Leaning back, Bjarke accepted the tray before asking, "Are you really going to fight with mom?"
"Yeah, in two days. She wanted to get used to her new skills before we fought." Chronos replied.
"Good luck, she's been in the training grounds ever since your challenge preparing for it. I don't think she intends to go easy on you."
They both grimaced as they recalled the many times Aunt Freydis had nearly killed them and called it training. They did get stronger afterwards, but that didn't make the pain any easier to bear.
"Just have priests ready to put my body back together if needed."
"Right."
"By the way, what position did you gain for your first expedition?" Chronos couldn't help but be curious about how well his self-proclaimed rival was doing.
Whether he was her son or not Chronos knew that Aunt Freydis would never allow Bjarke to be in a position that he wasn't qualified for.
"I'm a part of the Black Fang vanguard unit." He said with pride.
Chronos had a shocked look on his face, "That is surprising. I didn't think she would allow you to be in the front lines. Congratulations Bjarke."
Amongst werewolves, being the first into combat against an enemy was considered a great honor and proved that you were one of the strongest in the army.
In the past the older and stronger werewolves would break the enemy lines before the younger ones reached them to prevent needless death amongst the hot-blooded youths. Eventually this had developed into a belief that it was a great honor to be in the front lines, and nearly everyone on the front lines indeed had many victories and great strength.
This also encouraged the pups to work harder to increase their strength, overall, it was a good thing for the clan.
Having Bjarke, who was just a year older than Chronos, be a part of the vanguard showed just how strong he was.
"If you're still in one piece in a couple days then we should spar."
"Sure, I'll accept whenever you're ready to lose again." Chronos teased him.
The next two days passed swiftly with no real changes.
Chronos continued to train his skills and learn about his bloodline while his friends became stronger in their own ways. The only notable event was that the scouts had found one of the gathering points for the slaves and moved to rescue them before they could be sacrificed.
Another 300 people joined the fortress with plans to take them back to the wasteland, but they chose to live under the leadership of the nagas near the fortress rather than going back to the wasteland.
Then the day arrived. When Chronos entered the training grounds he found that Aunt Freydis was already waiting for him with her claymore drawn.
"About time you arrived Chronos." She said with an eager grin.
"We never set a time to start, to be honest I was hoping you would cool down a little before we fought." He replied.
He had waited until after dinner to come to the training grounds as a part of his mental tactics but instead of calming down she just looked more excited than ever.
"If it was that easy to shake my mind, I never would've become the commander of the Black Fang battalion."
Chronos drew his sword as Commander Stan walked onto the ring.
"I'll be the referee for today's match; there will be no low blows and no killing blows. Everything else is acceptable. Are both combatants ready?" He looked at both of them to which they nodded.
"Then begin." With that he dropped his hand and took to the sky where he wouldn't be in their way.
The two of them used [Sever] and [Isolate Shield] at the same time causing their weapons to shimmer while a translucent shield floated around them.
Then Chronos was attacking Freydis with a barrage of blows which she easily deflected with her shield before kicking him in the gut, forcing him back.
"Too eager you left yourself open." She said as she closed the distance.
Just as she expected Chronos to block her attacks with his shield he moved his sword in front of her sword instead. When she saw it, she canceled her attack and stepped back as she tried to kick him again.
To which Chronos caught her foot and spun, throwing her into the air.
Before she hit the ground, she flipped over landing on her feet just in time to knock his sword aside again with her shield.
"Tch, she's avoiding my sword while beating me down. She must have figured out the shear and lock already. I'll have to use plan two." He thought in frustration.
He had been hoping to catch her by surprise with a lock to create an opening but that wasn't going to work now.
Taking a defensive stance, he held the shield in one hand while casting [Isolate] in the other. Seeing what he was doing, Aunt Freydis charged forward. Just as she entered sword range, she tossed her claymore into the air and pummeled him with her fists.
"Right, can't forget she taught Bjarke almost everything he knows." He diverted her attacks with one hand while covering half his body with the shield.
Catching her claymore, she swung down as hard as she could, he barely got the shield up in time to cause a shear. Making it harmlessly slide off to the side.
Chronos continued to retreat as Aunt Freydis put more pressure on him, keeping his left hand hidden from her until a sudden flash of light caught her attention.
Chronos thrust his hand forward, throwing out an [Isolate] that had been compressed to his limit. It shone brightly before cracking against Aunt Freydis's shield.
Boom!
Her shield shattered under the sudden pressure as she was knocked backwards. Jumping up she dodged Chronos' sword several times before she was able to strike back.
As they separated, she cast an [Isolate] around the entire field. At first Chronos didn't understand why she would waste so much energy to create such a large barrier, then she grabbed the air with both hands and pulled to the side.
Chronos stumbled as the entire field spun like a carousel, taking advantage of his stumble Aunt Freydis landed several more blows on him. But he managed to avoid the worst attacks, including her claymore.
Creating some distance Chronos gasped for air. It hadn't even been five minutes since they had started but the skills they were using and the speed they were moving at had caused him to lose control of his breathing.
This was his first time participating in such high-level combat making it difficult for him to know how to regulate his breathing and strength.
"How is it fighting against someone who's not only stronger but more skilled than you are, Chronos?" She said with a big sadistic grin.
She was definitely enjoying this too much. Regulating his breathing he leveled his sword once again as he cast his fourth [Sever] of the fight, he had lost control of it several times earlier in the battle.
"Not bad, I'm certainly learning a lot. I know I'm the one who suggested controlling direction through our skills but how did you turn that into a reality in less than a week?"
"It's not quite a reality. I can only shift the entire space right now, so I'm also affected by its movements. Ideally I could choose what to affect and what not to but that needs more research." She said as she looked at the barrier with a bit of disappointment.
Then she attacked him again only to have him try to keep his distance as he struck out with an extended [Sever]. Unfortunately, her range was larger than his and she used it to toss pieces of the ground at him using the flat of her claymore.
Chronos knocked them aside before kicking a large piece back at her, but he kept looking at the barrier surrounding the battlefield.
As they fought, she realized that Chronos was very distracted right now, but she couldn't tell why.
Stepping back, she asked, "Alright, why can't you focus?"
"Hm, I know this is a strange time to ask but can you try spinning the field again in just a moment? I want to test something." Chronos set down his sword then cast [Isolate] around himself.
Seeing what he was doing, Aunt Freydis understood what he wanted to test. Nodding she grabbed the air again and pulled, only this time she was the only one to move while Chronos remained in place inside his barrier.
"Huh, well that's interesting. Why didn't I think to test that?" Aunt Freydis mumbled.
Since Chronos wasn't in the center of the ring the battlefield around them had gone up the wall some as it shifted around him before partially collapsing as it settled in its new position.
"I think we should call the fight here. There's so much I want to test right now." Chronos said.