We all traveled together towards East Port to see Randolph's newly renovated restaurant. The city was huge. It was the biggest port in the entire world and the largest city of the King Dragon Realm. As we got close, the quiet coastline transformed into a crowded beach with several tourists and locals playing in the water. Many shops and stalls were set up nearby.
We took the main road into the city and traveled a short distance before we reached our destination.
Marianne's
It was a brick building, newly refurbished, with a brand new wooden sign hanging above the door. Randolph unlocked the door and welcomed us in. The inside had newly made furniture and a gray tiled floor.
"Wow you did a great job with the renovations."
"Thanks, Rudeus. It's only thanks to the money you gave me. I'm not sure how long I could have kept the place open otherwise. It was getting pretty run down."
"I'm glad I could help. You saved my life after all."
"Well consider us even. You hungry now?", Randolph asked.
It took about an hour to walk here from Marlaea, but we had just eaten lunch there so I wasn't particularly hungry again.
"Not really", I answered. Sylphy and Eris agreed.
"Why don't we spar first and work up an appetite", Aleksander suggested.
"Yes, that might be a good idea", Randolph agreed.
Eris drew her sword excitedly.
"Woah! Not here!", Randolph exclaimed while waving his hands. "I just fixed this place up!"
"Oh yeah. Sorry", Eris said as she sheathed her sword.
I expected Randolph to simply take us outside to a clearing in his back yard or something, but instead we found ourselves in a small training ground.
"I'm old friends with one of the generals of this country", Randolph mentioned. "He's directed the captain of the guard here to let Alex and I spar here from time to time."
A man dressed up as though he were rather important waved to Randolph as we entered.
The training ground was oval shaped and pretty large; about the length of a football field. It was easy to tell this wasn't a place designed for one on one battles, but rather for large groups to train together all at once. Surrounding the oval training ground was a raised seating area for observers, almost like a colosseum. We appeared to be the only ones here, although there were several spectators in the seating area.
"Kind of surprising that nobody's here", Randolph muttered.
"I may have reserved the place before we left this morning", Alex answered. "I had a feeling we'd make good use out of it today."
Each of us grabbed a wooden training sword. There were barrels full of them at the entrance.
"You're using a sword now?", Aleksander asked. "What about that fancy staff of yours?"
"I left it at home. Unlike you, I wasn't expecting a fight once I got here."
"I'll give you a handicap then. One hand behind my back should do."
"You'll regret it if you try", Eris quipped as she readied her stance.
Sylphy took note and got into a fighting stance too. Randolph stood beside Alex with his training sword in one with the blade resting gently on his shoulder.
"Don't forget that I'm here too. You've already had two rounds with him Alex. Let me take a crack at him; you can spar with the other two first."
Alex pouted as he glanced over towards Eris and Sylphy.
"Fine. Make it quick. I'm not a fan of babysitting."
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean!?", Eris snarled as she tightened her grip. Sylphy held her stance firm although to me it looked like she might be a little intimidated.
"I'll do my best, but from what you've told me, this boy is just as cunning a warrior as myself."
"I was talking to Rudeus", Alex said with a smirk.
***** Aleksander Rybak's Perspective *****
The fiery redhead lunged towards me at high speed. I knew that technique; it was the longsword of light.
"How rude, haha!"
I deflected her blow to the side. Just like any Sword God Style practitioner, she was fast, but it was easy to read her movements. I spun on my heal and swung my sword towards her neck, planning to stop just before making contact. However, as I turned I had to catch my balance as I slipped. The other girl, Sylphiette, had cast some spell that froze the ground underneath me.
"Another silent spellcaster!? Amazing! Did your boyfriend teach you that?"
She didn't answer, only smiled. I could see the pride on her face. I can count the number of silent spellcasters I've met on one hand. She deserves to be proud of her achievement.
Eris used the opportunity to come in for another attack. I knew it was coming and parried it once again. In the same move, I stomped the ground and knocked up some chunks of the frozen ground beneath me, timing the move so that Eris' body was blocking Sylphiette's line of sight.
The moment Eris moved out of the way, I kicked one of the frozen stones towards Sylphiette. The move caught her off guard and the stone struck her square in the chest, knocking her on her back.
I immediately turned my focus back to Eris and went on the attack. She was able to block my first couple moves, but with each strike I improved my position and it became harder for her to defend. Just as I was about to land a blow to end the bout, a strong gust of wind shoved me just enough to allow Eris to dodge out of the way.
'What? Sylphiette's back on her feet? That strike should have been strong enough to knock a mage unconscious!'
I couldn't help but smile excitedly.
"A mage of your caliber that's mastered battle aura? That's quite a rare find. Are you a magic swordswoman then?"
"I don't know if I would call myself that, but yes, I have trained a little using a sword with Ghislaine."
"Hahaha! I take it back. Sparring with the two of you is far more exciting than I had expected!"
Eris stood up and dusted herself off before taking her place aside Sylphiette. They were ready for round two.
Meanwhile...
***** Rudeus' Perspective *****
Without warning, Eris started her attack on Alex.
"Oh. I suppose the two of us should get started then", Randolph laughed. "Go ahead. You take the first move."
"If you insist."
I gripped my training sword tightly and ran in for the attack. Randolph blocked it easily.
I recovered and came in from a different angle. Same result.
I continued trying, using each of the different basic forms that Ghislaine and Paul had taught me, but to no avail.
"Hmm. You're not going to use magic?", Randolph questioned as I stepped back to my starting position.
"Yes, I suppose I don't make for much of an opponent if I don't, huh? I've recently been learning to control my battle aura and I was curious to see how well I'd do."
"I see. Well, I do have to compliment you on that regard. Your form is a bit lacking, but you make up for it with strength and speed."
"My thanks. I'll mix a bit of magic into this next exchange then. Hopefully that will make things more interesting for you."
Once again, I came at Randolph with a basic horizontal strike, but at the same time I used my other hand to cast gravity magic to speed up the strike half way through and put more weight behind it.
Randolph's eyes opened slightly wider as he blocked the blow. The weight of the strike caused him to stumble back slightly. I used the opportunity to conjure a quagmire behind him. The moment his feet sank down into the mud, his backwards momentum caused him to fall backward onto his rear.
I waited for him to get up, ready to go for another round of our sparring. Randolph sat there for a moment, then looked disappointed.
"You didn't move in for the winning blow", he said as he stood back up.
"Of course not. We're not trying to hurt one another. It's just a sparring match."
"Yes. Quite right", said with a sigh. "I got a bit excited there. My style of combat really isn't suited for your typical sparring."
"Oh? What, is it instant death magic or something?"
"Instant death magic? What a terrifying concept, haha. No, no. It's nothing like that. Go ahead and come at me with all you've got and I'll show you. Go on. Go all out."
"Eh, I don't know about that. If I really went all out, I could turn this whole city into a giant crater."
Randolph raised an eyebrow at that comment.
"We definitely don't want that to happen..."
Randolph glanced over to see that Alex's bout with Eris and Sylphy had paused.
"How about this: Alex and I versus you three."
"Sounds good to me."