weapon.

I felt that the spear was well balanced, heavy but not overly heavy. Turning sideways to the girl, I saw that she was warily looking at me and the spear.

Lowering the tip of the spear to the ground and hitting it on the ground a couple of times, I felt all the strengths and weaknesses of this spear.

Raising my spear and starting to make attacking moves in front of me, I imagined a warrior in armor from the Kray Empire in front of me.

We often trained against warriors, simulating a real fight - it started with one weapon and ended with another.

Immersed in memories, I attacked more and more, at that moment I did not look at the girl who was surprised and shocked by what she now saw.

Only when I completed all the attacks did I begin to calm down, my breathing became labored and sweat covered my body; if my teachers from the Cray Empire saw me now, they scolded me.

That I allowed my body and myself to sweat and lose my cool from such a light workout.

Taking deep breaths and exhalations, I lowered the spear, my body, unaccustomed to wielding the spear, trembled again in some places.

Turning my gaze to the girl, I saw her shocked gaze as she moved from me to the place where I was striking.

Handing her a spear with the tip down, I saw the girl's misunderstanding. Clearing her throat, attracting the girl's attention and pointing her gaze at the spear, she extended her hand towards it, feeling that she took the spear, I let go of my hand.

- You wield a spear masterfully, did you learn how to use it from someone? Can you teach me these techniques? - Questions rained down from the girl, excitement was audible in her voice.

Shaking my head, I saw how the girl's face began to change, perhaps she thought that my refusal was caused by my reluctance to share knowledge.

- One wanderer taught me this technique and he made me swear that I would not pass it on to anyone. If you want to get the spear technique, then I think the academy will be able to give it to you, but be sure to choose wisely. - Explaining my refusal to her, I said, it was noticeable that my words only fueled the girl's interest in academies.

Clutching the spear in her hand and without saying another word, the girl walked away in the direction from where we had come yesterday.

Following her, I spoke when I heard the sounds of animals and monsters next to us, Lualia asked with interest who exactly I was hearing. Trying to describe the sounds that I heard, the girl asked me to indicate in which direction to go.

Heading towards one of the sounds, the girl examined the ground and grass. From her words, she understood how many animals were passing here and whether they were injured by the position of the grass and ground.

When we were close to those from whom the sound came, the girl began to explain in a quiet voice that these monsters were dangerous because they knew how to fly and could lift the victim into the air with their claws and tearing it apart.

And it was necessary to kill everyone as quickly as possible, otherwise they could attract the attention of other inhabitants of the forest.

I wanted to invite her to deal with them herself, but the girl most likely would have refused. Through the foliage it was noticeable that there were four birds.

They looked menacing, their color blended well with the greenery, they were large in size, their long beak, which had serrations on the sides, allowing it to impale the prey on its beak and not allowing it to escape.

Black claws that looked like small knife blades clutched the branches on which they sat, their black eyes wandered through the forest in search of a possible victim.

Just like with Giohi, we decided to immediately separate the opponents and fight one against two. I was afraid that Lualia could die and, considering the possibility of dealing with my opponents faster, I decided that I would call on one of the tormentors to protect her. Was there a risk that she would recognize my technique after a while?

There was, but if she died, I didn't know if they would let me into the Avel capital without a fight, and I didn't want to check.

Coming out from behind the tree, I found myself in front of the birds, who, seeing movement next to them, stared at me with their black eyes.

The silence did not last long; three birds began to flap their wings and scream at the top of their lungs. Breaking away from the branch on which they were sitting, the birds rushed at me, sticking their claws forward.

Their movements were fast, for many representatives of the races they were death, but for me they moved quickly, but not like Professor Ni'Lim.

They didn't try to come up with attack tactics, but all three rushed at me with their claws. I could hear the loud noises of their wings and their dangerous claws were approaching me faster and faster.

After waiting until they were in the zone of my strike, I summoned the sword of darkness and struck from below in a circle, I heard their screams, which changed from joyful to painful, and the sounds of something falling to the ground.

Something was heard falling to the ground. I didn't need to check what exactly fell, I saw that they were the paws of birds.

The loss of their paws and heavily bleeding wounds caused them to lose the rest of their understanding of the situation and they rushed at me with their beaks outstretched, wanting to tear me to pieces.

They got in each other's way, wanting to be the first to attack me, grinning, I waited until they were next to me and delivered quick blows, aiming for their heads.

If my teachers from the empire were here, they would have found something to complain about, but they still praised me.

I didn't make unnecessary movements, the blade of darkness pierced the chest of the birds, first one and then the other two.

Our plan was ruined by the behavior of the birds, and I did not have to call for a tormentor; I had no doubt that the girl could cope with one bird.

Turning his gaze to her, their battle was also coming to an end, unlike me, Lualia had a spear that had both strengths and weaknesses.

And now both sides were noticeable in their battle, the spears were intended to keep the enemy at a distance and strike when the enemy was within the reach of the spear and there was an opportunity to then put him on defense.

The wounds on the bird's body accumulated, the cry that could attract other inhabitants of the forest began to spread more and more throughout the forest.

It was noticeable that the bird was already tired of this exchange of blows in which only it received damage.

The bird began to flap its wings more and more, rising into the sky and, once at the height of the trees, it began to sharply fall down, folding its wings together and putting its claws forward aimed at Lualia.

The girl was watching the actions of the bird, lowering the end of the spear down and pointing the tip towards the bird, the girl was waiting, I did not want to interfere with her battle and watched her fight with interest.

I didn't hear anyone coming here, which meant we weren't in danger. When the bird was already in the strike zone of the spear, the girl had not yet struck, waiting until the moment when the bird could no longer escape the blow.

When the claws were already close to Lualia, she took a step back and with a quick movement extended the spear towards the bird.

I heard the blow of a spear, the tip of which pierced the chest of the bird, I heard a painful cry of the bird and I saw its attempts to reach Lualia, the girl pointed the spear down and a blow to the ground was heard.

The spruce bird was noticeably moving, blood was flowing out of its chest, the girl wasted no time and, grabbing the spear with both hands, began to press the tip harder into the bird.

There was a cry of pain and then silence fell, I saw that the bird was dead, Lualia pulled the spear out of the body and began to look around in search of me.

Seeing that I had already dealt with my opponents, the girl turned her gaze from me to the dead birds, it was noticeable from her face that she did not like the fact that whoever I was fighting with had lost their claws.

Having dropped to her knee, the girl began to wipe the tip of her blade on the grass, making sure that there was no blood left on the blade and the tree.

Lualia rose again and headed towards me. Approaching the corpses of the birds, the girl began to examine the corpses and from her changing face, I understood that she didn't like something.

- What did your magic do to the corpses of these lomi? They cannot be carried into the city, I am afraid that the meat may be poisoned by your magic. - The girl said irritably, looking up at me.

Not understanding what she meant, and approaching her, I began to peer into the bodies of the birds, at first I did not notice anything, but then I saw how the darkness gradually engulfed the place where the paws were.

I had no words to say to the girl who was looking at me with a piercing gaze. I didn't know what to say, I had no idea that my magic could be harmful even to corpses.

The girl listened to my explanations, frowning even more, if all the animals or monsters I kill with my magic are infected with darkness, then I will not help Lualia, but on the contrary, I will only make things worse.

Apparently she also came to this thought and glanced at the spear and then at me. I heard her heavy sigh and then she handed me a spear, not understanding what Lualia wanted, I was in no hurry to take the extended spear into my hands.

- Take my spear, if we continue to hunt together and you use your magic, the amount of prey will decrease. You will attract the attention of our prey and I will attack them from behind with a knife. - Lualia began to explain her point of view while continuing to hand me the spear.