I was… exhausted and I felt refreshed because of it- sure, my heartbeat is literally pounding down my brain right now but I didn't care since I managed to get exhausted without using a gravity well and it feels pretty fucking refreshing!

I have to give it to Instructor Quoketh for being able to figure out my limits from just knowing that I'm strong enough to fight a Demon Duke, that's one hell of a talent and I'm curious if that applies to everyone? Can she figure out the physical limits of a Demon?

Maybe not since those guys are known to have little to no physical limits but it's still a pretty impressive thing for her to do.

“Now that all of you are done,” Instructor Quoketh's voice rang out as several students started to sit on the grass around me.

Laceresta was among them and she sat right next to me with Fafnir and Zath shortly following, and while the latter was panting and sweating from exhaustion, my Dragon sort of just… sat there, a bored look on her face before it broke apart when she yawned.

“You don't like tired Nir,” I said.

“Because I'm not,” she replied followed by another yawn, “I just woke up,”

“And Instructor Quoketh allowed you to just… sleep?” I asked and got a nod of confirmation in response- wait, how is that fair? All of us had to exercise and she just went to sleep? “Why?”

“I'm a Dragon, our muscle keeps themselves at peak capacity no matter what,” she turned to me and flexed her arm which… didn't change much, it was just as thin as it was before she flexed it, “it didn't show because of my scales but my muscles are there,”

“I believe you,” I smiled at her, it's still super duper unfair though, “you did fight a Demon Duke with me weeks after you got out of the royal stables,”

She looked away, “Mhmm.”

Okay, that's a sensitive spot for my Dragon, right, I forgot that she spent all of her childhood and half of her teenage years there, minefield aside- “I think it's kind of cool and I wish my muscles maintain themselves no matter what like yours do,”

“Then you wouldn't be able to grow strong,” Fafnir said, her eyes still on Instructor Quoketh, who was explaining the physical part of our combat class which will involve us fighting each other, “a Dragon is stuck with the strength they were always meant to have, it doesn't grow, it doesn't weaken, it's just it.”

I… “huh.” I murmured, “you're pretty strong at least,”

“We both know that I'm the exception when it comes to that,”

“I know,” I replied in a small voice, guess she's still thinking about her time in the stables, regardless- Fafnir is the exception when it comes to draconic strength, which means that she would be greater than most if not all Dragons when it comes to overall capability-

“But that's why you make Pacts with humans right?” Laceresta pointed out, “so that you guys can still grow in strength,”

“Mhmm.” Fafnir nodded.

“Did you all get that?” Several students, including myself, nodded at Instructor Quoketh, “then how about we start with a little demonstration first?” She pointed at me and then at Laceresta, “you two, get up and go to this circle,” I met Laceresta's gaze, she nodded and pushed herself up, I followed after her. We both went to the circle that our teacher drew on the ground, “now, remember that this is just a spar so these two aren't seriously fighting and no Techniques are going to be allowed,”

“Fair enough,” Laceresta nodded, “I don't think I can catch Neophyte or even see her when she's going all out,”

“Exactly,” our teacher agreed, “but before they fight, I want to talk about the difference in their fighting styles first,” she pointed at me, “what do you all think Neophyte's fighting style is?”

Several students raised their hands but it was Charcoal that got called, she stood up, “mechanical precision,”

“Good answer, and a close one, but you're wrong,” Instructor Quoketh replied, “anyone else? How about you?”

“Speed?” Lucille answered uncertainly.

“Are you asking me or are you answering?” Instructor Quoketh said while staring Lucille down.

The Heroine gulped, “well… uhm, her fighting style is speed.”

“No,” came the expected denial, “it's a part of it but being close doesn't make you right,”

“Oh…” Lucille sat down.

“Well, good tries, both of you,” Instructor Quoketh nodded at the two of them, “Neophyte's fighting style is reach and relentless attacks,” I tilted my head, is that the way I fight? I didn't know that… “she stays far away using her Pledge, which is her defense, and then ensures an onslaught of slashes against her opponent, which is her offense,”

Instructor Quoketh walked up to me, “some of you may have noticed that Neophyte never feints or cancels her attacks, why is that?”

“Because she forces people to block her attacks anyways, so what's the point of a feint?” Laceresta answered with a shrug, “she doesn't need to cancel her attack when her enemy is gonna go and block themselves,”

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Good point, and also the correct answer, but raise your hand next time,” Instructor Quoketh nodded, “Laceresta is correct, Neophyte's offense is also a great defense because through her speed,-” I saw Lucille nod in the corner of my eye, “- she constantly sends out attacks that force her opponent to go into the defensive, it's a hard fighting style to counter, especially if you are only using a sword but it is possible, which brings me to Laceresta's fighting style,”

Instructor Quoketh went back to staring down her poor students, also, did she imply that my weakness is Laceresta? Not really right?

“What do you think Laceresta's fighting style is?” She asked.

Karsten was picked among those who raised their hands, “like the Beast Kings of the generations past, it would be Ferocity and Sheer Strength,”

“Exactly,” Instructor Quoketh smiled, “and that makes the perfect counter for Neophyte's own fighting style, why? Because her reach would be useless when Laceresta is gonna push herself in Neophyte's personal space no matter what, and in this case, it also makes Neophyte's distance-based fighting style a weakness because if her rapier doesn't swing properly, it wouldn't be effective,”

I nodded at that, makes sense, but it's only in this context right? I mean I'm trapped in a ring with Laceresta so I can't move much.

“Meanwhile, Laceresta can easily choose to allow Neophyte to attack her because of her naturally toughened skin, especially if Techniques are in play but I'm not here to talk about that,” our teacher shook her head, “regardless, it is important to note that because Neophyte is gonna be forced into close quarters combat, she wouldn't be able to do much, allowing Laceresta to beat her.”

“I feel like this is just you insulting me,” I murmured to Instructor Quoketh- which she thankfully didn't hear.

Laceresta chuckled, “well, it only works when we're in a ring,” the Lioness said, “if we're in an open space I'd probably be forced to take hostages if I want you to go near me or something…”

I nodded, “I would have to save them and you'd capitalize on it,”

“Pretty much,” the Lioness shrugged.

“But I can probably rescue them and move them to another spot before you even notice thanks to my speed,” I pointed out.

“Yep.” Laceresta nodded.

“- you're all probably eager to see the fight so I'm not gonna slow it down any further,” Instructor Quoketh turned to me and Laceresta, “you can both start,”

“At least start a countdown first?” I said.

“If you want,” our teacher raised her hand, and when it went down-

I was immediately forced into the defensive- okay, I'm the one who's supposed to have long legs so I can shorten distances! Not- ugh!

Laceresta went for a punch to my face and I moved my head to the side, she then went for a low kick and I backed off to dodge it and our exchange was then followed by punch, after punch that came as we both looked for an opportunity to call our Pledges while at the same time, we focused on either keeping our distance towards each other close (in Laceresta's case,) or were moving away (mine).

Laceresta's fist came for my neck and I jumped back- a mistake that she quickly capitalized on because she was stepping forward and sent out a kick before I regained my footing- I went to grab her leg to push myself out of the way but then quickly weaved to the left once I felt my soles touch the ground before letting out a punch of my own aimed directly at her gut.

An open palm went to intercept my hand and I had to pull it back before Laceresta clamped her fingers down on my fist-

Another punch came for my face- I moved back and when Laceresta stepped forward, I prepared to dodge another punch but what I didn't expect was for her to raise both her hands in the air in preparation to call her Pledge.

I gritted my teeth and anchored my feet on the ground, my form was shabby but I didn't care, I threw my right arm to my left, pointed downward and ready for a swing and just as a greataxe materialized on my opponent's hand, I called my own Pledge and swung at her neck-

CLANG

Both our weapons met and sparks flew outward, I pushed myself back and started slashing and hacking, making sure that she wouldn't get close while at the same time, keeping my positioning and stances firm to make sure that my swings were capable of damage.

And unfortunately for me, Laceresta knew what I was doing and she was moving in ways that either prevented me from letting out full swings or in the worst case, moved to my left side and forced me to move my rapier in a long arc whilst also being forced to take a step back while swinging- which cut the effectiveness of my slashes.

“Now, what did you all learn about their exchange just now?” Instructor Quoketh's voice rang out and fought against the clangs of both our weapons colliding, the edge of my rapier against the shaft of Laceresta's greataxe.

The win condition for Laceresta here is simple, and that's her managing to push me down by forcing me to parry against the head of her Pledge, which would get me disoriented enough that she would be able to move in and finish the fight.

“They were forced to fight with their fists?” Someone said.

“Yes, yes they were Hail,” Instructor Quoketh said dryly, “what else?”

“They were finding opportunities to call their Pledge, which didn't come until later down the fight when Laceresta lost the distance advantage she had with Neophyte so when she realized that Neophyte would just continue putting distance between the two of them, she decided to cut her majesty's plan short and forced them both to call their Pledge instead,” another person lengthily said, the time that took them to say all of that was enough for me to exchange a lot of blows with my opponent; from the Lioness’ kick at my knee to my attempt at striking her hand a while after that.

“Good,” Instructor Quoketh nodded, “and Zyra's right, the two of them were looking for opportunities to properly call their Pledge and Laceresta realized that Neophyte would've gotten the distance she needed sooner or later so she decided to force her to call her Pledge early, where the Lioness would've potentially gotten the advantage, but as things stand, they're at a stalemate since Neophyte is striking the shaft of Laceresta's greataxe to properly parry her attacks,”

But that can change- I silently said as I once again made sure to parry and hit said shaft with the middle of my rapier, if I miss once I lose, if I parry with the blade near the hilt my Pledge would be thrown from my hand or even shatter my fingers, and if I parry with the pointed tip, my parry wouldn't work- the fight was a delicate balance that needed me to be patient and wait for the right timing where I can-

Laceresta grinned and stopped her attacks. I tilted my head, “why'd you stop?”

“Look down.” She said.

“And Neophyte loses,” Instructor Quoketh said as I stared at my feet, letting me see that my right foot was, in fact, outside of the circle.

“... unfair,” I said.

“It's the rules,” Laceresta grinned.

“Now that the spar is finished,” Instructor Quoketh came up to us, “how about you two explain your thoughts on the fight?” She turned to Laceresta, “starting with the winner, so you made her go out of bounds, why?”

“Because she would've won, obviously,” Laceresta crossed her arms, “Neophyte was continuing to get distance and sooner or later, I would've been forced on the defensive while she tries to attack my hands to stop me from swinging right or even carry my Pledge,” the Lioness pursed her lips, “so I decided to look to her footing and when I realized that she always goes back by a foot whenever she parries because there's an opening for me to attack inbetween that, I planned to push her out of bounds,”

I nodded, good point. Looking at my right foot… hm. Guess Laceresta figured it out, and it was my fault for not remembering there's a circle around us to begin with.

“But you also had other win conditions right?” I said, honestly mine were kinda limited since I wasn't as strong as Laceresta is physically and also not as tough as her, my only win condition involved my Pledge and I needed to get the distance necessary to even execute it.

Laceresa nodded, “I did, and it was punching you out before you can call your Pledge,” again, not as strong as her, unfortunate, “then it was to make you parry wrong with my heavier weapon and then capitalize on it,” again, involves strength, “and after that I went on with putting you out of bounds,” that one actually required tactical acumen to do, neat, “if the ring didn't exist and you were able to run circles around me I would've lost,”

“All good points!” Instructor Quoketh grinned, “how about you Neophyte? What are your thoughts on the fight?”

“Well… I don't have anything more to say since Laceresta summarized everything so I just want to point out that everyone can do what Laceresta and I did when we called our Pledge, which is prepare for a swing beforehand, call it, and take your opponent by surprise,” I answered.

“A good tip that everyone should know about,” Instructor Quoketh nodded, “it is worth noting that Laceresta's words just now also summarized why Neophyte lost and that's because she was confined in a small space, if she were free to move around, things would've gone differently, which is why it's important for people with Pledges like hers to make sure they know how to pick their battles, don't go in cramped caves, small caverns, or even fight in houses, if you have a team, leave that sort of job to them and either act as lookout or backup.”

Lucille raised her hand, “what if we're forced? What if someone from a cave is being surrounded by Demons and they need our help?”

Instructor Quoketh smiled, “then you do what's right.”