The explosion left her frozen, in shock. Just after graving her canister a deafening explosion had moved the entire building, maybe the entire base. It had been bad timing; nothing had happened to her, nothing in this room at least; but the sounds from outside told her she had to go.

The guards were on the move probably to the location of the explosion and to protect the valuables.

Seeing there was no other way out she approached the door she had bended. Leaving the canister on the floor and taking the knife out she prepared for combat. Less than ten seconds passed before she heard footsteps; two by the rhythmic sounds, they approached the door and with a small comment on the condition of the lower section they sprang the mechanism swinging the door open.

Without hesitation Astrid engaged the two men. She stayed low, jumping towards the first man as soon as she saw movement.

Both men were surprised by the appearance of the girl, the one on the front rose his sword in preparation to attack but she was faster. Getting the first one on his inner thigh she left the knife and rose to grab his arm. The pain softened his grip easing the moment Astrid performed to disarm him.

It was smooth, she took his sword hand using her right and bent his elbow in one swift strike with her left. He let go of the blade as Astrid let go of him, she got the sword and using the pummel she knocked out the first guard.

The second man hesitated; he made half a step before staying still. Astrid took a deep breath and lunged.

The guard managed to block two blows; one vertical swing and one horizontal before they took him out. He was out of balance after the second attack, with a faint to his left she transitions and used a technique of the water sword style to knock him over and finished with a heavy strike to the jaw using the pummel.

She felt a sudden flush of pride, almost ecstasy as she watched the two unconscious guards. She knew this was a test so she had not used lethal force but her combat was flawless. She felt powerful.

After some seconds admiring her growth in the last year Astrid went back for the cylinder and placed it in an inside pocket. It felt cumbersome so she wanted to avoid fighting as much as possible.

Outside the noise was getting stronger, there was combat by the main gate. She needed to move fast avoiding as many guards as possible; however, there was a problem.

If Astrid went out this door, she would be right in sight of one of the towers, an easy target for a musket. She had two options, going through the window she had entered; this would place her in the central courtyard looking directly at the entrance. Or risk the watch tower.

No one was coming, at least not for now; she turned around towards the guards. The uniforms they wore were almost exactly what she had on her, the only difference being a helmet covering their face from the elements.

Without losing a second, she approached the closest guard and took his helmet off. The face of a young man greeted her, no older than sixteen, barely of age.

She felt a tinge of regret on how she had attacked a boy but this was a life-or-death situation, she had to continue. She undid the pony tail and put on the helmet.

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It was a size or two too large for her; felt awkward but she just needed it for a minute as she made her escape.

With a sword on her right hand, she took off, turning right as soon as she went out the door. The guard on the tower should have seen her but with the disguise and heading towards the entrance there should not be any cause for alarm.

Astrid wanted to get to the place she entered to avoid the fighting, not caring about being seen this time she sprinted. At the end of the path; directly ahead was the spot in the outer wall where she entered.

She was five Lua away from the wall when the body of a guard passed flying in front of her and crashed against the wall to her left.

“There are still more of you,” Said a deep voice. “Good”

A giant of a man, more than one and a half Lua tall came walking from behind the building. He was more muscular than Cadem with dark hair to his shoulder and an even longer beard. He looked more like a bear than a man.

The small part of his head that was nor covered in hair was covered blood, probably from the guards; most of his shirt a dark scarlet.

“I am sorry, there is no way to run” He told Astrid after she looked sideways for a way to avoid him.

He was closer to the alley that formed between the buildings, blocking her way towards the entrance. For some reason he had gone right after entering the complex instead of crossing the central area. She could try to go over the wall but this could mean the guy in the tower could shoot her as a deserter. There was no other way, she had to get past him and go over the wall with the cover of the building.

Placing the sword close to her hip pointing at him she stood ready.

“That is the spirit boy” He said placing himself in all fours, a beast preparing to pounce. “The others lost faith after I killed the first one. I am glad not all of you are cowards”.

Astrid was sweating cold, she was scared. The body against the wall was in pieces, one hit and she would die.

The man came to her, running low with his arms extended in a movement meant to grab her in a crushing embrace. He was fast, faster than a man that big had any right to be. The distance between them was reduced in an instant and just before he closed his grasp she attacked.

Astrid ducked, using all her strength she leapt towards him, low and to his left, she turned mid-air while her blade rose towards his neck. He was used to his enemies paralyzing in fear, he never expected her to leap in his direction.

His reaction, however, was much faster than she anticipated. He had managed to lower his head in such a way that her blade had made contact to his scalp instead of neck. The wound shallow when it should had been much deeper, even fatal.

She turned once more but before she could start her sprint, she felt a hard tug and her helmet flew back making her stumble. Losing the inertia, she made a fast turn towards her opponent in a defensive stance.

He rose from his crouch to stand upright.

“Oh, hello little lady” He spoke clear Brimish but his deep accent made it sound foreign to her. “You are a brave one, stronger than any other opponent here; if it wasn’t for my Oule I would be in trouble.” He threw the helmet to her feet and placed himself in a pose she recognised.

It was an unarmed attack form from the dragon style. It was used to amplify the strength of a single attack but left the person vulnerable. She could win this.

“You have eared my respect” He said with a tone much more serious. “I will not hold back”

Astrid gave him a nervous smile to hide her fear but before he started to move something unexpected happened.

It was like her vision had doubled. For a fraction of a second, she saw the man moving and standing at the same time. The first one looked blurry and translucent. Then the second one followed the first one perfectly.

He was lunging towards her with a mighty punch and she knew it was too fast for her to dodge. Moving as fast as she could she tried to place her blade and her left arm in a crossed position with the flat side towards her as a shield.

She was not fast enough for the first one, however, he did not make contact. The second came right behind him and she barely able placed her defence before impact.

It was stronger than anything she had ever felt. Astrid was thrown back at a high speed and lost consciousness as she crashed with the wall.