Two youths stood facing one another.
One was a little below 6 feet in height, with a thin body and creamy-coloured skin that served to enhance the handsome features on his face.
The other stood at just about 6 feet with a large muscular body and dark ebony skin which served to contrast the brightness of his perfect white teeth as he smiled.
Urlo flicked a small pebble into the air, it sailed over the rocky banks of the river and hit the water with a splash.
Ripples spread through the running water and cleared up to reveal the reflection of the two youths running towards each other.
Urlo carried a quarterstaff in hand, while Uriel held a quarterstaff in his right while the thick wooden shield was attached to his left.
Urlo was worried at first, he didn't know whether one as small-sized as Uriel would be able to hold a weapon and a shield, but he was surprised to find that Uriel showed no difficulty in carrying the heavy shield.
Uriel charged holding the shield forward his feet kicked up loose stones from the rocky riverbanks.
As he came into range of Urlo the muscular druid grinned, "Try and move me," he laughed and braced himself to grab the shield.
Bang.
The clash ended in a second and a shout left the mouth of the druid as he tumbled back and hit the stony shore.
Urlo climbed up and looked at Uriel in disbelief, he had just been knocked over half a dozen yards, by the small-sized crybaby, it was crazy.
"You, how did you do that?!" he questioned in a low shout.
"I'm stronger than I look," Uriel replied with a cheeky grin.
Uriel wasn't at all surprised by Urlo's reaction, he was used to getting such a reaction from anyone that challenged him in a contest of strength.
He was scrawny when compared to most men, which made pretty much everyone who met him underestimate him, especially when he was placed next to the average men of Old Meadow, each of whom had the natural disposition of a bear.
"Well are you getting up?" he asked Urlo with a grin plastered across his face as he watched the peculiar reactions going through the druid youth's face.
Urlo jumped to his feet, a spark in his eye at the challenge, "Huh, that was just beginner's luck," he laughed and picked up his quarterstaff.
"I should warn you that I'm not half bad with a quarterstaff," said Uriel, he didn't want to embarrass the druid youth any more than he had to.
"Ay, if only you had shown such confidence when fighting against that abomination," Urlo laughed.
Uriel's grin disappeared as he found himself feeling embarrassed, and he couldn't help but internally complain about the druid youth's lack of tact, it seemed that druids were very frank and straight up with their thoughts.
Uriel stepped back and squared off with Urlo once again, "Alright let's go again," he said and he charged again.
Urlo baited Uriel and acted as if he was going to challenge his strength again, but he learned his lesson from the first time, though small his opponent had strength greater than his own.
At the last second Urlo stepped to Uriel's side he did nothing and let Uriel's panic do the rest.
Uriel didn't hold back in his charge this time so the moment he went past Urlo his eyes widened as he found himself incapable of stopping quickly and charged straight into a tree.
"You mustn't put everything into your charge," said Urlo as he walked up behind him and pressed the back of his staff into Uriel's back.
"If you overdo it in your attacks you'll leave yourself wide open and make it easier for your opponent to take you down, and in the rifts that will mean death," he calmly stated, his goal in all of this was to teach Uriel to deal with the threats in the rift, and that was what was most important.
A moment later the two were facing off again.
Urlo flicked another stone into the air, the moment it hit the water Uriel charged again, this time the water reflected him having come to a perfect stop as Urlo stepped to his side.
Uriel turned to face him but Urlo was faster, he moved his quarterstaff swiveling it into an opening, and brought down the bulbous head of the weapon onto Uriel's shield arm.
"Ahh," Uriel shouted as he took the full brunt of the impact to his arm before swinging wildly at Urlo with all his strength placed into the blow.
But Urlo had much battle experience and sharper instincts he aptly dodged and took advantage of Uriel's wild maneuverer to deliver another heavy smack, this time to his leg.
The hit knocked Uriel off balance and with a simple kick Urlo knocked him to the ground and placed the bottom of his staff against his throat.
"See," Urlo laughed, "I told you it was just beginners' luck," he chuckled and extended a hand to help him up.
Uriel had to admit that the youth before him was far more capable than himself, and as the hours of fighting under the hot sun continued it became more and more apparent that there was a vast difference in their skills.
The score was 32:1, with Uriel's only victory being his first.
Since then Urlo proved himself exceptionally capable in ensuring that he never lost let alone took a hit.
There was one thing that he did note, if he took even a single hit from Uriel it would likely be enough to count as his loss, that was simply due to the uncanny strength of his opponent.
The two youths stared at each other both covered in a layer of sweat, with their chests heaving from exertion.
"You've realized that it's not a very good combination?" asked Urlo as Uriel was giving the shield a thoughtful look.
Uriel frowned but slowly nodded his head, it was a glaringly apparent problem, the quarterstaff and the shield didn't mix together very well.
The quarterstaff was a weapon that was meant to be used with two hands, using it with only one hand naturally had an impact on the versatility of the weapon.
With the way he was using it a club would have been a much better choice of weapon, but at the same time if he ever put down the shield then a club wouldn't be as useful as a quarterstaff.
During his battles with Urlo he had been forced to get rid of the shield multiple times, and he found that he was able to hold out for much longer whilst using both hands to wield his weapon, of course, Urlo still managed to win every single clash in the end.
He briefly considered abandoning the shield before reminding himself that there was a good reason for him to have chosen it, which brought him to look at the quarterstaff though he had no desire to abandon it.
He wondered if he was foolish for sticking to the quarterstaff for sentimental reasons, but at the same time, he reminded himself that it was the only weapon that he actually had some knowledge of using.
"It's fine," he eventually said to Urlo, "When you think about it, it's not like I can learn how to wield another weapon in just three days," he said thinking practically,
The only weapon that he wanted to learn to wield was his sword, but Urlo had made it clear that he had never used a sword before.
"We can delay your trial, it's not like there is any time limit," Urlo replied, he had a good grasp of most of the weapons and figured that a spear would be the most useful one for Uriel if he was willing to learn it.
But Uriel quickly shook his head in rejection, "I don't have time," he muttered softly, every day that he spent here was a day more that the soldiers put between him and Cassandra.
He had to learn as much as he could as fast as he could, if he could just learn the basics on how to control his eldrin then he would be able to move ahead with his plans.
"If I can't find a way to use them well together then I won't use the shield when I enter the rift, what do you think is the chance of me making it through the rift with just the staff?" he asked.
"Ay," Urlo sighed, "As you are now you'll probably die in no time at all," he answered with a shrug.
"But after these next two days, if you try hard enough maybe you won't come out crying," he laughed with his boisterous laugh echoing on the edge of the river.
"Alright, let's go again," said Uriel with a look of determination in his eyes.
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