“I’ll keep that in mind,” Arek said. “It’s a fair point.”

“I know,” Belmont said. “Regardless, are you planning on practicing with your magic? You can’t expect to avoid using it in combat until a fight, or you’ll never get stronger.”

Arek spun the guandao and chuckled.

“I suppose so,” he agreed. “It’s just… strange to be using part of my full power again. It feels wrong.”

“You’re using it for good this time,” Belmont said. “You aren’t Warchief anymore. There’s no better way to make up for past mistakes than with present actions.”

“That sounds like you’ve thought it over a lot,” Arek observed.

“I have,” Belmont replied. He turned away and walked over to Malissa’s tent. He pulled the flap aside and peered in. “Arek is going to train with his magic. If you’re done writing stuff down, do you want to help?”

“Yeah!” Malissa said enthusiastically. “Just give me a second to finish writing this down.”

A few moments later, the two of them emerged from the tent. Malissa raised her eyebrows at Arek’s new armor.

“Fancy looking. I bet Belmont was jealous of the spike,” Malissa said.

“I didn’t even notice it,” Belmont replied, crossing his arms. Malissa glanced at Arek, but the orc just gave her a wry smile.

Malissa shrugged and the three of them walked a short distance away from their camp so as to avoid ruining the tents while they trained. Malissa’s knives were already in her hands by the time they stopped.

“So, how’s this going to work?” Malissa asked, stretching her arms and shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

“The same as the first time we sparred,” Arek said. “But I believe we’ve both grown stronger since then. We’ll begin slow and then slowly increase the pace without getting too serious. Belmont will attempt to shield you from all of my attacks.”

“Works for me,” Malissa said. She spun a knife and lowered into a fighting stance. “I’m ready when you are.”

“As am I,” Belmont said.

“Then let us begin,” Arek said.

He stepped forward, swinging the large polearm in a wide attack at Malissa’s side. A pink shield flickered up just in time to block it. It shattered on impact, buying Malissa enough time to dodge out of the way of the strike.

She ducked under Arek’s arms and thrust a dagger at his chest. The orc spun the hilt of the guandao in a circle, knocking her blade to the side. Malissa rolled with the strike, popping up with a new knife already in hand.

“You might need to make your shields stronger,” Arek advised Belmont.

“Understood,” Belmont said.

Arek thrust his weapon towards Malissa, forcing her to dance to the side. The blade flickered through the air, following after her. A thicker shield intercepted the strike, this time stopping its momentum entirely.

Before Malissa could follow up on it, Arek swept the blade before him, forcing her to keep her distance, and took a step backwards. He changed his stance, raising the weapon until it was nearly at his head level and pointed the blade in Malissa’s direction.

“Get ready,” Arek warned.

Malissa’s response was a dagger that sailed past Arek’s head, narrowly grazing his brow and drawing a thin line of blood. The orc grinned and inclined his head, succeeding the point to her, and then stepped forward.

His blow seemed almost sluggish. The strike went wide as Malissa easily stepped past it. A shield appeared behind her, narrowly blocking the violent follow up attack that Arek unleashed.

“Gods above, that was fast!” Malissa cursed.

Arek simply grinned, swinging the blade at her neck. Malissa ducked under the attack and dashed forwards, allowing Belmont to catch Arek’s next strike with his shields. She thrust a dagger towards the orc’s stomach.

The blunt end of the guandao slammed into her stomach, breaking through a shield with just enough force to knock the breath out of her. Malissa rolled to the side as Arek’s blade blurred through the air where she’d been standing.

Arek advanced on Malissa, unleashing a baffling barrage of slow and lightning fast attacks. She was able to land several small attacks on the orc, but nothing that would have put him down if it was a real fight.

The orc leapt backwards to avoid a dagger slash, then lowered his head and charged towards Malissa like a bull.

“Oh shit,” Malissa cursed, throwing herself to the side as his horned armor nearly impaled her. She rolled to her feet and raised her daggers in an x shape, catching the guandao above her head with a grunt.

The force of the strike traveled through her arms and down to her feet, shaking her body like a gong.

The guandao spun in Arek’s hand, almost of its own volition, and the orc brought it slashing down at Malissa’s side. She gritted her teeth and spun, a whirlwind of daggers appearing at the edges of her robes.

Arek pulled the strike and hopped backwards. Malissa leapt towards him and thrust her daggers upwards towards his chest.

The orc twisted his body, catching both of the blades on his dull green armor. He continued the motion, using his momentum to build up a powerful swing. It slammed into Belmont’s shield, shattering it and causing Malissa to stumble backwards several feet.

Malissa recovered and shot back towards Arek again. She raised her hand, preparing to stab the orc in the side with a dagger, but the attack never came. Instead, she leapt into the air and brought her knee up into the orc’s jaw.

His head snapped up and he let out a grunt. Arek returned the blow by thrusting the blunt end of the guandao into her stomach again, forcing Malissa away from him.

“Good one,” Arek admitted, rubbing his chin. “My turn.”

He changed his stance once again. This time, he transferred the guandao to his right hand and raised his left towards Malissa, palm first. His claws flared with green light and he blurred forward.

Before any of them could react, his blade was resting against Malissa’s neck.

“I win,” Arek said, grinning.