Bellona eyed her opponent as she settled into her stance on the arena sands. Mordecai appeared to only be wielding an axe in one hand, of a design similar to her own, but he’d already demonstrated that his bracers could form a shield of force on command. Those tended to be less sturdy than a properly built and reinforced physical shield of equal cost, but had the advantage of being self-repairing and leaving the user’s hand free until the moment they needed a shield. He’d also shown her the one bit of shape-changing he was allowing himself for this battle: his skin would transform into scales as needed. Scales that he claimed were as resilient as her own armor.
This could be dangerous enough with an experienced warrior, but she was aware that Mordecai had many martial talents available to him. She was satisfied with the restriction of this spar being martial skills, but removing spells from his repertoire did not make her foe much less dangerous.
Kazue’s illusion called out the countdown, and at ‘begin’, the two of them clashed.
Bellona did not try any fancy footwork, she knew Mordecai was faster than her. She needed to bring this fight into her strengths as much as possible. The two of them exchanged opening blows, their respective shields deflecting each other’s axes, but even as her axe arced away, Mordecai’s shield flickered back off and he snatched at the handle of her axe.
She swung it out to avoid his hand, then flicked it back in to slash at his leg even as she shoved back with her shield, forcing him to choose which to defend against. He took the shove, stepping back to avoid her axe, and Bellona tried to take advantage of the moment by using the swing of her axe to channel an arc of electricity.
Mordecai took this hit with a slight smile, and she scowled as she felt the electricity fade with little effect. He didn’t even have to shift his aura to match the element; he just could resist it. Bellona could not say the same, a point hammered home when he retaliated. His first attack led with his axe, but it was mostly a lure to give him the chance to grab her shield and keep it out of the way as he snapped out a fast pair of kicks, the first laden with cold aura and the second with fire. Bellona only had the time to shift her spiritual aura to match the elemental ice, mitigating its effects but leaving her open to almost the full impact of the scorching heat of the second kick, though at least her armor soaked most of the physical blow. She did have some constant resistance to all the elements, but it was clearly lower than his.
The orc champion growled as jagged metal erupted from the surface of her shield, forcing him to let go, and she took the opportunity to swipe at him with it before she stepped forward to continue her momentum with an axe strike, increasing its weight temporarily by filling with the essence of earth. Mordecai dodged backward with a flip that he turned into a roll that gave him distance before she could shift her stance and chase his movement. Once he was back on his feet, Mordecai settled into a stance that she didn’t recognize, but felt familiar. It made her wary as she studied him, and it was only her new sensitivity to the elements that let her puzzle it out. He’d somehow combined several monk forms, and though she couldn’t feel his chi, she could feel the effect it had on the elements.
Bellona charged as she used her shield to deflect the electrically charged air punches, her own aura shifting to protect her from the electric charge. Her shield and axe had already returned to normal, but she also knew how to put all the weight of her body and will into a strike, and she held nothing back as her axe came down at a sharp angle.
She’d been expecting him to dodge again, but instead, his shield flicked back into existence, tempered with an aura of metal and backed by his own will. He took her full-powered strike into his shield and his arm didn’t budge, though she at least saw the shield shimmer from the force it had to absorb.
His next attack was almost unfair, but her recognition of his monk stances at least made her aware of the possibility so she was not taken completely off guard. Shadowy, clawed hands reached out from his shadow to grasp at her, seeking to pin her in place and attack her with the deep cold of the void. Bellona wrenched herself free, stepping to the side before coming back in at an angle to bring a fast series of attacks, finishing with a low, backhand swing of her axe that allowed her to follow up with the edge of her shield aimed at his face.
While she didn’t get a clean hit in, Mordecai was at least forced to take her shield’s impact on his unshielded forearm. This would have been more satisfying if she didn’t feel the resistance of armor-strong scales.
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This was pretty much the pace of the battle. She could land hits, but he was resilient against everything. Her spiritual connection with the elements was matched by his own, and he could call upon the elements via chi as well. She had a slight advantage in being able to call upon Amirume’s blessing to heal some of her injuries, but that was a well that was quickly dried up and wouldn’t be replenished until she had the time to meditate and pray. In contrast, Mordecai seemed to have a natural if slow ability to restore his wounds. She wouldn’t win in an endurance match against him.
His shield broke first, the energy flickering out, but for him, that was a minor change in his combat style, and he simply tossed his axe aside to focus on his stances. When her shield became too cracked to be trusted and she had to discard it, her combat options became drastically reduced. It wasn’t long after the loss of her shield that Bellona conceded the fight, and sat down in exhaustion as she tossed her helmet to the ground next to her. “Holy light, you are a tough bastard.” She felt that by skill alone, limited to an axe and shield, she had a slight advantage. But even without magic, he had access to a lot more skills than she did, or anyone else she’d ever had the chance to spar or fight against. Being able to merge all those monk techniques into a single stance and chi flow was just unfair.
Mordecai bowed to her and then sat cross-legged on the sand. “Thank you for the spar, that was a good workout.”
Bellona was pretty certain that he was trying to not be smug, but there was a slight sense of self-satisfaction to him, not unlike a content cat. Or a dragon, from what she’d heard. To be fair, however, he had earned it. “I think I want to see you go up against one of my seniors. Or maybe a couple of us here could team up.”
He snorted with amusement. “Even two people is a lot harder to keep up with than one. I get to start using all my tools if you guys start ganging up on me.”
She grunted, then closed her eyes and sat there in silence for a little while as she cooled down and cleared her head for a short meditative prayer. Bellona was mulling over not just what she’d experienced here, but what she’d seen from the war room while Kazue and Mordecai built up the wetlands floor.
The challenges were hard, and even dangerous at times, but they were fair. You always had the opportunity to turn back. More importantly, this dungeon was growing not just into a community, but a new and independent society and civilization. One with it’s own sort of culture, but that was compatible with the growth and independence of other cultures.
This was exactly the sort of thing that Amirume desired, to see civilization being cultivated and elevated. And now she had a feel for how Mordecai fought: Enthusiastically, but not sadistically. He pushed and strove and desired to win, but it wasn’t everything to him either. In combat, he certainly seemed like the sort of leader she’d be willing to follow.
And then there was Kazue. Admittedly, Bellona had only gotten to see her through the illusion, but according to the princess, this was true to Kazue’s avatar, and mostly true to her previous life, but with more maturity. The red-headed kitsune was adorable and sweet, but showed occasional flares of temper when it came to protecting others. There were a couple of flaws there; one had to be able to protect oneself in order to ably protect others, and her rare temper could be used to draw her into a trap; but they were acceptable in someone so inexperienced in the ways of battle.
And that was an amusing way to think about someone a full year older than her, but an orc’s life was a much different sort of life, especially one that sought knighthood from an early age, compared to a sheltered fox who had lived inside of her books. If Kazue wasn’t so clearly enamored with her husband and wife, Bellona had a younger brother she’d have tried to hook Kazue up with. They’d have been cute together with their noses buried in books. Ah well, matchmaking was never her favorite game anyway.
Speaking of spouses, there was Moriko. Bellona had a lot less interaction with the half-elf, but her impression had been favorable, and having awakened the blessings of being a priestess was a good sign to her character.
Bellona loved Ekuilance, but the capital city wasn’t a bone-deep sort of home. Settling into a new one would not be a hardship, if she enjoyed it, and this strange dungeon seemed a nice enough sort of place. And she was already going to be the liaison here for an indefinite time. She saw no downsides to becoming a contractor, contingent upon her liaison status.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before opening her eyes again, “I’ve made my decision, I am interested in the position of contractor. What of you and yours?”
Mordecai smiled as Kazue’s illusion started dancing in place, “I think I can confidently report that Kazue is in favor, and Moriko already gave her approval a while ago. But we should go visit Orchid and have her write out the terms, so there is no chance for miscommunication when she brings the written copy to Ekuilance,” He rose and offered his hand to help her up, and she accepted gladly. She was perfectly capable of rolling to her feet while in plate armor, but that did not mean it wasn’t a little bit awkward. Then it was time to collect her gear and get cleaned up while Orchid wrote the contract up. Even if there was no real ceremony, she’d rather be clean and presentable for the moment.