"It is never a bad time to train. Especially with the gifts Foren had given us for our service." The man continued. In front of him, the hooded people continued sparring with one another.
The team looked in awe at the size of the room, simply only being used for training. The group noticed that there were a few hooded figures that also held staffs similar to Oliver and Clarissa's. They were standing around a few other followers who were wounded from prior attacks.
The sight of which brought some relief to the two. Knowing that the cathedral also shared the fact they had healers.
The group also noticed white lines that made long rectangles around the training room, acting as sparring areas for the fighters inside them.
"Thus, it will be a shame if Foren's followers follow the way of slothiness and simply lounge around. Judging by you and your group of fellow allies from the cult, I wish to see if you all have been training enough." The man explained.
"You wish to see us fight?" Calliope questioned.
"Indeed, how may a shield protect the ones behind it if it is as fragile as paper?" Oliver felt terrified at the response. Due to the fact he was a healer with no combat experience and the fact he may just be beaten to a pulp almost immediately unlike his sister.
The man took a brief look at the twins, quickly realizing that they were also carrying staff.
"Well, my apologies. You are part of the healers unit. You may join the others or watch from here. Though, I wish to see the others with you spar." The man spoke again.
Calliope took a deep breath. She needed to do everything to get those books.
"Very well, a sparring match against you?" Calliope stepped forward, gripping her sword.
"Rather confident, first a one on one spar. Afterwards you may also spar with the others if you prove to be stronger." The man continued, he stepped backwards, standing on an empty spot of the training area.
"Draw your sword and gift." Without hesitation, Calliope heeded his command.
"Please carry no risk. This is all just to finish the mission…" Although she was unsure of what may happen, she summoned her shield alongside her sword. A mix of slight fear and uncertainty hit her.
The man looked at her with indifference. "Fortunate that I am sparring with a fellow gift bearer, here I believed I was only fighting a follower. Whoever is left standing is the winner." He spoke.
The two stared each other down as the man summoned his own shield, it looked more detailed than Calliope's.
In a few seconds, their battle began. The man lunged at her with his sword raised high and tried slashing at her but to no avail, each swing was blocked as Calliope effortlessly parried each strike with her shield. Sparks from the shield flew as they moved around the rectangle.
The man seemed more focused on attacking rather than defending, giving Calliope good observation as the fight went on.
The man's swings became faster and faster, with frustration in his face, each strike became faster and stronger while Calliope continued to repel each one, her hands gripping tighter on each one as the man continued his barrage, showing little sign of stopping.
"Focus…" Her eyes stared straight ahead at the man's sword and arm, seeing where to block and parry. The group looked at her in amazement as she continued defending herself.
Suddenly, Calliope shoved the man back and began swinging her sword in an elegant manner, parrying any swings the man attempted with her shield. Rapidly turning on the offensive as the man sustained more wounds, until he fell on his back.
"Not bad, not bad at all…" The man stood up. A few healers rushed to his aid with their staffs glowing. The man's wounds began healing in front of them.
Calliope took a few deep breaths and sheathed her sword, her body quickly relaxed as the battle ended. A quick round of applause erupted as the spar ended.
"An excellent performance leader." Quill congratulated her, clapping for a brief moment.
"You are quite skilled now. I wish to see you spar against multiple opponents, perhaps you may test your might against the others in your group." The man continued to talk.
Calliope looked at her team, a mix of shock and respect was painted on their faces.
"Well, I never fought a royal guard before. This should be fun." Marcus walked forward with confidence.
"Do you want to die that badly?" Quill looked at Marcus, speaking with a voice of shock and horror.
"You only live once y'know."
"You are seriously willin to go fight with our own leader?"
As the two bickered, a small crowd had begun to form around them.
"It's just a spar anyway. Besides we got healers, and she doesn't seem to hold much of an issue with us doing that." Their tone had gone quiet as the group formed around them.
"Are we permitted to do this? There must be an alternative to fighting our own leader." Celestine quietly spoke.
Calliope slowly grew tired of the group arguing with one another, and gave her order.
"You four, step into the rectangle." The two stopped, taking a few moments to analyze the situation before following her orders.
As they went inside, Calliope whispered something into their ears.
"Do not worry, this is all just to not arouse suspicion. Try your best to fight me."
Colton reluctantly took out his hammer. He looked at Calliope as if it were a real battle, tightening his hands on the warhammer while the rest took positions.
Quill stood behind them with her bow while Marcus stayed side by side with Colton and Celestine. Colton noticed a small smile on his face appear as he had the chance to fight a new type of enemy.
After a few seconds of wait, Marcus made the first move.
He swung violently towards Calliope as she continued parrying. In the midst of it, Colton joined in. Attacking his own friend with his hammer, trying his best to not make each swing lethal.
Quill from behind began moving around the square, trying to land a hit on her leader with long delays, wishing to not harm her own leader.
Celestine began trying to bait her around, using her rapier to try and stab at Calliope.
But even with four people against her, Calliope continued on. She parried all their attacks as if she already predicted them. Her eyes and arms moved around quickly as they tried to land a hit on her. But none managed to.
As they went on, Colton swung his hammer faster, trying to heed his friend's order and make it less suspicious, unsure whether to enjoy a fight like the old days, or worried as his friend was his opponent.
But he had to follow his orders. He began fighting with techniques he had learned from knowledge books, from heavy swings to rapid hits, all of which Calliope continued to block with her shield.
Marcus continued his attacks without stopping, trying to land a single hit on Calliope to no avail, the smile on his face grew slightly larger, now fighting someone that hasn't fallen in seconds against him.
Quill kept moving around the battlefield, even from a range, her arrows were either dodged or blocked.
Celestine fought with similar elegance to Calliope, as if the two were in a sword dance.
The crowd that formed around them was horrified, a single fighter managing to repel 3 opponents at the same time.
As the battle went on, Calliope's strategy changed. She shoved Colton and Celestine to the ground and began focusing her attacks on Marcus. Her attacks were far faster than any of theirs, catching them off guard.
Marcus fell to the ground first, wounded while a few of the spectators began moving him away.
Celestine and Calliope continued fighting, their attacks and movement made the fight resemble a dance of sorts. But in a few seconds, Calliope knocked Celestine to the ground, ending her fight.
With both on the ground Colton stood back up and continued his orders, to fight till he's down.
He attacked Calliope again, striking her repeatedly until one of the swings managed to hit her shoulder.
Her eyes widened at the sudden hit, before looking back at him to strike back. She swung at Colton multiple times before knocking him to the ground.
But Colton was relieved that the fight was over.
After being dragged away with the other two, Colton saw Quill and Calliope standing still, looking at each other.
In the blink of am eye, the spar resumed. Quill was faster than Calliope as Quill continously dodged each swing, but struggled to aim and fire at Calliope.
As she used up more arrows, she began to feel more weary. And after a few light slashes, Quill was knocked to the ground.
"Apologies. But this was all for the mission." Calliope muttered under her breath.
The crowd started clapping their hands as the twins began healing the wounded people.
Some were still in pain while a few in the group seemed genuinely happy.
As the crowd dispersed, the man approached them.
"Well done and beautifully done. Since it is still midday, we have much more time to perform our other daily duties."