Chapter 24: Silver Fox
Inside a large circle formed by wagons, a bonfire blazed, leaving a space about twenty meters in diameter at the center. This was the arena where the mercenaries sparred.
Marina, the young beauty, informed Felix that these sparring sessions were held every three to five days to relieve the monotony of the journey. The merchants and guards mostly watched for entertainment, with the bouts usually stopping short of bloodshed or injury.
The caravan consisted of three main groups: the merchants funding the journey, their personal guards (often trusted family members or close friends), and the mercenary group hired to protect the entire caravan. The mercenaries made up about half of the caravan's numbers.
In the ring, a brawny man wielding a two-handed sword faced off against a seductive woman with a dagger and a half-veil. The man was one of the patrollers Felix had encountered earlier, but the veiled woman was new to him.
Clad in tight black clothing that accentuated her curvaceous figure, her exposed arms were exceptionally fair, drawing longing gazes from the male merchants and guards.
A collective gasp rose from the crowd as the man launched a ferocious slash at the veiled woman. The sword whistled through the air, making the onlookers gasp. However, at the last moment, the woman contorted her body in a bizarre, almost folded pose, narrowly dodging the attack.
She then quickly leaped out of combat range, reestablishing a five-meter distance between herself and the man.
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Marina, visibly relieved, patted her chest and explained to Felix, "That's Morphy, rumored to be a Norman from the northernmost cities. Normans are excellent warriors, their strength rivaling even green-skinned orcs!" She glanced around cautiously before leaning in to whisper, "Some say Morphy has savage blood, which explains his immense strength."
Feeling her warm breath and the scent of a girl in his ear, Felix felt a ripple of unease. He shifted slightly away and asked softly, "Who's the veiled woman?"
"I don't know," Marina replied with a hint of jealousy, glaring at the veiled woman. "No one knows her real name. She's a skilled fighter hired by the leader of our mercenaries. Everyone calls her by her code name, Silver Fox."
Felix pondered the name, glancing at the two fighters and murmuring, "Silver Fox? Interesting."
"You better stay away from her. She's dangerous," Marina warned, sensing Felix's interest. She resented the attention the voluptuous veiled woman attracted, missing the days when she was the adored princess of the caravan. Next to the mature allure of Silver Fox, Marina felt like an unopened bud.
Marina's feelings of rivalry stemmed not just from jealousy but also from the attention even her father paid to Silver Fox. To Marina, this was unbearable.
Felix, however, was less concerned with Marina's emotions, focusing instead on the fight. Observing the combatants, he quickly realized they were holding back. The man's attacks, while fierce in appearance, never touched even a fringe of the woman's clothing, and his seemingly forceful blows were executed with less than half his strength.
Expert wielders of two-handed swords knew their weaknesses well: the weapons' sheer weight made it hard to hit agile opponents, and once a strike was launched, it was difficult to pull back.
The fact that the two were putting on a show was something Felix had anticipated.
However, what puzzled him was his inability to clearly sense the strength of the veiled woman. More surprisingly, he couldn't detect any elemental fluctuations from her, which was incredible.
This was the first time Felix had encountered someone who could mask their presence from his senses.