I strolled through the roads of the small village, Katherine running up ahead as she checked out the various stalls and delicacies. The pungent smell of booze invaded my nose, a stench I loathed. The arenas were always filled with alcohol for the spectators, making sure they had a good time while watching the death fights.
I focused on enjoying myself with my partner rather than recalling unwanted memories, approaching Katherine as she ogled a stand serving wolf meat on a stick.
"Wolf meat?" I muttered, wondering if it even tasted good.
"You doubting the taste?" asked Katherine with a smirk on her face, almost challenging me to taste it with her.
I sighed, gesturing towards the clerk of the stand.
"Two, please," I ordered, defeated.
The meat didn't actually taste too bad, a strong flavor oozing into my mouth, reminding me of bear meat back on Earth. I had managed to buy a small piece with the money I had saved up, and the unique taste was definitely worth it.
Katherine had immediately lost all of her exhaustion from the journey, leaping from stall to stall and dragging me along as we experienced all sorts of different activities.
"I want to try this!" exclaimed the girl as she approached a game stall. I followed, reading the sign. It was a simple accuracy shooter, with the goal being to hit the stacked objects at the end of the stall with the small shooter distributed.
I picked up the small weapon, admiring the work. It was a simple stick with a hole at one end, a rock slotted inside like a blowgun. She picked up the one in front of her, aiming it at the largest target available: a stone with the word 'festival' engraved on it.
"Aren't you an archer? Why don't you aim for the smallest one-" I started, cutting short as she willed bind into the gun and launching the stone.
I don't even want to begin to describe how far off the shot was, my mouth dropping behind my mask. I was in awe at how miserable the attempt was, wasn't this girl an A-ranked archer?!
She looked at me, clearly realizing that I was in shock behind the mask.
"You try it," she said suddenly, passing me the stick. I took it and loaded it with another stone, raising it and aiming at a small necklace in the far back of the stall.
I willed a small gust of wind into the stick, letting loose the piece of rock and hitting the target right on.
"Cheater," muttered Katherine.
I understood now why she was so terrible. She was drunk.
"Already drunk after two hours, huh?" I teased, the girl pouting, realizing I was completely right.
The clerk gave me the small necklace as I traded him the usage fee, which included Katherine's wasted shot.
"Here," I offered, giving the necklace to Katherine. She smiled, gladly accepting it.
She must've realized she was going to be unable to put it on herself given her current state, sliding the necklace into her pocket.
"Let's go back now," I suggested, the girl nodding as she yawned profusely.
I helped her to bed as we entered the room, the girl undoing her hair. Her dark brown hair reached her shoulders, but it was something I rarely saw due to it being inconvenient for battle.
I had seen a poster amidst the chaos of the festival that I was interested in. A Fei swordmaster was apparently in town and was sparring people in exchange for knowledge and techniques that only he possessed.
Considering I had been slacking on training, I decided to check it out the next day and see if there would be anything I could learn.
--
"You sure you up for this young man?" asked the Fei as I approached the dojo, the wooden house being already surrounded by spectators.
"Let's just get to it," I grumbled, my metallic voice grinding the ears of everyone around me. I had expected a one on one duel, but I was instead greeted with a sight I had hoped to never see again.
A battle for the sake of other's entertainment.
My adversary was a Fei with long silver hair that reached his waist, powerful green eyes eyeing me warily. He tossed me a wooden training stick, the weight surprisingly decent compared to a metal sword.
"I'll give you a final chance to back out, I have been using the sword for thirty years now."
"Show me then," I taunted, not caring about his warnings.
He smiled, readying himself.
"Very well."
Thirty years of training was no joke, but there was a crucial factor that differentiated us: our environment. I fought, every day, in a bloody arena, the sword being the only thing I could trust in the world.
My anger seeped through my aura, and I was glad Katherine was still at the inn, asleep and hungover.
I swung the stick a bit, adjusting myself to its weight before preparing for the fight. There was one thing that this Fei possessed that I wanted to learn, and I would defeat him without hesitation to acquire that knowledge.
The ability to cycle bind indefinitely within a fight, allowing you to have a near-infinite pool of bind to draw from. This worked extremely well with smaller spells, but it was still limited when faced with larger spells that drained bind at rapid rates, like lightning. I estimated that it would no doubt prolongate the time I could use lightning, but the key to unlocking that element to its fullest would be raw training.
I cleared my mind. This was no time to look into the future. The present was now, and right now, I had to defeat this Fei. I knew this fight wouldn't be a piece of cake, but compared to fighting for my life, this was something that I wasn't taking too seriously.
Bind was completely off-limits in this fight, but the restriction didn't bother me. It was true I had come to rely on the magical potential of Auroria, but by no means had I lost my skills with a sword.
There was a reason I was top-ranked back on Earth.
I smiled behind my mask.
Let's see what thirty years of practice could really muster against me.