The black princess strolled along the waterfront with the little ones. The dragonlings had become a temporary talisman of the city after bravely battling Dagon, so all the merchants were eager to treat them with something. Sometimes it seemed like Ragni intentionally walked them through the trading quarter to later pilfer some gifts from the grateful traders, but in reality, they were having training sessions every day.
They were already six months old and had strengthened enough to change their shape freely. Now, Ragni arranged daily flying exercises for them. While the core principles were instilled in them from birth, she still wanted to teach them various techniques and tricks that could be useful in the future. As a result, every day around noon, grateful spectators could witness an aerial performance by the three dragons. Foreign merchants were occasionally frightened by this rare spectacle, but the locals quickly explained that these were the protectors of the city.
And today, the little dragons were also getting ready for flight, but first, they had to refuel on the lawn next to the port warehouses.
"Hilda, can you help us with some firewood?"
"Again?? I told you, this is not a lumberjack's axe; it's a battle axe of my clan."
"But will you help?"
"Yeah, yeah, I have nothing else to do for now," a familiar figure emerged from the warehouse with an axe slung over her shoulder.
"Hello," Ragni waved friendly to the princess.
"Hi, here's some snack," Hilda sat down next to the twins and grabbed a couple of pastries from the hands of a displeased girl.
"Hey, that's not yours."
"Come on, do you really mind?"
"You know we need a lot of energy for transformation."
"I don't think cookies and pastries are the best energy source."
Ragni just snorted in displeasure.
"I'm going to do some heavy work too."
"Working as a lumberjack?"
"Something like that. Sometimes we come across ships battered by storms, and here they use the local wood from the grove on the west coast for quick repairs. The wood isn't the best, but it's enough to sail to proper shipyards."
"On the west slope, you say? I'll have to fly there."
"Yes, I'll show my mom what I've learned," little Zarisa danced eagerly on the spot.
"Well, alright, I'll be looking forward to it," Hilda finished the last cookie, grabbed her axe, and said, "see you later."
"Alright, are you ready?" Ragni exchanged glances with the little ones, and the clearing was filled with black and white radiance.
Seleria closed the distance between us so quickly that I couldn't react in time. She held the dagger with the blade down and attempted to deliver a weak slashing strike towards me. I couldn't block the attack and stumbled back, momentarily losing my balance.
"What's the matter? Didn't expect such an attack?" Seleria smirked, but she didn't continue her assault.
"It didn't seem like a serious attempt to harm me," I mentally assessed the dagger's trajectory. "Even if I hadn't evaded, you would have only lightly grazed my chest."
"Exactly, but the attack's purpose wasn't about that," she replied.
The girl jumped to the side, trying to attack me from a different angle. One more leap, and she was preparing to strike at my left side. I positioned my left blade to block the attack, but it never came; there was no dagger in her hand. She had already switched hands and was about to strike with her right hand in the turn. I managed to barely deflect her blow aimed at my neck.
"You wanted to distract me with the first attack, assuming that in a similar situation, I would prepare for the same attack again. But unnoticed, you switched hands so that I wouldn't expect the second attack," I explained.
"Well done, cunning and trickery are also weapons of a warrior," Seleria approached me again and delivered a straight strike, which I easily blocked.
"What about strength and skill?" I asked.
"Hah, no battle can be won without a bit of luck," she replied, leaning into my block, her blade still held by my own. As soon as I stepped back under her pressure, she quickly disengaged and sent me sprawling to the ground with a swift kick. "Do you really believe that studying techniques recorded by someone else at some point will make you stronger?"
I got up from the ground. While I wouldn't say she was stronger than me, she probably had more combat experience than any guildmate, except maybe for Rumy.
"Studying techniques is important too," I said.
"I don't deny that, but combat experience can be more valuable," Seleria jumped in the air and aimed a kick at me. I crossed my arms and managed to block the attack, but she took advantage of the block, somersaulted backward, and then crouched, aiming a knee at my solar plexus. I jumped back, but she didn't give me time to maneuver. Approaching me again, she began raining a barrage of kicks. I couldn't block them with my blades, so I had to dodge. Seleria was surprisingly agile and could easily strike me from almost any position. At some point, I stumbled, and she seized the opportunity. She pressed her hand against my body, gathering strength to deliver a blow directly to my solar plexus. I crossed my arms to block the strike, but the force behind it was still impressive.
"Cough, you're stronger than you appear," I unconsciously rubbed the spot where she hit.
"It's nothing special; I just used the weight of my body to enhance the strike. After all, I didn't say that I don't possess any techniques," Seleria continued to playfully smile. While I did my best to evade her attacks, it seemed like mere entertainment for her. "So, are you going to keep dodging, or will you try to attack at least once?"
I calmed myself and tried to reevaluate the abilities of the red princess. She stood casually, almost indifferently, holding the dagger, but she was actually prepared to deflect my attacks. Her short dagger, flexible body, and quick reactions made her a dangerous opponent in close quarters. However, I doubted I could land a hit on her at the maximum range of my blades. So, I had to keep attempting to reach her.
I closed the distance to the princess, just within striking range, and launched a lunge with my right blade. However, Seleria executed a half-turn, and my blade missed her. Hoping that she momentarily lost sight of my left hand, I delivered an upward strike with my second blade, while rotating clockwise. Seleria lightly deflected the blade with her dagger and spun counterclockwise. Turning back to face her, I intended to strike again with my right blade, but I had to block her attack instead. In her turn, Seleria swiftly transferred the dagger to her right hand and aimed at my shoulder. I positioned my blade vertically, blocking the attack with the handle. As soon as I managed to deflect the dagger, I withdrew my blade, anticipating that she would pass by me in inertia. Continuing her rotation, I held my left blade forward to strike Seleria in the stomach. It happened as I had foreseen—she passed by me, and the blow landed squarely in her abdomen. However, something was off. She was thrown back a couple of steps, or rather, she leaped back.
"Huh? What happened? She should have received a powerful blow that would take a while to recover from," I couldn't feel the impact; it was as if my hand merely brushed against her clothing.
"It's simple. I never stop observing your shoulders—they give away your attacks. Of course, I expected a strike to my stomach, so I leaped back a moment before it hit. Such a trick might work against a novice or a dragon who can't control their strength, but it won't be enough against me," Seleria was smirking. I wasn't sure where all her self-assurance came from, but hardly anyone in our guild could stand up to her. And possessing such skills, she never displayed them—what a sly nature our princess had.
"Remember, you always come up with new tricks for battles with strong opponents. Simply winning with standard techniques is unlikely to work," Seleria taunted me, or perhaps she was pushing me in the right direction.
I lowered my blades with the edges up, forsaking defense, and prepared solely for an attack. The princess maintained the same relaxed expression on her face but stopped playing with the dagger, assuming a proper stance for the first time.
I swung my right blade, and she evaded. A spin and a strike with my left blade, but Seleria deflected it with her dagger. Several more strikes, but she continued to deflect them with minimal effort, stepping back slowly and parrying only those attacks from which she couldn't easily evade. She tried to exert as little force as possible, wearing me down with each exchange. But there could also be her weakness in this approach.
I crouched down and crossed my blades. A crossed attack was quite dangerous, as even if one blade was blocked, the other could still reach its target. The most logical way to evade it was a quick change of position, which, in turn, would open you up for a counter-attack. For some reason, I felt that Seleria wouldn't take such a risk.
The crossed blades rose straight up towards her neck, but at the last moment, they stopped. The princess blocked the attack. During the strike, she had calculated where the blades would intersect and positioned her dagger's blade precisely in that spot. The slightly curved blade of the dagger prevented my blades from sliding along the short piece of metal.
"A powerful attack, but somewhat predictable," Seleria smirked, exactly the reaction I had expected.
We both pushed into the clinch, trying to overpower each other, but I loosened my grip and let go of the blades. The princess leaned forward again, but she was ready for it. Similarly, she loosened her grip and changed her stance to leap back if I decided to counter-attack. I quickly seized the blades again and spread them apart. The strike hit the dagger, which Seleria had not yet managed to retract, but she had already loosened her grip on it. With my blow, I knocked the weapon out of her hand and momentarily threw her off balance. She was already extending her legs forward, preparing to leap back, but the push to her upper body made her fall on her back.
I needed to use this moment for the next move. I should have jumped on her and pinned her to the ground, but the princess had also anticipated such a move. Using her free hand, she pushed off the ground and leaped backward. Maintaining a low stance, I jumped to where Seleria was supposed to land. In this position, I fell out of her field of vision, giving me hope for an unexpected attack. Before Seleria touched down, I positioned my leg as a trip and swept her support leg from under her. Now the girl was really falling to the ground, with no chance to twist away, and it was my chance.
Slightly pushing off, I pounced on Seleria and pressed her to the ground. Her dagger landed a couple of meters away from us, and she had no way to retaliate.
"Heh-heh," Seleria beamed with a satisfied smile. "Thinking ahead for more moves than your opponent is also a good way to win. And now, your reward."
Seleria grabbed my shirt and pressed me against her. It seemed like she was going to kiss me, but something unexpected happened. The princess touched my cheek and whispered in my ear, "They're watching us. Get ready for battle."