For being the capital city, it sure was dead tonight. There was hardly a person out as the sun disappeared from sight.

Raelle walked with Nelena down the empty city street and shoved his hand into his long coat pocket. “You sure this is the right area?”

“Of course. I know my way around the city.”

I sure hope so.

They wandered into shadows cast out from the two-story buildings nearby. It didn’t matter what street they went down, the place was as dead as dead could get. All the shops were closed and not another soul lingered about. Maybe a curfew had been put out and they didn’t hear about it. Or maybe something else was going on.

He couldn’t figure it out. He just hoped he wasn’t wasting his time by not sticking to his studies.

“We’re close,” she said whilst grabbing onto one of his collared wrists.

They walked into a darker area that had only a single aura-infused street lamp on the corner of the street they neared. Every building down this block was dark and with their shutters closed.

Except for one building. An orange light spilled out of its windows and in the crevices of the closed wooden door leading into it.

They neared the place hearing the roar of a crowd within.

Raelle gently opened the door only to find a sizable crowd blocking the view of whatever lay further in. He carefully moved by person after person within the crowd. As they neared the front, he began to see two people fighting in a makeshift arena of sorts. It wasn’t particularly big. Just big enough for two people to hop down and hit each other’s heads as many times as they wanted.

One of the fighters sent their fist in an upward motion to strike the other fellow’s chin. Their head snapped up and their body fell backward as the one who threw the punch knocked them out.

Ear-shattering hollers rang aloud. One fellow behind was intent on making him permanently deaf if he kept hollering. “So this is what your uncle does every other week?” he said loudly enough that she could hear.

“Uh-huh,” she said loudly into his ear. “The ministry life gets a bit boring for him. Or so he says, so he likes to come here every now and then to get his blood pumping.”

“When’s he going to fight?”

“Pretty soon I think.”

While he waited to see her uncle do some sparring, he watched several other fights go on. One fight ended almost as soon as it began while the one after that lasted for quite a while to the point that both fighters pretty much gave up as their bodies couldn’t fight any longer.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” An announcer stood in the center of the smallish pit getting everyone’s attention. “Our next fighter is one you all know and love. Minister by day, fighter by night. Please welcome, Ciras Pinemaster!”

The gathered crowd appeared quite favorable towards her uncle Ciras. He was a bit of an oddball considering his profession. He was truly a minister by day who also somehow would voluntarily go into fighting pits. He was, if truth be told, a champion of sorts strangely enough.

Ciras stepped into the arena shirtless. He wore some protection over his hands but nothing that would cushion the hits all that much.

“Our next fighter is a newer one that you all have come to know within recent months. Please welcome, Daren Welmont!”

Less hollering went on for Ciras’s opponent but some cheered them on.

It didn’t take long before fists went hurdling towards one another. Ciras blocked every fist thrown at them.

Instead of immediately going for the offense, Ciras backed away utilizing his feet in a precise manner. Daren made a quick punch towards their chest managing to hit him finally. However, as their fist hit Ciras’s chest, Ciras sent his left fist into their face catching them off guard.

Nelena leaned in towards him. “That’s his special move. He always gets the ones who aren’t familiar with him off guard by using his left hand.”

Ciras’s opponent stumbled back only to begin taking punch after punch in a relentless and unceasing manner.

Who would’ve thought her uncle of all people was a good fighter. Sometimes life had a way of surprising him. When she mentioned she knew someone who knew how to fight and be good at it, he was skeptical. But now that he saw it with his own eyes, he believed it.

Daren could only do so much. His back went up against the wall and he became forced to take multiple punches to the face. “Y-you win!” Their sudden proclamation gave Ciras the win before he had the chance to pummel their face even further.

People around them began to exchange money between themselves. “Knew I shouldn’t have bet against him.”

“Told you so,” another man said. “Just cause he’s old doesn’t mean he can’t beat them young fellas.”

Nelena grasped his hand as she stood up. He followed her through the crowd letting her take the charge. They left the main area of the building full of people heading outside. They made their way around towards the back of the place down a wet alleyway.

A man stood outside with a hat obscuring their face while they began to smoke a big pipe jutting out of their mouth. The flame roared as they breathed the pipe smoke in and blew it all around themselves.

“That was another impressive fight,” she said towards him.

They cracked a smile and pulled the pipe out of their mouth. He stroked a bit of the graying stubble around his chin. “Came to watch me fight, eh? Aren’t you supposed to be at the academy or something?”

“We have free time from there you know.”

“Better to make use of that free time by sticking your head in those books than to come watch me fight. Doesn’t do you any good being here.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

She pouted a little. “You just don’t want me to see all the violence, isn’t that right?”

He stuck the pipe back in his mouth and took another mouthful. He blew it out causing the smoke to reach his own nostrils. “Say, who’s this fellow you have with you?”

“Oh, he’s my boyfriend.”

They put out their hand eager to shake his. Raelle accepted it and noticed how strong their grip was. It was strong enough that it even hurt a little. “I’m Raelle,” he said pulling his hand back and feeling his pulse in his fingers.

“Raelle, eh? So, you’re my niece’s boyfriend.” He turned his gaze towards Nelena. “I’m a little surprised actually. I thought you weren’t interested in boys.”

“Since when?”

“I don’t know. I remember you saying they’re gross and you’d never be with one. Guess I was wrong.”

“I don’t remember ever saying that,” she said, “but if I did I was most certainly wrong. Anyways, I wanted to introduce Raelle to you since well,” she looked over to him as she paused. “Maybe you should ask him instead.”

“Ask me about what?” They took their pipe out of their mouth and kept it in their hand.

“I was wondering if you’d teach me how to fight,” Raelle said as straightforward as possible. “Just a little bit, nothing crazy or anything like that.”

The man looked at him skeptically and appeared somewhat annoyed by his niece. “Listen, I don’t mind you coming by and watching me fight. You’re an adult now so it’s not like I can order you not to. But you can’t just come around and expect me to help out everyone you think needs to be shown how to throw a fist.”

“Oh uncle!” She walked closer to him and get him the most obviously manipulative big ol’ sad eyes a woman could ever give. She grasped onto his hand with both of hers. “You’ll help him out, won’t you? You absolutely must! You cannot even begin to understand. There are truly despicable people there at the academy who beat him to a pulp the other day. He’s in desperate need of someone to help him so that if it were to ever happen again, he’ll be able to defend himself.”

He was more than prepared to speak for himself, but she did all the talking for him.

They eyed him while she clung to him. “I guess that explains the bruises on your face. So a bunch of jerks beat you up, eh? I see then.” He took another puff from his pipe and blew more smoke out from that mouth of his. “I didn’t figure snobs at the academy would be treating their peers in such a manner. I guess even the kids of the elite aren’t so different from us lesser folk.”

“They’re not fond of me for some reason.”

“Yes, it appears so.” They dumped the contents from their pipe out onto the wet alley ground and stuffed it away carefully. “I guess since my niece is so desperate to have me help you, I’d be willing to lend you a hand. But it’s not going to be anything extensive. I’ll show you a few tricks and techniques to give you a better chance if you ever get attacked again. But I better not find out you’re fighting for any other reason than for defense.”

He put his hand to his heart. “I promise not to.”

“Very well. Follow me then. We start tonight.”

* * *

“Goodness uncle, what have you done to your place? It’s a complete disaster in here.”

She wasn’t wrong. The inside of his place was quite the sight to behold. He certainly kept up good appearances himself by wearing nice clothes and keeping himself well-groomed. However, his home was another story entirely.

Dust covered every surface. Trash and debris littered the floor even in places he would’ve thought impossible.

How does he live like this? For a man of his age too no less.

“You think I spend much time here?” he said rustling out a bottle of liquor from a cabinet. He poured it into a goblet and began drinking out of it. “I spend almost all my time at the monastery. I’m only ever here once or twice a week at most.”

“Still,” she said. “You could, I don’t know, maybe afford to pick things up every now and then.” She ran a finger across a dusty surface leaving an imprint behind.

“I’ll get to it in a decade or so.” He dumped the contents of the goblet straight into his mouth making sure to get every droplet to go down that throat of his. He enjoyed every bit of that liquor and nearly went for more until Nelena grabbed the bottle from his hand and stuck it back in the cabinet from where he grabbed it.

“I thought we came here so you could help Raelle, not just stand around and drink all night.”

He looked at his hand which no longer had the bottle. He then made a funny face, stumbled around, and went back to the cabinet to grab the bottle again. She pressed her palm to her face as he filled his goblet with more liquor.

“This is my place,” he said and took a swig. “You’re certainly not my mother. I’ll drink as much as I like.” After finishing another goblet full, he slammed it onto one of his tables only for it to topple over onto the floor and join the other cups and random things that gathered down there.

He left the two of them in the congested room. They looked at each for a moment and then went to follow him.

A cool night breeze brushed up against him as he found himself in an outdoor space behind their walled-off residence. Their home wasn’t all that large due to being squished between a bunch of other residences in a congested residential part of the capital city. He was lucky enough to even have a small outdoor space behind their home.

“If you want to fight well, then you’re going to need to get experience. But first, I want to assess where you’re currently at. Stand over there.”

Raelle went to where his fingers pointed towards. He stood directly ahead of the man on the small grassy surface with cobbled stones running around the squarish space.

“Now come at me.”

Raelle went towards them, threw a fist at their face, and saw them disappear. A punch came at him from the side and he tumbled over onto the ground. Thankfully the grass cushioned his fall.

“Again.”

After another pathetic attempt, he heard Nelena’s uncle groan.

“You’re worse off than I imagined. Do you have any actual fighting experience?”

“Does fighting with my sister count?”

“Fighting sisters never counts.” They held up a hand to their chin. “Well then, we’re going to have to mold you into something that can work rather quickly. I won’t be able to train you for all that long. I’m actually going on a pilgrimage in a few days and won’t be back for quite some time.”

“You’re going on a pilgrimage?” Nelena asked from several yards away.

He nodded his head. “I am quite excited to go. The capital has grown so boring and while I love being a minister, I need a break. This pilgrimage will also give me a chance to embolden my connection to the gods. So if you, Raelle, are to get the most out of me, you better come by the next several days so I can try to teach you a few things.”

“I’ll be sure to.”

“Good. You better be prepared to get a lot of bruises. I won’t tolerate whining or crying either.” They cracked their knuckles. “If you’re going to succeed with little overall training, then you’ve got to fight dirty. You have to be willing to get those fingers of yours used to going places you never thought they should go.”

“Such as?”

They took their fingers and hovered them just an inch away from their eyeballs.

Nelena let out a yelp. “Surely not the eyes.”

“If you have to, you jab those fingers of yours wherever necessary. Although truth be told, you probably shouldn’t jab them in any of those elite’s eyes if I were you so I’ll be teaching you more, let’s say, practical fighting methods that won’t end up with you in jail. Or, at least, given a better opportunity to avoid jail.”

Should this guy be the one who I take fighting lessons with?

“Now come at me again. And this time, try a little harder.”

Raelle took a deep breath and prepared to go on the attack once more. Ciras gestured for him to come, daring him to even manage to land a single hit. Guess it’s too late now to change my mind. He pressed forward knowing he wasn’t likely to do much, at least for now.