I present my profile and raise my weapon to hold it vertically before me, ready to strike his sword or gauntlet. Siegfried remains in his defensive position with seemingly no intention of attacking.

His helmet is making it impossible to read him. I take a half-step to test him but he doesn't move a muscle. I move again to bait him but, same as before, he does not attack.

“Come, it's been a long time since I've faced a berserker. There are so few of you among our species compared to the Lisilese.” The Exemplar calls out.

I narrow my eyes but don't lunge because his words are a provocation. I'm relatively certain the reason there are so few berserkers among humans is that those who live through the kind of battle necessary to uncover this trait without drugs are either broken or face a brutal death.

Besides, Liz revels in our bloodlust because she can use it to be stronger while I've not that skill so it would be a mistake to try. I don't bother considering how to break the Exemplar because I haven't seen him fight yet, making assumptions could easily backfire.

Instead, I consider why he's willing to fight this duel when Mirus' forces are already retreating from the battlefield without their main supplies. It likely has to do with the prisoners, fighting me gives them time to be taken back to Coprich or Kruzser.

After all, he has naught to gain by doing this. He was wary of me earlier, which is why he hastily called for retreat, but the confrontation of troops itself could easily have been his first ploy to delay me.

Let me play along, then, I'll injure him without burning myself out and then deal with his deception. I bring my blade down and swipe out towards his. Siegfried launches a palm blow to parry.

I bring my wrist back which angles the edge of my broadsword towards his hand. He pulls his arm back. I fail to pursue, both because the angle I'm holding my weapon is weird and he retaliates with a quick swing of his sword.

I take a diagonal step back to dodge the tip of his weapon and counter with a lion strike at the base of his blade that he once again slaps away with his gauntlet. Siegfried's hand then briefly lingers before he pulls it back, a mere split second but it doesn't escape my notice.

It is as if there is another component to that way he has of blocking but he isn't going through with it. I take a half-step forward and launch a few probing blows to keep him busy while I think it through.

From the stance I held, he could have chained up his parry with a backhanded smack to my helmet or face. That by itself could decide the fight if he lands a good dazing hit. I decide to be more careful and strengthen the constructs enhancing my physical shape.

Siegfried suddenly lunges, forcing me to step to the left while blocking with my weapon's guard to barely avoid the golden tip of his sword which, I'm convinced, could easily pierce through my cuirass.

It is more than likely an efficient variant of the armor-piercing construct affecting only the point but even I would have issues using it without my perception construct considering one would need to keep their weapon perfectly aligned to succeed with it.

The Exemplar pulls back his weapon which now has a small notch at the base of the blade where mine cut. He masterfully attacked when I wasn't ready or in a position to adjust and cut his sword.

I let go of most of my weapon's hilt, keeping only thumb and pinky grasping the pommel while Siegfried retreats a full step. My switch to a backhanded grip by letting my broadsword fall attracts his attention.

I choose this exact moment when he lowers his chin to attack because everyone loses some degree of focus when assessing their opponent's actions compared to thoughtlessly reacting to events.

It is a tiny window of opportunity but one I exploit with a lion's step and upward slash, aiming at his torso with the blunt edge of my weapon. I send unstructured flow into my broadsword's spine mid-swing to enhance the kinetic force behind the blow.

Siegfried reacts too slow to parry so he has to block, which he does with the upper third of his sword. Kiin. His weapon is thrown back on impact and slams against his breastplate but it does dissipate most of the force behind my strike.

I raise my arm to go for a downward stab and stomp forth to add my weight behind the blow. Siegfried barely manages to pass his left forearm behind my blade to block mine and resist my push.

His move slows me down but I manage to press the tip of my broadsword against his pauldron, cutting a gash into the steel plate which consumes all the flow in my sundering construct and his defensive construct.

As the two shutdown, it seems obvious that we both chose not to add more energy to our constructs. The reason is that I wasn't going to deliver more than a flesh wound so it wasn't worth burning energy.

He launches a very short range slash with his sword that lands on my cuirass but leaves a mere scratch with the armor-piercing tip thanks to my runic defense.

As I leap back he grabs for my long broadsword with his gauntlet and snatches it. Having my weapon seized like this puts me in an awkward position and Siegfried takes advantage by launching a stab at my left thigh protected only by stubbed strips of hard leather.

I push out with feet first to sidestep to get my legs out of the way. As he pursues, I press down with my broadsword which destabilizes him as he can't both lunge and resist the weight I'm putting on his left arm while keeping his balance.

The old man decisively abandons his attack as he realizes it's turning unfavorable but he doesn't release his vice-like grip on my weapon, likely to force me to burn energy in making another sundering construct.

I do since I've planned to use it to injure him and, if he's just a bit too slow, I might manage to cut his palm. As my blade turns golden, he tries to slash at my throat which almost sends me into a rage.

I throw myself so far back I'm forced to burn flow to harden the air at my back to prevent a fall since he also released my blade. I slash wide as I propel myself up to counter a possible strike but find he's leaped away.

I lion's step after him and launch another upward slash he once again parries with a quick slap of his sword. I let it go to link a fast downward swing to my attack that went awry.

He raises his head to ascertain the arc of my blade and dodges. I take advantage of his limited field of vision because of his visor to launch a front-kick out of his view.

My foot lands on his right thigh as he was pulling it back and he staggers which costs him the opportunity to avoid my attack. My broadsword falls heavily on his left pauldron and cuts through the steel but the Exemplar manages to activate a localized defensive construct at the last moment.

My weapon is deviated because of it but it slides down to cut a gash in his biceps instead of left shoulder, which is an acceptable result. He groans and lion's leap back to escape my sundering construct but I pursue with a wide swing.

He deviates my blow by striking the flat of my broadsword. Unfortunately for the old Exemplar, he needed two hands to keep up with me and his left arm is now hanging limply by his side.

With this disadvantage, he can only passively resist as I pressure him for control of the fight. I use every trick I have, launching fluid linked slashes and heavy hacking blows he can barely recover from before having to block the next.

I grow more and more tired as my breaths run so short it feels like my chest is constantly trembling. My heart is sending spikes of pain through my body, clearly teetering on the verge of bursting.

I decide to end it and launch a brutal strike that Siegfried desperately parries. The impact throws his arm back while I take the shock in and twist my wrist while thrusting forth with all my strength towards his forward left thigh.

He fails to bring his sword back around in time to stop my follow up stab but his supposedly useless left arm suddenly bursts forth at my head, golden runes abruptly light up on the surface of his gauntlet at he tries to smash his palm into my nose.

Having suspected a trick of this kind since before we began fighting, I manage to angle to the side while inclining my head and entirely dodge his blow as my sword pierces through his leg.

My construct quickly runs out of energy, leaving me with only ten portions, but the damage is done. I catch a flicker of silver but not in time to dodge his pommel before it lands on my helmet and sends me staggering back with a ringing in my ears.

It takes me much too long to recover but it doesn't matter because the old man fell to one knee, both his left arm and leg completely disabled after the stunt he tried to pull.

“You hesitated earlier.” I explain in as few words as possible.

“I've truly grown old.” He groans. “It turns out it was mental aging instead of physical deficiency that became my downfall.”

“You didn't believe, you could last, so you lacked confidence.” I note, understanding why he hesitated earlier. “Most people wouldn't, have caught it.” I honestly tell him.

He spotted a weak opening and almost went for it to end the fight before it truly began, which resulted in his loss despite his correct decision not to go for it because it alerted me. The mute is rushing over so I extend my weapon out to warn him to keep his distance.

“Will you finish me?” The old man asks with a calm voice as he abandons his sword to remove his helmet with his right hand. “Seize this victory you deem essential for these rebels.”

“You don't seem, against it.” I comment, delaying my answer.

“Perhaps it will be a catalyst for much-needed reform.” The Exemplar responds with a painful sigh. “In any event, I was going to retire once in Kruzser.”

“Why?” I question.

“Because great change is to come and old Templars like me will but stand in the way of it if we remain.” Siegfried replies with a thin smile. Says the Exemplar serving the oldest human of all according to legend.

“It could be said it is, the responsibility of those who, contributed to this state of things to fix, what they can before passing, on the torch.” I return.

“Hm, a good argument but a difficult one to apply in reality for humans acquire different flaws as they age.” He tells me with a glimmer of fury in his eyes. “Old warriors like me, we have little to lose and it skews our reasonings because we won't have to live through the long lasting consequences of our rash actions. No, I believe it best to let the fires of youth forge the new coming age.”

“I cannot disagree, with your wisdom.” I gracefully acquiesce. “But it also isn't persuasive, enough for it to blind me to the third, trick you've attempted with this duel.” He raises his chin to look me in the eyes.

“It is too late.” Siegfried affirms.

“No, it is not.” I deny with a smug smile. “You can no longer, stop me and your discourse makes, it clear you'll prevent the mute, from going after me, because he is the future.” His irises suddenly widen.

I catch a glimpse of a spinning silver projectile cruising towards my back and instantly order my flow to accelerate my perceptions. I twist my left knee and extend my right leg out with a lion's step, using speed Vikiana would be proud of to dodge the attack.

“Caarre!” Siegfried shouts.

As I fall, I flick my blade at the Exemplar's temple to retaliate for his treachery. I had believed he used the duel to buy time to transfer the prisoners he took but it turned out to be a trap aimed at my life.

But, while my blade flashes towards his forehead, I realize that he warned me before my madness struck. A wide air-needle suddenly impacts my blade and diverts it away from Siegfried's head, it came from the mute's direction.

I lose hold of my weapon and hit the ground hard, experiencing harsh spikes of pain from the barely healed hole in my belly. That's the moment when the silver projectile enters my field of vision, turning golden as it buzzes over me and Siegfried's shoulder.

The long thick arrow pierces into the ground without noticeable effect. The flow coating the projectile sheds off and forms into waves of energy that resembles a sophisticated shredding construct.

This golden construct flashes straight at me but Siegfried throws himself in the way to block with his plate armor. The steel starts cracking as the attack activates against the armor but the Exemplar manages to fight the effect with his flow by swift use of a defensive construct.

“I should not, have struck.” I speak up, coming as close to an apology as I can while I struggle back up to my knees with my attention on the valley's ridge to seek out the shooter.

“This is why I despise assassins.” Siegfried responds with parts of his plate armor shedding off.

I glimpse to silhouettes standing tall on a secondary plateau in the distance, one of them holding a large bow in hand that appears very similar to what I saw the Shade use in the Institute.

“Shades.” I coldly seethe.

Siegfried holds his silence as I recover my weapon but his scowl shows his opinion hasn't changed on the matter. The idiots tried to outright kill me, or threaten me if it failed, not to take his life yet it almost got me to end the Exemplar.

He would have died if not for the mute. I turn to the man in question who is standing a few dozen meters back with his palm aimed at me. Shouts arise from the rebels and dozens run at the archer despite it being near impossible to catch him considering he'll be long gone by the time they trek all the way uphill.

“I'll settle this score another day.” I coldly utter as I turn to walk back to the rebels to rest while others seek out a horse for me.

“What is it you aim to achieve, Jessica Freepath?” The Exemplar calls out to my back.

“Freedom.” I respond offhandedly, in no mood to expand on my objectives.

I make my way through the cheering rebel ranks in silence as it takes all I have to keep myself from crumbling, body and mind, from all this noise. They've taken this as a resounding victory. My disloyal minions follow along, knowing enough not to bother me.

“Find me a horse if you want to help.” I throw out.

“I don't, too exhausted.” Idali mutters.

I nod and find a spot to settle cross-legged to rest without losing my focus while I wait with my broadsword on my lap as it seems to discourage people from coming to talk to me, that or my glare.

Nahl ends up going because Rowland is still bleeding from a few of his wounds while Uhla leaves, likely to care for the injured. The speed at which she goes off indicates she only remained here in case I got injured.

When Nahl finally returns with a saddled travel horse, I hop onto it and direct it uphill to take stock of the area. If I were Siegfried, I would send the prisoners someplace relatively secure but that I wouldn't know of.

This excludes the camp the rebels mentioned burning during the parley so I head off to the south-east since it's both in the direction of Mirus and the Empire's capital which means they could meet half-way to take custody.

I ride for hours, leading the horse along a somewhat erratic path to cover as much ground as possible. This prevents me from recovering my stamina but it doesn't worsen my state.

I meet several groups of fleeing soldiers on the way, all of which avoid me like the plague as soon as they recognize me. I assume because of my missing left arm but it could just as well be their general's dried blood sticking to my armor.

Finally, after night fell like a gray curtain on the land, I spot a group of soldiers dragging five captives as they follow a Noble leading them atop a horse. They're in a hurry to the south, implying Siegfried either sent them to Coprich or these Nobles ignored his instructions.

I don't believe they can see me but I suspect they heard my horse and it leads them to flee towards a small wood growing on the flank of a hill. I've no patience for subtlety after the day's events so I go straight after them into the sparse forest.

“Release your captives or be slaughtered.” I coldly bellow.

“Who is it?” A woman responds.

“Jessica Freepath, now obey.” I bark back.

No answer comes but I follow the direction I heard the voice come from and quickly find the soldiers and Lady helping their captives up to undo the ropes around their wrists.

“Kneel, Noble.” I command.

“This is going too far, we've lost.” A soldier protests.

“Take your ill-begotten victory and leave, you treacherous murderer!” The Lady erupts.

I raise my hand and shape an air-blade that I aim straight at her throat. The woman's traits tighten and her gaze drops to her feet, likely considering if her honor is worth her life.

It takes her a minute but, in the end, she decides today isn't a good day to die and drops to her knees with grit teeth. She's obeyed but there is poison in her eyes, which I care naught for. Once the captives are freed, I flick my hand to the group to dismiss them and breathe a sigh of relief.

I hop off the horse and tie its reins to a branch before opening my pouch to look for rations only to recall a small rebel with a sharp mind stole them from me. It brings a smile to my lips despite my growling stomach. I hope that little thief made it.