The blinding light soon mellowed, though it did remain burned into their eyes for a while longer. Once everyone could see again, Willow uncovered her eyes sheepishly.

“What was that?” She asked, looking at the still-glowing crystal on Arwen’s staff.

The other girl shrugged. Her eyes were still wide open, and she seemed as confused as everyone else. She tilted her head to the side and tapped the slowly dimming crystal with her finger. “Why is it getting dimmer?”

Instructor Soraya narrowed her eyes. “Did you stop feeding it with power?” She asked, pursing her lips. “You need to keep directing the spiritual power around you into the crystal.”

The afterimage of the first shine still lingered in Midhir’s sight. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times in quick succession before his vision returned to normal. When he looked at Arwen again, he could still see a faint image lingering before his gaze, it almost looked like she herself had a faint glow around her.

“Oh. I don’t think I stopped, but maybe I lost focus when it glowed so brightly.” Arwen chuckled at herself as she shook her head. “I’ll try again.”

She focused again. The gold inlaid into the wooden staff glinted as light bounced off of it. The crystal began to shine again, albeit much dimmer than before. It glowed brighter with each passing second.

Midhir watched wide eyed as another girl popped up in her mind. He remembered how she struggled to feed power into the staff. Arwen made it seem so effortless.

“Very good.” Instructor Soraya’s lips curled up with a smile. “You are a natural at crystal manipulation. The staff was a fine choice, Arwen.”

Arwen’s smile beamed. “I think so too.” She admitted, not taking her eyes off of the crystal even once. The light remained bright and steady, a feat that was difficult for even experienced crystal manipulators. “I think I found my weapon.” Her voice was full of glee and hope.

Midhir sheathed his shortsword. The exhaustion that set in right after he used the crystal embedded within the hilt of his blade had slowly begun to pass.

“Very well then.” Instructor Soraya turned her gaze towards the rest of the class. “Arwen, you need to work on actually using the staff – it’s a glorified torch at the moment.” Her words got a chuckle out of them. “Alistair, find some sparring partners and spar – a lot. Make sure your opponents are varied and use different weapons and styles. No fighting against Midhir, or Willow. Find others. Arwen is off limits as well.”

The young lord nodded. “Understood.”

“Willow, I need to see how well you fight.” Instructor Soraya hesitated for a split second. “Midhir, Willow. Duel. Now.” Her lips curled up with a smirk. “Crystal use is allowed, but no lethal strikes. That’s a fast way to get expelled.”

Willow froze, her eyes widened. “A duel?” She sheepishly asked. “Now?” Her gaze darted to Midhir. “But he was exhausted from using the crystal! It wouldn’t be a fair fight.” She protested, her voice growing sharper and louder with every word.

“It’s not a fair fight either way.” Instructor Soraya shrugged. “And don’t expect any fight you find yourselves in to be fair fights. Your enemies won’t just stand around waiting for you to rest and recover.” She clapped once, prompting them to hurry. “To positions!”

Midhir pried his eyes off of Arwen and her crystal staff and focused on the present. As he saw Willow unsheathe her rapier, his heartbeat quickened. Adrenaline rushed through his veins as his excitement rose. He took his place opposite of hers and unsheathed his own sword.

Willow gulped once as their eyes met. Her gaze constantly darted between his face and his blade, as if she was unsure of where to focus her attention. She was uneasy on her feet, constantly shifting her weight as they waited for Instructor Soraya to call the start of their duel.

A second later, the Instructor’s voice rang like a bell. “Begin!”

Midhir bent forward, then dashed towards Willow. The young woman’s eyes shot wide open as she immediately hopped back and turned the tip of her rapier towards him. Her weight shifted back as she hesitated, then she slid her right foot forward, lunging ahead. Her aim was Midhir’s shoulder, which she had been glaring at since the first step he took.

He hit the incoming blade with his own. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed in the courtyard, startling a murder of crows sitting atop the eaves of the partially collapsed walkway. Amidst their caws, Midhir continued his offense, forcing Willow to step back further.

The young woman retreated readily, though her gaze turned to his right upper thigh this time. She deflected his blows, and as his flurry of attacks slowed for a split second, she rushed forward again, her blade lunging towards his thigh.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

He leapt back with ease, then swung his blade from left to right in an upward motion, forcing her to pull her sword arm back. A moment passed as they watched each other, both waiting for the other to make the next move.

Willow’s gaze turned to his sword arm. Like clockwork, her next strike was aimed there. Once again the sound of metal hitting metal echoed across the courtyard as Midhir blocked her strike.

Her eyes widened further as she bit her lip. Confusion, worry, and uncertainty clouded her expression as she retreated several steps. Midhir pursued, his blade struck from her left, then from above. He could see her hesitation – she was no longer a threat to him. His relentless strikes wailed on her, forcing her to step back further and further until her back was against the castle wall.

Midhir lunged forward, forcing her to block his blade with her own, taking the full force of the hit. Their blades crossed, Midhir pushed, forcing the blades closer to her.

“Get away from me!” She screamed.

The crystal serving as the pommel of her blade began to glow as winds picked up around them. A strong gust pushed Midhir back, threatening to throw him off balance. He stumbled back a step, just as Willow’s gaze turned to his sword arm.

She lunged forward with her rapier, its tip pointing at his arm just as he expected it to. He deflected the strike with the guard of his shortsword, making her attack go wide. Without hesitation, he fought against the push of the wind as he took a step forward and pressed his blade against her throat.

“Enough!” Instructor Soraya’s voice rang. “Midhir wins.” She declared as he stepped back and bowed. A deflated Willow also bowed her head, but she refused to look at him as she let her blade vanish into the space of her holding crystal.

The instructor approached them, and after shooting a mischievous glance at Midhir, she turned her attention to Willow. “How many sparring partners have you had so far?”

Willow hesitated. “A few,” She vaguely said as she rubbed her throat.

“How many?” Instructor Soraya insisted, only for Willow to look away.

“I never felt the need to count, instructor. I’ve sparred with a number of people.” Her voice was cold and firm.

Instructor Soraya scowled, but after a moment’s hesitation, she let the young woman be and turned her attention to Midhir. “Good job,” She said with a smirk. “On actually talking the initiative and doing something rather than just waiting.”

Midhir couldn’t help but laugh at her words. Alistair also chuckled. They both knew her rather pointed words carried only the truth.

Instructor Soraya’s smirk slowly faded as she glanced at the sky. “Alright, listen up.” She folded her arms and raised her chin as her gaze shifted between the four of them. “Solus Military Academy does a few things differently to other military schools in Eldoria. And the most important of these differences is the class you are a part of. The Practical Combat and Strategy class has been created only recently, and for one singular purpose.”

She scowled as she spoke. “Duels don’t teach much about real battle. And strategizing isn’t something you can solely learn from studying past wars and battles. War is different. It’s chaotic, unpredictable, and more stressful than you can imagine.” Her words carried a weight to them. The weight of knowledge, Midhir could hear it in her tone, and see it in her weary eyes.

“You never know how you will react to real danger until you’re put in it. And the future of Eldoria can’t be gambled on the reactions of leaders who have never been in a real fight before.” The wind began to pick up as she spoke, tugging at their hair and clothes. The sun had begun to slowly move towards the horizon. These were the last few hours of sunlight left.

“As such, we will not take that gamble. Not with your class. Just like your upperclassmen, you will go on field assignments. At the start of next week, you shall depart via airship to a destination that will be disclosed on that day, and you will aid the locals in their recent troubles. You will remain there for a few days and return via airship again. Your grades will be based on how well you did, not just on your exams. And not going isn’t an option.” She glanced at a pale Willow as she added that last part.

Silence reigned for a few breaths’ worth of time, then she spoke again, with a much more cheerful tone. “Alright then! Willow, remember your assignment, and go find some people to duel with. No one from this class though.” She then turned her gaze towards Arwen. “And you, come with me. We’ll get you to someone slightly more experienced with crystal staves so you can get started with learning the weapon.”

Arwen’s face lit up. As she hurried after her, Instructor Soraya walked towards the door, only paused momentarily as she brushed past Midhir. “You should better acquaint yourself with your weapon. You will need it.”

His blood froze as her words reached his ears. His fingers tightened around the hilt of his shortsword, as he looked at the ground.

“Why didn’t you come to the lounge?” Willow’s voice reached his ears. She was speaking to Alistair, who immediately went stiff as soon as she asked him that.

“I have better uses of my time.” The young noble curtly said. “Please excuse me.” With a long stride, he walked away, not even sparing Willow a glance. Confused, she rushed after him.

Left alone in the courtyard, Midhir’s shoulders dropped as soon as he heard the door slam behind him. He absentmindedly looked around, then picked a random direction to walk. Lost in thought, he climbed a set of narrow, ill-maintained stairs hidden behind overgrowth off to the side of the courtyard.

He soon found himself walking on the walls of the castle, towards a tall tower. Perhaps it was used as a lookout tower in ages past, or perhaps it housed long range weapons, ballistae, or some such. He climbed the spiralling stairs up the tower, the instructor’s words still ringing in his head.

A wooden door was partly open atop the stairs. It occasionally creaked as the wind tried to push it open further. He pulled it open and stepped out onto the battlements. Strong winds pulled at his hair and tugged at his clothes as he approached the edge. He leaned against the low crenel wall and watched the beautiful view stretching before him.

The sky was dyed purple, pink, and red as the sun began to set, and beneath these beautiful colours stretched the lands of Eldoria. He could see beyond the mountaintops the castle was nested in between. Overgrown forests stretched as far as the eye could see, with only a few ill-maintained roads cutting through them. Had he looked south, he would have been able to see some farmlands, but the west was overgrown. It had been so since the War of Flames.

“A beautiful view, isn’t it?” A voice startled him. “Much less so if you know what was lost in those forests.”