Igor and his blade stopped mere inches from Rowan's face, close enough that he could feel the displaced air from its passage.
The sudden silence was deafening.
Igor stood there, slowly drawing back his sword, his face a mixture of shock and confusion. "Uh… what?"
Rowan let out a labored breath before looking up at the Commander with a defiant smile. "I yield."
Not worth getting blasted across the courtyard like the others for some stupid test, he thought. I've proven enough.
Igor scratched his head, processing what had just happened, before letting out a laugh that boomed across the group. "You yield? That's a new one! Guess Sylas could give you all the training in the world, and you could be blessed with talent, but it means nothing if your balls are the size of berries." Igor bellowed a little more, clearly amused, before nudging Rowan with his boot. "Alright, get out of the circle, coward."
Rowan shook his head with a sigh and made his way back to Jared, who stared at him with a raised eyebrow and an amused grin.
"I didn't take you for a wuss, Rowan."
Rowan rolled his eyes. "Wuss? Maybe. But whose pride was hurt more, mine for yielding in front of everyone, or yours for… well, puking in front of everyone?"
Jared grimaced for a second before releasing a breath and shaking his head. "Fair point."
The boys watched the rest of the duels progress.
Eventually, Princess Mira stepped up into the circle, her royal bearing evident even in this violent setting.
"He better not mess up that beautiful face of hers," Jared said.
"Relax. You really think he'd actually hurt the princess?" Rowan countered.
Jared tilted his head thoughtfully. "I don't know. The Commander doesn't strike me as a man who might care about a thing like that. He seems to care more about results than station."
Rowan nodded slowly. "You may be right."
Mira and Igor faced off as their duel commenced.
Mira had showcased in her last tests that she was not very capable in the three Stormborn forms — her emission was weak, her reinforcement mediocre, her manifestation barely functional despite apparently being her specialty. But in this fight, she showed how she might be more than meets the eye, that raw power wasn't the only path to victory.
She blitzed at Igor, wooden sword in hand, swinging downward toward his head with apparent recklessness.
Igor shook his head in disappointment at the telegraphed approach, raising his blade to easily deflect.
But then, suddenly, right before she would have swung down, she stopped completely — sword frozen in the air, her hands gripping it hard, eyes closed, face showing obvious nervousness.
Igor's eyebrows came down as he stared at her in confusion, his sword becoming lax at his side. "Girl?" he said it like a question, one laced with concern.
But the question would never get an answer.
As suddenly as if she had frozen and now was thawed, her swing continued with renewed force. Igor was now relaxed, caught off-guard. He had let his guard down and lowered his sword in his concern for her. He didn't have time to properly defend, and she landed a solid blow on his shoulder before immediately recoiling back and lunging to where she had started the fight.
Jared groaned with a muffled laugh, clearly impressed.
Rowan smirked. "Crafty girl."
Igor's face turned red with embarrassment and anger. He wasted no more time — princess or not, he was going to finish this now. He launched from where he stood, swinging his sword hard just as he had done many times today already.
But this time did not go as smoothly as the previous times.
It looked like Mira had learned something from watching Rowan's duel earlier, and she ducked and rolled under the same opening in the wide swing that Rowan had noticed. She spun around behind Igor's exposed back.
Then Igor stepped down hard on the stone where she had initially stood, and suddenly the tall and massive man became a little bit shorter as a small two-foot-deep hole in the stone appeared under his right foot, his leg dropping into the hidden cavity and momentarily locking him in place.
"What!?"
Sweat began to bead on Igor's forehead as he tried to turn, but Mira was already behind him, swinging her sword with surprising force.
Is she actually going to win? Rowan leaned closer, his interest piqued.
But that hope was quickly and swiftly destroyed when Igor grunted in anger, slamming his reinforced fist into the ground with tremendous force. The stone fractured all around them, chunks of rock jumping into the air from the impact. The shockwave caused Mira to stumble off balance and almost fall.
By the time she found her footing again, the opening was gone, and she was on the floor, covered in pain, Igor standing over her like a vengeful giant.
He gave her a moment to catch her breath before speaking, his anger subsiding into something like grudging respect. "I guess what they say about that boulder-sized brain of yours is true then, aye, girl?" He paused as she struggled to stand to her feet, wiping saliva from her mouth with the back of her hand. "Explain what just happened and how you did it."
Mira took a couple more breaths before smiling through the pain.
"Before the duel started, I used emission underneath my foot where I was standing. My emission isn't very powerful, but I was able to create a hollow cavity underneath the stone. So when someone stepped on it with enough pressure, they would fall through. I stopped my swing at the beginning because I knew you would hesitate when you thought something was wrong, giving me an opening to land that first strike. I then lunged back to where the hole under the stone was, baiting you to charge at me and fall into my trap."
Igor was stroking his chin as he squinted at the girl's explanation, thinking for a long while, clearly impressed by the strategic thinking.
"Interesting… back into the group, Princess."
The word "princess" rolled off his tongue with obvious sarcasm, but there was respect underneath it.
She walked back, and Jared was practically drooling as she passed near them.
"Hey, pick your jaw up, man. You look stupid," Rowan said.
Jared gulped. "Oh, come on, man. I've never been with anyone nearly as beautiful as her." He grinned. "Just the thought of it has me spinning. You know what I mean?"
Rowan sighed. "No, I don't. And you know it's not very hero-like to be so gross."
Jared spun his head to Rowan, genuinely surprised. "What? Wait, don't tell me… you haven't bedded anyone yet?"
Rowan pulled back, unsure what to say. "W-what? T-that's none of your business."
Jared laughed. "How old are you?"
Rowan shook his head, annoyed with this conversation. "Eighteen, same as you."
"And you still haven't bedded anyone? What's the hold-up? Fancy boys?" Jared gasped sarcastically. "Don't tell me… do you fancy me?"
Frustration was bursting from Rowan as he did his best to just ignore him, focusing his attention back on the dueling circle as the last test taker was called up, probably the most anticipated after the last stage.
No, I didn't bed anyone, Rowan thought bitterly. If I wasn't sleeping, eating, or pissing, then Master had me training.
He glanced at his annoying companion.
"Cassia Goldleaf," her name was called, bringing Rowan's full attention back to the dueling circle, which had been moved across the courtyard after the destruction caused by the previous bouts.
Jared nudged him with his elbow. "You know, a girl like that is gonna have, um, 'expectations,' right? Might do you some good to visit a brothel or two and wet that pecker of yours."
Rowan didn't even entertain the comment.
Fuck friends. I'm gonna kill this guy.
Soon, though, all thoughts and frustrations were silenced as the duel between Cassia and Igor began with a bang that echoed through the courtyard like thunder.