The first boy stepped forward. He had brown hair that was trimmed short and was well muscled and toned. He was average in height, making him shorter than Quin. He had sharp hawk-like features and a nose to match. Atop his beak-like nose was a set of glasses that sat low on his nose, showing that they were only used for reading. He had eyes that were the same color as his hair, but were flecked with gold as if he had used gold dust as eye drops. He reached out his hand for a handshake. His tunic had the design of a scale held in balance with radiant swords crossed behind them. This was the symbol of Justicar, the God of Justice, Fairness, and Moral Equity.
“I, unlike Lauren, would love a handshake. My name is Samuel Winston, I tend to go by Sam so feel free to call me that,” Sam introduced himself while teasing Lauren.
Lauren sputtered and attempted to explain herself again before realizing it was a joke when everyone began to laugh, Quin included. She blushed deeply and drew her clipboard to her chest. Quin felt that protective instinct rise again as he saw such a cute action.
“A pleasure to meet you Sam,” Quin greeted while shaking Sam’s hand.
Sam had a firm grip, but did not attempt to squeeze Quin’s hand so Quin did not do his usual of crushing the other’s hand. Quin felt it might have been taken as hostile or rude if he did so. The two separated and the next man stepped forward.
This man stood with perfect posture, his back straight as a rod. He strode with purpose as if knew exactly where and what he was doing at all times. He acted like a knight from a fairy tale and looked like one too. The boy had deep blue eyes that were more of an ocean blue than Quin’s electric blue. In contrast to the blue eyes was his fiery red hair. It was not a ginger, but a blood red that came down to his shoulders. The red hair and blue eyes did not seem to match and gave him a unique aesthetic. He was chiseled and laden with muscle, even more so than Quin, from what Quin could tell from his tight fitting tunic. The tunic carried a picture of a roaring lion, which was the symbol of the temple that Quin stood in. Therefore the man must have been a follower of Valor, the God of Courage and Righteous Strength.
“I am incredibly pleased to see another warrior join us. I am Zacharia Dencath, call me Zach,” Zach proclaimed.
Zach stuck his hand out to Quin who took it. Zach then immediately began to try to crush Quin’s hand in his. Quin realized that his and Lief’s quirk with handshakes was not so unique, and therefore returned the favor. Neither boy came out with the upper hand and held each other’s hands blatantly trying to crush each other for several seconds before breaking apart. Both boys laughed in pleasure at finding someone as strong as them while simultaneously shaking their hand back and forth, trying to shake the pain from the other’s grip off. Quin saw the other boys roll their eyes, clearly having undergone the same thing when meeting Zach and found it not all too amusing.
The third boy stepped forward after rolling his eyes. The boy was the shortest of the bunch and did not even come up to Quin’s shoulder. The boy had short, but messy curly light brown hair. Beneath the curls was a pair of thick glasses and a set of piercing green eyes like a cat. He was straight backed as if standing ramrod straight would add a several centimeters to his height and make up for the small inadequacy. His tunic was perfectly clean without a speck of dust. It was crisp without a wrinkle. Quin could immediately tell the young man took great care and pride in his tunic bearing the symbol of his God. The tunic carried a design that was a checkered pattern that alternated between white and black. It was the symbol of Strategos, the God of Tactics.
“Hello Quin, my name is Callivan Dutcher. Please refer to me as Cal if you wish to shorten my name. Now, I won’t have you crushing my hand like a brute. We are all civilized here and can greet each other without the need to try to measure the size of our members through grip strength,” Cal said while sounding like a school teacher.
Quin could not resist after Cal made the comment about measuring the size of their privates through strength. It would simply be too funny not to crush Cal’s hand, so Quin did exactly that.
“Ow! Dammit I said we didn’t need to do this!” Cal yelped while retracting his hand from Quin’s grip the second Quin applied pressure. This caused everyone to roar with laughter, except for Lauren. Lauren had lifted her clipboard to hide her mouth, but based on the shaking in her shoulders and the crinkle around her eyes she was also laughing.
“Ugh, barbarians, all of you,” Cal said with mock disgust. He had his arms crossed and was rolling his eyes at the other boys and Lauren.
“Sorry, I had too. The opportunity was simply too perfect,” Quin excused himself while laughing.
The final member of the group stepped forward to greet Quin. He was definitely the most unique looking in the group. He was on the shorter side and far skinnier than any other member of the group besides Lauren. What set him apart however was his eyes and hair. His hair was white with streaks of green. It was incredibly strange and unnatural looking, but at the same time seemed to match his aesthetic. Additionally, he had eyes that were an emerald green to match his hair. As Quin studied the man, his eyes changed from emerald green to an electric blue to match Quin’s own. At the same time, his hair changed from green to the same blue.
“Woah, that's amazing. How are you doing that?” Quin voiced while going to shake the boy’s hand. The boy reached out and shook his hand enthusiastically, maybe with a bit too much energy as Quin found his arm being pumped up and down at a rapid pace.
“It’s a part of following my God, Luxor. My name is Westin Taylor, a pleasure to meet you,” Westin said with great enthusiasm. Luxor was the God of Creativity and Imagination and Quin noted that Westin did indeed wear the symbol of Luxor upon his robes. It was a painter’s palette. Quin could not fathom what types of powers Luxor would grant someone.
“That’s incredible, is it related to your powers? Or is it because you are a Chosen One and being touched by your God allows you to alter your appearance?” Quin asked out of curiosity.
“Oh no no, it's definitely related to my following of Luxor although I won’t go into the details about it. Essentially those who follow Luxor have a bit of control over their appearance. As for being a Chosen One, definitely not. Being one of those is incredibly rare. There isn’t even one in Cremoor,” Westin said while waving his hands back and forth animatedly.
“Now that's where you might be wrong, Westin. I heard a rumor this morning that someone entered the Temple of Solarius yesterday and was found to be a Chosen One and made quite the fuss when his hair began glowing while praying. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, Quin?” Cal said in a teasing and accusatory tone. It appeared to Quin that Cal had already reached the conclusion about who Quin was.
“Yeahhhhh, all of a sudden someone who's supposedly super talented joins our group when we have never heard of them. Especially someone with such shiny and sparkly blonde hair. It all seems very suspicious,” Sam said, joining in with Cal.
Quin looked around at the group that was studying him with growing intensity. He supposed that his cover story of being a Chosen One would be common knowledge eventually. He and Lief Stoneheart weren’t trying to hide their cover story for his real identity. Hiding the cover story would be incredibly redundant.
“Yes, I arrived in the city yesterday. I am a Chosen One, blessed by Solarius, The Light of the World. Although I do not see why this is an event of notice,” Quin stated.
“Chosen Ones are very rare and powerful. Of course everyone will take note of a new one emerging within the Light Pantheon, let alone the emergence of the only one in Cremoor,” Sam explained.
“Anyway, now that we have established Quin here is wonderboy. The Chosen One to hog the attention of everyone in the city. Shall we get class started? Our instructor should be at any moment now and if we aren’t warming up, he's going to have our hides,” Zacharia Dencath proposed.
“I agree, but I must interject for a moment. I need your last name Quin. It's for registration and so I can easily find you in the Temple of Solarius. I suppose I could go there and ask for Quin the Chosen One, but that seems a little pompous,” Lauren voiced.
Quin paused for a moment. He never had a last name considering his mother was dead and his father was Solarius. Common practice was to take his father’s last name, but that was not possible since Gods did not possess surnames. Quin could take his mother’s last name, but he did not know it, nor did Lief Stoneheart when Quin asked many years ago. Quin decided to use the common family naming scheme that Lief had explained to him.
“My mother died during childbirth and never told me her family name. I have never met my Father. Therefore you can refer to my last name as a combination of my mother’s and my God’s. Please refer to me as Quin Solloma. Sol for my God and Loma for my mother,” Quin stated while lying about never having met his father.
“So be it. Quin Solloma it is,” Lauren said while making notes on her clipboard.
As soon as Lauren finished, a man strode into the training ground. Standing tall at one and four fifths meters, he has a muscular build honed by years of rigorous training and battle. His piercing blue eyes reflect a fierce determination, while his weathered face bears the scars of countless battles fought in the name of honor and courage. He had golden blonde hair tied back, with a few strands falling loose, framing his stern expression. Clad in gleaming silver armor adorned with intricate engravings of his God’s symbols, he carried a longsword with a hilt shaped like a lion’s head, symbolizing the strength and bravery of Valor.
“Why aren’t you drilling already?” The man boomed. All of Quin’s new acquaintances snapped to attention.
“We welcome Thalion Brightblade, Last Defender of Axion Keep, as our instructor. Please guide us down the path of Valor,” the boys shouted in unison.
“I asked a question, dammit!” Thalion Brightblade yelled. Then he immediately cut off as he noticed Quin standing there awkwardly.
“Lauren, report. Who is this young man and why haven’t these lazy so-called talented recruits begun their warm up yet?” Thalion said sternly like a commander.
“Of course Sir, this is Quin Solloma. He is the newest addition to Training Cohort Eighteen. He is a Chosen One of Solarius that arrived in Cremoor yesterday. Everyone was introducing themselves to Quin,” Lauren said with perfect calmness.
“Hmmm, fair enough. I suppose I can excuse basic introductions on this fine occasion. Quin was it?” Thalion Brightblade asked.
“Yes Sir!” Quin said with volume and then went to attention to follow the others.
“To think we would have the honor of a Chosen One in our midsts. You must be quite the strong young man if you were directly assigned to Cohort Eighteen. This calls for a special occasion. No training today! We will have all of you spare against Quin one at a time,” Thalion proclaimed.
Quin was about to voice his objection to fighting his new acquaintances when he glanced at the other boys. What he saw in their expressions was a mix between eagerness and battlelust. Quin had a distinct feeling that he was going to be in for some bumps and bruises by the end of day. At the same time, his blood began to boil and he felt excitement. If these were the best Acolytes in Cremoor, Quin just knew he had to test himself against them. Quin smiled.
“Who's first?” Quin asked.
“Haha, that is the spirit! Who wants the first crack at our resident Chosen One?” Thalion asked with a booming laugh.
Every man stepped forward with a large grin plastered on their faces. Each jostling to get the first round with Quin. The chance to fight a Chosen One would be incredibly rare and each of them wanted to know what made Quin so special that a God would acknowledge them and expand their Divine Conduit and grant them powers beyond that of normal followers.
“Zacharia, you will have the first round,” Thalion declared. Everyone, but Zach groaned and began to halfheartedly protest Thalion’s biases. “Enough of that, of course I would choose a follower of Valor first. Your temples would have done the same.”
The others begrudgingly acknowledged that fact. They may have all been a part of the Light Pantheon, but that didn’t mean they would not look out for those who followed their God or Goddess first and foremost.
Zach and Quin stepped away from the group as they moved to the side of the training ground. Quin relaxed his body and removed the broadsword from his back. He held it in one hand despite its great weight. Quin had been taught by Lief Stoneheart on how to fight using the broadsword in a single hand or in a two handed grip. Quin wagered he would need to use that as a surprise to catch at least one opponent off guard and win the duel.
Zach on the other hand went to the far side of the training field and fetched a sword and a shield from the weapons rack. The sword was a standard shortsword and the shield was a round buckler probably made from wood and leather covered in steel strips. Quin deduced the shield would not do much good against a full strength swing from his sword. Zach also may not be able to block with his sword due to its inferior length. Quin brandished his sword with the clear objective of going on the offensive with his weapon’s advantage.
Zach strode to the center of the field and stood several paces from Quin in an aggressive stance. He cocked his head clearly listening for Thalion to signal the start of the duel, which Thalion did abruptly with no warning.
“Start,” Thalion said flatly and with no fanfare.
This surprised Quin for the briefest of moments before he regained his bearings. Zach was already sprinting forward and capitalizing on the opportunity. Quin did not hesitate as he channeled Luminary Empowerment to strengthen his physical body using the sunlight streaming down from overhead. His hair glowed and shined in the light and his skin grew several shades lighter. Quin lashed out in a slash using a single hand across his body to intercept Zach who was moving with great speed.
Zach suddenly glowed a soft red and his speed exponentially increased and he shot forward with a single step. It took him inside of Quin’s guard where Zach was able to bash Quin’s chest with his buckler. This did not cause Quin any pain due to Luminary Empowerment, but still caused him to stagger backwards. Zach followed up his strike with an overhead strike from his sword. Quin maneuvered his sword over his head to block the strike with both hands to support the broadsword. Just before impact, Zach’s sword glowed in the same red as his body did when he charged.
The two swords collided and Quin was forced down to one knee from the impact. Quin immediately knew that Zach had used some sort of offensive power, probably an ability. The charge was most likely an ability as well. Quin took note of the two abilities and what they appeared to do while fighting his way back to his feet against Zach’s downward pressure. With a surge of strength against the clashing swords, Quin pushed Zach off and away from him.
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Quin then forgoed using only a single hand with his sword and struck out wielding his sword with both hands, causing massive woosh of displaced air. The strike had every bit of Quin’s power behind it. Zach once again activated an ability as the shield glowed red and he took the strike on his shield head on. This was a miscalculation on Zach’s part as he was sent sprawling from taking the full force of the blow. Quin pursued and raised his sword to come down in a two handed overhand cut on the downed man.
“Stop!” Thalion shouted. Quin immediately halted his strike before it could descend and stepped back.
“Dammit,” Zach immediately cursed from the ground. He stood up not bothering to brush the dust and dirt from his tunic. “A good duel Quin, thank you. You are far stronger than I anticipated.”
“And it's that anticipation and underestimating your enemy that will get you killed. That was a poor showing from you, Zach. You held back against a known threat with unknown powers and capabilities,” Thalion began to lecture Zach. Zach lowered his head in shame as Thalion had directly hit the nail on the head.
“You used three of your powers and only landed a single strike against Quin who I believe only used a single power to enhance his physique. Before the battle you did not invoke your Oath to Valor that would have enhanced you to the same footing as Quin. Had you done that, you would not have needed to use any abilities besides your Oath to Valor to fight on par with him,” Thalion continued to lecture. “Hopefully next time you learn your lesson for holding back.”
“Yes Sir! I will not let you down,” Zach said while snapping to attention while simultaneously snapping out of his funk.
“Good to hear. Now for you Quin, you conducted yourself well for your first duel. However, you had some sloppy swordsmanship that allowed Zach to penetrate your guard. You tried to be fancy and wield your broadsword in a single hand and it backfired. You would have been in significant trouble and injured if Zach had not used a shield bash and had used his sword. You will need a lot more practice in spars. Thankfully you will get plenty more, Callivan get up here and give Quin a run for his money,” Thalion pontificated before calling up Cal.
Cal walked up, although he was a bit hesitant after witnessing Quin best Zach while only using a single power. He claimed a single short sword and a bow with arrows from the weapon rack. He wielded the sword with a familiarity, but could not hold a feather to the skill that Zach or Quin wielded their weapons. This lack of familiarity led Quin into believing that this was not Cal’s primary weapon, therefore his primary weapon must be the bow or he was a spellcaster. Quin had his money on Cal being a spellcaster with support from the bow.
With the Frostwood Nymph being Quin’s only experience with spellcasters, it would be correct to say Quin was a novice when it came to facing spellcasters. That lack of experience raised Quin’s caution towards Cal. However it also made Quin more excited for the fight.
“Start!” Thalion shouted once Cal had sheathed his sword and drawn the bow.
This time Quin was ready for the abrupt start and he took the offensive. He charged forward, but was momentarily startled when the ground flashed a dark green. It started with Cal at the center and spread out in a checkered pattern with each square meter around Cal lighting up green briefly before fading. Quin slowed momentarily, thinking there was a trap.
That hesitation allowed Cal to seize the initiative and make his next move. Dark green barriers shimmered into existence throughout the training grounds, blocking Quin’s advance. Quin, knowing that simply waiting for Cal to unleash more spells would be tantamount to suicide, went back on the offensive. Quin needed to count on his enhanced physique from Luminary Empowerment to save him from any traps that Cal had set or from his arrows.
Quin struck out with his broadsword against the first barrier. His sword slammed into the barrier and it buckled, but held against his blow. He attacked again and the barrier shattered. The second the barrier shattered like many pieces of glass, an arrow whizzed through and nearly took off Quin’s ear. Only Quin’s enhanced reflexes allowed him to dodge the projectile.
Quin recovered his balance and then charged forward to the next set of barriers. He noted that there were another three sets of barriers between him and Cal. He would need to close that distance if he were to win this spar.
Another arrow arched towards Quin and he dodged easily this time since he was not distracted from a barrier shattering. He noted that Cal’s arrows seem to pass through his barrier unimpeded. That was not good news for Quin’s chances of prevailing. However something seemed off about the arrow and the barriers when Quin watched them. It looked like the barriers flickered, but Quin could not say for sure. Perhaps he had just blinked.
Quin used the opportunity of Cal notching another arrow to smash the next set of barriers in his path. Two more sets of barriers remained. Another arrow came racing towards Quin when he stepped over the remains of the barrier. This time, Quin confirmed that he was not seeing things as he witnessed the barrier flicker out of existence as the arrow passed through it before solidifying once more.
This was a weakness with the barrier Quin realized. The barriers would drop for a split second to allow for Cal’s arrows to pass through unimpeded. The barriers were not one way or specifically allowed Cal’s arrows to pass. Quin knew he could capitalize on this and came up with a plan.
Quin ran forward, dodging each arrow as they came. However with each step, the arrows became harder to dodge as the distance between the boys lessened. Quin reached the next set of barriers and did not waste a moment with unleashing a massive swing with his sword. The might was enough to shatter the barrier in a single blow.
Quin looked up and met Cal’s eyes as he unleashed another arrow aimed directly for Quin’s chest. Quin angled his sword and used it to deflect the arrow before it struck him. Then Quin began to gather sunlight and charge his Solar Flare at the end of his broadsword. Cal, not knowing what the gathering light was, opted to try to down Quin while he was distracted with channeling his spell.
Cal let loose with another arrow, Quin then unleashed his Solar Flare a moment later. Quin timed the Solar Flare with the arrow, not so they would collide, but so they would pass through the space occupied by the dark green barrier at the same moment. The barrier dropped to allow for Cal’s arrow through and at the same time allowed Quin’s Solar Flare to streak by unimpeded.
Quin smiled in triumph as he brought his sword to block Cal’s arrow. Cal on the other hand was unprepared for a ranged attack and was taken by surprise. Cal did not expect Quin to have a ranged attack and to find the weakness in his barriers. However, Cal was not one to be defeated so easily.
Cal put out his hand as if to catch the bolt of light streaking towards him. Cal’s hand was covered in a dark green energy and he caught the Solar Flare in his hand as easily as he was catching a ball. With a flick of Cal’s wrist, he sent the Solar Flare streaking back towards Quin who was completely flabbergasted at his attack being caught. The redirected Solar Flare flew forth and struck Quin directly in the chest. It sent him staggering from the impact.
What saved Quin was his Luminary Empowerment absorbing the vast majority of the blow. Since Luminary Empowerment was powered by Quin’s spirit and sunlight and that was exactly what made up the Solar Flare, Quin’s body absorbed the energy of the attack besides the impact of the spell. Quin was unharmed for the most part. At least until an arrow took him in the shoulder while he was still reeling from Solar Flare being turned against him.
The pain of the arrow jolted Quin back to his senses as he hissed in pain. The arrow had penetrated him in a particularly fleshy part of his shoulder. It was painful, but he could continue to fight at a reduced capacity. Quin took up a defensive stance and began to advance despite his injury.
Cal shot forth several more arrows with Quin either dodging or blocking the onslaught before Quin reached the next barrier. Quin then used three blows to fell the barrier. Nothing stood between Quin and Cal now that the last of Cal’s defenses had collapsed.
Quin rushed forward toward Cal. Cal hastily dropped the bow and drew his sword. Quin knew he was the superior swordsman and Cal would not last in a direct confrontation. However Quin was once again surprised. Quin closed the distance and launched his sword in a large arc before himself, utilizing his advantage in reach. Cal had his eyes flash green before Quin had even begun his swing and then moved as if he knew exactly what Quin was planning to do. He ducked under the sword and raced forward toward Quin.
Quin went to block the young man with another strike from his sword, but the ground once again flashed a dark green. In front of Quin, a small lance of dark green energy materialized and shot forth to pierce Quin’s uninjured shoulder. It struck home and blood spurted forth. Quin felt his arms weaken further and he dropped his sword. Cal had sprung his trap and Quin had lost his only weapon and was injured in both shoulders.
Quin gritted his teeth and refused to admit defeat despite being disarmed and Cal racing toward him, sword posed to strike. Quin lashed out with his leg with impeccable speed directly into Cal’s onrushing form. Cal took the blow directly in the center of his chest and flew backward a meter, landing on his back. Cal lost his grip on his sword and it went clattering to the ground away from his hand. Quin followed up the blow with a less than graceful tackle, landing on top of Cal. There he used his body weight to pin the man beneath him. The duo began to wrestle on the ground, stirring up dust and dirt.
“Stop!” Thalion called to end the clumsy wrestling that would surely be the end of his career as a combat instructor if others witnessed it.
Quin let out a sigh of relief and released the headlock he had Cal in. The headlock was most certainly causing Quin far more pain to him than to Cal. Cal’s only injuries were a few bruises from taking a tumble while Quin had two wounds in his shoulders that were aggravated from the wrestling. Cal rolled off of Quin and stood, panting. Then he reached down and offered Quin a hand which he accepted in order to get to his feet. That was a mistake as Quin winced as the help caused him to jerk his shoulder.
“Lauren, patch the boy up. I need him in tip top shape in a few minutes,” Thalion commanded.
Lauren complied immediately and made her way over to Quin. She began to chant spells with her hands outstretched to Quin. Her hands were close to Quin, but did not touch him. The proximity made Quin blush briefly before he hid it by reaching up and pulling out what remained of the arrow from his shoulder. The arrow had broken off during his tumble in the dirt.
When Lauren finished the spell, Quin saw spirit pour from her hands and onto him. The color of her spirit was incredibly difficult to see as it was primarily clear. It was like watching a creek of rushing cold water, there was no color but it was as if you could see its movement. It was fascinating to Quin who stared at it rushing from her hands. Quin barely noticed his wounds slowly closing and his pain easing as he gazed upon the spirit that Lauren emitted.
Quin was broken from his thoughts when Sam coughed loudly into his fist. Quin turned to the noise a bit startled and saw all the boys grinning at him or looking away awkwardly. Quin then looked back to Lauren who was red as a tomato. Quin then realized how strange it must have looked for him to be staring at her hands so intently. Quin went bright red and began to stutter.
“No, no. No need to explain, Quin. It is perfectly reasonable to admire a lady for her assets. Usually those assets aren’t her hands, but who am I to judge?” Westin snickered. Lauren let out a small meep and withdrew her hands, canceling the spell that had finished healing Quin.
“Westin! I was not! I barely know Lauren!” Quin defended himself while battling with embarrassment. “I was admiring the color of her spirit.”
“Of course, like every man does when presented with a beautiful and young follower of Purity,” Sam followed up while nodding sagely.
Quin facepalmed while Lauren backpedaled awkwardly. Zach looked completely scandalized like he truly believed the words coming out of Sam and Westin’s mouths. Cal was mostly stoic, but said nothing in the defense of Quin. Quin thought he saw a small smile at the corner of his mouth, but was unsure.
“Alright, alright. Enough with the teasing and playful banter. Samuel, grab your weapons. If you think this situation is so funny you can fight Quin next. Zach, pick your jaw up from the floor, it was a joke. Lauren, don’t let the boys get to you with their tomfoolery,” Thalion broke up the situation while rolling his eyes.
Thalion did not need the Temple of Purity coming after him because one of their followers learned something dirty under his watch. The last time they came after him was because one of their followers had walked into a private training room to fetch him for a class and found him changing tunics. Apparently the girl had been scandalized by the sight of his nude form and ran to her superior to obtain a cleansing and a confession. As revenge, the Temple of Purity spread rumors about his wife not being chaste before marriage far and wide. It was true, but various tea house gossip rooms did not need to know that. His wife was mad at him for weeks over that situation.
As Samuel Wiston went to the training rack and retrieved a heavy looking mace, Quin rolled his shoulders. He found them as good as new. Lauren had done some impressive work on him. Without her help, Quin would have been recovering from his injuries for at least a few days. Then Quin internally checked his spirit reserves. He was still sitting at three quarters his maximum capacity. The two fights had been intense, but he had only used a single Solar Flare and had been maintaining Luminary Empowerment. Luminary Empowerment had a relatively small upkeep as long as Quin did not cancel the ability and kept it active.
The two boys took stances across from each other. Their eyes met and they heard Thalion call out the start to the battle. Quin decided that since his Solar Flare spell had been exposed in the previous fight there was no element of surprise to it anymore. Therefore he immediately charged one and shot it off from his left hand while holding his broadsword in his right. Sam simply sidestepped the spell. He had seen it form and knew its capabilities so he was able to avoid its straight forward trajectory with ease.
Sam began to walk his way forward, not bothering to run. This confused Quin before he saw a light brown flare of spirit shoot up Sam’s body and into his eyes. The spirit was the color of parchment. The spirit concentrated in Sam’s eyes and Quin felt the effects of whatever Sam had done. Quin felt incredibly strange and began to stumble about. Quin contemplated quitting the bout because continuing simply felt wrong. Attacking a follower of Justicar was wrong. Followers of Justicar were moral and excellent people. Even fighting one should have been some sort of sacrilege against the Light Pantheon.
As these thoughts poured through Quin’s head, Sam continued to approach with his gaze locked onto Quin. Quin was at war within himself about quitting the spar. It made so much sense to quit, but he simply did not want to. He could not wrap his mind around why he could justify dueling with Westin and Zach, but not Sam. They all belonged to the Light Pantheon, why would fighting with Sam in a friendly spar be so different and wrong? Quin knew he had to get stronger if he was to accomplish his goal of finding his brother. Sparing was the best way to obtain that strength. Therefore, it did not matter if it felt wrong. Killing that Frostwood Nymph felt wrong, but it was the path to power and he could not shy away from such things.
The thoughts brought Quin back to his senses just in time to see Samuel’s mace streaking toward his side. Quin brought his sword up in a block and barely managed to catch the mace on his sword. The impact of the mace combined with the hasty block caused Quin’s sword to fly from his hands and into the dirt of the training ground. Quin backpedaled away from Sam who drew back his mace and attempted to strike again. Sam missed as Quin managed to put enough ground between them. Quin attempted to flee and retrieve his sword that lay a few meters away.
“I believe in the protection of innocents and I will stand in the way of those who will do them harm,” Sam proclaimed while holding his mace aloft toward the heavens. Quin turned at the sound of Sam’s words and was momentarily puzzled by the proclamation before witnessing spirit surge through Sam’s. The parchment brown spirit climbed Sam’s arm and into his mace before spreading out in a dome that encompassed several meters around Sam. Quin was within that radius and felt the effects of the dome. His movement slowed significantly and his limbs felt sluggish.
Quin knew that whatever this spell was, it was incredibly effective and had just given the edge when it came to speed to Sam. Quin continued to try to run to his sword, but it was like swimming in molasses. Sam easily caught up and swung at Quin, his mace lighting up with brown spirit before wafting off of it in large whisps. Quin had the distinct feeling that Sam was using another power different from the dome to empower his mace. Quin threw himself sideways and used gravity to dodge the incoming attack.
Falling to the ground saved Quin from the first attack, but it did not prevent an immediate second attack. Quin knew he could not dodge as he cast Radiant Shield and covered himself with a thin layer of armor formed of pure light. Sam’s mace crashed into the Radiant Shield and it shattered with a bang. The spell took most of the blow and its shattering caused the two boys to be blown back a meter or two. This distance that Quin was blown back put him within arm’s reach of his broadsword that he immediately snatched up as Radiant Shield repaired itself.
Quin stood and brandished his sword in front of him, ready for the next onslaught from Sam. Sam smiled and pointed his mace at Quin.
“I invoke Justicar’s Law of Swift Action,” Sam said with no emotion.
Quin raised an eyebrow in confusion, then gasped as he witnessed the most amount of spirit in an Acolyte he had seen gather within Sam’s body and infuse every single inch of him. Sam took a deep breath and seemed to revel in the power that was seeping through every limb. He slowly brought back his mace and then disappeared from Quin’s sight. A split second later he reappeared in front of Quin with his mace already descending to bludgeon Quin into the ground. Quin, completely taken off guard by the massive increase in speed displayed and still slowed by the dome-like spell, could not raise his sword to guard himself. All Quin could do was send more spirit into his Radiant Shield spell and pray it would protect him.
Quin’s spirit reserves in his Divine Conduit dropped drastically as he fed it to his Radiant Shield. He flinched slightly as the mace impacted the shield protecting his body. The shield held for a fraction of a second, half a second, a full second. Sam showed emotion for the first time this fight and roared and his muscles flexed as he attempted to drive the mace through the shield. During this time, Quin continued to pour his spirit into the shield while attempting to bring his sword forth in a retaliatory strike.