Chapter 75: Pulling Punches

Anxious as I was, I hardly watched the spar between Rodrik and Taava. I had expected some kind of structured fight, but what I saw absolutely wasn’t that. Rodrik was fast for his size, and he used his training sword almost as more of a club. Taava darted side to side, literally flipping out of the way of some attacks.

The whole time I watched, my anxiety grew. How the heck was I supposed to restrain my strength and also not just get laid out on my ass? I hadn’t expected to actually fight today, although I supposed it made sense. I’d expected to just walk through a few drills and show I knew the motions.

There was a sigh from close by. “I see Rodrik’s having ‘fun’ with the potential recruits again. Although, for once, it looks like the recruit is enjoying herself as well,” a calm voice spoke next to me. “I’m Firalex—Fira for short—and I was told you are the mage interested in joining the Company?”

I pulled myself out of my thoughts and looked over and slightly up to find the person I hadn’t notice approach. They were wearing a breezy-looking outfit; pastel blues and a deep v-neck with billowing sleeves. Their light-colored hair was spiked up by some force or another, but their bright blue eyes betrayed the disaffected casual air they tried to project.

I responded before I was caught staring. “Y-yeah, that’s me. Fire mage. Oh, and my name’s Zarenna.” I sheepishly held out a hand for them to shake.

They took it and shook firmly, a breezy smile crossing their features. “Nice to meet you! Sorry if you’re nervous—” They glanced over to where Taava and Rodrik were continuing to go all-out. “I hope Rodrik didn’t give you a bad first impression. There are plenty of people like him at the company, but some of us are a bit more… sane.”

“Oh, thanks.” I took my hand back and bit my lower lip. “So how are you going to test me?”

“Follow me.” They waved an arm over to a different part of the courtyard. “There’s a dirt area behind the targets back there. That way you won’t be lighting anything on fire—if, of course, that is a concern I should have.”

I shook my head and stood up. “I don’t think so; my control is pretty good.”

“Excellent,” they beamed, and led me around the ring where Rodrik and Taava’s fight had drawn a small crowd.

I could see over everyone else, and the two combatants were flagging, circling each other and waiting for an opening. I hoped my fight wouldn’t be that intense. Would I have to tap out? I don’t think I’d get hurt at all from a training weapon—hopefully getting hits landed on me will be enough.

I sincerely hoped Taava’s competitive side had kept the spar going long past what would be reasonable.

My staring hadn’t gone unnoticed. “Quite the intense fight, don’t you think? Normally Rodrik slaps them around a bit and ends spar. Your friend must be quite good.”

“Yeah,” I replied absentmindedly, “she is—I think.”

“Be surer of yourself, Zarenna! You don’t need to be so nervous.” Fira gave me a reassuring smile.

I smiled back as warmly as I could. They didn’t know the reason I was nervous.

Fira led me around to another shooting range with dirt walls and targets against a dirt backstop. I took the time to look around the courtyard. It looked like the Gelles company owned the whole surrounding building—an impressive façade of stone and wood. I was a little surprised this wasn’t their main branch, but the lobby was spartan enough for me to believe it.

“Impressed?” Fira asked. “Our branch here in Lockmoth does a lot of training, and many of our members call this place home.”

I nodded.

“Shall we begin?”

“Sure!” I beamed.

“Love the enthusiasm!” Fira replied excitedly. “Now show me a controlled flame. I want you to change its size and heat.”

I opened my palm and did as they told me, producing a small flame that hovered above my outstretched hand. I kept the flame higher than I otherwise would, to keep from “burning” myself. While they watched, I raised the temperature, the flame turning from crimson to orange to white.

Still, my signature crimson lined the edge. Focusing on the efficiency methods Seyari had taught me, I increased the flame’s size and decreased it again, feeling the thin trickle of mana the act drew from me.

Fira watched with an intense gaze, a smile playing across their lips. Their eyes glowed and I snuffed the flame out.

“Brilliant!” Fira beamed. “Your control is solid, and the heat you can reach is impressive.” They turned their glowing eyes to me and frowned. “Odd. Your aura doesn’t match your ability. The tint is wrong, too.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Well, uh, I don’t exactly want to go showing my aura around everywhere.”

Fira’s lips turned into a thin line. “A rare ability.”

“Yeah.”

“Would you—hmmm, actually, why don’t you show me some basic offensive casting.” They swept a hand out across the battered stone targets.

“Can do!” I replied quickly, grateful for the out. I conjured twin balls of fire and tossed them, hitting the targets. I had aimed for the center, but was off on both. Then, I turned my palm out and cast a gout of low-heat flames over a near target before blasting the remaining targets, only missing the smallest few.

My magic still felt constrained in human form, but only a little, and I wasn’t exactly going to go all out for a simple demonstration of talent.

Fira examined my handiwork. “Accuracy could use some work, but you either have a lot of mana to work with or your efficiency was well-taught.”

“A bit of both, I suppose,” I shrugged. My accuracy really could use some work—until recently I’d just dumped power at whatever I fought.

“Hmm.” Fira put a hand to their chin and stared up at me. “Let’s go see if Rodrik’s done knocking your poor friend around and ready to give you a thrashing.” They turned and started to walk quickly back toward the sparring ring. As the ring came into view, I could see the fight had ended; a miffed looking Taava sat with her arms crossed next to Rodrik who was smiling ear-to-ear.

“Fira,” I started quickly, “if you don’t mind, I’d like to only be tested for my magic. I’m not really much of a melee combatant.”

Fira stopped and turned to look up at me. “I don’t know what you’re playing at, Zarenna, but you don’t get a figure like that without training.”

I scrambled for an excuse. “Well, uh, it’s my ogre blood that—”

“Stop.” Fira put up a hand. “I’m fairly certain half-ogres don’t exist; you look nothing like one and even if—”

“Fira!” Rodrik interrupted, standing up to take a step toward us, “are you done with Zarenna? I wish to understand why someone of her stature would waste her time training a magical talent.”

Fira’s head snapped away from mine and they glowered at the large man. “Rodrik!”

“Her friend here is surprisingly competent.” He slapped Taava on the back and she stumbled off the bench with a hiss. “I’m looking forward to seeing what Zarenna can do!”

I raised a finger. “Actually, sir, I—”

“Come on, get in the ring!” Rodrik steamrolled over what I was trying to say. He gestured at the sandy circle which was scarred from the previous spar/battle. “There should be a practice spear ready for you. The shaft might be a little short, but you did say you could fight unarmed, and I am quite interested in seeing that,” Rodrik said without a shred of innuendo.

“Fine,” Fira grumbled, “but you and I need to talk after this, Rodrik!”

“Certainly.” Rodrik waved dismissively. “Did Zarenna not meet expectations?”

“It isn’t that,” Fira replied seriously.

Rodrik’s face lost its humor for a moment. “Ah. Alright then, if it’s serious we can talk after the match. We need to compare notes and see if we’ll hire these two.”

“Four!” I interjected.

“Four?” Fira asked.

“Yeah, we have two other friends. One of them should have my spear.”

“Are we already watching for them?” Fira asked Rodrik.

He nodded. “We are.”

“I’ll be waiting then.” Fira gave a last judging look at me, then walked to the sidelines and leaned next to Taava’s bench. They started a conversation, but I couldn’t make out much over the din of the training field and barracks and with the slight fog over my senses from my human guise.

Trying to look the right kind of nervous, I walked over to the training ring, took one look at the flimsy stick Rodrik had called a training spear, then took a position at the edge, unarmed.

“No spear?” Rodrik said, amused.

I looked over at the short-for-me stick that’d snap the first time I tried anything with it. “Too short and it’d snap the moment I used it.”

The large company leader chuckled. “I feel the same way, but it should be stronger than it looks. Give it a try anyway.”

I shrugged, sighed, and picked up the toothpick. “Fine.”

“Good!” Rodrik smiled, facing me with a training sword that looked a fair bit more well-sized to his frame. “Let’s begin!”

I didn’t leap in straight away. The flimsy stick I had for a “weapon” didn’t give me much confidence. For a brief moment, Rodrik and I circled each other.

I was wondering if he was waiting for me to make the first move when he quickly shifted forward, stepping inside my guard. Quickly, of course, being a relative term. He certainly wasn’t slow for a man of his size and I wasn’t that much faster in human form anyway.

I tried a tentative strike at his offhand, looking to keep him out of reach. The spear was short, though that wasn’t the reason my thrust was parried. In a moment, he was inside my reach. I sloppily blocked his training sword, the wood of my spear bending.

I couldn’t, however, block the follow-up. The blunted top of the sword thudded off my abs.

“I shouldn’t have to tell you not to let an opponent with shorter reach than you inside of your guard,” Rodrik said in a disappointed tone. “Again.”

I set up and we went at it again. This time, I lasted longer, making the first moves and putting Seyari’s training to good use before I lost again. The third time, I had to resist the urge to move faster. On the fourth time, a desperate strike snapped the training spear across Rodrik’s practice blade.

He grunted. “Those muscles aren’t just for show. Now your weapon’s broken, Zarenna. Show me what you can do without one.”

“Sure.” I nodded; the fight having given me some confidence in modulating my own strength.

Before we could start, Seyari and Salvador entered, the former carrying my spear and looking pissed, and the latter taking the place in with a calculating gaze. Taava waved to them and I did too.

In doing so, I barely dodged a wide sweep of Rodrik’s practice sword. “Pay attention! The enemy’s not going to let you get distracted.”

“Yes, sir,” I replied apologetically, knowing better than to argue.

We went at it again. I learned firsthand how unequipped I was to fight human-on-human. I couldn’t grab his weapon directly, I had no claws or tail, I was missing arms, I had no horns, and I wasn’t going to use my magic in a training fight.

To say it succinctly, I got thrashed. Oh, I had some good grabs here and there, and some punches (that I pulled) that landed. But more often than not, I’d be tapped with a training sword before I could get a hit in without abusing my speed.

Rodrik caught on to this, and told me to go harder, to the point where I was worried about how much strength I was putting behind my blows. The old guild leader didn’t let up until he was sweating and heaving, having won at least eight out of the last ten or so matches.

“Alright,” he huffed, “I think that’s enough.” He walked forward and shook my hand. “You can certainly take a hit, and you’ve got endurance to match. Just don’t try to get in a fight with anyone more than half your size who knows their way around a weapon.”

We walked back to the others. Fira had disappeared sometime during the spar and had yet to return.

Rodrik regarded the others. “My name’s Rodrik and I’m the branch leader for the Gelles Company here in Lockmoth. Your friends have already been tested. Who are you and how do you fight?”

“Salvador, sir. I primarily use archery,” Salvador replied formally, “and I am also familiar with shortblades.”

“Seyari. Wind and holy magic,” Seyari replied in a challenging tone. “I’m also a master swordswoman and archer.”

Rodrik raised his bushy eyebrows and frowned. “Don’t lie to me, girl.”

“I’m not.” Seyari challenged with a glare.

“Show me then.” Rodrik grumbled, pointing to the ring. “Training weapons are along the wall.”

I already appreciated Seyari, but watching her absolutely wipe the floor with Rodrik left me glowing, and more than a little aroused. The dye disguising her hid some of her beauty, but she couldn’t quite hide the lovely, dangerous glow she gave off as she fought, lip curled into a smirk. No. Now is not the time or the place.

“Sey seems… angry,” I said quietly, tilting my head toward Salvador who was also watching the fight intently.

“She is,” he replied. “Our room had been broken into and ransacked. Seyari and I had to chase down the ruffians who did it. Thankfully they’d not gotten far.”

My stomach twisted. “What happened?”

“We took our things back and roughed them up.”

I looked over at Taava who had been watching the fight with a similar schadenfreude to my own.

She flicked an ear and glanced up at me. “We’ll worry ‘bout it later, kay?”

I nodded, not needing her to explain the rest of what she meant.

After the fight, Salvador and Seyari had to prove their archery skill. Seyari then had to show off her wind magic for a very excited Fira, who had reappeared sometime near the end of Seyari’s fight with Rodrik.

A Fira who, after inspecting my weapon with seemingly great interest, allowed me to finally show off my spear skills against straw targets. I set up in front of one, dropped into a stance, and immediately realized I was off-balance without my tail.

So, I corrected for that. And for the arms I didn’t have. The end result was, well, underwhelming. I could hit a standing target, I could decide where I wanted to hit it and roughly how hard, but I felt awkward and my motions felt forced. I was certain this didn’t escape either instructor, but even as Rodrik—in an excellent mood for someone who just got knocked around—chatted about some technique with Seyari, I didn’t miss his or Fira’s eyes glancing at me.

Something I’d done was grounds for suspicion. Hopefully they’d let us join after the talking part of the process.

“Are you interested in learning to use a buckler, or maybe even a proper shield?” Rodrik asked with a gleam in his eye. “I can see your inexperience, but, frankly, you have enough strength and speed to have potential regardless of talent.”

Ouch. Fair, but ouch.

“I do wish to learn a shield, sir.” I walked over to Seyari and offered an arm. She leaned into the side hug, turning a triumphant smile to Rodrik.

Wait, is she using me as a… Hey! I wanted to be the one to do that!

“We’ll see about that then—if!” he punctuated the sentence sharply, “we decide you’re good enough. Firalex and I will be back shortly. Don’t leave this courtyard, but you may mingle.”

The two people who’d tested us then left us alone for a few minutes, during which Seyari preened herself and radiated smugness. I did little to discourage the behavior. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time to chat, although I did find out that everything aside from some of our food was accounted for when Seyari and Salvador had caught the thieves.

If they had taken my dress…

Well, I had the excuse of being a wrath demon and they were criminals tied to a gang tied to assassins tied to another sovereign demon whom I am rather certain I will end up opposed to.

As it stood, however, I had no one to go after, but I was supremely worried about Taava. I didn’t want to just let her go meet this Garvin guy alone tonight. But I couldn’t exactly bring that up here and now, could I?

Eventually, Fira and Rodrik returned. Fira fixed me with a sharp gaze, the smile I returned barely reciprocated. Rodrik took all our names: Zarenna Miller, Seyari (no surname), Salvador Rozaro, and Taava (no surname).

I imagined Taava was a taken name, like Seyari’s own. I realized after we’d given ours that I had never learned Salvador’s last name. Or Lorelei’s. Or Markus’s.

I swept the dark thoughts aside.

From there, we were each taken to a comfortable office and grilled on a variety of moral and business questions. I responded as best, and as honestly, as I could. I kept in mind that I couldn’t save everyone; that I should think first, but not hesitate when action was demanded; and that there would be people I would have to kill. The parts about contracts and payments were easier—all stuff I had learned as Bourick’s apprentice back in Linthel, or from my own parents.

After the questions, and with most of the afternoon done, Rodrik and Fira gathered us to say we had passed the initial testing. I noticed Rodrik glanced between Taava and Seyari and Fira looked at me again. I tilted my head and blinked and they looked away. I assumed Salvador had passed without issue.

I started to worry Fira had noticed something off with my magic. If they did, they said nothing.

We were told the last thing we’d need to do was shadow and potentially assist a group out on a contract. There was a group leaving the next morning for a contract job to the southwest of Lockmoth. We were to be at a meeting place near the edge of the city one hour after dawn, and Fira would be joining us.

With that, we left and booked a single room with our paltry remaining cash at a big, nice inn on the square up the road. The smell in our room was downright pleasant, if a little strong. Floral and perfumed with a bit of imported incense—quite different from the sweat and dirt that had permeated the Gelles Company’s courtyard.

We had some time left before nightfall, and we’d need it to help Taava plan her evening excursion.