"Lamina Naria?", Loys of Freigoud and Julius Venlan asked simultaneously.

  They were still in the middle of their duel while Cale calmly recounted the offer the lady had made him. When no response followed and Julius noticeably slackened his stance, Cale ended the brief respite after a few seconds. With another thrust, he lunged at Julius, who quickly raised his weapon and parried the attack at the last moment. The force still hit him hard and pushed him back several steps, so he tried with all his might not to lose his footing.

  "Don't let yourself be distracted by the talk that easily, Sir Venlan."

  "Forgive me", the man replied, exerting a force that seemed to come from nowhere.

  He rebelled against Cale and managed to withstand his pressure, which made Cale grin with satisfaction. Duke Loys of Freigoud, on the other hand, who served as a spectator and commentator during the fight, stood at the edge with his hands clasped, thoughtfully observing the events before him before returning to the topic at hand.

  "I truly did not expect Lamina Naria to personally commit herself to winning Ahri as a student."

  "Are you familiar with her?", Cale asked in surprise, turning his attention to the slightly grim-looking man, who almost seemed to laugh at the statement.

  Julius Venlan took advantage of the moment and grabbed Cale's wrist, abandoning his own defense. With a powerful jerk, he pulled Cale toward him and took a step to the side, causing Cale to fall headfirst to the ground. But Cale immediately realized what Julius was trying to do and performed a roll without using his hands to brace himself. He held the sword close to his upper body and twisted his arm so that Sir Venlan could no longer hold it and had to let go.

  "Quite so, yes. She is one of the most famous musicians in Sylve", replied Loys of Freigoud, while Cale felt solid ground beneath him and pushed himself up, much to Julius Venlan's surprise.

  Julius reflexively stepped back, but Cale immediately took advantage of the opening. With his free hand, he lunged forward, broke through the defense, and hit him with full force in the chest. Julius let out a pained cry before being thrown high into the air and crashing hard against the tree that stood just a few steps away from Loys of Freigoud. Loys instantly stepped aside, knowing full well that a fight did not end just because they had left the training area.

  "Oh really? Is the lady that famous?"

  "Yes. She has an extraordinary musical talent and a remarkable enthusiasm for almost every instrument. When she gives concerts, it's almost impossible to get tickets - unless you have the right connections", Loys reported as he moved several long strides away from his colleague.

  Sir Venlan, on the other hand, leaned one hand against the tree and fixed his gaze on Cale. Unexpectedly, however, Cale did not come directly toward him. Instead, Cale held his sword in an unusual position, and before Julius could grasp the intention behind it, the dark blade was already shooting toward him. Cale had thrown the weapon like a spear, aiming just above Julius's head, who quickly dodged the attack by rolling to the side.

  "However, what should be far more interesting to you...", Sir Freigoud continued undeterred. "...is the fact that she has never accepted a students before."

  "Never", Cale said incredulously, without taking his attention away from the action. He lunged at Julius Venlan, ignoring the fact that he had no weapon. But in the last 10 minutes of fighting him, Cale realized he didn't need one. A grin spread across his face as he stood less than 2 meters in front of Julius and shouted at him. "Way too open!"

  Julius Venlan immediately held the weapon in front of his body, but Cale simply ducked, stretched both hands forward, and this time aimed for his hip, causing Julius to reflexively swing his sword downward. However, Cale had anticipated this and changed the direction of his left arm. He easily broke through Julius' defense again and grabbed his wrist, leaving him no chance to turn away Cale's other hand. The other hand hit him with full force and would have been pushed backward if Cale hadn't been holding his other hand. The man fell to the ground with a pained expression on his face, so Cale grabbed him by the throat and brought him to a halt.

  Julius was now completely restricted in his movements. His primary hand and weapon were in Cale's control, while Cale appeared to be strangling him with his other hand. Julius immediately tried to free himself from Cale's grip with his free hand and even kicked him with one leg, but Cale himself remained quite unimpressed.

  "Why do you think Lamina Naria made an exception for Ahri? My daughter has no prior knowledge of music whatsoever. Under these circumstances, wouldn't it make more sense to turn to other, presumably more suitable children?"

  "It's possible that Ahri's character and status aroused her curiosity. Lady Naria had talked to your daughter on the evening of the concert, remember? "

  "Not really. I can't even picture the lady."

  "She was the young woman in the tight, short green dress who spent most of the time at Gloria's side. A relatively small woman with curly, dark hair", Loys and Cale continued their conversation while Julius desperately tried to free himself from his predicament.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  As Julius was kicking his feet quite vigorously and repeatedly pushing himself away from Cale, Cale looked him straight in the eyes, causing the man to calm down immediately. His face had turned quite pale, and his eyes revealed that he was indeed feeling somewhat afraid. For a few moments, neither of them moved, which Cale took as a good sign and finally spoke up calmly.

  "Sir Venlan, how did I just free myself from your grip?"

  Julius immediately seemed to remember what had happened a few moments ago and pulled himself up onto Cale's arm with a jerk. Like an animal, he clung to it with his feet before stretching one out and placing it sideways next to Cale's neck. In the next moment, he used Cale's body against him, pushed himself off, and turned over his arm so that Cale could no longer maintain his grip and had to release both hands.

  With a dull thud, Julius Venlan landed back on the ground, while Cale distanced himself a few steps and watched in shock as his opponent gasped for air. He lay hunched over in front of him on the ground, holding his throat with one hand, while his other hand held the sword upright.

  "Are you alright?", Cale asked nervously, afraid he had gone too far.

  Julius Venlan did not respond, which made Cale really worried, so he approached his opponent. He was standing almost directly behind him and was about to crouch down when Julius Venlan suddenly turned around and lunged at Cale's face with the tip of his sword. He had been waiting for Cale to let his guard down and caught him at a moment when he was unable to react properly. Cale reflexively tried to dodge backward, but his posture caused him to fall to the ground rather than push himself upward.

  Without thinking, Cale stopped the bright sword with both palms and let himself fall completely, so that Julius followed the movement and also slid to the ground. As he lay vertically above him and looked in surprise at the blood running down Cale's arm, Cale moved slightly away and kicked Julius in the chest. In the same breath, Cale rolled backwards and pushed Julius upwards. Julius was thrown uncontrollably into the air like a stone and, to make matters worse, lost his weapon, which Cale noticed out of the corner of his eye. Cale rolled backward and jumped a few steps back before the sword fell and landed directly in his hands. Julius Venlan landed behind him after a somersault, so Cale turned around in a single, elegant movement and held his own weapon to his throat.

  All three of them were silent as the swirling dust slowly settled. Julius Venlan was on the ground and seemed to have no strength left, but this time Cale did not dare make the mistake of falling for his charades. Only when Loys of Freigoud slowly began to clap and Julius Venlan raised his hand to announce his defeat did Cale remove the weapon and look down at his opponent with a satisfied smile.

  "That was superb. No one has ever come this close to my defense before, although I must admit that it was foolish of me to put down my weapon. I was a little overconfident and wanted to teach you a lesson, unaware of how easily I can be deceived."

  "In the end, however, it didn't change anything", Julius Venlan admitted with a pain-wracked voice as he held his hand to his throat and sat up. "For a brief moment, I thought I was going to lose consciousness."

  "Did I strangle you too hard?", Cale replied in surprise, holding the sword horizontally to the ground as he handed it back to Julius Venlan.

  Halfway there, however, he paused when he noticed the blood-stained hilt and looked at his own hands.

  "Not really, you just hit a sore spot."

  "Sore spot?", Cale repeated, glancing briefly at the exhausted-looking man.

  "I don't like it at all when someone touches my neck, let alone when someone chokes me. It's a traumatic experience that causes me to panic."

  "That's why you were kicking so wildly, I understand. I'm sorry, I wasn't aware of that."

  "You couldn't have known, so you don't have to apologize. In fact, I should be grateful. When I heard your voice, it was as if you took away my fear, and only then could I think clearly again", Julius replied in an amused voice, even though it was clear that the subject made him uncomfortable.

  "I'll refrain from doing that in the future", Cale replied, thrusting the sword into the ground. He then tore a sleeve from his shirt and used it as a cloth to clean the hilt of the weapon with a little water magic. With the scrap of fabric in his hand, he then handed the sword back to its owner.

  "Are your hands okay? Are the cuts deep?" Loys of Freigoud asked as he stood next to Julius. He briefly placed a hand on his shoulder - a silent gesture of sympathy. Julius Venlan took his weapon back so that Cale could use the white shirt to stop the bleeding in his hands. In fact, he used some healing magic at the same time to at least partially close the wounds until he could get back to his bag and retrieve the bandage from his zero magic.

  "It's no big deal. It'll heal on its own."

  "If you say so. I was still surprised that you caught the blade with your bare hand again - even if you bled this time", Julius Venlan added, causing Cale to laugh awkwardly and turn away. With a wave of his hand, he indicated to the men that he wanted to fetch his sword, even though he really just wanted to escape the conversation. But the advisors knew what Cale was up to, so they followed him. "So you don't want to tell us what happened back then, huh?"

  "If I reveal all my secrets, you'll defeat me sooner or later", Cale tried to dodge the question again, not turning around. He had completely forgotten that he had used his Igrikum that day because his instincts had led him to do so. With all the excitement and the conversation with Loys of Freigoud afterward, he had simply hoped that the others hadn't noticed either. Apparently, however, the opposite had happened, which now put Cale in an awkward position.

  "I don't mean to offend you, but I would be interested to know what you did back then. And above all, why you didn't use Karekama."

  Cale rolled his eyes and sighed quietly as he reached the tree and pulled the sword out of it with a jerk. A deep cut marked the puncture site, so Cale tapped the bark a few times, as if apologizing to the tree.

  "My stupidity will be my undoing", he muttered, and he walked over to the rock where they had left their bags. Cale needed an excuse - and fast.

  "I'm not fundamentally opposed to telling you..."

  "But?", Sir Freigoud interjected, hopefully.

  "I would consider it...", Cale replied with a serious expression. "...if I get something in return."

  Even if he didn't mention the Igrikum, that didn't mean he had to let this opportunity pass him by. He was well aware that this game could be dangerous - but knowledge was a currency he rarely gave away. And if they expected answers from him, he would demand some in return.