Duncan and Fenris moved to the arena which was near the shooting range. It was just a flattened circular area with a diameter of around 15 meters, which had been used so much that no grass grew on it. There was a small storage shed nearby and Fenris led Duncan towards it.

“Take one of the blunt swords that suits you and put on your armor,” Fenris advised.

Duncan nodded and looked through the selection. There were not just swords there. Axes, poles, daggers, you name it. All the swords were blunt to the point you would have trouble cutting or stabbing a watermelon. Making it explode to pieces from blunt damage would work though.

He found one with a long handle which should suit his two-handed style. He was already wearing his leather armor, so he just needed to put on his helmet. Fenris just took a random sword and went towards the middle of the arena almost looking bored.

“Come, show me what you’ve got!” Fenris said with a grin.

Duncan looked at him and felt cold on the back of his neck.

“What have I gotten myself into now?”

He shook his head clear of distracting thoughts and walked towards Fenris stopping about 2 meters away from him.

“How should we do this?” Duncan asked.

“Attack and I will defend, then we switch,” Fenris replied still with a smile on his face.

Duncan went with the kendo stance of the sword pointed in front of him shaking it up and down. With quick short movements closed the distance needed for a hit.

Fenris looked at his posture and shook his head. Suddenly Duncan’s sword was coming at him which Fenris avoided by stepping back. Duncan held the sword once more in the same position and did the same maneuver but this time he didn’t follow through and pushed further in before he did.

It left Fenris perplexed for a fraction of a second and was not out of range of the blow. He decided to parry it instead and the clang of two swords clashing rang before Duncan’s was deflected.

“That’s some weird style you have. It’s like you think your sword is a stick with a handle,” Fenris said as they stopped for a breather.

Duncan thought about it and kendo’s swords were sticks in the shape of swords.

“Maybe I should have gotten a stickmanship skill instead,” he thought and smiled to himself.

“It pretty much was the style's intention,” Duncan admitted.

“A sword should be cutting and stabbing, not hitting,” Fenris said with a frown.

“I know, it’s just something I picked up…” Duncan replied feeling a bit ashamed at his first choice.

Fenris nodded and they clashed again.

This time Duncan went from up top to low and when Fenris tried to block him, he swung around the prepared counter and hit him sideways in the right leg that was in front.

Fenris frowned before saying, “If I took you seriously, I would be drinking a healing potion now and you would be dead. You left your head wide open for my swing to claim it. You should keep that in mind, although it was not all bad.”

Duncan nodded.

“Show me, how you attack,” Duncan said and got into a balanced posture.

Fenris nodded before saying, “Here I come, be ready!”

Taking his pivot right foot forward he stabbed towards Duncan's torso. He got blocked by a side-swing and Duncan tried to move aside. He stopped the sword's motion and pulled it below Duncan’s sword swing. Duncan was not able to adjust as he overcommitted his swing and Fenris stabbed at him again this time hitting him in the ribs.

“You should never put more power in a defensive or offensive swing than you can control unless you are positive it will connect,” Fenris said as Duncan was clutching his ribs. The armor dispersed the damage but it still hurt to get his ribs bruised. Every breath felt like punishment.

“Want to go again?” Fenris asked with a smirk.

Duncan’s competitive side was on now as Fenris teased him.

“What am I allowed to use in this training session?” Duncan asked.

“Whatever you want as long as there is no permanent damage,” Fenris replied.

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“Alright. Let’s go again!” Duncan exclaimed and got into position.

Fenris once again stabbed and Duncan blocked this time not losing his balance then he blocked him again as he tried the same move as before. Fenris let his sword drop to the side of his left leg diagonally using the momentum of the block.

Duncan knew the move from the ‘Eclectic sword style’ and knew an immediate diagonal counter swing would follow. He was still thinking if he should duck or block as it was already upon him. He blocked it but then received a blow from Fenris’ left hand on the back of his neck as he swung around him on the pivot foot.

As Duncan was falling forward Fenris went for the final blow trying to stab him in the back. Duncan knew there was no other way around it, so he let himself fall to the side and rolled away, which made Fenris miss.

Then Fenris kicked dirt in his face as he was trying to get up. Duncan got some of it in his eyes and was just barely able to see a sword coming for him. This dirty trick he thought only happened in the movies got him angry.

“You -BLEEP-ing mother-BLEEP-ER!” he screamed as he barely made it to block Fenris’s sword. Then it was his turn, as the punishment for cursing ran through both of them Duncan was significantly better off. He was holding off on using this means of attack until Fenris used dirt.

“-BLEEP- You!” he once again said as they clutched their swords in front of them.

Duncan could feel Fenris still pushing against him although barely and he once again said, “Mother-BEEP-er!”

The next punishment hit significantly harder and all resistance from Fenris ended as he fell to the ground. Duncan even saw a lightning streak jump between their swords as they parted.

“What have I done,” was Duncan’s first thought as he watched sparks go out from his sword.

Soon he heard a deep sigh from the ground as Fenris was getting up.

“What the hell was that? Did you use that on the Shades?” Fenris yelled.

Duncan nodded.

“Is the BLEEP sound an incantation for lightning magic?”

Duncan took a second and thought about what would happen if he told him he was cursing him before saying, “Yes, sort of.”

“Can you make it stronger?” Fenris asked.

“Yeah. A lot stronger,” Duncan said.

Fenris looked surprised, “A lot stronger?”

“Yeah. I don’t know if it would kill you but it held a level 18 Guardian skeleton immobile and it was not that powerful then,” Duncan replied.

Fenris nodded before saying, “I wanted to give you a lesson about expecting the unexpected but got one instead.”

“I knew the sword move followed by the hit was coming. Just could not decide how to react in time,” Duncan said shrugging.

Fenris looked perturbed, “How?”

“It was in the book you gave me at the back sections,” Duncan replied.

“You learned that book already?” Fenris asked after he nodded in realization.

Duncan debated if he should tell him he learned almost all the books already. Ultimately, he decided not to. Enough shocks for Fenris today.

“I did. Do you need those books back?” Duncan asked.

“When you are done. There is no hurry,” Fenris replied as he shook his head.

Duncan nodded before Fenris said, “Let’s go get something to drink, and then we can go visit the mine.”

“You want to stop the training already?” Duncan asked with a surprised expression on his face.

Fenris nodded before he said with an evil smile, “Why would we bring pain to ourselves when we can bring pain to others?”

Then he saw a weird look on Duncan’s face after that statement and continued, “We would just be hurting each other. It’s better to kill some undead instead.”

Duncan nodded at that and replied, “We should take plenty of water with us. Just in case.”

“How long do you plan to stay there?” Fenris asked.

“Not for us, for the Skeletons,” Duncan explained.

“Are you kidding me Skeletons don’t drink water and even if they did, why would you give them some?” Fenris asked and looked at Duncan as if he was looking at an idiot.

“I need to get them wet for the lightning to be effective,” Duncan replied with an explanation.

“I wonder how effective vodka would be. A lightning Molotov cocktail although it would probably be too expensive to buy from Wazsh,” he mused to himself.

“Yeah, we can take plenty of water,” Fenris replied in a low voice after thinking about what Duncan said. Now he felt like an idiot.

“We could take Petris with us, for the traps,” Fenris said after a while looking at Duncan for confirmation.

Duncan milled the idea over for a few moments. The traps he found so far were highly rudimentary, except the trap door that led him to the lower part. He was sure if they were on the same level, he would be enough to handle them but he would not risk it. Duncan now wished he had read the three volumes about traps instead of herbs.

“Yeah, we should take him along, one more won’t hurt and we are not going under the barrier today,” Duncan finally said.

They came into the communal hall and drank some water before they stored a lot more for the skeletons.

“I’ll be right back. I think he is in the sleeping quarters practicing. It’s a pain in the ass to find him when he is doing that,” Fenris said and rushed off before Duncan could respond.

Duncan stood by the table and considered their little training. It felt different than with Wazsh. It was like there was a big gap between him and Fenris he had not yet fully understood. He was sure Fenris went easy on him.

The swordsmanship he saw in the movies and what he experienced now was totally different. The swordsmen in movies are almost always portrayed as gallant men while this was anything but. Taking and making an opening by any means necessary was the name of the game.

The more unexpected your trick the higher the chance of success. Reflexes, experience, and predictions were the only things that could save you unless your stats were significantly higher than your opponent’s. Duncan’s only saving grace was he knew all Fenris’s moves. Having enough strength, agility, and dexterity advantage over someone, would of course make defeating them a walk in the park.