It was three days later before I was up and about, sick, and tired of lying about, ever though there was still no recovered connection, but I felt well enough to train with the others, only capable of normal attacks but that was all we needed to start with. We all paired up for sparring, with one having a break when it was there turn to do so. I found it quite fun, no talismans just steel on steel, pure skill.

Lin was agile and acrobatic, she was both good at close combat and accurate at a distance, backing off from our blades clashing to reassess the situation, throwing lightning daggers as she did. I swiped each one aside, she was still so easy to read.

“I can’t touch you,” she frowned.

“Takes practice,” I commented, dashing forward, she swung her dagger. I ducked, twisting around her, pointing Arata’s sword to her back. “But you’d know that being a knight.”

“And switch.” Ibiki called, who had been on break.

I next fought against Edge, he seemed to enjoy going all out, our swords clashing constantly, he was fast, but not as agile as his sister. He seemed to prefer a frontal assault, but he was a little too predictable, you could tell what he was going to do just by his body language as before he’d even strike his body was moving ready for doing his next move.

“You are way too predictable.” I lunged forward, disarming him, then swinging my leg under his and he went down.

“That’s exactly what Lin says,” he sighed.

“I’ll train you out of it,” I said as my next sparring partner came along, Kiba.

He was pretty good with the sword, considering he was trained in a similar style as I was, but he had adjusted it to suit his needs, using his dagger, which seemed to ring in my ears every time it clashed with mine.

“When did the talisman stop listening to your dad?” I asked curious to find out more about it.

“Not sure, but dad did mention about its power beginning to fade when he was using it, thinking he didn’t have enough energy to maintain its true power.” He held it up to show the gem more clearly, which was more black than brown. “Not much left of the spirit, not even enough to call for a master, sad really, apparently it harbours an earth-based spirit, specialising in defence.”

“Defence in a dagger.” I thought it was strange, staring at it I saw a spark of energy, it had plenty of power still locked within I could feel it.

“I keep hoping if I train hard enough, I just might be able to save it with my power.” He slumped. “Which I haven’t had awaken yet.”

“You still waiting for that too?” I questioned, he was my cousin, perhaps everyone in my clan had the awakening at some point.

“I thought you’d already had it.” He looked at me confused.

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“Nope,” I shrugged. “Who knows, it might not even happen.”

“But you have such power,” he commented. “His talismans.”

“From hard work,” I responded. “Now let’s train hard and try to wake that spirit up.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, holding hope and determination in his eyes.

Finn was not much of a fighter, considering he mainly stuck with support, boosting attributes, sluggish with the sword, so I had to take it slow, hoping to naturally boost him up in speed, would be my goal.

Rex was pretty strong, the strength behind each movement as he swung his polearm was amazing, unfortunately I also had a slight disadvantage with his range being greater than mine.

He’d jab forward at such a forceful speed, I had only a split second to avoid it, then even fully extended he’d swing it in any direction I went in. I was really impressed, doing this one-on-one stuff, I really got to see their true skill as knights.

Lastly, I went against Ibiki. I was expecting a tougher fight than against Rex considering he’d also had training with Master Lance, and we were evenly matched. As we fought matching move for move like a strange dance. Shortly after we started, we began to accumulate a watchful crowd.

“Don’t slip up now Fang,” teased Ibiki.

“I can say the same to you.” I dodged to the right, slashed left then right, bringing in both swords downwards. Ibiki held his sword in defence, blocking effortlessly.

“So, after sparring with everyone, what do you think of your team?” asked Ibiki.

“They’re a bit rough around the edges but with the training I’ve done with dad and Master Lance, I’ll make us the most powerful unit in all Panthera,” I responded.

“Quite ambitious,” commented Ibiki.

“You saw what we’re up against,” I said.

“Indeed,” he nodded.

We clashed a few more times before calling it a draw, I was glad as I had started to get tired, not quite a hundred percent, I was quite surprised I lasted as long as I did.

We finished off with a series of strikes, creating sparks spreading out around as like a shower of light. Even with my two swords Ibiki had no trouble keeping up.

We nodded to each other and twisted on our heels and bowed to everyone. I let out a nervous laugh, I knew the crowd had been growing, but when concentrating on my fight I hadn’t noticed the whole village had come to watch.

“Obviously feeling much better,” clapped Raoul along with everyone else. “I suspect you will now be thirsty.” I gulped as I noticed the foul-tasting medicine, he’d been making me take, but to be honest it was working as I had felt the connection being restored; tomorrow I knew I would be able to fully connect with them again. It had almost been too quiet without Larana talking in my ear or one of the lions beside me.

I had continued to wonder what kind of effect this particular medicine would be having on King Alton, was it protecting him or perhaps slowing down the effects the dark energy was having on him.

“Drink up Fang.” Ibiki nudged me. “Then we’ll get to enjoy the feast.” I gulped and drank up with everyone still watching, pulling a rather dissatisfied expression when I finished, couldn’t wait till I no longer needed to drink this stuff.

That night was a large feast which the village had been preparing since we scared away the clones and stopped the attacks altogether. The dark energy had been disappearing since our encounter with the Draco, and the dragon had left without even a thank you.

To have even seen one was an honour, they were so rare, most never even saw one in their lifetime, so were believed to be just a myth. Just showed any creature with lightning power would do, for making those stinking clones.

I wondered how many were truly out there, a challenge I would certainly have to face in the future, at least I would not have to face it alone, but for tonight I would enjoy the feast the Panthera Pardus had prepared for us, a thank you for helping them.