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The following morning, when I returned to the inn after training Freya, the guild already delivered a message, saying a few people were interested in having a spar against me. They could arrange one of them for the same day if I was fine with it.
I felt a bit excited as I headed to our room. Freya already went ahead so she could wipe off some sweat and change.
“I’m having a spar at the guild today, do you want to come and watch?” I asked her when she finished.
“Yes. I want to watch,” she said, tiredly.
Not willing to waste more time, I grabbed my armor and we headed off.
Markus wasn’t present, since he always took a day off every Septimday. The rest of the week he usually worked a few hours in the morning and only sometimes in the afternoon. He worked hard in his youth, and he didn’t have a lack of money, but now that he was old he found it difficult to stay at home all the time.
Something he had in common with his friends, excluding the Merchant who was still working in his trading company full-time.
After paying for the entry, I went to talk to John.
“’Morning, John,” I greeted him. “I got the message. You can arrange a fight right away.”
He looked up from the book where he was noting my entrance.
“’Morning. You seem eager,” he said with his raspy voice, taking our tokens. “’Morning Freya.”
“Good morning,” she said.
“Damn right I am! Been a while since I had a fight,” I told him with a grin when he looked back at me.
I improved a lot since I had my last fight on the hillock, and I couldn’t wait to test the results of my training. It was just a spar, so I had to hold back, unfortunately, but I could also try riskier fighting styles and get more creative.
That’s what spars were for, after all, since exploring new moves during a real fight was a good way to end up dead — with few exceptions.
“Mm,” he said, looking me up and down. “I have someone that could probably be here in an hour or two, but I would advise waiting until the afternoon for another one.”
“Why shouldn’t I fight this guy?” I asked.
He scratched his head before answering. “He’s a Level 38 with a Warrior Class. He’s fine usually, but he’s hard on newbies. Especially those that brag more than him.”
I tilted my head.
“Did I meet him somewhere?” I asked dubiously. I tried to remember if I pissed off someone in the last few weeks, but I came up empty.
He gave me a stare before speaking.
“Listen, Silvester,” he started after steeling his face, “I usually don’t meddle in other people’s business, especially while working. I am only required to give out a warning, and that’s it.”
I didn’t get the point of the conversation, but I nodded and let him proceed.
“Normally that’s what I do, and that’s what I did when you asked me for this service. You seem like a nice lad though, despite the boasting, so I want to say a few more words,” he continued narrowing his eyes before asking and leaning forward, “How old are you?”
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His question threw me off for a moment, and I reflexively answered, “Twenty-three”.
“Mm,” he said leaning back, still narrow-eyed, “Even younger than I thought. So, let me ask you, can you guess what was my level at your age?”
I shrugged. “Twenty?”
Since he was talking about age, I could already guess what he was getting at.
“I was a bit faster, I was Level 21 after passing the quest the year before. It shows you’re not clueless, though, since that is where most people are at your age. Larin, the one I’m talking about, is more talented than me; if I don’t remember wrong, he was around Level 25 when he was twenty-three. Do you get what I’m saying?” he asked.
Indeed, he was talking about that, I thought.
“Well, I told you I was Unblessed, didn’t I? That doesn’t apply to me. Didn’t you see me lifting weights?” I asked him.
“That was either a Skill, or there’s something special about your Class. I’m not sure what it is, but Larin is still too much for you. He’s not going to go easy just because you’re young… especially since you’re young,” he answered.
“Always about Skills and Class,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Even if I had a Class at Level 25 I could probably still punch well above that level. I wonder if the gods scrambled their heads too much, and now they need Skills to survive.
“Just call the guy. You’ll see after we fight,” I told him.
He let out a breath.
“Fine, if you want to make a fool of yourself, I won’t stop you. Just remember that if your opponent complains, you can be banned from the service for a year. There’ll also be a few people watching probably,” he said, going standing up.
“How about a bet, on how well I’ll hold up?” I asked.
“No bets,” he said.
“Oh come on, I’ll pay you a drink if I can’t make your jaw drop later. You pay me two if I can, since you look so sure,” I said, grinning.
“Uh, fine,” he said with his usual rasp. “Free drinks are always accepted.”
“Wonderful! I’ll be there tiring myself out before the fight,” I said, pointing to the training equipment.
He left while shaking his head, probably going to the reception. Got two free drinks. Maybe I should bet with this Larin guy too.
“Come on, Freya, wanna play the instructor? You’ll be counting my reps, and yelling if I do something wrong. Just make something up, since I’ll do them all right!” I laughed. “Look at how I do them, though, so you’ll learn the posture. I’ll explain.”
It would still be some time before she needed to use one of these, but since she was here, I could show her a few things anyway; I bet she’d just stand there looking around otherwise.
I worked out “lightly” for around an hour; I didn’t waste too much mana so it was fine.
Freya doesn’t play well as an instructor, but she counted at least. I didn’t give up, but the day I’d see her shout was still far away.
It was at a moment when I was giving her a motivational speech that the guy arrived. A few people had been coming in for a while now, so I didn’t pay attention to the entrance until John came to fetch me. Turning my head, I saw a guy near the cage, probably taller than me, dressed in metal armor; he was also holding a greatsword.
I then went to the changing room to put on my armor.
When I came back, I found John holding a sword.
“This is sharp,” said John while handing it to me.
“It has a few enchantments. One will create a layer on the edge when coming in contact with your body. It doesn’t activate right away, so you will still be cut though it will be shallow, so you’ll only have to pay attention to your eyes. If you wish, we have a Healer, but their service is not included in the price you paid. The fee will be calculated separately, based on the extent of your wounds,” he explained while I examined the sword.
“Mm,” I said, “There are fees for everything here.”
“This is a business, not charity,” he countered before continuing.
“The sword will also glow red when it detects a 'deep wound' — it’s not too accurate, though. I think it works by sensing the strength of the blow after it cuts your skin, but it doesn’t take into consideration those who have high Toughness. The last enchantment will weaken “sharp” Skills, so you won’t be killed right away by, let’s say, a Wind blade on your throat. Accidents may still happen, but you won’t find a safer alternative that’s closer to a real fight. You can enter the cage now. You have one hour,” he said, concluding his explanation when we reached the cage.
Freya was watching me from near the door, and I gave her a nod as I entered.
“Seems pretty safe to me,” I said nonchalantly.
I heard the door closing behind me as I looked around the space. The cage was around a hundred meters on each side, allowing people to move around well while fighting, and instead of a polished floor outside there was rammed earth.
I’ll have to avoid getting trapped in the corners, I thought as I shifted my sight to the mountain of a man in front of me, who had been waiting a few meters inside with his helmet under his arm. His dark brown eyes matched his short hair and beard.
I couldn’t shake off the impression of a bear for some reason.
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