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.. Was Ava’s sword glowing?
"Begin!" Kevia said.
Ava’s sword of heavenly light appeared in front of Axel’s face before he could get his dagger up. He ducked from the sword thrust but in his panic at her speed, he overcompensated. He heard the clink of her chain mail and knew she would chop down at him.
His only option was to do a short hop away from the girl but before he could get ready the shining sword was in his face. This time he had enough time to shift his body just enough to avoid being run through the face.
He hoped Kevia was fast enough to intervene to prevent him from dying. Then again, she never stated the rules for this match.
And so, the pattern continued. A little girl with a glowing white sword chasing around a tall black teen who hopped around like a rabbit. It took nerves of iron not to look at the reactions of those watching.
He was slower than her but he was no snail. His long powerful legs let him leap and step away from her with ease and he was getting used to her style.
Still, the pressure of her attacks forced him into awkward positions that strained his body’s flexibility.
Ava attacked with quick thrusts with her sword. When Axel took a breath and if she couldn’t catch him unawares, she opted to stay in his space to arc her blade at him, trying to split him into two bloody pieces.
As she chased him, he struggled to build up enough mana to stun her. Whenever he used mana or his skills, he focused on pain and fear and violence. Perfect for a fight that naturally induced all those emotions. Axel hated it.
It was essential he figure out the skill behind Ava’s glowing white sword. The kobolds used flame-based attacks and their swords glowed red, allowing them to cut through soldiers’ armor and weapons as if they were paper.
Ava didn’t need the extra cutting power She had force behind her attacks. Force that he felt when she gripped his hand. Against an unarmored opponent like himself, she was doom.
Then he remembered that she’d been watching him all month, and she worshiped a goddess named Vara.
Enemies, however, do not let their prey sit and think and she had kept up her assault on him without tiring.
Ava’s first cut landed on his shoulder. He braced for pain but felt none. There was even a delay between the cut and the blood dripping on his skin.
"Is this it? Is this how you advanced in level at such a young age?" Ava said, sword pointed at him like a spear.
Not once had the sword stopped glowing white. That meant it was still draining her mana. If it were Axel, his mana reserves would have depleted by now. Yet not even a drop of sweat marred Ava’s soft face.
He needed time to discover her skill. If she wanted to talk, then he would talk. "What can I say. Some people have the talent. Some don’t. Like you for example."
"Your attempts to anger me are failing," she said with a face that looked ready to bite him to shreds.
"You know what’s been bugging me?" Axel crept away from her while he spoke but she took small steps forward to match him. "I swear I have seen you before."
"You have. I was at the bandit camp you liberated, with the prisoners."
He paused mid-step. "Oh, I see."
"No, you don’t! How can I face my comrades after that humiliation?"
"Look, whatever happened I am sure nobody will fault you."
Axel felt like a jerk and not in the cool way he was going for. He never asked for details on what happened to the bandit’s prisoners but he could make assumptions.
"I wasn’t assaulted if that is what you are suggesting." Her words were clipped. "Instead, braver men and women, people I was sent to protect, shielded me. I let them do it to avoid torture like a coward. Worse, the bandit leader was one of our own soldiers, a traitor. Only by your actions did we get free."
"Is this some form of thank you?"
"My problem with you is that it is only by your whim that we were saved. The majority of worshipers do not randomly attack bandit camps."
This was something he’d learned when speaking with the whores at the brothel. In video games an adventurer would, whenever they felt like it, take out a bandit camp for the fun of it.
He thought that was normal on this world too. But that was only if a worshiper had an army behind them. He and Rayner had done it with armed refugees and a few guardsmen.
It still didn’t explain Ava’s problem with him. "OK, you’re right. I don’t understand. But I’m listening." That and Axel needed more time to gather mana.
"I do not wish to be the casualty or benefactor of another’s whims. I will not become just another bloody face on the battlefield." Her tone was softer but determined. Her anger had settled.
Now her words reached him.
The only reason she lived is because a world-hopping necromancer’s clone summoned two teenagers to his world. Then those two teens instead of staying with the dwarves to be celebrated as heroes or with the fairies after freeing them of a neglectful god chose to travel with a mother of two. Then they helped a caravan attacked by wolves. Then decided to take on an encampment of bandits.
Not a chance a proud girl languishing in a cage wanted to pray for. Honestly, she should be dead ... and she knew it.
His heart went out to her. Having to rely on fickle powers to survive sounded like a nightmare. It is what Yazid brought them here to stop, or at least mitigate. Still, he couldn’t help her. His higher level was due to him not being of this world.
Axel shrugged. "Sorry." It was the wrong thing to say.
Screaming, she changed her stance so that her sword hung over her head. Before, he’d thought she was trying to kill him. Seeing her now, he knew, this was the expression she would have when he died.
In an instant, her glowing sword of white fell on him. In that same instant, Axel finished gathering his mana.
Then Kevia appeared. "Axel wins."
Kevia’s hands were on their wrists.
Ava’s blade rested in his hair and Axel’s dagger pointed at her throat. He had to bend at the knees, both to avoid her sword and get his dagger at her throat.
Shocked, Ava staggered back. "How?"
"That’s what I asked myself as you kept pressuring me. Your sword is almost as long as your body. You should keep some distance from me, a close-ranged fighter with skills that by now you must know can cripple you with a cut, but you kept up the pressure, anyway. I figured out your skill when I realized how you watched us for so long without notice: Illusion."
Her shoulders slumped, but she stayed interested. "You figured it out from only that clue?"
"No. When you wounded me, I didn’t feel it until later. You are fast but not that fast. The skill gave the appearance of you closing the distance instantly so you could hide behind the illusion. The illusions are also based on your intentions. It’s why you kept your anger in check." Or at least she tried to. It was also why he, not one known for being sympathetic, connected with her so easily. He assumed that was unintentional. "A truly amazing skill."
"And still not enough." Her friend comforted her and they walked away.
"Hey! Where are you going?"
"Leave them alone, man. I know you want to ask about that goddess of theirs but read the mood," Rayner said, now by his side.
Axel ignored him. "The training yard isn’t closed yet." He raised his dagger.
She halted, back facing him. Then she gripped her sword and turned, the expression of defeat gone from her face. Her expression was that of a soldier ready for victory.
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