Chapter 346: Training Grounds

“Ha! Strike fast, strike true, and look good doing it! Such is the way of a Dunntree man!”

With a flick of his rapier, Nevan lunged forward with his blade pointed straight at the heart of the axe-wielding orc looming over him. Without seeming to dodge, he somehow slipped straight through the warrior’s attack, the bigger man’s axe sweeping so close by his head that his dark hair was ruffled by the breeze. Sliding between the orc’s legs, Nevan jabbed upward and caught the unfortunate axe man in the nethers, prompting a pained grunt of surprise. In the next moment, Nevan danced out the other side. When the orc spun to face him, the gnome jabbed twice more before he could dodge, striking him twice in the gut with the blunted blade.

“Haha! Three points for me, young buck! And you’re done!”

“Dammit!” the orc cursed as he kicked the ground of the training ring in frustration. “You’re as slippery as a bloody eel! One more go!”

“Another time, my fine fellow!” Nevan flourished his practice blade before sheathing it. “I’m afraid we’ve taken up too much time in this ring already, and I would hate to be an inconvenience for any of your fine compatriots, or my own for that matter!”

The orc warrior grumbled, but accepted Nevan’s polite refusal. The two even shook hands, though the bigger man still looked heated from the loss. Jadis couldn’t blame him. The two were in the same CLR bracket and therefore should have been a decent match for each other, yet the gnome had danced rings around the younger orc. Nevan was a startlingly skilled swordsman, far better than she had expected, and her expectations were already high. Noll had recommended him, after all.

“You weren’t kidding about him being good,” Dys murmured from the sideline.

“No,” Noll grunted, watching the two clear the arena with single-minded focus. “He’s a blowhard, but he can back up the swagger.”

“Definitely,” Dys nodded.

It was an hour after dawn and Jadis had already worked up a sweat going through her weapon drills. She and the rest of Fortune’s Favored had been neglecting that particular part of their daily routine due to the circumstances of their travel to the capital, but now that they were in a better position Jadis was determined to get back to sharpening her skills. Luckily, with Noll still in town, he was able to join their morning exercises and lend his considerable wisdom to their efforts.

The back gardens of Lyssandria’s high temple had plenty of open space for her little group to do some training and even spar, but with Charos’ temple practically next door, there really hadn’t been any good reason to ignore the opportunity to use a real training facility.

Charos’ high temple was similar in construction to Metethys’ temple, at least in terms of architecture, but instead of books and scholars it was full of weapons and warriors. Though realistically, there weren’t actually that many people in the temple. With a demonic invasion going on, the vast majority of Charos’ paladins and priests were on the battlefield, slaying demons and protecting the people. The only priests still in the capital were essentially a skeleton crew made up of mostly older warriors who were past their prime and injured individuals who were recovering from their wounds. That meant that the training arenas were free for Jadis and her company to use.

There was one other group of warriors in the temple, though. A group that was made up of neither old priests nor recovering soldiers. The War God’s Fist order of holy knights was still in the capital.

And Runar was with them.

Jadis did her best not to glare at the hulking bear man standing on the other side of the arena. She was trying her damnedest to be the better woman and not pick a fight with the hairy brute. She really, really, really wanted to, but she didn’t want to give Hraustrekr any more ammunition to use against her. With that thought in mind, she was using every ounce of willpower she possessed to ignore the jackass. However, she was certain that there was no way the asshole bear hadn’t purposefully positioned himself so that he was constantly in her line of sight.

She was dead certain he was basically inviting her to pick a fight with him.

Jadis wasn’t going to fall for the petty provocation. She had better things to do, anyway. Like observe the skills of her new company members.

“Try again my dear, you almost hit me that time.”

“How dare you mock me you little—Gah!”

“Mock you? My darling, I’d never do such a thing. I believe you are doing genuinely well and I am merely offering you some encouragement. Keep up the good work!”

Charos’ temple had multiple fighting rings used for sparring, which meant up to nine groups could train at the same time. Jadis couldn’t watch them all, but she could watch the three that were the most interesting to her at the same time.

Orla’s match was still going, though not because she was struggling against her opponent more than her husband had. The beautiful gnome woman had been matched up against an elf with a spear who had exuded an air of superior confidence right up until Orla had snatched the elf’s weapon straight out of her hands. Orla had graciously given the spear back to the elf and had been toying with the woman ever since.

Toying might have been the wrong word. There wasn’t anything sadistic in what Orla was doing. When she had said that she was simply offering encouragement to the spearwoman, Jadis believed her. She seemed to genuinely be trying to give the woman a chance to practice against an opponent who outclassed her. The problem was the elf was quickly losing her temper with how easily Orla was handling her. Jadis wasn’t sure the angry elf was going to get much out of the experience considering how frustrated she’d grown.

“Step a little more to the left next time, dear,” Orla corrected the elf as she nimbly dodged to the side. “You’re overcorrecting and that’s throwing you off your center. You won’t be able to follow my movements as well if you’re struggling to maintain your balance.”

“Fuck me!”

“I’m sorry sweeting, but I’m a married woman. You’re very pretty though, I’m sure you’ll find someone who is interested soon enough.”

The elf let out another string of what Jadis presumed were curses in a language she couldn’t understand while thrusting her spear in a flurry. Orla barely seemed bothered as she danced out of the way. While the furious warrior turned to follow her, Orla’s whip snapped around the elf’s ankle and pulled, causing her to lose her balance and crash onto the hard-packed arena floor.

“See what I mean? Remember to keep your body centered,” Orla tutted as she began winding up her whip. “Or even little gnomes like me will be able to pull you right off your feet.”

Orla was just as impressive as her husband. In fact, her skill with the dagger and whip combo she wielded was borderline intimidating. Jadis had been assured that neither gnome possessed any kind of magic, yet the accuracy with which Orla was able to maneuver her whip was almost unbelievable. Whatever skills Orla had chosen for her class, the majority must have been centered around powering up her whip prowess to a point where she was practically supernatural with the weapon.

As she and Noll had watched the gnomes display their combat skills, the two had discussed how to utilize the couple on the battlefield. While Noll was confident that the two would be capable of taking care of themselves, he cautioned Jadis about their weak points. While they were great at dealing against single opponents, even more so when working together, neither gnome had good skills for dealing with a crowd. Their weapons weren’t meant to be wielded against multiple opponents and their class skills weren’t much help either. Even their mundane training and style of combat was more suited towards duals than an open battlefield. That meant Nevan and Orla weren’t necessarily good options for fighting crowds of demons. Not that they’d be incapable, but their effectiveness would be lessened.

It was Jadis’ responsibility as leader of the mercenary company to keep the two new members’ strengths and weaknesses in mind when she fielded them. As Noll was quick to instruct her, a bad tactician would just assign them a duty and leave them to figure it out. A good one would take into account what the couple were capable of and find a role that suited them.

Having now seen the two in a few training spars, Jadis felt like she had a pretty good idea how she could utilize the flamboyant gnomes when fighting demons. They’d need to work it all out through some team practices, and further adjustments would likely need to be made once they actually got some time on the battlefield, but the training bouts were definitely helping Jadis plan her next steps for the mercenary company.

Those formulations took a backseat in her mind as her focus was drawn by the third fight she was actively observing. This fight she had a different interest in, one that was far more personal.

“Bollocks!”

Bridget’s curse was echoed by a grunt from Thea as both women were pushed back by the scrappy short man that she’d fought in Far Felsen.

With his arms raised so that his fists protected his head, the stocky man charged the two women as they desperately tried to strike him with their polearms. Neither landed even a glancing blow as the man dipped and dodged both, moving in close enough that he was able to punch Thea’s shield with a short-range body shot. The blow hit Thea’s shield and wasn’t even delivered with the force of the man’s weight behind it, yet it was enough to send the guardswoman rocking backwards, barely able to keep to her feet.

At first, Jadis had thought her two lovers would have faired well against the short boxer. They had a reach advantage, both women being taller than the guy and due to their choice in weapons. Unfortunately, the sheer power difference between them was too much. Shorty was over CLR one hundred, which meant he had more levels than both women combined. Maybe the fight would have been a little less one-sided if the two had been empowered by Jadis’ Lewd Lover’s Bond ritual, but without that boost to their stats it was simply no contest.

Bridget let out a grunt of exertion as she tried to cover for Thea, her lantern-flail coming down onto the short man’s head. What should have been a sure hit was easily turned into a counterattack as the man grabbed hold of the polearm’s shaft and with one strong pull, yanked it out of the orc’s grasp. In the next instant, Bridget was on the ground, her legs swept out from under her.

Thea tried to rally, to her credit, but her attempt at a shield bash was turned aside as the brawler pushed back against. In another moment, she had been tossed on top of Bridget, also disarmed of her spear.

“You’ve got a long ways to go,” shorty said as he waited for the two women to get to their feet. “But not as long as some I’ve seen. If you weren’t spoken for, I’d tell you to join the recruitment program for our order. The both of you could make the distance.”

“Thanks,” Bridget grumbled as she took her flail back from the man. “I guess. We’ll get you next time.”

“Next time,” the man smiled and shrugged in a good-natured way. “Might be. I’m no soothsayer. Either way, I look forward to the fight.”

Thea didn’t speak to the man, instead simply nodding in acknowledgement before taking her spear back from him. Jadis could sense the frustration coming from her quiet lover. It wasn’t always easy to tell what was going on in her shy shield maiden’s mind, but at a guess Jadis presumed she was feeling some frustration at her inability to match up to the stronger man. The two had fought previously, after all.

“Alright, anyone else want to take me on?” the short man asked the crowd of spectators. “I’ve still got some energy to work off!”

“Me.”

The short man smiled, then flinched back as all three of Jadis approached him. It was for only a brief moment, but she saw the way his body turned and one hand strayed towards his crotch upon seeing her three selves. A fair reaction, Jadis supposed, considering how they’d left off their last fight.

“…Anyone else?” the short man asked as he eyed Jadis warily. “No offense, love, but I’m not sure you and I should be doing any dueling, friendly or otherwise.”

“Why? You aren’t scared to fight someone more than fifty levels lower than you, are you?” Syd asked tauntingly.

“I promise, no low blows,” Dys intoned gravely. “So long as you don’t land any on me.”

“If you aren’t up for the challenge, then I’ll find someone else,” Jay shrugged. “And you can go take a rest.”

“Now, it’s not that I—” the man started to say before he was cut off by another, much deeper, voice.

“I’ll fight you,” Runar rumbled as he marched into the ring. “One on one.”

“Shite…” the short man cursed under his breath, clearly unhappy with the direction things were going but not willing to get in his boss’ way.

Jadis, however, couldn’t have been happier.

The huge bear man was dressed in his usual dark gambeson. His hair had been restored since the last time Jadis had seen him, which meant he no longer looked quite so comical. In fact, his appearance was even more intimidating than usual considering the huge mace he was carrying on one hand. Unlike the weapon he’d been wielding when they’d first fought, this mace was suited to his size and looked like it meant business. The hard edges of the star-shaped mace head looked like they could punch right though even the thickest armor. An idea that could potentially be tested since Jadis was fully decked out in her plate armor.

“I wouldn’t mind a rematch,” Jay growled back at the infuriating bear man. “The fight might not go the way you think it will, once you’re fighting all of me, rather than just a third.”

“The quantity doesn’t change the quality,” Runar let out a huff that misted in the cold air. “Three or three hundred, you’re still an inexperienced lump of shit.”

“What’s that say about you, dickless, considering I flattened your face last time?” Syd sneered as she motioned to the half of his head that had previously been burnt clean of fur.

“It says that I was holding back, since I was ordered not to kill you,” Runar replied with a deadly earnestness that practically screamed the truthfulness of his statement.

“Happy to put that to the test,” Jay spread her arms wide in challenge. “So long as you and everyone here agrees that this is just a spar that you asked for, and not me being a hothead looking for revenge.”

“You are a hothead,” Runar pointed out in a way that reminded Jadis far too much of something Noll would say.

“Beside the point. This is your idea, agreed?”

“Agreed,” Runar growled.

Just as the big bear man was about to take a step forward to meet Jadis in the ring, another man’s hand fell on his shoulder and forced him to stop.

“Not a chance, Runar,” Steingrimur sternly admonished the paladin. “You’re out of line.”

“What? Why?” Dys demanded as she watched the high priest force the Valbjorn to take a step back. “You aren’t stopping us because of some political bullshit, are you?”

The half human, half Valbjorn man snorted loudly as he took a step towards Jadis.

“Of course not. I’ve been waiting for my chance to fight you since we met. I’ve got first call. Runar can wait his fucking turn.”

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