Chương 56: A Tough Lesson

I picked up a spear with a wooden head, tossed it back and forth between my hands, then stepped up to the edge of the sand pit.

"Alright, then, Pallor. Let's see what you've got. It shouldn't be too hard for the third highest ranked sapper trainee to defeat me, right?" Pallor had taken up a shield and a spear, and he stood on the opposite side of the sand pit. He gave his shield a cautious whirl, then gripped it tightly.

"Okay, Achilles," I muttered sarcastically. Our fight was drawing a small crowd. Of course, Brawl, Anchor, and Sage stood by, watching, as did the rest of Pallor's squad, but they weren't the only ones. There were no staff, of course, but enough other Dupes to keep it fair. No one would cheat without the entire castle knowing about it. More interestingly, Shatter was watching, too, along with Drywsone and a few of the other apprentices. Now I knew I had to teach Pallor a lesson.

"Alright," I said.

"So, no Arts, no resonance Skills. No armour. You agree to the regular terms of the duel? Nothing underhanded?" Pallor gave a hesitant nod.

"I agree, too," I said.

"We'll be keeping an eye on you, liar!" Sage called. Everyone watching chuckled.

"But before we start," I said, "I want to remind everyone how this began." I pointed my spear at Shatter and the blacksmiths.

"Pallor was pushing around an innocent apprentice, a man who was just doing his best to improve himself. I found this behaviour intolerable. So, I'd like to add another term to this duel, if you don't mind."

"What?" Pallor asked.

"You'll leave Shatter alone after this, and not just him. You're not going to lay a hand on anyone for what you deem to be 'cowardly behaviour.' We all know who the true coward out here is."

"Enough! Fight me!" Pallor darted forward, his shield poised to swat my spear away and open me up to attack. I let him—or at least, I let him think that he could knock it away, but I whirled the end of the spear around and deflected his jab, then kicked him back. As he skidded across the sand, I said, "Now, Pallor. Agree to my terms."

"Fine! I agree. You're not going to win, anyway!" He scrambled up to his feet and charged me again. It was big talk, but part of me wondered if he actually thought he was better than me. And maybe his cowardice was all an act—after all, I'd put a lot on the line. Maybe he was goading me into losing, all to embarrass me. I centered him in my vision and devoted all my focus to him. There was no way he'd surprise me, not if I had anything to say about it.

He was smart enough to slow down when he approached, sheltering behind his shield, and this time, I took the initiative, stabbing at his head and forcing him to raise his shield. He tried to counter with a stab of his own, but I deflected it with a swipe of my forearm. Still, he whirled his own spear around, catching me on the shoulder with the shaft and sending me staggering back—but I couldn't break free. He was holding my spear tight, trapping it between his shoulder and his body with his shield.

He knocked me in the nose with the haft of his spear, sending me sprawling back across the sand. I had to let go of my spear, and he tossed it toward me.

"Pick it up," he said.

"You talk big, but in the end, you're nothing. You think you're helping anyone with this? Your little crusades aren't going to do anything."

"It's not over yet." I snatched my spear up. His shield was his biggest advantage, and if I could take that away, then I stood a better chance. Sure, I could punch up against mindless, soulless monsters, but this was a living, thinking human who'd trained a hell of a lot more than I had. Besides, everyone in the SAP was capable of punching above their weight. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

We traded blows, fighting back and forth across the arena, until I wore him down enough that he began relying on his shield more. And as soon as he did, I sprang my trap. He held it out, ready to intercept a jab then launch a fatal counter-attack, but before it arrived, I used my enhanced agility and a weight shifting technique I'd been practicing in the Labyrinth. I ducked out of the way. Instead of striking his shield with my spear, I drove a heavy kick into it.

I had time to prepare, and I delivered a powerful roundhouse. It shattered the wood, leaving only a stump left on his wrist. He yelped in surprise, then jumped back. Once he was out of my range, he shed the shield's remains, tossing it aside.

"How?" he gasped.

"You didn't think my Strength was that high, did you?" A normal human shouldn't have been able to do that, and my ankle was going to hurt for a few days after, but it was worth it. Now I just had to press the advantage while I had it. I was used to fighting without a shield, and he wasn't. I lunged, jabbed, deflected, and lunged more, pushing him back across the sand pit. I kept on the offensive until finally, I struck him in the chest. It was enough to knock him to the ground, but not enough to do any real damage.

Before I got any closer, I kicked his training spear out of his grip, then spun behind him and wrapped my spear around his neck.

"Give up," I said.

"You remember what I did to Brawl, don't you?" He tried to elbow me in the gut, but I squirmed away so it just grazed me, then pulled tighter.

"Yield," I said. He reached across his body and drew a knife from his boot.

"Watch out!" Brawl yelled. I stomped Pallor's hand hard enough to bend his wrist awkwardly, and hard enough that a bone crunched. He tried to scream, but there wasn't enough air in his lungs. I choked him until he fell unconscious and threw him face first into the sand. His nose cracked. His squadmates watched with horrified expressions, and I looked at their druid.

"Could you do me a favour and let him live with the pain for a few days. Tell him you don't have enough Presence. Maybe it'll teach him a lesson." The woman gave a quick nod, but she might have just been too shocked for anything else. Regardless, I dusted myself off, stood up, then walked over to the edge of the arena where the blacksmiths were standing.

"That should fix some things for you," I told Shatter.

"Sorry if I made you nervous, but it had to be done. We have to be able to work together as an army, and people like Pallor can't hold sway over us." Shatter grimaced, then dipped his head.

"Thanks, Levi."

"Now, I've gotta go get myself cleaned up." It had been a long day, and I was ready for some time in the library. ~ ~ ~ After finishing up in the library for the evening, I checked my ranking with the reading slate. Sure enough, my rank had increased to number three, and I'd gained a few other points elsewhere—one Strength, one Perception, and one Focus. It wasn't much, but for a week or so of training, it was better than nothing.

As for my skills, I'd finally gained three more knowledge Skills: [Slinging (Novice)], [General Leatherworking (Novice)], and [Personal Motion Redirection (Novice)]. I'd only been practicing in the off-times, whenever I could, with the other skills, and I'd surely condensed slinging and general leatherworking earlier, but I knew I hadn't gotten Personal Motion Redirection before tonight. In my fight, with how I'd moved to break Pallor's shield, that had probably been what did it for me.

I was getting closer, but I still had a lot of Skill condensing before I'd have enough fodder to get myself a Journeyman-tier skill. For today, though, it satisfied me enough that I let myself relax. ~ ~ ~ The next day went about the same as the last, except there were no duels and no interrogations. And no swimming. So… it really wasn't even close to the same as yesterday, but it felt normal. In the evening, though, as I walked to the library with Sage, a hand tapped my shoulder.

With my Perception at three, I was half-expecting to notice someone approaching from behind, but with all the other noises around, it would take some getting used to. Besides, it was only three. It wasn't superhuman yet. I turned around cautiously, but it was only Shatter behind me.

"Hey," I said.

"You good? I hope they've been leaving you alone."

"They have. I haven't even seen Pallor since you beat him up."

"Do…you need something?"

"I think he needs something," Sage said.

"He has that look in his eyes." After a few seconds, Shatter said, "Levi, I know you'll probably tell me you don't want a reward for helping me and that's all fine and good, but I can't go around letting people do me favours without giving them anything in return." I chuckled.

"It's not much of a good deed if I went looking for rewards."

"Yeah, but it is gracious and polite to accept gifts."

"Did you have something in mind?"

"Come to the blacksmith shop with me." I glanced at Sage, and she shrugged.

"He has my curiosity. If you don't go, I will, and I'll take the gift he has planned for you."

"I haven't made anything yet," Shatter said.

"But I had a suggestion. And, well, a bit of a proposal…" So we walked with him back to the blacksmith's shop. At night, so late in the evening, only one of the hearths was blazing, but Drywsone and the others had retired for the night. Shatter stepped inside and dropped his voice to a whisper, then said, "Alright, let's talk business. I know you've made yourself a siphon."