Chapter 95 Never Cease To Amaze
“How was she?” Isaac asked Lenna, referring to her previous opponent.
Lenna gave the unconscious woman a nod. “Decent.”
“But?” Isaac asked. He could tell that, as usual, there was a lot left unsaid with Lenna’s answer.
“She’s inexperienced, poorly trained. A lot of potential though.” Lenna complimented, at least Isaac felt like it was intended as a compliment.
Isaac looked at the woman on the ground a few feet from him and frowned. “You think there is a healer close enough to fix her?” He asked.
“Yes.” Lenna replied and nodded down the street.
Half a block away a disheveled middle aged man, who looked as though his work alone had aged him a few dozen years, was hurrying down the street in their direction in heavily worn priestly robes with a large leather bag in hand. He was being led by a younger man who, considering where they were, was probably a gang member.
“Who’s hurt?” He asked quickly and glanced around. Isaac gestured towards the woman on the ground.
The healer’s eyes went wide and he rushed to the down woman. He quickly chanted the same healing spell Aria had used on Isaac the better part of two months ago. Once he was content that her injuries would heal fine by themselves over time he bandaged her bleeding head wound. When he had healed her he had expertly directed the healing directly to where the important damage had been done, her brain.
After the spectacle was finished Isaac and Lenna both turned towards the ring leader and his remaining minions. Two of them had come forth to challenge Lenna. One was wearing heavy armor like hers and wielded two small hammers. The other was wearing light leather armor like the unconscious woman and drew two shortswords. The hammer wielder’s face couldn’t be seen due to his helmet but the twin swordsman was an average looking human man who looked to be in his late twenties. His hair and facial hair was cut poorly. His brown eyes focused.
“Be careful.” The hammer wielding warrior, a man by his voice, told the other warrior.
“I know brother. After that show, I’m not going easy on her.” The swordsman replied.
Lenna’s eyes went back and forth between them. Isaac took a few steps away to give them more space. Lenna got into a fighting position. “I hope your armor is magical.” She told the hammer wielder.
With that the battle launched into being. The brothers ran at Lenna, each taking a side. The hammer wielder on her left to punish her as much as possible. The swordsman on her right to keep her sword busy. The pair engaged her at the same time. Lenna swung for the swordsman, trying to remove him as quickly as possible. She was worried about his blades finding openings in her armor more than she was worried about the pair of hammers bearing down on her.
The swordsman parried her blow with both swords and moved to attack. She ignored the lunge and went to cleave him in two but a hammer hit her in the back of the head, ringing her helmet like a bell. She staggered and took a few more hits to the ribs and left arm from the hammer wielder. The swordsman was looking for an opening to make his attack count. Lenna dropped to one knee and tucked her sword in close. She had its hilt near her waist and pointed the tip in the direction of the hammer wielder.
Her timing was accidental but perfect. Her head was spinning from the rapid blows and she was moving on instinct and muscle memory. She rose, pushing her sword’s tip into the hammer wielder’s breastplate with everything she had. There was a scrape of metal before the tip found purchase. Her blade punched into the hammer wielder’s chest with only slight resistance. At the same time she threw every ounce of aura she had at the swordsman to slow him down long enough to remove herself from the hammer wielder.
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As she was rising, the hammer wielder’s final two attacks came down from above. One hammer struck her pauldron with enough force to fracture bone. Bone that was immediately repaired by Isaac’s death mana flowing through her. The other’s distancing was off due to her leaning in his direction. His other hand’s elbow struck her head. The armored limb ringing her helmet again. Even with Isaac continuously healing her, each time she got hit in the head was another few moments of losing clarity.
The twin swordsman had dropped to one knee under the pressure of Lenna’s aura. The fear was so powerful, so concentrated, that it slightly overrode motor function. His teeth were grit and his grip on his swords was great enough to make the leather gloves creak against the leather wrapped hilts.
Lenna finished her accent and shouldered the armored man off of her blade. Blood poured from the wound and he gasped for air in between pained coughs. She turned to face the swordsman and had to take a step back to balance herself. It was hard for her eyes to focus. A few seconds later she could see and think clearly again.
The swordsman had not been entirely idle during that time however and had managed to get back to his feet. His brow was sweating but he raised his swords with a growl and he took a step towards her. He was weak, far weaker than Lenna, weaker than the woman she had just defeated, and even weaker than his own brother who had just fallen at Lenna’s hand. Her aura shouldn’t have had that great of an effect on him. His willpower was lacking. His combat experience was as well. He had never felt true fear before and thus couldn’t know that dragon fear wasn’t real. Not truly. It could be powered through with nothing but willpower. It could be cleansed with magic. There was even a paladin spell that Lenna used to be able to cast that completely prevented any affected by it to even feel fear.
“You…” He strained out through grit teeth. “What are you?” He demanded with hatred in his eyes.
Lenna stepped toward him and swung hard. He blocked with his own swords and staggered. She moved in and shoulder checked him, tossing him to the ground. “Yield.” She ordered calmly. She continued to pressure him as much as she could with her aura but she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep the concentrated barrage up for much longer. It was easy to blanket an area with her aura, especially in a circle around herself. That was how she had been trained. Her old aura interfered with mana coming from those she deemed ‘not friendly’, which had caused some issues when she needed to use it in training with another trainee she didn’t like. Her current aura needed to be used in the opposite manner.
The swordsman looked at his fallen brother who was still barely clinging on to life. “Fine. I yield.” He told her.
Lenna released her aura and stepped back. She looked over at the healer. “Heal him.” She ordered.
The healer ran and dropped to the ground next to his second patient. “Help me get his armor off!” He yelled at no one in particular. The other brother hurried to his side and together they ripped the fallen one’s breastplate off. The healer poured healing into the fallen brother at an alarming rate. Everyone present knew that this healer was no grand priest. He had his limits and if those limits were hit now, on only the second wounded warrior, the injured in the final round were going to have to deal with whatever came to them themselves.
Lenna looked at Isaac and turned her offhand palm up in his direction. Isaac raised an eyebrow for a moment and then got what she meant. He pulled her self cleaning cloth out of his inventory and tossed it to her. She caught it effortlessly and cleaned her blade of the blood it had recently gathered even though it was bound to gather more soon. “Once again, you never cease to amaze me.” Isaac told her with a grin after he was sure the fallen brother wouldn’t die a few feet from his feet.
There was a commotion as the other side seemed to be arguing among themselves. “Thank you my Lord.” Lenna told him with a bow. “Your blessing is… convenient.”
Isaac raised an eyebrow with a smirk on his face. “Only convenient?”
“I would have won without it.” She replied and turned to look at the brothers on the ground.
“That, I do not doubt.” Isaac replied. “You finish every fight so fast. The only fight I’ve ever seen you take more than a few seconds was the Guild Master.” It was clear those close by had heard what Isaac had just said and a commotion among the onlookers began in earnest.
“If I recall, I lost that fight.” She returned, attempting to stifle some of the rumors already being spread among the crowd.
“Sure, but you did break his sword first.” Isaac countered, much enjoying the people talking around them.
Lenna shook her head. “If he had been serious at the beginning, that wouldn’t’ve happened.” Isaac just smiled and shrugged. “Also, the speed of the fight means little.” She corrected.
“Oh?” Isaac asked.
Lenna nodded. “‘Every fight between mortals is decided in a single instant.’” Lenna quoted. “My instructor beat that into us.”
“One fuck up means instant death unless you have a contingency for that particular fuck up. Even then if there is something preventing your contingency from working correctly you could still die. That’s what he meant right?” Isaac asked.
Lenna nodded again. “Indeed, my Lord.” She was often quite casual with Isaac, as that is what he preferred, but when they were around a large crowd like they were at that time, it was necessary to reinforce that hierarchy between them to any and all onlookers.
“Lenna?” Isaac asked.
“Yes my Lord?” She replied. They could continue talking as the dwarf’s minions had decided on drawing straws to see who would face her in the three on one.
“What do you want me to buy you with that twelve hundred gold I am about to make?” He asked with a grin.
“Anything you wish my Lord.” She replied and shook her head. It was not lost on Isaac that she hadn’t told him not to buy anything for her but simply that it was up to him to decide.
“Well, I will think about it when the time arrives. It looks like your opponents are finished deciding who is going to get their asses kicked first, or, well, third.” Isaac told her and gestured towards the team of three that had gotten into position across from Lenna.
Lenna gave Isaac a short bow and turned to face the three warriors. She rolled her shoulders and eyed her competition. There was no way she would be able to handle all three without killing one of them. She decided to give them, and the crowd, a warning. “At least one of you will die.”