Training Grounds - Afternoon Spar
The spar began in earnest.
Lumberling moved in tandem with Aurelya, both advancing with practiced coordination. He took the left, spear in hand, while she flanked the right, her rapier already gleaming with golden light.
Behind them, Thessalia remained still, calm and unreadable, her longbow lowered but ready. Her eyes never left the target.
Vaenyra stood alone at the far end of the field. Sword in hand, her expression was neutral, composed. But the air around her thrumd. Threads of pressure rippled outward like invisible heatwaves. A crackle of restrained power danced across the space between them.
Then Lumberling struck.
His spear darted forward in a blur, precise and forceful, only to et empty air. Vaenyra shifted her weight by inches, letting the thrust slip past her side.
At the sa mont, Aurelya surged forward. Her rapier pulsed with golden radiance, light and fire swirling along its length. The mana enveloped her entirely, enhancing her speed, sharpening her perception. A shimring veil of protection clung to her like divine armor.
’Light and gold fire?’ Lumberling thought, narrowing his eyes as he watched her. ’Are those her elents?’
Aurelya’s blade swept in with dazzling grace, cutting arcs of searing brilliance. Vaenyra raised her sword and caught the strike. The clash rang out, steel against steel, but Vaenyra only smiled faintly. "Fancy as ever."
Aurelya vanished in a blink.
Blinding flashes marked her steps, warping her trajectory into an unpredictable dance. She weaved around Vaenyra like a cot in orbit, radiant and relentless. Each flick of her wrist released bursts of light that licked across the field. She wasn’t casting from stillness, her spells erged in motion, intertwined with her swordplay.
’So this is how a Mage-Knight fights,’ Lumberling thought, awestruck. Magic, not just for distance casting, but to enhance your close combat. Elegant and deadly...
Suddenly, Thessalia was gone.
One blink, and the archer had disappeared from view, no footsteps, no breath, no movent.
Then, the first arrow flew.
It was soundless, invisible until the last second, and aid straight for Vaenyra’s neck. She tilted her head calmly, letting it whistle past. But as the arrow passed, it twisted midair, curving back like it had a mind of its own.
With a swift motion, Vaenyra’s sword slashed the arrow from the sky.
It exploded into a burst of vines.
Thorned tendrils lashed out, coiling toward her limbs with predatory speed. Vaenyra leapt back and severed them mid-air, never losing composure. Another wave of arrows ca, faster, and from every direction.
Lumberling spun, trying to spot Thessalia.
Nothing.
The arrows ca from all sides, impossible to trace. They struck from shadows, trees, the sky, silent and ceaseless.
’This is beyond assassination. She’s a ghost with a bow.’
Each arrow was a death sentence, fast as a sniper’s bullet, silent as breath, and laced with elental traps. Even knowing Thessalia was on their side did little to comfort him.
’If she were my enemy... I wouldn’t last five seconds.’
On the other end of the yard, Vaenyra stood alone, her sword drawn. Despite facing three opponents, there was not an ounce of tension in her stance.
With only her sword, she t the flurry of attacks from Aurelya and Lumberling. Her blade flashed once, then again, and each strike was devastating, a controlled explosion of power. Where her sword passed, the earth cracked. The training ground soon bore deep scars, shattered stone marking each precise movent. Yet there was no wild swing, no wasted flourish. Only clean, efficient violence.
She moved like a knight from legend, asured, destructive, and elegant.
Her style was unlike anything Lumberling had seen. No brute strength. No reckless charges. Just silence, precision, and that eerie grace. Her footwork was delicate, like a fencer’s, but her sword carried the weight of a giant’s might. It was terrifying to behold.
Aurelya lunged again, her rapier cloaked in burning light, like a streak of the midday sun tearing across the yard. But Vaenyra wasn’t there.
She hadn’t teleported. She’d simply... moved.
A flicker of black boots against the stone, and she appeared several ters away, thrusting her blade into thin air.
Thessalia gasped as she materialized at that exact spot, mid-step. Vines burst from beneath her boots, betraying her position, but it was too late.
Vaenyra’s strike landed.
Thessalia vanished once more, but not without taking a slash across her side, a shallow one, but enough to draw blood.
Gritting her teeth, Thessalia reappeared on the edge of the field and fired a volley of arrows in rapid succession. Each shaft was silent, nearly invisible, and enchanted with unnatural precision. The arrows curved in mid-air, striking from impossible angles.
But Vaenyra twisted between them with unearthly grace, her sword flowing like water. She didn’t block. She didn’t dodge in panic. She simply... moved as though she already knew the trajectory.
Lumberling watched in awe. ’She moves like she sees the future.’
Then, another blinding streak of gold.
The golden fire humd beneath Aurelya’s skin, divine warmth thrumming in her blood. Every flick of her wrist sent radiant bursts spinning through the air, weaving light and fla into her swordplay. She was fast. Fluid. Beautiful, even, at least she hoped so.
And yet... Vaenyra danced through it like a phantom, untouched.
Aurelya’s blade t steel, and the impact rang out like a church bell. She gritted her teeth. That sa faint smile played on Vaenyra’s lips. Not mocking. Just calm. Like she wasn’t even trying.
The world tilted. Dust exploded as Aurelya hit the ground hard. She groaned and propped herself up with her elbow.
Vaenyra dipped her shoulder, barely, and swept Aurelya’s legs from under her with a brutal, low kick. Aurelya spun through the air, landing with a grunt that sent dust flying.
"Hey!" ca Aurelya’s voice, sharp and annoyed. "You just gonna stand there and watch?"
Lumberling blinked.
"Don’t just stand there like a fool," she snapped. "Help us out already!"
Lumberling turned toward the fight, fingers tightening around his spear.
This isn’t a normal spar... not even close.
It was easier said than done, joining a clash like that. The way they moved, the way power radiated from each strike... it wasn’t sothing he could match yet. Sure, he’d survived against Knights One Stage before, even killed one. But this?
This was artistry mixed with violence. Controlled chaos.
And yet, despite knowing how far he still had to go, he smiled.
Excitent sparked in his chest.
He crouched low, gathering his breath, and launched himself forward like a spring uncoiled. No hesitation. No reserve.
He flowed into the Spearheart Doctrine, its elegant forms surging from muscle mory. Each movent precise, each angle calculated. His spear blurred with speed.
But Vaenyra moved like water over rock, untouched, untroubled.
She t his charge with a single step and a downward slash. One strike.
The world spun as his body flew back, crashing against the stone floor. A crack rang out, not just from the ground, but sowhere in his ribcage.
Pain flared hot.
He grit his teeth and rolled upright, coughing once before forcing his legs to move. He couldn’t stop. Wouldn’t.
His body scread to stay down, but he lunged again.
Just as his boots pushed off the ground, a sonic crack tore through the air.
An arrow.
It sliced past him like a whip of thunder, aid straight at Vaenyra. The impact triggered a concussive shockwave that slamd into all of them. The sound rattled his skull, left a shrill ringing in his ears.
Even Aurelya staggered back, shielding her face.
"Hey, watch it!" she snapped, glaring in the direction the arrow ca from.
Thessalia erged from the shadows, lowering her bow in silence.
Her expression was unreadable, cold as ever. She didn’t offer an apology. Only a glance, direct and unapologetic.
Lumberling steadied his breath, trying to shake off the ringing. His eyes flicked to Thessalia.
’That wasn’t a regular shot... was that her elent?’
’Vines and... sound?’
His mind filed it away, intrigued. Elental archery? It would explain the way her presence always seed to ripple unnaturally when she moved.
Lumberling winced and wiped the blood from his lips. "Just a spar, huh?" he muttered. Then he grinned. "I want another round."
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