After Rai had his outburst, Giro was looking pensive. I hoped that he would accept his son’s decision, so everything remained in harmony - because if he rejected it, I would still let Rai accompany us, as I had given my word. And if I denied Giro’s outlook, things in Adneras would get tense, even if I doubted that there would be bloodshed, which would make the whole idea of Rai going with us to avoid conflict meaningless.

He took a few moments, staring into empty air, before speaking. “You have my support, but I would ask to see a demonstration of your skill, Morgana. If you are to be the master of my son, I want to see your skill with my own eyes.”

“Why would I jump, like a trained dog? At the end of the day, you are asking something of me, not offering something to me. But I will acquiesce, if you accept my conditions.” I countered angrily. Rai looked a little surprised at my harsh voice.

“Name them, then.” Giro said.

“First, I will fight in a sparring-match with either one of your fighters or against one of my companions.

Secondly, as my disciple, Rai needs the right sort of weapons.” I focused for a moment, letting my Frozen Butterfly-Wings soar out and hover in front of Yuka.

“You are the village’s smith, right? Copy the weapons as close as possible, Rai can’t use the Ice-versions I use - they would harm him. But to use the style I use, he will need them.” I told Yuka.

“And thirdly, we need information. Maps, tales, whatever you can give us, that can guide us on our way west.”

After I made my demands, Giro was looking relieved. My demands were reasonable and would allow both of us to save face. Not that I really cared about the respect I got from the natives, but it had its uses.

“Oh, and before we forget about it, The quest you gave us. It is done.” I added.

Quest Completed! You completed the Quest: Protect Adernas You gained: 35 000 EXP

“Good. The armour, it is for you two?” He asked, pointing at Sigmir and me.

“Yes, it is. I need the supple variant, optimised for agility, Sigmir needs the studded variant, for added protection.” I explained, even if it was rather obvious.

“I thought as much. Making the armour will take a few days and for the future master of my son, I will do my best work.” I blinked in surprise for a moment.

“What, do you think I’m useless? While Yuka is our best smith, I’m the best leatherworker. I don’t want the tanning-smell in the house, so the workshop is a little outside the village, next to Yuka’s forge. I will ask my wife to take your measurements.” Giro announced, pride for his work evident in his voice.

“Anjij, come, and measure our guests. There is work to do.” He called out.

“Rai, go and make sure that your mother’s cooking will not spoil while she measures us. You watched me cook often enough, so you should be able to, right?” I added, demonstrating that I considered myself as his master from now on, commanding my disciple as I wanted. I had watched the masters at the school where I trained in the real world, and it almost seemed as if the only thing needed to be a master was the ability to spout mysterious lines, talk in an asian accent and whack students with a thin cane. Not hard, to cause pain, but softly, to correct. At least, that’s what the masters there claimed.

Rai went into the kitchen, passing a confused looking Anjij on the way, before Anjij pulled Sigmir and me into a different room and measured us, using knotted cords, marking out various measurements, hips, waits, upper thighs, everything. She was thorough enough to make both Sigmir and me blush in embarrassment, by prodding and poking us in various places to move us as she wanted. The fussing mother had been replaced by a strict worker, making sure that Giro had all the measurements he needed to make us the best armour she could. The few words she spoke all made it clear that she very much enjoyed the knowledge that his work was the best.

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Once the measurements were done, we returned to the main-room and Giro asked if it was possible to get the demonstration done before dinner. I had no problem with that, and we moved outside, where Guto, the warrior I had healed before, was waiting.

In a group, we moved to a clear space outside the village, with a few children trailing behind us. A concealed observe told me that Guto was level 67 but he gave of no feeling of having crossed the first divide and his weapon was easily visible, a long spear with a lug behind the blade to prevent over-penetration. It was clearly a hunting-tool and not a true martial weapon.

We moved roughly twenty steps away from each other and stood clear. Rai was to toss a stone in the air, and once it landed, we would start. Nobody had announced any rules, so I blunted my weapons and used blood magic to channel Astral Power into my body, increasing my strength a great deal.

The rock was tossed into the air, landed and I moved. My charge and the insane speed surprised Guto but he managed to bring his spear to bear, trying to let me run into it. I reacted by simply using my superior strength to slap it aside and place my second knife against his neck. The fight had lasted less than three seconds.

It was obvious that Guto was lacking in serious martial training - he had learned to fight as part of his training to hunt, but there was a world of difference between defending yourself from a wild animal and doing battle against a trained enemy. I had noticed that most local fighters were lacking in training and martial skill, though maybe that would change once we got to the more civilised areas, where more people lived and thus more violence was wrought.

“Furious Flame.” I announced in a clear voice. It was the first path of the style I was taught. Swift and relentless attacks, aimed at striking first and making the first strike the last. I was not a big fan of it, due to my lack of reach and strength.

Moving back into position, I signaled for another bout. The rock was tossed and landed, but this time, there was no instant movement from me. Instead I slowly and steadily moved towards him and he met me in the middle. Trying to block a spear with two blades was not a fun or easy thing to do, but thanks to the lug, I managed to do so. My steady advance never slowed and even with the blunted blades, my heavy strikes must have hurt.

“Rumbling Earth.” I announced. This was my least favorite path, it relied on a steady approach, centered on strength and immovability. My choice of weapon was wrong, my body-type was wrong, everything about it was wrong for me. But I had tried it, before discarding it.

Again, we moved back into position and the rock was thrown. My stance had greatly shifted and I was letting my enemy approach, while I gently moved towards him. The approach was similar to the steady approach of the earthen path, but it was a lot lighter. Once he struck, instead of blocking it in a block-headed maneuver, I let myself flow around the spear, pushing it just far enough aside to get to him. Once more, my blade would have gutted him.

“Flowing Water.” Not my favorite path, especially against weapons with so much more reach. It relied on counter-attacks and flowing parries.

“For the last path, I would like to ask Adra to join me.” I said. Now, I wanted to impress.

Adra grinned and pulled a crystal-white needle from her hair, which enlarged to become a long spear. There was nothing tool-like about this spear, it was all weapon, designed and tuned to kill. And it was obvious that the spear was special; there was an aura of sharpness, of danger surrounding it.

Part of me wondered if I had mucked up, as Adra took Guto’s place and, after blunting her weapon, gave the ready sign.

The rock was thrown and I started to move. My favorite path, the path known as Twisting Wind. Adra and I approached each other, she moving in a steady, controlled manner, while I was moving erratically, shifting from a slow approach to a sudden burst of speed, until I was almost in her range. From then on, my movement turned into a circling one, keeping her exactly as far away as I wanted her to be, as I feinted and lured, trying to get her to commit so I could move in. The essence of the Twisting Wind was elusiveness, never being where the enemy thought you were, until striking a seemingly harmless blow, while trying to cause maximum damage. Even a glancing blow to the elbow could sever sinews, even a glancing blow to the throat could cut arteries. Speed and trickery were the name of the game, and I loved it, as it needed very little strength.

Finally, she bit, trying to stab me, only to see me move with her stab, dodging it and following it in. Once I was within her guard, it was over and she asked for another bout. I agreed, after stating the name of the path.

The second bout was incredible. Adra had changed her grip, taking the spear in the middle and wielding it more like a staff, trading range for flexibility. I no longer kept to a single path but switched it up, flowing from element to element, trying to score telling hits.

The ‘thock-thock-thock’ of our colliding weapons was a staccato beat, a music of battle. In the end, stamina decided the fight, Adra simply had a lot more of it and she managed to get me in the end. But it had been a hard fight and both of us had our personal clouds, steam rising from our heated bodies.

Skill increased You increased your skill: Dual Blade-Mastery [24/100]

Skill increased You increased your skill: Blood Rune-Mastery [49/100]

I looked Giro into the eyes and asked, “Now, are you entertained?”