The fortified central training ring of Menual was cleared of common soldiers so the elite commanders could witness their Warlord prepare for the southern campaign.
Griselda hovered gracefully above the wooden perimeter, her violet hair catching the sunrise while her black-and-gold wings beat a steady rhythm in the draft.
Far from a mindless pet, the fallen angel observed the ring with sharp tactical interest, crossing her arms as she preened a stray feather from her wrist.
"You claimed our teamwork needed refinement yesterday in the armory, Kane," Thora challenged, stretching her shoulders before spinning a weighted training halberd between her palms.
"Let’s see if your reflexes can actually handle a coordinated assault from your real vanguard."
"Usually, people pay me a small fortune to jump out of shadows and kill targets," Sira added, balancing on the top railing while flipping two blunt training daggers in a blur of motion.
"Yet here you are, asking me to work for free on a peaceful Tuesday morning."
"I am paying you in survival lessons, Sira," Kane answered, stripping off his linen coat and tossing it toward the bench where Misha sat watching.
"If any of you can land a solid blow on me before the sun clears the eastern guard tower, I will double your personal bonus from the Sylvander plunder."
"You already doubled it for us."
"Then a night with that person. Only one."
The courtyard went silent.
"You should not make gambling bets you cannot afford, Kane," Griselda smirked from her vantage point in the sky, her voice echoing clearly over the grounds.
"My aerial dives are much faster than your little human reflexes, and I have had my eye on that sapphire necklace in the treasury for three weeks."
’Fighting them individually is manageable, but taking on my vanguard leader, my master attacker, and a fallen angel simultaneously is asking for a disaster,’ Kane calculated, rolling his shoulders to test his joints.
’Still, pushing my physical stats to the limit is the only way to see if my Tier III upgrades can handle high-speed Elven combat without failing me.’
Without another word of warning, the three-on-one spar initiated.
Thora charged straight down the center with crushing velocity, driving the blunt halberd forward in a rapid sequence of thrusts that forced Kane to rely on his upgraded footwork just to pivot around the shaft.
The moment Kane sidestepped Thora’s primary lunge, Sira vanished into his peripheral blind spots, utilizing the dust kicked up by the vanguard’s boots to launch a high-speed strike at his exposed flank.
Up above, Griselda folded her black-and-gold wings and dove like a falling spear, using wind-enhanced speed to cut off his only viable escape route to the left.
"Too slow on the flank, chief!" Sira taunted as her wooden dagger grazed the fabric of his sleeve, only for Kane to trap her wrist mid-motion and use her own momentum to block Thora’s incoming halberd shaft.
"Don’t use my shield, you cheat!" Thora barked a laugh, pulling her blow at the very last second to avoid taking Sira’s head off while Kane ducked beneath the wooden pole.
"Watch the sky, Warlord!" Griselda chimed, dropping right toward his shoulders with her booted heel aimed straight for his chest.
’Griselda coordinates with Thora instinctively despite their constant arguing,’ Kane noted, planting his back foot to brace for the impact.
’If I rely purely on system speed, they will trap me in a rhythm within three moves. I need to break their formation by targeting the pivot point.’
Activating a burst of enhanced strength, Kane reached upward and caught Griselda safely by the ankle just before her boot reached his ribs.
Swoosh.
Using her downward momentum, he swung her weight gently around in a sweeping arc that forced Sira to leap backward out of her shadow-step, breaking their coordinated triangle and leaving all three women scrambling across the turf to regain their footing.
"That’s hardly a fair maneuver, Kane!" Griselda squawked, flapping her wings frantically to stabilize herself in mid-air before landing gracefully on the grass.
"You cannot simply grab an angel by the leg and throw her at a barbarian!"
"In battle, you use whatever projectiles are available," Kane laughed, offering a teasing grin as Thora reset her halberd stance.
"And you happen to be very aerodynamic, Griselda."
"I am going to bite your ears for that comment," the fallen angel threatened playfully, hovering back up several feet while her violet hair whipped around her shoulders.
Before Thora could initiate another charge down the center, a booming laugh echoed across the training ground, halting the action instantly.
Brak stepped through the courtyard gate carrying two massive iron tower shields strapped to his forearms, accompanied closely by Kessa.
Kessa stepped forward with effortless grace, her vibrant orange hair tied back securely in a warrior’s braid while her tufted ears twitched sharply at the ringing sound of clashing wood.
Flexing her fingers to test her wooden training claws, she locked her amber eyes onto Kane with intense competitive hunger.
"You are leaving the best fighters out of your little morning game, Commander," Kessa purred, cracking her knuckles as she stepped over the perimeter ropes.
"Thora swings hard, but she fights like a human. If you want to train for the southern wastes, you need someone who hunts like a beast."
"I brought the shields, Commander," Brak rumbled happily, slamming the bottom edges of the iron walls into the ground with a resounding thud.
"Though if Kessa gets her claws on you, iron is not going to help much."
"The ring is getting crowded," Griselda observed, floating down to hover right beside Kane’s shoulder while keeping a wary eye on Kessa’s claws.
"Should we start charging admission, Kane? Firlia would probably love the extra revenue."
"Let them come," Kane smiled, gesturing for Kessa and Brak to join the formation.
"Let us see if five of you can finally earn that bonus before breakfast."
"You are growing arrogant because you caught one angel," Kessa warned, dropping into a low, predatory crouch while her orange tail swished rhythmically behind her.
"Brak, form a wall on his left so he cannot pivot around Thora’s reach again."
"Understood, Kessa!" Brak cheered, raising his shields high as he lumbered forward to close off the side of the ring.
’Facing two elite humans and an angel was a good workout, but adding a beastwoman and a living iron wall turns this into a proper battlefield,’ Kane thought, drawing his practice sword and tapping the flat of the blade against his palm.
’If my stats can survive five minutes against this specific combination without taking a hit, the Elven Queen’s mercenaries are going to have a very miserable week.’
"Whenever you are ready, Commander," Thora called out, her halberd leveled directly at his chest while Sira melted back into the blind spots behind Brak’s shields.
"I have been ready since dawn," Kane replied, beckoning them forward with a flick of his blade as the morning sun finally crested the eastern guard tower.