Chapter 026:

With lunch, and a good many other things relating to Kal settled, they headed outside. Quite a few people had gathered. Anton hoped they were here to look at Kal rather than planning to do something stupid.

Kal pulled her hood tighter on her head and hunched it down as she emerged, not liking the attention she was getting. Anton was not liking some of the looks he was getting from the villagers either. Thankfully, Jeff came to the rescue.

“Alright, back to work everyone. There's nothing to see here.”

Some of the villagers started to leave while most stayed.

“Go on,” he raised his voice, “Unless you want to spend the rest of the day running around the village with my foot up your arse!”

The villagers looked positively scared and quickly scattered, Jeff smiling at Anton who returned it.

“Thank-you Jonathan. Now, Kal?”

She twitched and looked straight at him, straightening herself up as well. Anton had not really noticed until now but Kal was almost as tall as he was. Her eyes were almost at the same level as his.

“Your knowledge of the monsters and beasts will take quite some time to properly explain. For now, I would like to see how you fare in combat.”

Kal nodded in reply.

“We have quite a few spare weapons in the training field,” Jeff said looking north, “They aren't sharp enough for proper combat, but they're good enough to spar with.”

“Wasn't the training yard...around here?” Anton asked, pointing to the central plaza.

“It was, but with more people planned to live here I thought we needed a more permanent spot, one that's not going to be in anyone's way.”

“Alright. We'll go there.”

Kal seemed a little nervous about going into such a public space but still followed them north.

The northern gates were left open, many villagers were coming and going. Most were soldiers that looked tired and battered from their training. Some nodded or saluted in their odd way but most looked angrily or disapprovingly at Kal. He heard her sigh lightly but said nothing of it.

The training field itself was just a large open area outside the village, to the left of the gate. The outside of the field was marked with large wooden stakes and was easily a hundred meters wide and the same deep. The regrowing green grass had been trampled flat and in some parts the still scorched dirt was already beginning to show. On the wall side of the field lay several racks of old iron and wooden weapons, some villagers mulling around them.

Further to the north was a large raised earth ridge, that looked like an archery range of sorts. Anton could see Avery and over thirty villagers at the range. Some had bows while the others were getting used to the crossbows, they seemed to be learning quickly judging by how fast they could reload and fire the bolts at the rough targets.

Many soldier villagers were paired off, under the watch and instruction of someone that Anton recognized as one of Jeff's best soldiers but did not remember his name. He was a short but well built man.

When they saw Jeff approach they stopped. The instructor came up and patted Jeff on the back, which he returned.

“We were wondering why you were called away to the east. Something good happen?” the instructor asked.

“Not really sure. But Anton seems to think it will be, so I'm going with that.” Jeff replied. “We're going to need a bit of room...”

Jeff leaned into his ear and spoke, Anton still able to hear. “And we'll need it as clear as possible.”

The instructor raised an eyebrow and looked towards Anton. Anton looked behind him and saw that Kal was looking down so her eyes were only just barely visible.

“It's a little...difficult to explain without everybody shouting their thoughts.”

The instructor looked a little bewildered but nodded in agreement, motioning for Jeff to speak.

“Okay everyone,” Jeff boomed over the clanks of the colliding weapons, “Take a break. Go inside and get yourself something to eat. We'll need this space for a little bit, so take your time.”

The soldiers looked relieved, men and women had sweat pouring off of their faces as they stopped. They put their weapons back onto racks resting on the wall and headed inside. Quite a few did not, sitting down against the wall and in whatever shade they could find. They seemed interested in whatever was happening. There were still a few people on the field, talking mostly.

Avery, though, was continuing the ranged training with the villagers and showed that he was not going to stop until it was the actual time for lunch.

“This looks as open as it's going to be for now.” Anton said, looking back to Kal, “So what weapons do you usually use?”

Kal pulled out her daggers.

“These recently. I have used most of these types of swords before.”

“I think we should start out with a practice sword for you to begin with-”

“Who's she going to go up against?” Verona asked, “We can't just tell how good she is from her just swinging it around.”

Anton was about to answer when a cry of 'Hello' resounded through the air, coming from the gate. They all turned around to see Sam, Jeff's partner and girlfriend, coming towards them with someone else behind her. They kept their head down underneath a large leather hat.

“Anton, Verona! You could have at least said hello when you got back.” Sam said as she came up to Anton looking somewhat cross, “I only heard about you two from the odd rumors going around.”

“Hello Sam,” Anton said, “We've had a very interesting day so far.”

She hugged Anton, followed by Verona. Sam took advantage, picking Verona up and squeezing her, a squeak of surprise coming from Verona. She put her back down but kept her arms wrapped around Verona's head, Verona silently grumbling about her lack of height.

“No excuse though.” she said. Anton could not help but agree.

The other woman caught his attention. She keep her hat tilted forward slightly and obscuring her face. Anton felt that he recognized her though.

The woman looked up and smiled. It was Dana, the lost scout.

“Dana, how are you doing? I haven't seen you since the mountain.” Anton asked.

He had told her to come to him if she needed anything relating to her difficult time in the mountain but she had not. Part of his mind must have thought that she was fine and forgot to ask about her. That was something that he did not want her to know.

“I'm doing...okay.” she replied.

Her voice had changed from the hoarse and croaky one from the mountain and was now far more lighter and sweet to hear.

“You'll be glad to know that I did not manage to fall pregnant from those...monsters.” Dana said as she smiled, “I'm still glad to be back here, alive, with my brother. He's been a great help through this thing.”

Anton nodded. He had no idea what damage could be done by being forced upon multiple times, but from the outside at least, she seemed to be alright.

“I'm sorry I didn't check up on you.”

“It's okay. You had quite a number of things going on. I'm just glad that you actually came and rescued us. I didn't want to be in that cave any longer.”

“Are you still riding and scouting, considering....?”

Dana nodded.

“Yes.” She replied, “I got snuck up on and did not know how to defend myself. If I knew how to use a blade properly they may have just killed me, or I could have fought them off. So, I'm here every day to learn. I think I'm doing well.”

She turned to Jeff, who nodded in agreement.

“She single handedly took control of all our scouts and those that can ride horses, and has them training here every day.” Jeff added, “It will take quite a bit of force to get one of our scouts down now.”

“You here for some more of that?”

Dana nodded.

“I was, but I heard from the others that you've got the training field cleared for something. I wanted to see what was happening.”

Sam agreed.

By the way, you mentioned there were some rumors. What sort of rumors, anyway?” he asked.

“That there's a demonic beast running about, following your shadow, that you let in.”

Sam looked over Anton's shoulder, Kal again hiding behind him. Anton moved to the side, Kal looked up at him, revealing her Beast-kin eyes. Sam looked a little startled while Dana looked on silently.

“There is a beast running about.” Sam suppressed a laugh.

She approached Kal, who looked straight at her.

“Hello, I'm Sam. Jeff's partner.”

Sam held her hand out for Kal to shake. Kal looked to Anton, who nodded, and shook her hand.

“Kal. Beast-kin.” she replied curtly.

“Doesn't say much, does she?” Sam looked to Anton and Jeff.

“No, but she has only been here since an lunch and probably spent most of her life being beaten or on the run from people.” Anton explained, “Although, you seem okay with shaking the hand of a Beast-kin, let alone them being here. Same to you, Dana.”

Sam shrugged. “I trust you, and Jeff. Besides...”

She leaned in closer to Kal, “She looks cute.”

Kal took a step back in surprise but steadied herself. She had probably never heard a single positive thing in decades.

“And what about you, Dana?”

Dana looked around and then up and down.

“She doesn't seem hostile. And I've learned that the stories about the monsters and beasts have turned out to be wrong...especially with those Yellow Goblins not being intelligent. Since she's not one of them...I'll trust that she won't do anything to hurt us, but only because of your words, Anton. I am open for her to prove herself though.”

Guess my words stand for quite a bit, though Dana's attitude is understandable. Getting violated for over a week by those little yellow monsters would definitely make me hostile to anything that looked remotely non-human. At least she's not spitting venom at Kal...yet.

“Is she staying here?” Dana asked, their was no emotion to her voice.

“For now, yes.” Anton replied. “I want this village to be great, and that cannot be accomplished without taking all the help we can get.”

Dana nodded and folded her arms. She did not seem threatening but ready for anything potentially dangerous.

“Kal says she's fought off monsters and beasts, and considering that she's a Beast-kin alone out here, I'm willing to believe her.” Anton continued. “We were about to start a little sparing session when you two arrived, about to get someone to go against her.”

“I'll do it.” Sam said, attracting odd looks from everyone.

“Are you sure?” Verona asked. “I could-”

“No, I'll be fine. It's just a practice match right?” she looked to Anton who nodded, “Besides, I haven't had much practice since the battle with the Yellow Goblins, been helping the harvesting mainly. You, Verona, could really hurt her. Especially if you use that power of yours. And you can heal either of us if something goes wrong. ”

Anton, and Kal, looked to Jeff. If something were to go wrong it would be Jeff that could do something, especially worrying for Kal. He let out a light sigh before bringing Sam close and kissing her.

“You do do whatever you want.” he said slyly.

“Whatever I think is right.” she replied as she placed her finger on his lips.

She turned to Anton and Verona.

“It worked out quite well for the both of them.”

Jeff glanced over, releasing his hug.

“Okay.” He turned to Kal, “But this is just a sparing match, Kal.”

Kal nodded furiously.

“Okay,” Anton said, clapping his hands, “What will you pick, Sam?”

“I usually use a spear, so I'll use the practice one.”

Sam walked over to the weapon rack and took a long wooden stick. There was no point on either end, they were rounded, so if someone was hit it would hurt but not kill them.

“And what about you, Kal?”

She walked up, somewhat hesitant in her steps, and looked at the array of weapons. She took a sword, one of average size.

“I used one of these quite a bit before I lost it fighting away a bear. I remember it working quite well.”

She took a few practice swings with the sword, seemingly liking the feel in her hands. While most of it was rusted or dark, the edges were bright. They had been rounded so much that they would not cut through even the softest flesh.

She held it tight in one hand and walked opposite of Sam.

As she walked past Anton he could hear her muttering something.

“You can do this. You can do this. You can do this.” she kept muttering underneath her breath.

“Just take a deep breath, Kal. You'll do fine.”

Kals stopped and nodded, holding in an awkward smile.

“I keep forgetting that I'm around things that aren't trying to kill me.”

Anton smiled and Verona chuckled. He looked down and found her smirking at him. He patted and rubbed her head, receiving an even bigger beaming smile.

“Oh, Kal?” Anton said, “You may want to remove your hood. It would probably help you keep aware of your situation.”

Kal looked around. The remaining villagers, except those at the archery range, were watching. Avery kept his soldiers hard at training.

“Is it okay?” she asked.

“Better that they see the truth than let rumors decide what you are.” Anton replied.

Kal took off her hood and the outermost, loose, cloak-like layer of clothing. Underneath the outer most layer it appeared she wore relatively old but tight pants and a shirt, with the wrapped cloth covering her limbs and back underneath her clothes. He did not know if she was completely covered by the rags, and it did very well at hiding her body. This only left her head exposed, but now there was nothing loose to be caught on or grabbed a hold of.

There were some gasps from the watching villagers, even from Avery's group. They too stopped, Avery looking at Kal then at Jeff. Jeff nodded back at the archery range. Avery yelled something and the soldiers returned to their training.

“I suppose if you only wore baggy clothes you would get it snagged on rocks or claws.” Anton mumbled. Verona nodded in response.

“Are you both ready?” Anton asked loudly.

Sam smiled and nodded while Kal still looked concerned.

“It's not an actual battle to the death, just to when it would be a killing blow.”

“We understand what it means.” Sam replied, looking back towards Kal. She was breathing slowly and slowly flexing her hands.

Sam held her wooden stick like it was a spear while Kal held her sword infront with both hands.

Anton looked to Jeff, who sighed a little. “Okay, begin.”

Neither moved, eyeing each-other off. Sam continued to look energetic while Kal barely moved.

Sam moved first, advancing until she nearly within striking distance. Having the advantage in range, she thrust the pole straight at her chest. As the tip drew close, Kal leant to her right and separated her left hand from her sword handle. With her hand freed she palmed the pole away, crouched and lunged forward. She thrust the sword at Sam's stomach, stopping just before reaching her.

Sam dug her shoes into the dirt and stopped. The realization that she just lost was sprawled over her face. Kal said nothing, there was nothing on her face either. It seemed to unnerve Sam a little.

“Um...Kal wins?” Jeff said hesitantly, looking to Anton.

“Yes. Kal one, Sam zero.” Anton added.

“Oh, so it's a game now?” Sam asked, Kal remained silent. Sam had recovered from Kal's blank stare.

Both Sam and Kal returned to their original positions.

“Best of three,” Anton announced, “Then we'll switch Sam with someone else. You still okay, Kal?”

Kal nodded.

Sam moved first again. She did not a single large thrust. Instead, smaller ones straight at her sword to taker her off balance. Kal tried to keep her weapon in her hand under the blows but her strength was lacking, the lack of nutrition had taken it's toll.

Sam took a large swing and connected with the sword. It ripped out Kal's hand and flew to her left but Kal was not beaten yet. She dodged the next swing aimed at her shoulder, dropping and darting to her sword. Sam tried again to attack but did not see Kal's hand dig deep into the dirt.

As Sam tried to attack again she was greeted with a face full of dirt. She recoiled and tried to cover her face. While it did no real damage it served its purpose. Kal dashed and picked up her sword, rushing towards Sam. However, Sam proved stronger, holding the spear in the middle and swiping at Kal's legs. They connected, a yelp of pain from Kal and she tumbled, not before Kal tried her best to slash at Sam's legs.

Sam swung her spear down at Kal's head. Kal glanced up and winced. The blow never came, only a light bump on the head.

Kal looked up, surprised when Sam was smiling. She held out her hand for Kal to take. Kal brushed the dirt off her clothes while Sam wiped away the dirt on her face.

“That was really tricky of you.” Sam said as she removed a large chunk of dirt from her eye.

“It saved me once when I was facing down a hunter.” Kal explained as she removed the last pieces of dirt from her clothes, “I did it by accident when I tried to throw a stone at him.”

“Then what?”

“I killed him.”

Sam smiled, pulling Kal in for a hug without warning. Kal's whole body went stiff as she looked in panic towards Anton and Jeff.

“She does that to people she likes.” Jeff explained.

Kal seemed a little stunned as Sam let go and returned to her original position.

“Ready for one last go?” she asked. Kal looked to the others, who gave her a nod.

“Okay.”

They both took their original positions. Kal struck first, jumping over a meter in the air towards Sam. There was no trick this time, just speed.

Sam pointed the tip of the spear so Kal would hit the end. Kal repeated her first move and palmed away the spear but Sam moved with the it, moving away with Kal landing where she once stood.

Kal tried to strike again with a slash to the waist but Sam stopped it with her spear, now vertical onto the ground. Kal stumbled as the sword bounced back, Sam taking quick advantage and bringing the tip down on her head.

A light crack resounded as it hit Kal's skull. She let out a mixture of a groan and a yelp as she staggered back and held her head.

“Sam wins,” Anton said loudly, “Two wins to one loss.”

Anton looked to the crowd still watching. They had been silent the whole time. Some started clapping and smiling, not all was directed at Sam. Anton heard some good things said about Kal, though since they did not know her name they called her Beast-kin.

He moved towards Kal who was still holding her head. There was a little bit of blood staining the top of her head. Sam noticed this as well and looked quite concerned.

“I'm sorry,” she said as she pushed Kal's hair aside to try and get a better look, “I didn't mean to hit you that hard.”

“It's...It's alright, I've had far worse.” Kal replied. Anton noticed that her hand instinctively reached for her torn ear.

“You both did very well.” Jeff said as he hugged Sam, who returned it.

“I liked the thing with the dirt.” Verona added, resting her spear over her shoulder, “I think I should try that.”

“You don't need to.” Anton replied while chuckling, “You're blood power is already extremely strong. You won't need tricks like that today...maybe later.”

He held Sam's shoulder and chanted the prayer in his mind. She seemed relieved to feel her muscles and body heal. It did not take much, unlike Verona's first few times where she was still quite sick, so there was not much else to fix.

“How's your head?” Anton asked Kal.

She removed her hand, a tiny bit of blood in the center.

“Hold on, I'll fix that up.”

He held her head recited the healing prayer.

Quite a bit of mana flowed out and into Kal. He saw the look that he gave her, she had never felt the invasion of foreign mana into her body.

The tiny marks and scratches on her face faded away and her skin recovered some color and youth. The weight seemed to disappear from her eyes and she looked a few years younger.

Tears welled in her eyes. Finally she could no longer hold it in and a tear leaked from her eyes.

“Thank-you again, Anton.” She bowed her head slightly.

“It's not a problem.”

“Is it my turn now?” Verona asked.

“I think that's enough for now for Kal. She's still recovering, especially from the way my mana felt.”

Verona looked a little disappointed but still seemed happy.

Sam and Jeff finished their tender moment and came over to Anton, Verona and Kal.

“How'd she do?” Verona asked before Anton could.

“She did very well,” Sam replied, “Some of the things she did, I would not like to have seen those from a Yellow Goblin.”

Sam looked towards Kal.

“You've got speed and surprise on your side, but you don't have much strength. Now, I'm not the strongest person here, but I could stop your blade with some effort.”

Kal bit on her lower lip and looked down to the ground.

“That being said I'm sure you'll get even stronger, now that Anton can heal you and you .” Sam pointed towards Verona. “Verona was not that strong at first, now she's quite terrifying. Even without her power.”

Blitz fighter, not much staying power but god help you if you fight her unprepared or overconfident. She'll be terrifying once she properly rested and strengthened.

“What is your power?” Kal asked Verona. “Tethra did not say anything about it.”

Verona smiled, this time Anton cut her off before she could speak.

“You also mentioned that you can use things like bows?” Anton asked Kal. Verona puffed her cheeks in response to Anton interrupting her.

“Yes.” Kal looked over to the archery range. The villagers stole glances back but still continued to practice. “But I have not used crossbows before.”

“I think we can answer both questions at once.” Anton said as he offered his hand to Verona.

She took this as the sign to collect blood, taking her blade and making a small incision. Her body glowed red as she drew up a small ball of blood before Anton healed the wound. Kal looked on very disturbed.

“Have you heard of what she is?” Anton asked, “Someone called her a 'Blood Berserker'.”

Kal snapped out of her trance and looked at Anton.

“I was just wondering if you had heard the name for whatever power it is she uses.”

“I've heard it called something like that, but it was a very long time ago.”

“Anything good?” Verona asked with a smirk.

Kal shook her head.

“I don't know that much. They follow the Demi-Goddess, Jira, That's all really.”

Verona laughed a little.

“So that's her name, she barely speaks to me and when she does it's really scary.”

Kal lightly and awkwardly smiled.

“Anyway, let's see how Avery handles us taking over his range for a bit.” Anton said as he led them over.

“Anton,” Dana spoke up, who had remained quiet through the sparring session, “I'm going to get the other scouts and get them to work. It's good to see you, and that you remembered my name.”

Dana smiled, as warmly as she could, waved and headed back to the village. There was more of an upbeat nature to her stride. Anton hoped it would continue.

After putting the weapons back they headed over to the archery range. Jeff's friend, who seemed okay with the presence of a Beast-kin at least in Anton's presence, whistled loudly and waved for the few villagers still present to head inside. Avery's group downed their weapons into another weapon rack and headed towards the village themselves with Avery staying behind.

Kal kept her head down, receiving some odd looks but the villagers remained silent. Anton did not know how much of that was because they honestly were curious or afraid of doing anything in his presence. They knew he could destroy most of an army by himself, and Verona could probably do the same, so he guessed it was the latter for the moment. Kal seemed to know this as well and remained close to him.

Avery frowned when he saw that Kal was a Beast-kin but said nothing about it.

“Afternoon Anton,” he began, “These crossbows have come as a truly welcome addition. We've got them mostly figured out and are know focusing on speed and accuracy, in case you were wondering.”

Avery spoke in his usual dry and cold demeanor. His eyes kept glancing over at Kal but he remained focused mainly on Anton and Jeff.

“So what can I do for you?”

“We need a bow for Kal, our new Beast-kin villager.” Anton explained, nodding towards Kal who was standing beside him.

“She says she can use a bow so we want to see how good she is with it. She seems pretty good with a sword, needs some more strength though.”

Avery looked again at Kal, who looked up at Avery.

Seeing a Beast-kin that close was a bit of a shock to Avery, but he suppressed it and smiled. Everyone knew it was fake but said nothing.

He got an average looking bow from the rack and a few arrows and handed them to Kal. Anton saw the deliberate action for him not to touch her clothed hands when she took it.

There were people on Earth that would not touch a seat that a black person had sat on. Sorting these things out will take a long time, if it's even possible.

Kal took the bow and plucked at the string. She nodded in approval.

“It looks and feels pretty good. Did you make this?” Kal looked towards Avery.

Avery was shocked by the question.

“No. We got these before the collapse of the Kar Kingdom and they've been in our families for some time. We've done our best to keep them in good condition.”

Kal nodded in appreciation, taking her position at the front of the archer range.

Verona tugged at Anton's sleeve.

“What was the other question that was meant to be answered?” she asked, “One was to see how good Kal is with a bow...”

“The other is to show her what kind of power you have, manipulating blood. I'm more interested in seeing what sort of range you have. It was about twenty meters before, but we should always make sure.”

Verona looked a little blankly towards him.

“I know, roughly, how far each of my different types of magic can go before they loose control. But, I don't with yours. Every time you've been fighting it's been very close.”

“Ah...” Verona murmured in agreement.

“It's important to know your limits. So, this is a good chance to see how far you can control your blood.”

“Gotcha'.” she said happily, pulling him down and kissing him.

Avery backed off and joined the group as Verona activated her power and stood next to Kal.

“So Kal, do you want to go first?” she asked.

There was a little twitch on her face as she looked up at Kal, her annoyance at being short coming through again.

“Um, sure.”

Kal rotated both of her shoulders and knocked the arrow.

“What am I aiming at?”

Anton looked down the range, large wooden planks with rough circles drawn on the centre. There were some targets very close, about ten meters, right up to almost a hundred meters away.

“For now, just the one at about ten...yards.”

Kal looked at the nearest one.

“I'll give it a go.”

She closed one of her eyes and started mumbling her 'you can do this' mantra as before. She glanced back to Anton, then back to the target. As she pulled the bow string back her arms shook slightly, drawing it tight before releasing. The arrow flew forward and struck the center of the target.

As she lowered her bow Anton saw the same look as before with Sam, the one where it looked like she was staring right through the target, whatever it was.

“Not bad,” Anton mused. “You want to have a go now, Verona?”

“Just throw a spear, right?” she asked, Anton nodding in agreement.

Verona pulled up the blood that she had stored and formed a long thin spear. She brought it so it hovered just above her hand, gripped it and threw it like a javelin. Anton was not sure if she needed to throw it with her hands rather than her power, but if it helped there was no problem.

The spear smashed through the center of the targets, all the way to the twenty meter mark. After that the blood crystals began to quiver but still retained it's overall shape. At almost the thirty meter mark the spear shattered and embedded itself into the target. There was strain on Verona's face as she tried to push it forward. Eventually she gave up and relinquished her control. The blood turned back into liquid and splattered onto the ground.

Verona still looked happy at her achievement. Before she had not been able to control it further than twenty meters, her control seemed to be increasing. She jumped into the air in celebration. The three targets that she had smashed through had a hole in the center and the last had the shards hit the center.

“Well done Ver.” Anton said as he came up and hugged her.

Kal seemed equally impressed as did the others.

“It seems you've gotten better. Though now it's mixed in with the dirt, it's rather worthless” Anon lamented as he looked towards the last target.

Verona smiled and looked to Kal.

“How far can you shoot an arrow?” Verona asked. “I think Avery and the other archers can get pretty close to the targets at the end.”

“It's been a while, but I think I can do it.”

Kal took another arrow and drew the bow, her arms quivered under the strain. Her eyes were focused at the furthers target as she took a deep breath and exhaled. She aimed it slightly up and released.

The arrow soared and landed, with a satisfying thunk, into the furthest target. It had not hit the mark, only the wood outside. Anton thought that was an impressive feat but did not miss the look of annoyance on Kal's face.

She took another arrow and tried again. This one landed in the target mark.

“Bloody hell.” Avery said as he looked at the target.

“Do your eyes allow you to see things better than ours?” Anton asked.

“I don't know. I've only had these.” Kal replied, rubbing just below her eyes.

Anton could not reply or retort. There was nothing wrong with what she had said. Her face was still blank, so he figured that she was just being honest rather than trying to through a quip.

“Anyway, that's very impressive. I would ask you to do more now but you still aren't in the best shape.” Anton said.

Kal realized that she had difficulty in drawing back the bow.

“For now, we'll be training for strength. I'll be using my prayer magic to heal your muscles, it should speed everything up.”

“Yes Anton.” Kal said with a bow of her head.

“You don't need to bow your head each time you say my name.”

“...a habit.” Kal answered as she looked towards the north east.

“Avery, can we spare a bow and some arrows for Kal?” Anton asked.

Avery nodded.

“We have a few spares, and with the crossbows, it won't be a problem.”

Anton let go of his hold of Verona and walked over to Avery so the others could not here.

“This isn't just because a Beast-kin used it?”

Avery hesitated before answering. “No. It's not.”

He refused to give anything more.

Guess everyone has their limit. If this is the worse thing than we'll do fine...except for that archer from the gate.

“Kal, keep care of that. It's yours now.”

She looked at the bow in her hands then back at Anton. She was about to bow her head but resisted, returning a light smile.

“I don't have anything more to do today, so I think it would be a good excuse to get some exercise.” Anton said as he pulled out his short iron sword, “I have this thing but I really don't have much idea how to use it. Verona tried to help me once but it wasn't enough.”

Jeff laughed, somewhat wickedly.

“I'll help ya'. Great chance to get to hit our legendary mage without getting roasted.”

“So, why don't you two practice with each-other?” Sam asked Verona and Kal. “You seem to get along okay.”

Verona shrugged while Kal looked a little concerned.

“I won't use my blood power. It'll be good to see how I fare without it.” Verona tried to reassure Kal, succeeding somewhat.

They each took their practice weapons and paired off as the villagers started to return from lunch. The instructor got them back to training, most keeping quiet about Kal, who still had her hood and outer cloak removed.

The light sparing session carried on for almost an hour until Kal slumped onto the ground out of exhaustion. She had done very well for fighting against Verona, getting in quite a few hits, which Verona seemed quite impressed by.

Anton had done far worse, not being as physically fit as he could be. However, by the end, he was starting to do much better. He just hoped that he would not have to rely on his swordsmanship. Anton spent most of his remaining mana on healing everyone.

After that, Anton felt it was time to introduce Kal to the remainder of the council.

---[]---

The sun was starting to hang low in the east in the afternoon, something that still played with Anton's mind, as a few members of the council were called. Really though, it was just Jonathan and Zac that were coming, as they had not seen Kal in some way. He hoped that they would be okay with a Beast-kin living in the village. Jeff had sent some villagers to get them both to the main hall to get them.

Kal took back her cloak and covered her head with her hood as she re-entered the village. Anton found it impressive that she was adapting so quickly, at least she appeared to be.

Jonathan, his children, and Zac had already arrived and were waiting outside the main hall. Shawn was being wrangled into control by his father while Zac and Joclyn were talking amongst themselves.

When they saw Anton approach they stopped, their eyes focusing on Kal. Even with her hood covering her ears, her Beast-kin eyes were still visible.

They seemed a little surprised, just like everyone was the first time.

“Zac, Jonathan, Shawn and Joclyn. This is Kal, she's a Beast-kin. She's going to be living with us for the foreseeable future. Kal, these are Zac and Jonathan. They are in charge of construction and the forges respectively. And these are Shawn and Joclyn.”

“Hello!” Shawn and Joclyn yelled as they waved to Kal. They seemed oblivious to what a Beast-kin meant.

“Hello.” Kal awkwardly replied.

“Lad, I take it that you've already made your mind up?” Zac asked, his tone seemed to be just a question rather than him judging his decision.

“Yes. She seems to be a good person, and is willing to help us out. I think that's more than enough of a reason to let her stay for now.”

Zac seemed happy with the answer but Jonathan less so.

“I...I am not so sure about this.” Jonathan had a somewhat pained expression. “But, I trust you.”

Anton looked back to Kal, she seemed a little happy. She saw him looking and smiled.

“At least they are honest. Though I think that most are being nice because you are here.” Kal said quietly.

Anton could not help but agree.

“For now, yes. But with time, they may change.”

Kal nodded and took a step back.

“Anyway, I just wanted you two to meet Kal, and not let the rumours do the talking.”

“That's good to know Lad, I've never actually seen a Beast-kin before. To be honest, I think only people as old as Bertram would have.”

Kal looked like she wanted to hide again but Anton bumped her forward so she could speak for herself.

“A...Actually, I'm a half-breed. My mother was a Beast-kin and my...father was a human.”

“I guess-”

Zac stopped as Kal's head snapped to the south. She started sniffing at the air while her head twitched about.

The wind was coming from the south, but Anton could not smell anything.

“What's wrong?” Anton asked.

She took one final sniff as her face scrunched up in worry.

“Kobolds. A lot of them.” she said, turning to the rapidly worrying others, “They're coming from the south, can you not smell them?”

Verona sniffed at the air.

“Nope.”

“Jeff!” An armed villager cried as she ran up to him, already out of breath. “There are Kobolds coming from the south, hundreds of them. They've just entered the Thumper fields. They don't seem very friendly.”

“Why did you not sound the horn then?” Jeff asked, rather angrily, “That's why we have them. And that's why we trained for this! So you wouldn't have to run about to find someone!”

The woman looked increasingly scared and afraid.

“Do it!” Jeff yelled, the woman running off at great speed towards the south.

“Looks like your return was well timed.” Jeff said to Anton and Verona.

Jonathan and Zac raced off into the village while Anton and Verona followed Jeff and Sam, leaving Kal standing bewildered by the sudden action.

Anton stopped and turned back to Kal.

“Come on Kal, don't just stand there.”

“Yes, Anton!” she shouted, being jolted back to reality.

She ran after them towards the south.

------------

Hello,

Bit of a wait since the last i know, except I've been having long shifts and it's been quite tiring. Now I'm on more regular hours so I've been able to finish these two.

Anyway, this chapter i wanted to show that Kal is a quick and probably dirty fighter but doesn't have much staying power, also that she's smart enough to recognize that she's mainly welcome because it's at the behest of a walking arsenal of magic.

Some other people, such as Sam and importantly Dana, make their return. Dana's going to have more to play in the future.

So, thanks for reading.