Chapter 91 the Duel

As Van walked away from the group, he heard shouting from behind and many feet moving at once. So he suspected that Kella and Isa had things well underhand.

With that small amount of comfort, he walked over to the other side of the field where Luna and Anna were. As he got closer and the girls came into view, he stopped dead in his tracks in horror to see Luna sitting crossed-legged and covered in blood and Thea standing over her with a bloody dagger and what appeared to be a large needle.

Rushing over as fast as he could, he stopped mere feet away ready for anything, and in a slightly frantic voice asked, “what is going on here!” worriedly looking between Thea and Luna.

But the two didn’t show any signs of worry or conflict. In fact, Luna actually just waved at him as if she wasn’t covered in blood and shallow stab wounds. “Hey Van, how did it go with your new little army? I heard Kella was going to become a knight of yours, that’s great news since we could really use someone of her skill and experience when we travel to the academy.”

Van blinked, wondering if he was the weird one here or going crazy. “Umm… ya… we could really use someone like her. One of the hobgoblins didn’t look too bad either, so… I gave her a name and blood bound her...” he said, feeling a little guilty for some reason.

Luna shrugged as if she expected this of him. “Not surprising, but I do want to be introduced to her later.” she said firmly, “what's her name?”

“Isa.”

“Nice name,” she said with a gentle smile that was somewhat ruined by the blood covering her.

“Thanks…” he replied, trying to figure out how best to broach the subject. “So… why are you covered in blood?”

Luna blinked as if just realizing she was talking to her husband covered in blood. “Oh, this?” she asked, looking down at herself. “I’m training right now.” then excitedly looking up at him. “Can you believe I'm already on the fifth form right now! Mom says I'm making some really good progress on my training!”

“... fifth form?” Van asked, confused.

Luna’s expression widened as she seemed to realize that Van had no idea what her training entailed other than she was training. And began her explanation about studying proper martial arts and all the forms she learned up till now. “And the fifth form is called blood regeneration, in exchange for consuming my mana or aura, I can heal wounds. Right now mom’s only giving me shallow wounds, but theoretically, once I become good enough, I can heal larger wounds and even regrow small limbs.”

Then seeing Van’s panicked expression. “Not that we are going to go that far of course,” she said quickly, trying to soothe his worries.

Van relaxed, “that’s good…” then looking at her and seeing her in a new light. “You know… I’m really impressed, I’m proud of how far you’ve come. I’m glad I got to marry such an amazing woman like you.” he said with a smirk, laying it on thick because he knows how Luna would react to it, all the while helping convey his genuine feelings and wanting to give her a confidence boost so she could keep going at it.

Luna blushed heavily at the praise given to her, and it seemed almost subconsciously her wounds healed themselves quicker right before everyone's eyes. “If you want… you can join me in my training…” she said, not looking at Van directly.

“Oh? Are you going to cut me all up? Is this some sort of new play? That's quite kinky of you…” he teased, making her go completely red in the face and her wounds healed just as quickly.

Thea, who was just standing by the side with a small grin on her face as she watched the play, couldn’t help but laugh at that last bit startling them both and making them both look and feel even more embarrassed than before. Then she started to tease the both of them, making Van regret trying to be playful with his wife where witnesses were around.

After that though, Thea asked Van if he would like to start learning the blood weaving martial arts. “It's not a bad art to learn. And me and your father were thinking about teaching you a martial art before you left for the academy. Learn this and you and Luna could practice it together, what do you say?”

Van thought about it. Already it didn’t appeal to him because he thought about having to be all cut up eventually, but at the same time, he would feel like a real wuss if his wife could go through it but he pussyed out. So in the end, he agreed. “Sure, why not, if I have time for it I would like to learn alongside Luna.”

Thea smiled joyfully at the prospect of getting to teach another student. First Luna, then Anna, and now Van. Life was truly good. “That’s wonderful, I'll make sure to train you up and make a proper fighter out of you... Or at least a mage who can defend himself,” she said after giving it some thought and thinking about Van’s personality and where he was going with his studies.

“Thanks Thea, I look forward to learning from you,” Van said, aware that Thea said that last part because she took into consideration his own wants and feelings on the matter.

“No problem,” she said with a smile. Then as if an idea occurred to her. “Why… don’t we start… with you and Luna sparring with each other?” she said as she worked her thought out loud.

Luna and Van looked at her in surprise and at each other, then Van turned back and asked. “Are you sure about that?” a little perplexed and worried.

Thea grinned. “Oh, I am very sure… you best be careful though, she takes after me more than you realize.” her grin turned somewhat feral.

A little weirded out, but not wanting to hurt Luna, he turned to ask her what she felt about this. “And you Luna? Do you want to spar with me?” he asked a little worriedly and trying to convey that if she wanted he was giving her an out and hoping that she would take it.

But instead, Luna was oddly silent. Not really looking at anyone as if lost in thought.

“Luna?”

Luna slowly got up and looked Van in the eyes. “Van… would you spar with me please,” she asked, feeling a little nervous and it was probably showing on her face. Yet oddly, also feeling a little pumped up, as if the adrenaline already kicked in, perhaps even… looking forward to the fight with tentative… excitement?

Van was taken aback by this turn of events, and couldn’t help but look at Thea as if making sure she heard it too and that his ears didn’t play tricks on him. When realizing that Luna was still waiting on his reply he reluctantly agreed. “Well… if you are sure about this,” he said, worried for his wife's safety.

Oddly enough, it was that look of worry from Van that made Luna feel like her decision was the right one. This was a chance to prove to him that she wasn’t the same weak girl as she was before. And that this would be a sort of rematch from last time when they dueled with their shadows. Only this time, she was more determined to win than ever.

Thea smiled, happy to see something exciting happen today. She quickly made sure she had health potions on hand and prepared herself mentally to be a proper judge, and should it be needed, someone who could intervene at the last second.

“Alright,” she said, drawing the attention of both Van and Luna. “Why don’t we get started, please take your positions.”

Van and Luna looked at each other, one with determination, the other with worry and still a little perplexed. But they both moved a few feet away from each other and Thea began giving out the rules.

“No use of aura, this will be a hand-to-hand fight only. There are no bounds, though if you stray too far I will end the fight. Should it look dangerous I will intervene, and the first one to give up or be unable to fight loses. Are you both ready?” looking at both Luna and Van as they took their stances and gave a small nod. “Begin!”

Van waited patiently for Luna to strike first, feeling confident enough to turn the tables on her in a way that won’t hurt her too much. But he had to take a step back in surprise when she suddenly moved and struck at great speed. Blocking the attack, he made a motion to strike back, only to be thrown over.

Now very surprised, Van turned and made another go at Luna, only for the same thing to happen and find himself on his back staring up at the confident eyes of his wife. It only now just truly clicked that she was a very different person than she was before and that he should take this fight more seriously.

Slowly he got up uncontested, Luna waiting for him with determination in her eyes. He got the message and now was more ready than ever to show her who's boss.

Speeding up, he went in as if he was going to fight a weaker Anna. not exactly going all out but feeling like it was more than enough for Luna. but to his continued surprise, Luna seemed to dodge every attack he threw at her. Some even barely grazing her, and Luna would strike back with punches and kicks that hit harder than he was expecting them to.

After a few moments, they both gave each other some distance, reevaluating each other and how hard they had to go at each other within reason. Van dropped any preconceived notions he had and decided to just overwhelm Luna and see what he would learn from the exchange.

Now he went at her at near top speed, throwing a flurry of punches so fast that Luna realized she couldn’t dodge them all and was forced to block them instead. Van thought he had the advantage now, but for some reason, despite now overwhelming Luna, it felt like he was punching a brick wall. His hands and arms were strong enough to deal with that, but it didn’t change that when he landed a punch, the part he hit on Luna would darken just a bit and return to normal. Almost as if his attacks weren’t truly getting through.

And yet still, not all his attacks would land, and when they did, it was as if she was expecting it, almost as if she was reading his mind. An idea formed in his mind as they fought, that he must be somehow telegraphing his moves to her, and so decided to shake things up a bit.

Now going at top speeds he threw every trick in the book at her. Throwing feints, cheap shots, and more. Even going so far as to open her up to an unsuspecting headbutt that made the both of them a little dizzy. Slowly though, inch by inch, Van was seizing the initiative and coming out on top.

Van’s attacks seemed to rile Luna up, making her frustrated and focus more on the attack. Which did more to aid Van than any trick he used before as Luna’s anger seemed to get the better of her and she went all out on attacking.

This was good for Van since it changed the pace of the fight to better suit him. What was not so much better, was realizing how hard Luna hit now. Even though she was more predictable now and open to more of his attacks. She hit like a hammer every time he was forced to block a punch or kick. Making him realize he had to figure out a way to end this now or he may slowly lose the battle due to attrition.

If this was a battle that allowed aura, he would have won hands down. But now he realized why Thea made that rule about not using aura, without it, this was truly a level playing field. What's more, Luna clearly had the advantage when it came to martial skills. After all, he was just trained in the basics and it was made clear during this fight that Luna wasn’t and was properly taught how to fight, which gave her a bigger edge than he was willing to admit, but got more easily tired and was more prone to mistakes then he. But even when angry and more open to his attacks. It was still in an efficient way with not as much excess movement as he would have expected.

Soon though, the fight devolved into just pummeling each other as hard as they could. Any worry about hurting Luna too badly was gone out the window with how hard Luna fought back and how badly of a beating he was taking. Still, it made him wince a little inwardly every time he had to throw an especially hard punch or kick towards her. But she would somehow always come back for more and give as good as she got.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the duel ended in a tie, much to the surprise of both, as Luna and Van looked at Thea when she called it. “That’s enough now you two,” she said, clapping her hands twice. “It’s clear to see that there won’t be any clear winner to this anytime soon.”

Van looked at Thea, then at Luna, then just relaxed and gave up, not wanting to continue the fight anyway.

Luna on the other hand didn’t seem to have taken the verdict very well and instead just admitted defeat, much to the surprise of Van. “it doesn't matter… I lost anyway…” she said, a defeated tone in her voice.

“Oh? Why do you think that?” Thea asked inquisitively, genuinely curious, and looking forward to what her daughter had to say on the matter.

“Van would have won eventually” Luna began, “given enough time, I would have run out of stamina. Not to mention my body can barely move right now.” slowly lifting her now shaking arms, the adrenaline that pumped them now gone and left when the fight was called. In fact, her whole body was shaking a little, and her bruises were now made clear, making Van feel a little bad about what he had done.

Thea shook her head, “and would you have given up anytime soon? If the fight were to continue, both of you would have been in very bad shape, sure Van may have won, but it would have been a very close thing. I think you discount your willingness and willpower to continue the fight a little too much, you have developed a strong warrior's heart, be mindful of that.”

Then she gave a truly stunning smile filled with love and pride at Luna. “Not to mention, if you can think back and realize that you would have lost eventually, then you should clearly be able to see how far you have come since we first started training. You should be proud of how much you’ve grown. To a point where even Van has to go all out and into a battle of attrition just to win. That’s no small accomplishment for someone who hasn’t even trained a full year.”

Van nodded his head and gave his own two cents. “Ya… it’s almost scary how far you have come. I’m really impressed… and maybe a little scared…” he admitted genuinely, then gave a smile. “And really lucky to have a woman like you as a wife.” showing his support of how far she has come, so that she did not feel discouraged to continue her training.

Luna seemed mollified by those words from her mother and husband. Giving her a much-needed confidence boost and helping her get over the shaking of her body. She blushed a little and mumbled a thanks, a little embarrassed by the praises given to her and that last part Van said.

But though Van meant what he said, he couldn’t help but worry for the future. It felt weird, maybe even a little scary, to know for a fact that Luna of all people would soon surpass him, and mostly because he would be too busy studying with Lorenzo about alchemy and runecraft, not to mention having to take care of the goblin troop. Even if he was to use all his free time to train, he probably wouldn’t be able to keep up with Luna’s growth. Which filled him with mixed feelings of uncertainty and pride. Also a bit of embarrassment, the memory of Luna standing tall and strong over him making him feel weird.

Thea broke him from his thoughts with a question. “So Van, do you want to join us with our training?” she asked with a smile.

“Huh? Oh, no thank you. I actually have a few more things to do. But I might come back later to watch if I have the free time.” Van said somewhat absentmindedly.

Thea shrugged. “Your loss, but we will get you into a schedule and start teaching you proper martial arts. Hope you are ready for that.”

Van nodded, actually looking forward to the teachings, as it would help make him stronger and at least keep up with Luna. “Thanks, I’ll see you later.” he then waved Thea goodbye and gave Luna a kiss goodbye, which seemed to have really motivated her.

Leaving the field he walked back towards the doors, planning to go to Lorenzo’s study to see what was there and if lore was ready for him. A little excited by the prospect of going over runes with him. Making sure he cast a spell to clean himself up, he entered and went inside.