It was a mild winter day, but the breath still smoked from the heaving lungs of both combatants.

A small circle of onlookers was formed, but locked in the moment the two only had eyes for each other.

Roldy sunk down for a front leg sweep that forced Kalle to step back, then used the lowered position to throw himself into a beastly lunge, with the sharpened mosswolf bone of his suit spearing his trajectory–but he read it ahead of time and sidestepped– Kalle’s strong kick caught Roldy's leg in the air, making the [Druid] land in a clumsily sprawled heap.

Wasting no time, Kalle swiftly jumped on top and even locked down an arm with his weight. Roldy–being used to the position–prepared to set his legs and roll them both over, but as he exploded from the bottom Kalle rode him perfectly and ended up on his back, dagger in hand.

The [Esperlock] went for the arterial stab, but Roldy got one hand out to defend just in time, and used the shifting weight to tumble forward to try and scale Kalle off, but once again Kalle read him like the rider reads the bucking horse and just stayed on, arm still secured to Roldy’s sides by the use of Kalle’s legs.

It was infuriating and the [Druid] was forced to defend stab after stab, he tried removing the weapon but their handfighting was equal and then as Harold missed a swipe Kalle finally snaked his other arm beneath the neck–dropped the dagger to secure his lock with both hands–and had Harold sleeping like the dead in 45 seconds.

Of course the spar was a lot less dangerous than it sounded. Harold had large pinecones attached to his sharpened suit, and the dagger was in fact made in a soft wood.

But a dominant win nevertheless, Kalle’s first in fact with no use of his active abilities. He raised his hand and got some applause, even from Roldy once the [Druid] woke back up feeling chagrined.

There were no hard feelings though, they did this far too often to let a fair fight bother them past the loss.

Sten had been watching, judging, and not minding what he was seeing. It was clear Brunner had also learned from his father or his teacher at some point in time, and that he'd been working these lads hard to get them to this level in a few short months.

That did not prevent such a seasoned fighter from seeing the major gaps however. "A good win, you read him like you were fighting an amateur, without a Skill?"

Kalle was proud, and it showed, but he quickly explained. "Hah, I wish I had the energy left to lie, but no, I've been learning to read Roldy for a while now and my [Esper's Balm] helps a lot with sensing when he's about to try something."

Sten nodded at this. "I could show a few physical cues to watch for, that should complement such ability nicely."

Kalle needed just a few minutes to recover. As they started out it was clear Sten held back and only meant to point a few things out, but Kalle–feeling high on the supply of his latest victory–was eager to learn in real time and made as much clear.

Sten had on the blankest of looks. "A quick spar then."

What followed was Sten stripping down so you could see his physical tells directly, and proceeding to kick the legs out from underneath Kalle and miming another blow on the way down, whenever he entered the range.

Kalle’s footwork was not balanced enough for the heavy leg exploding at him. If he stopped pressuring, Sten stopped kicking, but the only path forward was pain. So Kalle figured the final shot to avoid complete humiliation was making Sten come to him.

"Okay, physical sparring is obviously your arena, but if I add some Spells you'll be the one who needs to approach, yeah?” Sten had to acknowledge the point. “That might make things move slightly more in my favour, so let's try it out."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Sten was recognising the signs of someone needing to prove themselves, even if only to themselves, but he was in a new group dynamic and could only use what he knew to work within the group he was used to; this was the time for a lesson.

Harold signalled to start and Kalle hopped back, immediately whipping bolts out to force Sten to move and making it impossible to approach directly. Once Sten dodged a few and finally managed found a way past, Kalle's focus switched from aiming to moving defensively.

By jumping back repeatedly, always with every touch threatening a pre-loaded [Mind Blast], Kalle was able to stay just out of reach, but he just couldn't get a read on his wily opponent.

For some reason [Esper's Balm] wasn't helping.

This was nothing but a Tuesday for Sten; he wasn't particularly excited or feeling deceptive when he threw out a feint he liked to use, for the 10 000th time. His whole mind was fully focused on finding safe openings and delivering correct techniques with the appropriate force.

He moved in patterns, but as soon as you recognised them your movements shifted accordingly, and he noted this and shifted with you, swiftly forming a new pattern that was as perplexing as the last.

Sten was overwhelming, controlling. Every other second brought a new pain or disruption of your balance.

Kalle tried returning with a kick of his own, then lunged in for a strike; but Sten grabbed him on the way in. From sheer desperation at being caught, Kalle broke the grip and swiftly slid his wand down his forearm to deploy a point-blank [Wailing Bolt]. The ghostly skull was laden with all the hurt of disappointing a parent, of being scorned and left unwanted for being you.

Dirt sprayed from the attempted dodge. In the rush of adrenaline Kalle had fired it off full force, and as it struck Sten; the 17-year old lad went berserk.

He cried out pathetically at first but then locked eyes on Kalle and closed the distance in a flash; then he started swinging twice as fast as earlier.

In seconds Kalle had a broken orbital, an arm bending the wrong way from a brutal kick and then his whole body was thrown through the air, having been launched by an uppercut from hell.

Sten was still ready to follow but Brunner was suddenly there in a flurry, holding the boy tight. Livia arrived half a second later, firing off [Conflict De-escalation] like her life depended on it, and shouting for the spar to stop.

Kalle was laid out, giving off weak moans and Sten stopped struggling as soon as his eyes let go of Kalle's supine form.

Brunner was whispering soothing words and took him by the shoulder to stalk off together.

Roldy was down by his friend, providing healing magic and making tutting noises. "What the hell were you thinking?" Livia and Oscar were wondering the same.

"Yeah, I probably should not have done that, this arm is gonna need a week." He was building a reputation for being injury-prone.

Livia decided to try for a positive spin. "Hey, at least we're getting to know Sten!"

When Brunner and Sten came back, after having explained how Kalle's [Wailing Bolt] worked a little closer, Sten made it clear he would prefer that Kalle used even his burning version over that one, when they sparred in the future; but then he did apologise for overreacting… But also couldn't help himself from one last dig.

"I should have been better prepared for the dangers of sparring with amateurs." The grim set to his lips remained, but as usual when Sten was just teasing, his eyes were smiling.

And even with being pretty badly hurt, Kalle had to smirk back.