"Fire in their belly, cold seawater in their skin, the ancient Sea Elven warfare tactics were not to be underestimated, and thanks to extreme (some historians even saying paranoic) diligence by the first king, the then newly established Knight Orders did not suffer so many looses as it was predicted by the future gazers of the time, in particular the powerful command of geomancy by the royal family, who according to Sea Elven legend were the ones to build every single city deep in their abyssal trenches and sea floors"
Understanding the enemy: A primer for new commanders volume 1
"Father" Roberta bowed towards the brick wall of a man standing before her, his pointy ears betraying the elder heritage of his side of the family (imagine having cousins who were older than the stones in your street and house) he bid her to rise and spoke, a deep voice calming her fears.
"Luck has not been kind to you, daughter of mine, but take heart for we are not toothless even against the direst of foes" From behind Roberta noticed her mother carrying a chest, it looked small in her arms but it the sigil of a mage forge, she squinted her eyes and gasped "Gods be good" she gasped.
"Worry not about the coin" her mother smiled as the woman placed the chest by her daughter "Armor and Wands, tailor-made for speed and precision" Her mother unlocked the chest and with a soft hiss opened it "While we have been retired for a while, understanding how Lady Wulfgrem fights was not that hard, the woman has a thing for shock and awe tactics, big slow spells and showy melee combat that most nobles favor"
"I've also contacted some of the Knights in the gym and those training pits she favors, it would be wise for you to avoid punching out, or any unarmed confrontation with her, it is not the way nobles fight and the men I have spoken to were genuinely afraid of what they saw," her father said with a grimace "one more gift" he pulled a shiny silver dagger, runes etched in both the blade and its handle "Old gift from our Grannarius's neighbors, said to be blessed by an unknown Goddess of Speed the elves from that gods-forsaken country worshiped long ago, see those two runes?" he pointed to them and Roberta nodded "Invisibility and a Cloud bomb spell into one, 3 charges" he pointed to the other "Speed"
Roberta waited for an explanation, the man staring her down with half a smirk.
"Speed? As in I go faster?" she asked and her mother laughed "Yes dear, so fast sound breaks and foes will be obliterated by the shockwaves" her mother smiled "I wish we could do more Roberta, I do, but..." she paused and gulped "This will be a hard fight for you dear"
Her mother locked eyes with her father and both nodded, leaving the woman alone as the crowd cheered and hollered outside, the time was nigh for the fight and she would be the one losing it, thoughts of shame and impotence running wild through her head as she dressed with the new gear "I must not fear" she spoke to herself as the crowd roared, an announcement being made that she could not hear, but she knew it was time.
"Don't get hit, yeah as if that will be easy" Roberta spoke to herself as she walked towards the doorway that led to the arena, out in the open she heard loud horns blaring as an announced hailed Lucrezia, Fury of the North he called her, and a dozen other titles won through less than polite means, roaring of cheers and actual war cries, Roberta took a deep breath and closed her eyes, noise and light no longer bothering her as she stoked the fire inside and gripped her dagger with her left hand, the wands strapped to her back and chest like throwing daggers, healing, and restoration, shield and flame spears on them.
Crossing the threshold she heard even louder horns and a wave of cheers and war cries for her! To both sides Knights, actual honest-to-goodness Knights of untold houses raised the spears and chanted her name with vigor, she nearly blushed before stepping into the arena proper and holding her opponent, Lady Lucrezia stood tall and proud, on her armor powered by the Spirits of the north, in her hand the exquisite blade given to her by the Arch-Duke, plus those deadly weapons of Magi-Tech made in her legs.
"...make some noise for ROBERTA BEARTALON!" the announced shouted and Roberta let that fire spread across her entire soul, raising her dagger to the air she screamed and the crowd roared, cheering her onwards.
"On the count of 3!, 1, 2, 3, FIGHT!"
Roberta saw Lucrezia kick the ground and leap towards the air, within seconds a massive, downright huge spike of black iron rose from where she was, on its tip Roberta saw and then smelled the lighting that was about to slam into her position, red as blood and looking mean as all hells, well one thing was for sure, the Duchess was taking her serious, of course Roberta didn't expect to hear gasps from the woman herself when her eyes rolled into her head and a nasty wolfish grin bloosomed from her face.
The Rage!
With no hesitation, she tapped into her blessing, a simple one given by the many goddesses that protect the womenfolk of Vermilion, and slammed her hand into the Sigil of Speed in her dagger, if she got hit by that Lighting she would be as good as dead. the world slowed down as she felt the rush of magic overpower her soul and body, only barely holding onto the dagger as she took a few steps forward, Roberta saw ripples in the sandy ground of the arena moving slowly, outwards like had thrown a stone in a lake, Lucrezia pointed her finger towards her old position and the bolt of crimson lighting slowly fell into the ground.
Shards of Black Iron rose from the impact crater, gnarly and filled with teeth, Roberta felt the speed rune going out and called the power off, but not before taking out a ward with the fire spear spell on it and lobbing a massive one at the flying death bringer of a woman.
The aftereffects of such a burst of speed hit Roberta hard, but she gritted her teeth and pressed down on the cloud bomb runes, thick plumes spread across the arena as the world returned to its normal speed and Lucrezia smiled "Oh my, I haven't used this one in a while!" with a gestured akin to pulling weights off their rack, Lucrezia flexed her arms and the shards of black iron flew towards the smoke, humming with music Roberta had never seem nor heard.
She felt her dagger vibrate in return and barely had time to dodge the massive Ice Spear that came flying from above, rolling and dashing like she had a pack of starved drakes behind her, a bad roll to the left had shards of ice break her armor around the knee and she went down with a yelp of pure pain "Healing wands FUCK" Roberta barked at herself and grabbed the single wand equipped with a healing miracle, which meant she would be fighting with something that lasted... "1 minute, plenty of time"
She looked down, only one more cast before the wand broke. oh Gods, where did they even get this? She scowled her features but didn't bad mouth her parents, aiming another fire spear at Lucrezia who dodged perfectly, at least these were made not to break and only used her regular mana...
Roberta cursed her rotten luck when she saw Lucrezia diving towards her position with that accursed red lighting licking at her heels, she knew the move very well as it was a favorite of the woman, bolting to the other side of the arena she rolled twice and then dived towards the sandpit as a mighty explosion went off behind her, waves of lighting spreading across the landing zone as Lucrezia unsheathed her blade.
Another vibration pulsed through the Arena as the black iron shards became spikes that pointed to the skies in an omniums manner, Roberta knew this move as well and cursed as she slammed the sigil of invisibility and speed, throwing another fire spear and feeling her mana levels drop dangerously low, Roberta decided to risk a melee confrontation, as she rushed forward a lighting bolt, bigger than anything she had seen before struck the ground with such force, it turned the sand around into glass.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
One step, two steps, three and she saw Lucrezia's eyes widen in pleasure, she licked her lips as the shock waves hit her aegis and made the whole thing shimmer, Roberta took the fourth step and slid her way towards Lucrezia, leaping like a spider at the very last moment and baring her dagger like a mighty fang, Lucrezia locked blades with her at the very last second, as Roberta let the speed rune drop and the world returned to its regular speed.
Both women locked eyes and blades, Lucrezia's exquisite sword grinding at Roberta's dagger as the azure eyes of its owner dilated their pupils, once again Roberta cursed her luck as the telltale signs of Battle Lust took over Lucrezia, with a scream the women traded blows and more than once Roberta had to evade and deflect the absurd slashes with her gauntlets and elbows.
She went invisible again, and leaped backward, only realizing the mistake as she heard ice crack below her boots, hearing a loud cry of a crow Roberta's eyes went wide and she rushed forward with a leap into a roll as Lucrezia's entire form manifested itself in a puff of smoke and bird feathers, ah yes she had forgotten the woman had more blessings than a godsdamned Holy Warrior.
"Found you!" she said and placed her hand on the blade's grip, Roberta's senses screamed at her to dodge but she knew something was wrong until she saw a flash of steel and rolled for nearly five seconds, just barely dodging whatever the hells had clipped her on the shoulder and head, her helmet and left pauldron falling into the ground, the steel looking like a thousand cuts flayed it.
That's when she noticed the sheets of ice in the ground, Lucrezia was using both the vibrations and it to pinpoint Roberta's location, and toying with her! She shook her head, it wouldn't be good to get herself enraged mid-combat, with another click she felt the world slow down, and the entire arena was covered with smoke, invisible as she was she would hit Lucrezia under the cover of smoke, and stealth.
What came next was pure chaos, Roberta felt her entire body groan and scream in pain as she pushed herself to the very limit hitting and running away as Lucrezia tried to pinpoint her location, the shock waves knocking her out of spell formations more than once and after nearly a minute of intense combat she slashed the woman right in the face, from cheek to cheek in a flash.
blood sprayed outwards before Lucrezia's armor glowed blue, the wound mended and a nasty scar formed, Lucrezia's face still had that wolfish grin on it but Roberta could tell the woman was not playing with her, hells she wasn't playing with her the second that horn went off and combat started! but if she could keep these attacks up maybe...mabey she would...
The thought ended there as Roberta felt what could only be described as a torrent of wind made Roberta buckle and kneel, Lucrezia's back shone bright with the light of the divine, and the entire arena was flooded with her mana, Roberta could taste the damn thing so thick it was, snow and metal, lighting and a hint of something more mixed in there as the pressure got worse and she went on all fours.
The dagger in her hand vibrated again and she couldn't even look up as the chilly feel of a blade prickled at her neck, "Yield" Lucrezia spoke as her voice hummed with power, Divine and Rage both as Roberta threw her dagger to the ground, the pressure vanished and she heard the woman guard her blade, a hand was extended and Roberta spoke "It is a shame I didn't get to disarm you, my Lady, I wanted to fight you hand to hand as well" Roberta didn't know why she was saying that she didn't want to fight this monster hidden beneath human flesh with her life-affirming fists!
It dawned on her, that this must've been a side effect of the Battle Lust Lucrezia radiated from her person, she had heard one of the Knights speak of such, a fairly common thing to happen on the battlefield but it could prove dangerous on singular combat and training exercises, did she only push herself harder because of it? something else to think about as both women bowed and the fight was over, the crowd cheering for them as Roberta walked away.
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Richard sighed for the third time as Lucrezia helped him with his armor, a gift from the Orcs as the helmet instead of the usual Magi-Tech earpiece and face plate upon his head like a crown, he couldn't help but be amazed at the artistry of this helmet, made out of steel and leather but looking like it had every dwarven forge master personally add to its creation, it was a bit too much he felt, but his Goddess told him it was important for him to wear it, otherwise Hope would overpower him.
"To think that ice cube would do this then again it was very poor luck dear, Hope out of all people?" Lucrezia smiled as she spoke, "Think you can win?"
Richard shrugged "Eh, I'd say 50-50, if she only used the rage, the rage plus every godsdamned blessing you taught her and the ones she learned by herself? and I am not even counting the other wacky bullshit the woman can pull on command Lu, the Spear, or those weird mix-ups with Spiritborne powers, did that elven man the Spirit Whisperer or something teach her? don't answer that, knowing Hope something even more bizarre happened" Richard went on a rant until he lost steam.
"But I gotta say, the fight with the Beartalon heir? amazing, downright sublime combat prowess by the woman, actually pushed you into a corner even! and here I thought only old Kaine could do that, maybe me and Hope if we team up with Arthur in a sneak attack or a proper ambush..."Richard started thinking about how to take Lucrezia down in a combat scenario until a light tap in his head knocked him out of said thoughts.
"Don't fantasize about taking me down with a bloody ambush you dolt, that's improper and I would demand a proper head-on battle!" Lucrezia laughed "There, all finished, and yeah, Roberta was a fun fight, to think rogue types would be my weakness, or anything with enough speed to break the sound barrier... needs to plan for that in the future...anyway enough talk, I can almost feel Hope vibrating from her place" Lucrezia pointed towards the absolute killing machine Richard would be fighting, one he AND the love of his life helped train no less.
"At least it is not Kaine," Richard said with a thoughtful nod, Lucrezia repeated the act with stoicism "At least it's not Kaine" She had no glee in her voice, any serious fighting with the Chronomancer would involve insane amounts of force and even then it's a gamble, especially now that the faith for Gwennarius was growing at a lightning-fast pace, soon he would be able to toy with the River of Time, Lucrezia knew it and so did Richard.
"You think?" Richard asked and Lucrezia made a no gesture "No, I asked" she smiled "Strenght, Magic, and the Mad One" Lucrezia gave away the sole tip she could to her beloved, no fancy weapons would be needed after all.
"She wouldn't! It's heresy, Gods be Good I have the worst luck" Richard facepalmed and with a final sigh got up "Time to face the music and the chants" Lucrezia felt the entire room shift in pressure as the Greater Blessing of the Goddess of the Orcs kicked in high gear, power to face down the strongest living being in the new world hummed and the world around it hummed back.
Divine Energy flew out of the helmet, and upon Richard's back sat the shimmer of the Divine, hugging his neck, eyes closed and form nearly twice his size, it only lasted a moment but the world around them exploded in noise as every Orc in the Academy chanted his name, the couple heard feet stomping, weapons and wands being unsheathed as power flowed from their room, on the arena the announcers and school band brought the hype to a fever pitch, Lucrezia smiled as one of her favorite bits of lore popped in her head, this was a taunt, common in both Vermillion and Orc culture where strong Warlords and Knight Commanders would essentially challenge the strongest enemy with a show of power, be it in Ki or Mana, or raw strength and even fancy weaponry.
"Will she respond?" Lucrezia asked out loud and saw Richard smile as he answered "I believe she will my love"
As the hype died down, Lucrezia felt the temperature go down and the light of the sun flicker as a beam of golden light pierced the skies and went above the protective barrier the Fields had, upon this singular pillar of what she could now feel was pure Divine Energy were myriad faces, bodies, and weapons as Hope quite literally summoned every Divine she knew upon the Material Plane, A singular cracked Warhammer raised upon the Pillar as the Sigils of the All-Father, All-Mother and their Mad Son commanded such authority most people bowed or even kneeled.
Power unmatched had she had this control over the blessing when they fought Malphas...Richard kissed Lucrezia on the lips and strode forward, ready to meet his dear friend in honorable combat. Still, her show wasn't over as the very skies and sun were tinged with crimson blood, the alien visage of the Entity that once was the Rage-that-Dwells roared in defiance of his host, and against Richard's show of power.
An insurmountable foe, he did not doubt that this Hope would no doubt win against Malphas in deadly combat, armed with the Spear from the Hivemind and in armor made by Lucrezia's forges, she stood tall and mighty, a smile on her lips as she bowed "No holding back, all I want is a good fight Richard!" she spoke out loud as the crowd cheered both of them, Richard saw a few faces he knew, his trusted trio, the Grannariu's Elven commander, soldiers and men who fought with him in that desperate push...feeling the handle of his sword he bowed back and spoke, voice commanding power and authority both "Then A good fight you will have!"