Mikhail heard a pair of young adults and looked at them from the corner of his eyes.
They were sitting with their legs crossed not too far away, covered in bruises and cuts. They looked extremely exhausted. However, Mikhail's attention was suddenly grabbed by a movement out of the corner of his eye.
A woman that he hadn't noticed before amidst the chaotic training grounds got up from a nearby bench and approached the now unconscious teenager.
The woman had short cerulean hair, and her figure was graceful. She was lean, her muscles unpronounced, and her womanly qualities were average. Her face was a sort of oval shape, her chin coming into a sort of soft point.
She wore a pair of navy blue shorts, and a cerulean V-neck T-shirt. The woman was also wearing a beaded bracelet, each bead a different color and with symbols etched onto their surfaces.
Those beads were glossy, almost as if made of polished stone…
She knelt down next to the fallen youngster as Mikhail finished his inspection, and the young man's hand, which was some distance away, lifted off the ground and hovered over as a sphere of water began to appear in her hands.
She put the sphere of water over the oozing wound and the hand entered the sphere shortly after. Then, the sphere of water shone with a brilliant vibrant green hue, before evaporating into vibrant green sparkles that drifted off into the air.
The end result was that the hand had been reattached without any issues. It no longer bled and there wasn't even a scar left behind by the chop.
Atticus then turned to Mikhail. "Go grab a weapon from one of the shacks, and then come back out. I'll pair you with someone."
Mikhail nodded, and did so quickly. He came out with a simple spear made of wood and a sharp, glossy black stone. However, before he could walk over to Atticus again…
"You! Get over here this instant! I'm going to beat some sense into you!"
Mikhail looked over to Amir with a strange look on his face. What was his deal all of a sudden?
Atticus, meanwhile, knew very well what his deal was. However, he was going to shoo Amir off since he was way too experienced a fighter for Mikhail. But before he could say anything…
"You? You're going to beat me?! I'd like to see you try, you damn twig!"
Mikhail jogged over and took a battle stance a handful of paces in front of Amir.
His body was turned to a three quarters view from the young adult's perspective, and he squatted down to a degree as he pointed his spear at Amir, holding it with both hands. His body shook involuntarily from the strain, but his eyes remained steady.
Meanwhile, Amir tilted forward with his legs bent slightly, much less than Mikhail's were. He was holding a rapier made out of some sort of glossy white stone.
Atticus saw the glimmer of excitement in Mikhail's eyes and realized that stopping this fight would do more harm than good.
"Alright you two, start whenever!"
Immediately, Amir rushed forward to close the distance between him and Mikhail. And of course, Mikhail pulled back before violently thrusting forward. However, Amir easily sidestepped the telegraphed attack.
Mikhail frowned as he reeled back his spear in order to stab again.
Amir's gaze sharpened as he saw the evident strain in Mikhail's every move. He then easily slipped past the second stab, and reeled his weapon back.
And then he thrust his rapier forward with a powerful step forward, striking Mikhail in the abdomen with a scowl!
The rapier tore through the shirt first, and hit Mikhail's skin second. Yet, despite Amir's expectations, the rapier did not pierce through him.
Instead, it severely bruised Mikhail's muscles and fiercely tapped against his liver as the man's tan skin seemed to stretch to a ridiculous degree.
"What the-!" Amir said as his rapier bounced back from the recoil of Mikhail's skin.
Mikhail grit his teeth as he stabbed forward once more.
Yet to his surprise, Amir quickly swung his arm at the spear while hopping back, managing to parry the thrust with the blade of his rapier at the last possible second. Yet it wasn't perfect, as now, a small cut went through his arm.
The tip of the spear had grazed him slightly…
And it was a worthwhile tradeoff, as Mikhail's balance was shifted from the parry. He needed to take a second to regain his footing.
In that second of involuntary distraction, he failed to notice that a soft light began to glow from Amir's right palm.
And then, Amir began to slowly circle him, forcing him to constantly shift his stance in order to always face him, keeping his hand out of Mikhail's sight.
Mikhail had wanted to avoid feeling the strain by moving as little as possible, but he lacked the finesse, experience, and power that was necessary to pull off such a victory. He had to fight through the strain if he wanted to win.
Despite that realization, wanting to win and being able to win were two different stories…
Amir suddenly dashed forward while Mikhail was in the middle of shifting his stance. He was close enough to engage in seconds while Mikhail hadn't readied himself to attack, forcing him to go on the defensive, gritting his teeth as he felt sharp pain from moving so quickly.
Amir jumped and pulled back his arm as if he were about to thrust at his skull. Yet Mikhail didn't give up. He rapidly shifted his stance so that he was holding the spear horizontally in front of him, and then swung it up and to the left.
And not a moment too soon nor too late, as the wooden shaft smacked against the rapier's blade, shoving it to the left side. Yet, Amir suddenly revealed a sadistic grin, as if it was all going according to plan.
"GOT YOU!"
His right hand shot out in front of Mikhail's face, and a bright flash of light shot out of his hand.
"AGH! FUCK!" Mikhail angrily shouted as he moved his arm to rub his eyes with his biceps, keeping his spear in both of his hands. But then, he felt his right foot get skewered.
And then his left foot. And then, going for some flourish, Amir kicked him in the back of the knee, causing Mikhail to fold backwards. And as he fell, as he felt the pain of having a hole in each foot, Mikhail's vision returned, albeit somewhat spotty.
In that brief instant, when he opened his eyes, he saw how Amir had just begun to stab forward with his rapier.
"Aw, shit!!"