Weira walked over to the training center, the Xor just behind her. The interested civilians close behind them. Weira felt her blood pumping through her veins, her heart was a flutter. She breathed in the air of the city and smiled. She was nervous, excited. She had heard a lot about these Xor and how they were seen as a dangerous warrior race. Which only made her more excited about the process of fighting one, she had heard that a spar with non-lethal consequences was rather rare among their race. She had to admit she was slightly honored that the woman wanted to spar with her, it set her warrior’s blood aflame.

Qyra walked next to her with a worried look on her face, bless the girl. She was always the one to pick up the pieces when things went to hell. She was probably the most responsible of the group, Weira acted all responsible when it came to things like money management but that was only when compared to Jace. She had trained longer than him, much longer. She had been under Trishla’s care since she was six. The woman had always trained her, ignoring the fact that she was mute as if it was of no import. Only once she had traveled more did she realize that the people back home were stronger than usual by an enormous amount. The minimum level of the guard back home was a hundred and eighty. Which was the level of a well-respected knight in this kingdom.

Weira sighed and realized her mind was drifting off, she was doing it more and more ever since she met Jace. Weira wondered if it was contagious somehow. Eventually, they arrived at the training grounds, Weira rolled her head and a few satisfying cracks resounded from her neck. She smirked, she went through a series of brief stretches to warm up her muscles. She hopped over the fence and stood across from the Xor, she twirled her halberd a few times while the audience circled around them and started placing bets. Qyra without any hesitation put down a bet that Weira would win. Weira smiled, the girl was loyal, but Weira had no misconceptions that she actually had a chance of victory. This was an adult Xor, even her grandma was wary of them, let alone her.

Weira breathed in deeply and exhaled, expelled her thoughts and emotions. She rolled her shoulders pointed her halberd and waited. She looked over at the woman across from her. Four elongated ears that were elf-like, two on each side of her head. Hair, bright orange and blue, more like stalks of grass than strands of hair, teeth sharp and pointed. Eyes a deep red, with bright blue pupils. There was a savage beauty to the woman, the Xor grabbed her weapon, a thick claymore larger than the woman who wielded it appeared out of thin air. The Xor twirled it and the wind whistled.

“I am Weira, and it is my honour to fight with you.”

The Xor smiled, her teeth on full display. “I am called Hirki, may your blade never dull and opponents fall to your metal.”

A brief moment of stillness before both women exploded into action. The Xor dashed towards her faster than nearly anything she had seen before. Weira didn’t waste a breath as she immediately pulled on ALL of her mana. The ground beneath her cracked as the mana rushed through her body, her hair swirled violently in unfelt winds as glyphs appeared all around her like violent fowl. The Xor woman’s eyes widened slightly before her mouth turned into a bloodthirsty grin, she dashed forward slinging her heavy claymore through a couple of the glyphs that assaulted her.

The air exploded, sending dust flying into the nearby audience. While they were coughing glyphs snaked around Weira’s body before settling into place and creating her homegrown magical armour. She let other glyphs unseen to the naked eye settle on her muscles, enhancing them as far as she could and suppressing the pain she could feel. She continuously shot glyphs at Hirki to buy herself a little time. The frightening woman was tearing through her magic with ease, her blade dancing through the cold air. Moving faster and more smoothly than a blade of that size had any right to.

Her preparations finished, she took a deep breath and dashed forward. Meeting the woman in close quarters, her halberd swirled through the air in a blur. Cutting towards Hirki’s neck with no hesitation, the blade never reached flesh as the dark iron of the Xor’s claymore smashed into her halberd and sent it bouncing back. Without hesitation, she used the momentum of the collision to twirl the other way and brought her blade to bear. Sparks flew through the air like fireworks as the weapons collided time and time again.

The audience and the sound of their frantic cheers died out as Weira fell into her battle rhythm. Her breathing matched her opponent’s, her moves matched her opponent’s, even their thinking drew together. This was what she lived for, this was what she fought for. This feeling, this indescribable elation. She roared a challenge at the woman who was in an entirely different league. Her body changed, her muscles bulged, veins pressed against her skin as she snarled and savagely tore at Hirki.

The glyphs turned from bright blue to a darker hue and eventually started humming and lost all colour. They became black, the edges glowing with a grey light as the fluttered through the air. Weira kept moving, the changes unseen, her halberd ever dancing against her opponent. Her movements changed, her dance smoother, her steps faster. The small pauses and hesitation disappearing. She was transforming, she was breaking through into master tier!

Across from her Hirki was laughing, her eyes wide open and her teeth glittering in the light. She was enjoying herself, they both were. Their bloodthirst crashed into each other and created a near palpable pressure in the area, some of the weaker minded audience members were turning pale. Neither of the warriors noticed as the audience grew, neither noticed as people of import started gathering and watching. Neither noticed anything other than the opponent they were facing.

They smashed against each other and bounced back, a slight distance created between them. A moment of stillness, an eerie silence, then action, sparks, the sharp clash of metal. Weira danced under a strike and with a twist, the shaft of her halberd crashed into the claymore, with a spin and twist the blade whistled through the air and sought flesh, once again there was none to be found. It did bother Weira, she had missed everything she had thrown in this match so far, but she was getting closer, she could feel it.

Some of the more skilled warriors in the audience felt their own mastery progress simply from watching the fight, they smiled in anticipation as they watched the two women clash. This was a fight between masters, a skill level few would ever reach. The people who knew the silent, sarcastic young woman, stared with open eyes at the savagery she displayed on the field of battle. The older regulars realizing that the person they had seen as a young girl wasn’t a girl at all. She was a woman, a full-fledged battle prodigy. They glanced towards her teammates, who were screaming themselves raw in support of their friend. Qyra was screaming most of all, her voice hoarse and her hands clenched into desperate fists.

A bouncing ball of fur was screaming her own support, Mili had come with them to watch the fight. Even Frank had left his precious inn unattended for a while so he could watch the show. The calm and friendly man was as excited as the rest of them. Then all of a sudden the dust which had bounced around through the air started to settle, the audience died down as they stared at the field of battle. Weira stood motionless, her glyphs had disappeared and her hair had settled down on her shoulders, she grimaced.

The Xor paused and cocked her head, “Why do you stop, I wish for more.”

Weira frowned, “As do I, but my body no longer listens to my commands. All of my energy is gone.”

Hirki paused and put away her blade, “It was a good battle, more than expected. it was enjoyable, should you find more energy, feel free to come to me any time. My blade will gladly dance with yours.”

The woman bowed slightly and gasps ran through the audience. Being granted permission to seek a Xor out for sparring was huge, it was an acknowledgment of skill and meant the woman saw Weira as an equal. Perhaps although currently, she was far above Weira in power, she acknowledged that in the future Weira would be a worthy opponent. The few nobles who had come to watch were eying Weira with interest, whispering amongst themselves. A warrior accepted by the Xor was something all of them would like to get their claws into. Weira and her team could expect a lot of requests in the near future, and their name was no longer an unknown.

Qyra ignored all the implications and jumped over the fence and ran to Weira, the rest of the team hot on her heels. She dashed forward and caught Weira just before she collapsed, she groaned under the weight, Jerald stepped forward and helped her out. Weira looked at them through tired eyes, she looked over at Mili and grinned. “I think I’m going to need another meal Mili.”

The furball bounced and a chipper voice answered. “For letting me see something so exciting, this one will be on the house and I’ll make sure it’s even more delicious! All the power!”

The furball turned around grabbed her husband's hand and dragged him back to the inn. Frank smiled at them and rolled his eyes as the tiny woman was doing her best speed off towards the inn.

Florian slipped beneath one of Weira’s arms and helped carry her back to the inn. “You changed in the fight, what exactly happened.”

Weira smiled tiredly and her eyes danced through the air for a minute, the telltale sign of reading notifications. “It seems I might be able to keep up with that insane brother of mine after all.”

[Master tier unlocked]

[Primal mana glyphs unlocked]

[Class force unlocked: Primal Arcane Halberdier]