Six warriors ringed the turf, turning a simple morning practice into an intense battlefield. Brak braced his iron tower shields with a grin, while Kessa flexed her wooden training claws, her orange tail swishing behind her in restless anticipation.
Right next to Thora, young Sira shook out her fiery red hair and clacked two wooden battleaxes together, her eyes shining with the raw, untamed eagerness of a true northern barbarian.
Up above, Griselda circled with her black-and-gold wings beating steadily, her golden eyes scanning the turf for any slight opening.
Instead of watching from the sidelines, Seraphine unclasped her cloak and stepped over the boundary ropes, drawing a polished wooden stiletto that looked deceptively harmless in her experienced grip.
"If you want to survive the eastern legions, Kane, swinging at barbarians and dodging beasts won’t be enough," Seraphine remarked, taking a balanced stance that immediately commanded respect from everyone present.
"Let us see how you handle real speed."
’Adding Seraphine changes everything,’ Kane calculated, gripping the hilt of his practice sword tighter.
’She is faster than any human I know, and with two barbarians swinging at my front while an angel rules the sky, my defensive stats are going to earn their keep today.’
"Take the left flank, Sira!" Thora commanded, initiating the charge with a lunging halberd thrust aimed squarely at his chest.
"I want his right!" Sira roared back, charging in with a reckless, thrilling scream as she swung both axes in a spinning cyclone of blows that would have chopped an ordinary soldier to splinters.
Pivot-stepping around Thora’s reach, Kane deflected Sira’s downward chop with his blade, using the young barbarian’s momentum to guide her axe right into Brak’s advancing shield.
"Watch your aim, red!" Brak grunted, planting his boots into the turf to hold the line.
"Trap him against the shield wall, Brak!"
"I am trying, Commander, but he moves like he has eyes in the back of his boots!"
Before Kane could create distance from the iron barrier, Kessa used Brak’s shield as a springboard, leaping high into the air with her orange hair trailing behind her like fire, slashing downward with blunt training claws while Griselda attacked from the opposite angle.
"Got you!" Kessa cheered, landing inside his guard and sweeping her leg low.
Vaulting over her sweep with a fluid flip, Kane tapped her tufted ear playfully just as his boots touched the ground behind her.
"You missed, little tiger."
"Stand still so I can hit you!" Sira complained, spinning around with another wild barbarian strike that cleared the air just inches from his nose.
"You swing too wide, Sira! Watch your balance!"
A sudden blur of motion warned him just in time.
Seraphine struck from the blind angle with terrifying precision, her stiletto moving so fast it hummed in the air, forcing Kane to twist his torso and catch her wrist with his free hand just before the tip reached his throat.
"Better, Kane," Seraphine said, her eyes flashing with competitive fire as she smoothly disengaged and spun out of his reach.
"But do not ignore the blade while you play with the barbarians."
’Seraphine doesn’t waste a single movement,’ Kane noted, wiping a bead of sweat from his chin as the six fighters circled him once more.
’Thora and Sira try to overwhelm with brute power, Kessa and Griselda attack from impossible angles, Brak cuts off my retreats, and Seraphine waits for the exact millisecond my guard drops. Truly, my inner circle is a nightmare to fight.’
"More speed, vanguard!" Thora ordered, spinning her halberd for another combined charge.
"Do not give him room to breathe!"
Realizing the sun was about to clear the eastern tower, Kane decided to end the demonstration before someone broke a weapon.
Stopping his defensive retreats, he switched to pure tactical offense, using his upgraded stats to dismantle their formation without injuring a single person.
When Brak lunged forward to crush him against the perimeter ropes, Kane grabbed the rim of the giant’s iron shield and used his enhanced strength to redirect the momentum, spinning the armored man directly into Thora’s halberd path and Sira’s incoming axe charge.
The three front-line fighters collided in a tangled pile of armor and wooden shafts, groaning in shared annoyance.
Spotting Kessa diving from the left, Kane caught the beastwoman mid-leap by her leather belt, swinging her gently through the air before setting her down onto the wooden railing out of bounds.
"Hey!" Kessa squawked, trying to balance on the narrow beam while her tail flailed.
Only Seraphine and Griselda remained.
Anticipating Seraphine’s lightning-fast lunge, Kane stepped inside her reach, trapping both of her wrists together behind her back and spinning her smoothly around just in time to use her as a shield against Griselda’s final diving swoop from the sky.
Forced to pull up short to avoid crashing into the First Blade, the fallen angel flapped her black-and-gold wings frantically, hovering just inches above the ground with a frustrated squawk.
"That is cheating!" Griselda complained, flaring her wings wide as she glared at him.
"You cannot use the First Blade as an umbrella!"
"In war, you use whatever cover is available."
"You could let go of my wrists now, Warlord," Seraphine noted, though a rare, approving smile touched her lips as she glanced over her shoulder at him.
"Your speed is genuinely annoying today."
Releasing Seraphine with a respectful nod, Kane offered a hand to help Brak pull himself up from the turf while Sira untangled her red hair from Thora’s halberd shaft.
"My ribs ache just from watching you move, Commander," Brak groaned, rubbing his chestplate with a wide grin.
"If you hit those eastern mercenaries half as hard as you hit my shield, they will probably pay us just to let them run away."
"Your reflexes are sharp, Kane," Kessa admitted, jumping down from the railing and shaking out her orange hair while giving him a respectful nod.
"My claws didn’t touch your clothes once. The Elves are not ready for that kind of speed."