Chapter 15: Sparring

  This time, Raiden walked over to activate the respawn stone and felt it come to life. He stepped into the arena, and the golden mana shield covered it with a semi translucent dome once more. Raiden got himself ready. This time, he drew his mana rifle and had it trained on the half elf when Zane said,

  “Lower your rifle. You can draw your weapons, but it’s bad form to start aiming before the fight actually begins. Also, you’re practically at the edge of the arena; instead, stand about a quarter of the distance away from the center.”

  Raiden lowered his rifle, feeling sheepish. Vallia just stood there calmly and gestured for Raiden to come stand about a quarter of the way into the arena. He moved so that he was about a quarter of the way into the arena on his side. Vallia stood about a quarter of the arena away from the center on her side as well, so that they were equidistant. Zane shouted over.

  “Are you ready?”

  Vallia nodded. She drew two long daggers from her hips and held them at the ready. Across her back, a long, slender rifle was slung. The rifle looked like it could pack a punch, and Raiden definitely didn’t want to get hit by it. Vallia lowered her stance to be closer to the ground. Raiden got ready when the words finally came out.

  “Begin.”

  Vallia shot forward, coming straight towards him, and he pulled up his mana rifle to take aim. As he did, she tracked the angle of his weapon and began to slant away, still running at him but now coming at a slight arc. Raiden fired. Zap, zap. And the bullets flew past her. Vallia continued running. She had already crossed half the distance between them. But Raiden kept firing his weapon, this time aiming just ahead of Vallia. In that split second when he adjusted, Vallia had already moved back in the other direction to zigzag. His bullets flew harmlessly by. Raiden began to backpedal. Without truly being able to aim because of how close Vallia was getting, he just began firing. One moment she was in front of him, and the next she was standing at his side. He felt a prick from under his armpit. She spun away. He turned to continue firing at her with his rifle. But his consciousness quickly faded away, and in the next moment, he was standing outside the arena. The golden, translucent dome faded. Vallia was clutching at her side, but soon the wound healed over, and she was at full health. Vallia huffed in frustration and walked back to where the squad was seated, not bothering to glance at Raiden.

  Raiden figured that she had killed him somehow, most likely when he had felt that pinprick under his armpit. Then he realized that the pinprick was likely her blade sinking all the way to the hilt into his chest cavity. Her speed was incredible, as well as her skill. Raiden couldn’t help but be impressed. What he had done to set her off, though, he wasn’t sure. Zane just looked at his expression and said,

  “She doesn’t like getting hit. That rifle of yours is wickedly fast. It looks like you got a round off into her side before she struck you.”

  Next, Raiden fought Dorian. The dwarf had a shotgun hanging across his chest, and a one handed axe hung at his side. The shotgun was short, and it looked like it could be wielded easily with one hand. Raiden’s suspicions were confirmed when the dwarf casually unholstered it like it weighed nothing.

  Raiden drew his pistol and his short sword, and the match began. Raiden began circling to the side as the dwarf aimed his shotgun. Before the dwarf could fire, Raiden’s pistol was charged, and he fired off a round at the dwarf. The dwarf swung his axe across his body, deflecting the bullet away. As the mana bullet was blocked, a spray of dense mana was thrown into the air, and a small crack echoed out.

  The shotgun was still aimed at Raiden. He followed his instincts and dove to the ground as the dwarf fired the weapon.

  A spray of small magical projectiles shot out at Raiden, but his timely dive had saved him as the bullets went whirring overhead.

  He quickly got back to his feet and closed the distance on the dwarf, who quickly holstered his shotgun back on his chest and held up his forearm, which had a buckler.

  The buckler expanded outward as sections of the shield popped out, giving the dwarf the protection of a fully sized shield.

  When the shield had fully expanded outward, Raiden was impressed. It covered the dwarf completely across his torso and part of his lower body as well, being about three feet around on all sides. The dwarf charged, and Raiden dodged to the side as the dwarf came thundering past, trying to shield bash him. Raiden struck out with his sword, and the dwarf quickly spun to meet it with an axe strike.

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  The dwarf pushed his shield forward again, this time striking right into Raiden’s chest, and he went sprawling to the ground.

  An overhand chop of the axe soon followed, and Raiden rolled away as the axe arched toward his chest cavity. The axe crashed into the ground and deflected off with a sharp crack.

  Raiden used his foot and kicked the dwarf’s leg. His attack managed to surprise Dorian, and the dwarf staggered. Raiden quickly got to his feet, and then the dwarf charged forward once again. Raiden hadn’t been idle; his mana pistol was ready to fire once more. Raiden swung his blade, and the dwarf brought up his shield to block.

  As soon as the blade connected, Raiden spun around and fired off a mana blast at the dwarf’s side. At the last moment, the dwarf shifted the shield into the trajectory of the mana, and the round hit the shield with a loud clang. In the next moment, Raiden felt the bite of steel hit his lower back under his breastplate and knew that the dwarf had expertly counterattacked. His vision quickly blurred, and Raiden found himself standing outside the arena once again.

  Raiden sighed and prepared himself for his next fight with Amira. After the arena was reset, she unsheathed her blade as they stood off against one another. She wielded a long but deadly looking katana. The blade was slightly longer than he had expected and could be wielded with one or two hands. She held it in one. In her other hand was a long mana pistol. Her gaze was hard, and steely determination filled her eyes.

  “I am not going to lose today,” Amira said.

  She saluted with her sword slightly at Raiden, and he returned the gesture. He started the fight with his sword and pistol, and the round started. She brought her mana gun up. He could hear it whirring with energy as she fired off a round. More mana bullets followed, spaced apart by about a second apiece. The bullets were small, but she kept up the rapid exchange of fire. Raiden dodged out of the way of the first of the rounds as they zipped by.

  One finally hit his breastplate but didn’t go through. He was staggered slightly, but quickly regained his balance and returned fire. His mana bullet hit her in the torso, going through her armor and doing damage. She stumbled to the side slightly, and Raiden took the opportunity to close the distance. Within a few heartbeats, he was in melee range.

  He swung his short sword, and she deflected gracefully with her katana. Then she brought her gun back to bear as she fired a round at him. The bullet hit his chest plate and once again didn’t penetrate. He swung again, and she dodged to the side, then returned with a swing of her blade at him, which he blocked.

  She fired off another round that hit him in the leg. The bullet didn’t penetrate very far before its energy dissipated. She swung again. Raiden blocked, but this time his pistol was charged. He fired. Another round entered her torso, causing her to cry out and fall to her knees.

  Raiden hesitated, unsure if he should try to finish the match. It didn’t feel right striking at a downed opponent, especially one that was supposed to be an ally. But before he could decide what to do, Amira disappeared in one moment and then reappeared the next, standing next to the respawn stone on her side of the arena. Amira was absolutely furious and stormed out into the arena, marching straight toward Raiden.

  Zane called out sternly, but the woman just held up her hand and continued walking toward Raiden, looking like she was about to boil over any second. When they stood no more than a few feet apart, she stared up at him. Zane stood up and looked like he was about to get involved when Amira took a deep breath and grudgingly stuck out her hand as two words left her lips.

  “Good fight.”

  Raiden shook the woman’s hand, and Amira simply turned and strode back toward the group, taking her seat. Zane gestured for Raiden to come over, and he took a seat as Zane stood up and addressed the group. Raiden snuck a glance at Amira, but she just blatantly chose to ignore him.

  “Alright, everyone. Thank you for your participation in today’s sparring. I think we’ve all gotten a feel for what our newcomer is capable of. Considering that he was just knighted this morning, I have to say that I am impressed. Good job, Raiden.”

  Raiden wasn’t sure if he was actually being complimented, as he had only lasted a few seconds against Zane, but he took it in stride and nodded.

  “We’ll finish the morning with the rest of our sparring, and we’ll move on to some basic physical exercises afterwards.”

  The group continued on in their sparring as the others faced off against each other. When each bout ended, Zane often gave comments about things that they could do to improve or mistakes they had made. When the sparring sessions were over, they went over to the castle and entered. Zane took them to a large room in the basement of the castle that was full of heavy looking metal blocks and stones. Despite being in the basement, the ceiling was high, and the room was well ventilated. Mana lights hung along the walls and ceiling to provide enough illumination to match the sun outside. Zane took them through a standard set of exercises that involved lifting large stones and other heavy metal objects to improve their musculature. As they got to work, Raiden found that he rather liked the weightlifting exercises. Sometimes they would hold the stones at chest height and then squat down. Other times, Zane would have them press the stones above their heads. One of the exercises involved lifting a bar off the ground that had heavy metal blocks attached. Raiden found it to be particularly fatiguing.

  When they were done, Zane had them do a run around the castle grounds. The castle grounds were peaceful and much larger than Raiden had expected. Despite being in Galaran, the capital city of Hallgram, the castle grounds extended out quite a way, and there were a number of rolling hills and even stands of trees scattered throughout. There was a stone perimeter wall about 10 feet high that enclosed the grounds, and they jogged next to it. When they made it around, they stopped at the entrance gates. Raiden’s legs absolutely burned at this point, but he kept himself from grimacing as Zane addressed them.

  “Now it’s time for a celebration to welcome the new additions to our squad. We’ll be heading to the Sleeping Dragon tonight. I’ll see you all there when the sun goes down in a few hours.”