20

He got the pair started on the basics, their stances and footwork were the foundation everything else was built upon. He had some insights into both weapons, the rapier he understood somewhat from the fights he had had with Liv the elf a few months ago. The polearm was Weira's weapon of choice and the halberd and glaive had a lot of similarities. The glaive however was all about building momentum with spinning motions and trying to make those as efficient as possible. The glaive was a weapon wielded like a dance, at least that was how Jace saw it. If the Glaive was a waltz the rapier was more like the chacha, in and out with quick steps.

Aziva kept enthusiastically thrusting with her rapier, she had built a bit of an audience. Older and scarred fighters were cheering her on and telling her how to improve what she did. A sudden hush fell over the training hall, Jace looked up from teaching Sarai a bit and saw everyone stare at a woman wearing beautifully decorated leather. It was well made and despite its decoration was clearly made for practical use. She wore a blue sheath that was made from a clear crystal of sorts. In it was a rapier the like which he had never seen before, it was made from thin blue metal and vines curled around the handle and formed into a guard. A small flower with white metallic petals served as a pommel.

The woman eyed the grounds and frowned. "This is a ground for training, not one for children who want to play." Her voice was smooth and crystalline, as cold as it was clear. Aziva looked up at her without worry, "Dad said it was okay for me to start practicing with a weapon! No playing just training."

The woman curled some of her silver hair around a finger and looked at Aziva. She pursed her lips and glanced around with icy blue eyes. "And who would this father of yours be?"

Jace stepped forward, keeping his posture relaxed but ready. "That would be me."

The new arrival eyed him for a few moments before she nodded to herself. "You seem to have put effort into your training, I would like to request a spar."

Jace nodded, "Fine with me, teaching is fun but nothing beats a good a fight in the end." He walked towards one of the fields and stepped in, the woman walked forward with a confident swaying gait. She brandished her rapier and took her stance, Jace unsheathed his much simpler looking short sword and lowered his centre of gravity. He could hear the murmers around him. "The Icy Rose is sparring with the new guy, quick let people know!" Another was almost bouncing on his toes, an older gentleman that was easily fifty, in this world who knows how old he actually was. "Today be my lucky day indeed!"

Jace raised his eyebrow at the commotion but kept his eyes on the opponent. "Any rules?"

The woman smiled, her lips were painted purple. Her skin was an ivory so pale it nearly reflected the sun. He frowned, he was certain the woman wasn't human. But he had no idea what she was. Her ears were elongated, but not pointy like an elves, they had slightly longer lobes. Her eyes had no pupil that he could see, just a circle of that icy blue within eyewhite. That was not inf act white but black.

He studied her for a few moments while he waited for her to answer. "No use of skills or abilities of any kind."

Jace nodded, "Works for me."

In a flash of movement she shot forward, Jace tilted his head to the side just in time to dodge the rapier. He bashed with his shield, but the woman was already dancing back. She stepped to the left and right simultaneously, splitting in two. Jace threw up his newly created observation net. The one to the left didn't disturb the mana particles so he dashed towards the right. A quick accurate thrust to her liver. She sidestepped and countered with a thrust of her own. Deflected by his shield, he used the motion to transition into a shoulder bash. She once more danced backwards. This time with an excited grin on her face.

Jace cracked his neck and twirled his sword. He suddenly spun around and smashed with his shield. She barely stepped back in time, her hair fluttering through the wind created by his shield. He moved forward with a stab, which she deflected and countered, he let it slip by his shoulder and tried to rush her. She slipped out of his range and the two stared at each other for a moment. Her stats were higher than his was, but her he could offset the difference in speed by using his shield to block of the areas she could attack. The two danced around each other for a moment, one fluid, her way of moving a dance. The other short and efficient, no flashy movements. Rapier clashed against sword and shield, the audience was cheering them on and was creating a cacophony of noise. None if it reached Jace or his opponent.

Both of them were hyper focused on the other, their movements improving with the second. One predicted the moves of the other only to have that person develop new moves on the spot. They were growing, both of them, faster than either had before. The clashed against each other, Jace couldn't help it. The grin on his face was growing. He was fighting an expert, someone who was probably even better with her weapon than he was. His shield was a counter to her fighting style and he made use of that. It was moving smoother than it had before, he used it to attack, defend. He used it to guide his opponent where he wanted to have her. The sword came second, it was there when the opponent would find it the most difficult to react. But react she did, everytime he thought he had her, she showed amazing reflexes and flexibility and slipped through.

His heart was pounding, the rush of blood crashing through his ears, blocking out all sound. He started seeing her move to a position slightly before she actually did, he tried to react to it but his opponent was always a step ahead. He saw her react to his movements before he even made them. Were they reading each other's movements that well? They continued their dance of deadly metal, forcing themselves to move faster. To make their attacks stronger.

----- Sarai Pov -----

Sarai watched as Jace clashed with the unknown woman. The audience had grown silent and was watching the exchange with awe. She had known Jace was a good fighter but this was on another level entirely. She had once had the privilege to see two sword-masters clash. This was similar but somehow more, she could feel a shiver down her spine as goosebumps appeared on her arms. Even the excitable Aziva was watching with open mouth as her new dad moved with a speed that was hard to follow.

The two danced around each others moves, as if knowing what was coming. It was becoming harder and harder to breath, the air was heavy. A suffocating sense of danger was oozing off the fighting arena. But no one could bring themselves to look away from the spectacle. The silver haired beauty fought the stocky man with dark brown hair and green eyes. Both with a bloodthirsty grin on their face, a dance with death. Then all of the sudden Jace tripped and fell to his knee. He gasped for breath and started trembling, he stared down at his limbs in betrayal. She heard sharp intakes of breath around her as the people awoke from their stupor.

----- Jace Pov -----

Jace glared down at his legs as they refused to move. His opponent had stopped moving and her chest was heaving. A sheen of sweat covered their skin as both did their best to catch their breath. Jace blinked as he whole slurry of messages appeared in front of him, he pressed them all away and opened his character sheet, he saw the telltale signs that his opponent had done the same.

[Jace Shimmer

[Age : 26

[Class : None

[Profession : None

[Titles : The bigger they are the harder they fall IX, Alone in the Dark IX

[Strength : 211 Agility : 205 Dexterity : 195

[Endurance : 221 Vitality : 190 Constitution : 190

[Wisdom : 190 Intelligence : 198 Charisma : 190

[Luck : 190

[Skills : Foresight

[Mastery : Shield Mastery, Master 1. Sword mastery, Expert 4]

Jace stared at his page with wide eyes, he had jumped from shield mastery expert 3 to master 1 in a single spar. He had been in the zone sure but that was an insane amount of progress. His sword mastery had increased as well, by a whole three grades. But the most important thing of note was the fact that he now had a Skill. He had never gotten one before, also the fact that it was a colour different than normal made him giddy like a child he tapped the skill.

[Foresight - Extremely Rare

[Your expertise in combat has allowed you to glimpse into the future of your opponent, you will be able to see what they do a split second before they actually do. The amount you can see before it happens depends on your combat expertise.]

He whistled softly as he read over the skill. That was one powerful skill, an extremely rare one at that. He was certain that the woman he had been fighting had received it as well. He looked over and saw the same slight awe and surprise mirrored back at him. He grinned at her and stood up with a groan, his muscles protesting the action. He did not know how long they had been fighting but it had been beyond his muscles.

The woman walked over while he was still working out the kinks in his muscles, she held out her hand. "Congratulations upon reaching the rank of Master." Jace smiled and grabbed her hand, "The same to you."

She nodded and looked at him thoughtfully, "My grandfather oft told me that if I was lucky I would meet an opponent who would push and pull me beyond my limits, that I would improve so fast that if not careful my body would tear itself apart to match him. It seems you reached that point before I did."

Jace nodded, "My muscles ache like never before, but it was soooooo worth it."

The woman laughed, a sound like clear bells rang through the field. "That it was." She smiled at him with a barely suppressed happiness. "I am Jisarila Vin To Shurka, a member of the noble families that guard this kingdom. With whom have I had the pleasure of reaching a breakthrough with."

"I'm Jace, no last name. The pleasure was all mine, I did not expect to breach into the master tear today. I hadn't expected to break through to it within years in fact." He scratched his beard.

She nodded in understanding, "Neither did I expect it, the master tier is much harder to achieve than people understand. It can not be achieved through simple practice and combat, it needs insight. Both you and I were extremely fortunate to receive one this early in our lives."

Jace nodded and opened his mouth before he almost toppled over when weight slammed into his legs. He looked down into eyes full of wonder. "Dad you're so strong! The lady is also very strong and fast and beautiful and awesome and strong! It was awesome, you guys went like pffoooo and kabang and shuuuuush!"

Jace watched with amusement as Aziva tried to use her limited vocabulary to explain to him how awesome the fight had been. Sarai nervously walked up and bowed slightly to Jisarila, who returned a polite bow of her own. Sarai stood next to him, nervous about the noble woman but unwilling to part from him. A show of ownership if he was to judge, he was oddly flattered and grinned at her knowingly. "You can relax Sarai, she's not planning to steal me from you." The beautiful woman flushed but grabbed one of his arms in hers nonetheless.

Jisarila smiled and looked at him, "I wouldn't be so sure about that, my family would be more than happy to marry you into our line."

Jace grinned, "That sounds like a marriage of politics and the last thing I would do. Love conquers all and all that."

She smiled, "Well I would not be interested into marrying you myself, you are… not my type." Her eyes wandered over to Sarai. "Your wife on the other hand is quite beautiful." Jace laughed and grinned at her.

"You're welcome to try and seduce her into your bed. It wouldn't even bother me." He said with a shrug.

Sarai glared at him but Jisarila laughed the sound causing several people to look over. "While I am tempted and may someday take you up on that offer. It is for her to decide, for now I am simply glad to have gained an acquaintance who is this skilled in combat."

Jace smiled at her, "If you come over for dinner sometime soon we can change that acquaintance status into one of friends. If you ever want to meet up me and my team stay at the Goofy Geese. Although I'm moving in with these two."

Jisarila arched a silvery eyebrow and looked at Sarai and Aziva. "I had assumed these two were your spouse and had been for a while, it seems I was mistaken. My apologies."

Jace scratched at his beard. "Welp, they are my spouse, I think, kinda. But anyways, the dinner invitation is open, feel free to drop by."

A nod, "I shall, you can expect me to drop by somewhere next week. Now if you will pardon me I must bring news of my breakthrough to my family. They will be most excited." She bowed to the three of them and walked away. Jace watched her go and shook his head. He looked at Sarai who was still glaring at him.

"What?"

"Did you just try to sell me off to that woman?!" She furrowed her brows as she tightened the grip on his arm. Jace smirked, "Whatever gave you that impression, I was simply stating that if you and Jisarila hit it off that you don't need to worry about me. Don't think I didn't notice you staring at her ass as she walked away." Sarai blushed and punched him in the shoulder but held on to his arm. She clung to him as they left the training field.

"Sometimes you're painfully perceptive." She muttered below her breath.

Jace grinned, "I don't mind an open relationship, although I am positive that I would get extremely jealous if I saw you with another guy. If it is a woman that has caught your interest, then I won't mind. As long as it doesn't affect what we have between us."

She smiled at him and pecked him on his lips. "Same goes to you if you find any guys you like."

Jace frowned, "No thanks, I'm straight. A full ladies man one hundred percent of the time!"