After taking several more blows to the body, it was time to change things up. Rachel’s use of speed magic was top tier when it came to close-quarters combat. A surprising perk from an escort provided by this establishment.

I was training for my fight tonight with two handicaps, no weapons or magic allowed. It only made sense to not rely on my fear ability since that fell into the category of magic. My only other option was to predict her movements and start from there if I wanted to avoid having a bloodbath on my hands.

I tried my best to figure out an attack pattern, tossing quick jabs at the air in an attempt to connect with her. It wasn’t long until the lag time between my fists and the location she recently dodged from, started becoming closer in sync.

It was a combination of acclimating to her speed and learning her behavior or so I thought until things went back to square one.

“You’re pretty good for a guide.” I was shocked at the way she changed up the tempo, almost as if gauging the extent of my abilities at the same time.

“And you’re pretty good at holding back, for a kid.” She reappeared a good five meters away, the same distance we started the spar at. I wasn’t even mad at her little taunt. It showed that she wouldn’t be able to indefinitely maintain the use of her magic and most likely hoped to fluster up my movements.

I was about to tell her to reconsider until my reflexes caught her a foot away from landing a body blow onto my abdomen. My hands aimed to grab a hold of any limb instead of trying to lower and re-adjust my sight to keep track of her.

Just when I thought for sure that my hand was going to yank her arm off or at the very least a torn-up dress shirt, an odd visual occurred of her perfectly avoiding my clasping hand. The closest explanation it could relate to was bending time to her every whim. It wasn't like her body moved faster but that everything else stood at a standstill until she achieved her desired motion.

Her arm spun about like a snake and connected directly into the side of my gut. The force behind her fist caused me to involuntarily cough out a breath of air. There was a lingering numbness that turned into a sore spot. I massaged the side of my abdomen as she reappeared behind me, still distancing herself five meters apart.

“Almost had me there.” Rachel said. “How many more will it take to make you serious, I wonder...” It was like a different person took control of her body once we started sparring. If she was trying to piss me off, it was working. An obvious win condition would be to outlast her mana pool, but such a result felt like a loss on my end. The only other option was to offensively pursue with wanton abandon. To keep placing pressure on her until she made a slight misstep, and at such high speeds, it was bound to happen in due time.

“I admit, I was holding back to avoid hurting you. This may be painful, so do your best not to get caught.” I reoriented myself and fixed my breathing before taking my first offensive step forward.

I pushed off into a charge attempting to ram her into the back wall. My shoes lost traction against the rubbery flooring from the sudden change of direction as she sidestepped enough to slip around to my right side. Almost like my feet were hopping off the ground and stabbing down to compensate for my impromptu arm swing.

My arm was evaded again to no surprise and every following one thereafter. The only difference from being perfectly countered was my ability to remain stuck to her like glue. I held back yelps of pain as her strikes did more damage than the last. It sent a numbing vibration from the point of contact throughout my entire body.

Other than the pain, I felt no real threat and continued my endless advance. The shift in the spar began the moment her back pushed up against a wall. I wasn’t moving around mindlessly and thankfully she caught on too late.

This entire time I’ve been getting her accustomed to my straightforward blitz. It was finally time to toss in a couple of feints now that her room to work with grew smaller.

My palm went for her midriff and caused her to instantly react by activating her weird acceleration magic. She was already moving out of the way as my hand stopped inching closer, placing her in the direct path of my left leg. The impact of my kick echoed throughout the empty space as her right foot twisted into a horrifying state.

The sound of multiple pops and her screaming didn’t stop me from going for a grab. My hands reached out with one tightening securely around her thin arm and the other wrapping her into a hugging hold.

“It’s going to be okay.” I was already trying to telepathically reach out to Eris, not really worried about interrupting her time in the hot springs. I noticed Rachel’s resistance slack, falling unconscious from the unbridling pain. I swept her legs up into a bridal carry with as much finesse as to avoid causing any more damage. It was a sparring match and that was as far as I intended to take it. Hearing her scream left a sour taste in my mouth and it was crummy that things had to turn out the way they did, even if Eris could heal the injury later on.

I looked down to see her sweat drip down the side of her blushed cheeks. She seemed peaceful with her eyes closed, considering her predicament. Part of me wanted to do anything possible to recruit her and I hoped our sparring match didn't ruin any chance at that possibility.