Zanna sighed.
A lot of people might have assumptions as to her behavior around the newest sensation, Kire Rizen.
Was she sent to his side to seduce him and help her family gain power? Was her father giving support to this sudden chess piece?
Since Kire is a soldier, though he isn't of the nobility, he is still "of the sword", so the support of one of the strongest of the nobility who rose from the sword and not the gown isn't unimaginable.
To explain... of the sword is a family who rose as warriors through achievements to the nobility, and each new generation must master combat and undergo military service to show the depth of their family's capabilities.
Of the gown is a family who rose to nobility through money and politics, maneuvering their way to it, often by cunning and underhanded means.
As such most of the gown and most of the sword act as "factions" against one another.
Regardless the purpose behind why Zanna has been placed near Kire, a simple problem arose:
Kire was simply fucking impossible to keep track of!
One day he would stay within his room emptied of all objects and the sheer amount of cold and wind surrounding him made it impossible to approach as he absorbed and fused with more magic.
The next, he'd disappear the entire day only to show up at scheduled dinners and meetings, just to jump out a window to leave in a way no one could follow!
When they placed a man below all the windows, he jumped in an air fusion boosted jump out the window to the next buildings window!
When they placed people in the surrounding buildings, he used water fusion to flip onto their roof and then just disappeared!
Regarding all this, he always showed up where officially asked, and seemed to follow orders to the letter... but the second he had any leeway he completely disregarded all the moves made in the shadows to fuck off somewhere else!
Where was Kire going so often? Why did he keep disappearing?
Zanna felt a burning desire to know, and her family certainly had the most connections within this place as all the rune soldiers stationed here were her father's men...
But awakened were blasted hard to track, okay?! So now she was waiting outside Kire's room to catch him as he came back for the night, until one of her men came up to her and whispered in her ear.
Her eyes widened. "He's WHAT?!"
~ ~ ~
Kire was outside the city in the camps the army had temporarily taken.
They'd been moving city-to-city to move the lines, so this was the 3rd city now that they'd set up around in the past few weeks.
A lone soldier can cross the country in a week with a message for the king, but an army will take a decade to cross a single plain![1]
In the camp...
"FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!"
A large man with rippling muscle stumbled back, wiping blood from his lips with his bandaged hands.
His target before him was tall, with wiry muscle and bright aqua eyes with slit pupils.
Kire smiled slightly. "Come on, show me what the iron hammer's got!"
The big man grinned, popping his neck before going in for another swing!
Someone off to the side laughed. "Damn, being part magic beast really does make you strong huh?"
This was answered by the shattering "SLAM!" as two fists met, no magic or anything, just pure bodily force!
One was a massive hammer of a fist, the other a quick and lethal strike!
The iron hammer yelled as he struck again and again, throwing fists with wild abandon!
Kire was pushed back, not as physically strong by a long shot, but his body moved with a speed and dexterity that was impressive to see, though not as impossible as fusion magic would supply.
He turned fists aside, redirecting force again and again, meeting each fist with his own fist angled to its side to push it away!
'Precision!'
What was Kire's biggest weakness among those he sparred with? With the dragon and even Bast?
His force of will!
How could a farmhand turned awakened soldier possibly compare in mental strength to someone who's faced death and chosen to accept it, or someone who's suffered under Bast's conditions?
Kire knew his spells and magic formed slower than theirs, he knew he was weaker even if they hadn't noticed yet.
But right now!
A hail of fists, and his own concentration to face it!
Precision, control, focus!
Kire was blessed, but he felt his inferiority! (Truly a monster stuck comparing themself with other monsters may think themselves a man.)
The iron hammer roared as he pushed Kire against the line of the battle ring drawn in the ground!
Victory was here!
And then as his fist shot out...
Kire spun on his heel, taking steps as he rotated along the length of his arm to come close to his chest, within the circle of his arms!
The man instinctively tightened the muscles in his chest and abdomen to resist the incoming strike, muscle memory from other situations like this, as he swung his arms in to try and catch hold of Kire!
The audience froze as Kire dropped into a crouch under his arms, still spinning on his heels to slide past his side!
Stop suddenly behind him!
All that rotational force gathered along him as his body tensed, the momentum shooting down his shoulder as he swung his arm, and as his fist made contact!
"Bang!"
The iron hammer stumbled as the gathered force slammed into the small of his back, throwing him forward a few steps... and over the line of the ring.
"Victory for the Hybrid! Any who won their bets, get over here! If you lost, GET OVER HERE!"
The crowd around erupted into cheers as Kire stumbled back, covered in a sheen of sweat.
"Aisha, how many is that now?"
A man asked someone holding parchment with a bow sling over his back.
"34 rounds, 23 victories, last 16 won straight. The man's a beast."
The one who asked roared in laughter. "Ay, Indeed those hybrids are monsters, but he's a good one it seems."
Aisha smiled, looking over at the betting tables to calculate the wins and losses of the bets for the many brawls soldiers used to keep sharp and entertain.
Aisha's smile slipped a little as soon as no one was looking. Why hadn't he heard of any hybrids being in the army? It wasn't a 100% human army by any means, but still, magic beasts able to take on human form and sire hybrids are rare enough.
He looked up to a Liandros coming to take its winnings and fixed that smile back on as he handed a number of coins to the scaly reptilian.
'I can feel it... that barrier.' Kire clenched his fist as he walked away from the ring.
'What kind of battle will allow me to finally push past my current reaction time? Must I wait until a true fight to the death?'
Kire sighed, grabbing a rough, wet towel to clean himself a bit as he headed to where his folded shirt was... only to find an amused but annoyed lady standing there, tapping her foot.
'...shit. Wait why do I feel like I did something wrong?'
[1] Basically armies move slowly.