Ignoring her aching muscles, Keela stretched her arms under the sunlight. She stood in a small training arena that was used for the guards and soldiers to train. A crowd had gathered in the seats above, waiting to see the princess and leader of the most effective special operations squadron spar. Most of the spectators, including Haryk and Feno, were mostly nervous. The only person who didn’t show any worry was Bertaut who stood in the arena between the two of them, acting as a referee for the time being. Keela was wearing a light leather armor, focusing on ease of movement. The man in front of her wore a similar armor to which metal plates had been fastened in key locations, painted black. Curiously, his armor made no sound despite all the metal present on it.

“First in order is introductions, would each fighter present themselves?” said Bertaut loudly, getting silence to settle among the crowd.

“I am Ryol Sylnan, leader of the 2nd special operations squadron of the Lowshifters. Currently undefeated in sparring matches and will show no mercy, even if the opponent is the princess herself”, said the man, looking towards the crowd.

“I am Keela Norra Aekian, princess of this kingdom and I suggest not underestimating me. Although this is my first official sparring match”, she said, sheepishly turning to the crowd, speaking loudly and clearly but looking down towards Bertaut.

“The rules are simple! No weapons, no offensive magic and no killing. The match is over when an opponent forfeits or loses consciousness”, said Bertaut, ignoring the rising nervousness in the crowd, looking at Keela as he emphasized the last rule.

Both participants nodded and stepped to their respective starting positions. Keela tied her hair in a small ponytail and crouched down to be as low to the ground as possible. Bertaut went to his seat, next to Haryk and Feno, and gave the countdown. As soon as it reached zero, Keela leaped forwards towards Ryol, kicking up a cloud of dust and leaving an impact at her starting point from the force of the leap. This caught Ryol off guard but he was prepared. He quickly leapt to the side and readied himself in a defensive stance.

“Impressive, princess, I gotta say I’m surprised!” taunted Ryol, who clearly planned to toy with her.

“Hm. You won’t take this seriously. How about this; block my next five hits and then you’ll know to take it seriously”, replied Keela, slowly walking towards him.

“Deal.”

Keela waltzed up to him calmly and opened up with a high kick aimed to the side of the head, without any upgrade to her strength, which Ryol easily blocked, as expected. The next hit was a direct straight punch aimed at the gut, with a bit of power added, which made Ryol cock an eyebrow as he blocked it with his palm. With more power, she spun around and jumped, leading up with a tornado kick which made Ryol slide two meters to the opposite side of the blow. The metal plate on his blocking arm had dented from the impact, which made him show a bit of surprise. The next hit came from behind him as he had lost eye contact. The low kick to the back of his knees made him stumble back just enough for Keela to finish with her fifth hit; an axe kick with a marginal boost in power, which he blocked by crossing his arms at the last second, hitting the ground at full velocity, leaving a small crater after the sound of the impact echoed on the walls of the arena. Crossing her arms behind her back, Keela looked over his surprised face, smiling brightly at him.

“Shall we go seriously now?” she asked, looking down on him.

Ryol simply nodded and got back on his feet in a quick leap and closed his eyes, concentrating. After a second, he vanished, his image blurring into nothingness. Although a bit surprised, Keela smiled and went low to the ground, focusing power into her sense of touch, feeling the vibrations in the ground. Haryk leaned close to Bertaut and whispered.

“Do you think she has a chance to win?” he said, worrying slightly.

“I don’t think she has a chance to lose”, replied Bertaut, looking intently at the fight.

Right as he said it, Ryol re-appeared next to Keela, launching a kick at her head. She dodged at the last second, responding with a front kick so powerful Ryol flew straight into the wall of the arena, exclaiming pain as his back slammed into the solid carved wood. He quickly composed himself and while focusing, created a series of copies of himself, surrounding Keela. Smiling, she immediately jumped to the original one, spinning into a kick from above which Ryol barely dodged as it impacted the dirt, the impact booming loudly around them. Keela quickly followed up by jumping to him and grabbing his shoulder and landing a punch to his temple with a sadistic grin, knocking him out and sending him flying to hit the arena wall again. His unconscious body limped to the floor, offering no more resistance. Silence followed the last hit, the audience dumbfounded. Waltzing over to the unconscious Ryol, Keela picked him up and brought him to Bertaut, throwing him roughly in front of him.

“Can you make him awake?” she asked, smiling.

Bertaut simply grabbed some water and splashed it on Ryol’s face, causing him to wake up.

“Get up, there’s one last thing I want to do”, she said, looking over him.

He obliged, getting up slowly. Keela went back out to the middle of the field and stood still arms crossed. Ryol steadied himself and stood in front of her.

“Punch me”, she said, looking him in the eyes.

“What?” he replied, cocking an eyebrow.

“You heard me. You didn’t land a solid good hit so I feel bad. I’m giving you one. Hit me.”

“No use. You win. I’m better at deceit than strength.”

“Alright then.”

Keela strolled back up to him and punched him in the stomach, making him throw up his lunch. The sound of the punch echoed on the walls, probably reaching the volume of an exploding fireball at close range.

“That one was for cutting the bridge”, she said, turning, going to the other side.

She unceremoniously turned him on his back, looking over him with the same kind smile that Ryol recognized as the one that used to terrify everyone, the smile that froze everyone in their soul down to their core. Keeping her smile, she stomped his knee backwards with a disgusting crack, causing him to scream in pain and tears to fall down his cheeks. The crowd gasped in shock and Feno looked to the side.

“And that, is for shooting my make-believe husband”, she said, winking at Bertaut.

She walked out of the arena, wiping the blood off her gloves, leaving Ryol to cry behind her.