M. Tress Writes
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Summoned by Monster Girls - Chapter 94
🕑 Added 2024-12-07 09:00:05 +0000 UTCOn the advice of the tax and finance accountant, I’d put together a basic LLC corporation to hold myself at a distance from the jewelry sales. It had just been waiting for the licenses to clear and come back that had held me up at all. From there it was as simple as setting up a Bitsy storefront, which was a pain in the ass, but I was figuring it out slowly.
I was in the middle of uploading the last photo for a combined set of pearl earrings and a necklace with a large, round pearl dangling in the middle when I got a message from Rieka.
The sensation of the tattoo humming on my arm nearly made me drop my phone, but my improved dexterity kept it firmly locked in my hand. Tapping the Upload button with my thumb, I reached over to touch the humming tattoo with one finger, and Rieka’s sweet voice echoed inside my mind.
“Hello Liam, first of all, love you. Second, Kass sends her love too. She would heckle me black and blue if she found out that I said it that way.” There was a small giggle from my princess before her message continued. “I wanted to confirm if you were available this afternoon. Jane found an opportunity for you, but is too shy to bring it up, so she asked me. Apparently, she found you a sparring partner to help learn more about grappling. She’s also a student here, so the cost of her teaching you will be easily satisfied. I met with her already and she has an opening in her class schedule tonight. It will just be Jane and I taking you to see her, as both Shayla and Kassandra have classes at the moment. Let me know when you can so I can pass the information on to her.” The message ended with the wet sound of a blown kiss.
I couldn’t help the smile on my lips at how open Rieka was becoming. She’d been so reserved and noble when I met her—she still was at times—but now she was relaxing so much more and it was a wonderful change.
And that’s not just because she gets so much more forward and cuddly when she’s relaxed, right? I mentally chastised myself before sending a response to Rieka.
“I’m available whenever my princess needs me. Thank Jane for the opportunity for me, and let her know I will offer her my own thanks when I see her next. Just send me a summon whenever you are ready, as I am just working on preparing more of the jewelry for sale. I’ve got pieces set aside for all four of you. I am just holding off giving them until I can get you all together as a group.”
Sending the message off using the System interface, I set about packing away the pieces I’d been photographing and laid out the next one in the impromptu shadow-box I’d put together on my kitchen table.
I’d used some of the money from the payout that the DSR had given me in order to get the box and some silk pillows for the photographing, but for the most part I’d been sitting on the funds. I put most of that money aside in a business account in an effort to spread it around and ensure it didn’t look suspicious come tax time. The accountant reassured me that, while a one time deposit to an account like that might raise some red flags, if it was singular it should be fine, but I would be wise to pay taxes on it as they wouldn’t have a corresponding entry in their system.
“I may be crazy, but even I don’t mess with the IRS!” I muttered in a faux-Joker voice with a smirk as I remembered it.
<><><>
Rieka’s summon came around an hour later. I’d finished recording everything I had ready and getting it posted. There were over two dozen unique items now on the Bitsy shop front that I’d set up.
I had priced the pieces significantly higher than others on the market due to the unique colors of the pearls, but I did list their official grading information to confirm they were real pearls, just from a ‘private source.’ I’d lucked out during my research the previous week, discovering that a local jewelry store had someone on hand with the training to certify pearls so I could start selling far quicker than I expected.
The tugging sensation of the summon picked me up and whirled me away through time and space, allowing me to glimpse bare fragments of myriad different universes. One I caught sight of was a pair of armies standing facing off against each other while two men clashed in a one-on-one duel in the cleared ground between them, one with a polearm and the other with a great-axe. The summon whisked me away before I caught more than a glimpse of the fight.
Soft grass cushioned my landing a moment later and the swirling colors died away to reveal a large, stone building looming ahead of me and my wolf-eared princess standing only a few feet away, her tail wiggling furiously as she smiled hard enough her eyes were squinting. Just to her side, Jane bounced from foot to foot nervously while her tail flickered over her head.
“Hello, Liam,” Rieka said, opening her arms to me.
I only spared our surroundings a quick glance, confirming that my two summoners were alone, before I stepped forward and swept Rieka up into my arms. My princess let out a happy little giggle that transitioned into a muffled moan when I dipped her backwards and pressed my lips to hers in a deep kiss.
Rieka clung to me, her hands balling up in my shirt and one leg hooking behind one of mine to support herself, while her tail whipped back and forth happily as she crooned into the kiss. I could feel her hips grind ever so gently against mine, and I returned the gesture just enough that both of us knew what the other was thinking.
Not wanting to make it awkward for Jane though, I pulled back from Rieka with a quiet pop and set her carefully on her feet once more, keeping hold of her hips so she could regain her balance before I released her.
“Good day to you, my princess,” I said and got a roll of the eyes from Rieka, along with just the tip of her tongue coming out to taunt me. It nearly was enough to get her dragged into another kiss, but my improved willpower told me that I should keep myself from doing that and focus on the other of my companions who was blushing deeply even now in the wake of my affectionate greeting to the wolf kin princess.
“Hi, Liam,” Jane squeaked, taking a slight step back when I moved towards her.
Given that she was so much shorter than I was, I took a knee so I didn’t tower over the mouse kin woman. While I knew Kassandra liked my height and took it as a challenge when I stood over her, Jane was far more skittish in nature and I wanted to see if this put her more at ease.
“Hello, Jane. Rieka tells me that you were the one who found this opportunity to help me train? I wanted to offer you a special thanks for that, but only if it doesn’t make you uncomfortable,” I said, holding an arm out to her.
Jane watched me, the tip of her nose wiggling slightly as she thought before the nervous mouse woman nodded and stepped forward tentatively.
Moving slowly, so as not to startle her, I pulled Jane into a gentle hug. She was stiff at first, but relaxed after a moment, burrowing her face into my shirt and enjoying the hug. Her large mouse ears even relaxed, settling to either side of her head rather than standing stiffly alert like they had been. The long strand of her tail slipped around to match her arms and hug me back.
“Thank you, Jane. I appreciate this and owe you—” I started to say, murmuring into the fluffy black crest of hair that sat atop her head. Jane shook her head in denial, cutting me off mid-sentence.
“No, no debts,” Jane murmured, pulling back to look up at me with a small smile. “I’m just doing my part as your summoner to ensure you are as strong as possible. Come on, we should go meet with your teacher. I think you’ll like her.”
Jane released me from the hug a moment later and stepped away, the blush still coloring her cheeks but not as fiercely as it had been moments before.
“Her?” I teased gently with a smile. “Someone else that you all want to join me as contracted? Or do you just not make friends with boys?” I waggled my eyebrows pointedly at Rieka, who snorted her amusement and rolled her eyes at me. Jane smiled tentatively and shrugged.
“It is harder with us all living in Rue House. It is a girls-only dormitory after all,” she offered by way of explanation.
“Not a problem, Jane. Was just poking a bit of fun. Shall we?” I gestured towards the building behind them, guessing that this was where we’d be meeting my sparring partner. In preparation for this, I’d changed into a pair of track-shorts and a loose-fitting shirt, throwing on my old pair of sneakers that were looking rather haggard now that I thought about it.
“Ah, not yet,” Rieka interrupted, turning to look at Jane with an amused smile. “What is his task?”
Jane bit her lip for a moment, her tail flicking back and forth behind her as she thought, clearly not taking Rieka’s words as a chastisement.
I’d been slowly learning Jane’s tells from her animal features. The relaxed pose of her ears meant she wasn’t anxious, and the little flicks, regular in speed, was a sign of her thinking carefully. After a moment of consideration, Jane nodded and locked eyes with me, her embarrassment firmly tucked behind a serious and thoughtful expression.
“Liam, I need you to impress Lady Valda today during training. She only agreed to the one session out of curiosity, but I believe we can get her interested in more if you do well. She’s a practical person and will appreciate the sort of exertion you can give her in the ring,” Jane said carefully before smiling up at me.
I had to bite my tongue to not make a lewd joke about exertion, though from the way Rieka’s eyes were twinkling, my wolf-eared princess was thinking along the same lines.
Kass has corrupted us both, I thought with a grin as the edges of my vision flashed and the System responded to the request my summoner had given me.
Assist your contracted companions, Jane Carsan and Rieka Coldeye, with impressing Lady Valda Ironclaw so she will continue to train with you.
Reward - 150 SP
“Hmm, it worked and looks like it won’t be considered an easy one to complete,” I murmured before returning Jane’s radiant smile. “Shall we get going?”
With a nod from both girls, they led me around towards the stone building. The spot they had summoned me at was around a corner and just out of sight of the rest of the field. It only took a glance to orient myself to the much larger coliseum-style building that the girls had pointed out to me was where the competition would take place. I also spotted several of the open-air training rings nearby and the distant shapes of the dormitory buildings along the road.
Jane bounced slightly ahead of us, while Rieka took hold of my elbow and allowed me to escort her around. Both of my summoners had their spell rods with them, something that reassured me despite the fact that the campus of Juneau was an area that they shouldn’t need to carry the weapons with them.
But they are here training to become spellcasters, so it makes sense, I reminded myself, gently squeezing Rieka’s hand on my arm and getting a sweet smile from my lover.
Jane pushed the large wooden doors open with a rather cute little grunt of effort before we got to them. She didn’t wait for us, bounding through the doors and along a hallway lit with a single oil lamp.
The short hall led out into an open-air sparring ring floored in packed earth. The ring itself was oval shaped and roughly sixty feet long, while only being two-thirds that wide, I guessed. Open doors off to either side of the hallway we were in revealed racks of wooden training weapons, hoops, ropes, and other tools for exercise and training.
I only spared these a brief glance as my gaze tracked on Jane as she bounded out into the sunlight again to greet a woman I recognized.
I had been too distracted by the naughty jokes earlier for the name to click for me, but the statuesque woman who was smiling genially down at Jane from where she stood near the far end of the sparring ring was rather familiar.
“Ah, that’s right,” I muttered, shaking my head slightly. “I’ve met her before, in very brief passing… She showed me her claws once while I was heading to train with magic? Or was it to help Kass train? I know you girls have mentioned her in passing a few times.”
“Well, that will make this easier for introductions. Also, Lady Valda is a well-known person on campus, much like myself, actually,” Rieka said with a grin up at me. “Come on, we don’t want Jane to leave us too far behind.”
At Rieka’s urging, we stepped up our pace. I noted that, while Lady Valda smiled down at Jane, her gaze was sharp when we stepped out into the sunlight and approached behind the smaller woman.
“Princess Rieka, it is a pleasure to see you. I assume that this gentleman is the one that friend Jane wanted me to spar with?” Valda gave Rieka a small, polite bow and received one in return before turning her eyes to me.
I’d taken the opportunity of our approach to study the woman. She was slightly shorter than Shayla, but still far closer to my height than the other three girls. Dressed in simple and functional clothes, her dishwater-blonde hair was shaved on the sides like Jane’s was, but rather than fluffed in something like a pompadour mixed with a mohawk, Valda had her hair braided tightly and it fell out of sight behind her back. I spotted the gleam of metal amongst the pale hair, telling me she had something braided into it, but I couldn’t get a good look at it to discern which.
Unlike the other women I’d met so far, with the majority of them being between the softer side like Shayla all the way to athletic as Rieka was, Valda had defined muscles.
She wore a loose-legged pair of pants that clung to full hips, showing defined muscles in her thighs and waist, and a short-sleeved shirt that exposed her muscled forearms. Dark green scales ran up the backs of her hands and over her forearms, while leather caps covered the tips of her fingers that were attached to a strange glove that reminded me of an archery finger-guard. She had a sword belted at her waist on her left hip, with her spell rod holstered just above it.
Fierce gray eyes studied me carefully when I reached her face, which had a guarded air to it as she waited for confirmation on her earlier question. Valda had a strong nose and high cheekbones. That, combined with her hairstyle and dress, immediately gave me the mental image of a better dressed alternate universe version of Red Sonja, and I couldn’t help the smile that brought to my face.
Jane didn’t hesitate to talk, apparently at ease with the larger woman more than she had been with Kassandra initially.
“Lady Valda, you already know the princess, obviously. This is Liam the Traveler, he is the bonded companion of myself and the princess, as well as two others.”
“Yes, Lady Silverscale and Miss Valo, correct?” The scaled woman asked simply, her brows wrinkling for just a moment before smoothing and she held out her hand to me. “I believe I have seen him on campus, actually.”
“That is correct, Lady Valda,” I said smoothly, as Rieka took her arm from mine. Remembering our last meeting, I offered her my forearm, and she smiled, clasping arms for a moment before we released each other.
“Well then, since this is not our first meeting and you come at the recommendation of both a friend and someone I respect,” Valda said, her eyes skipping first to a smiling Jane and then to Rieka before returning to me. “Well met to you, Liam the Traveler. If we are to spar, then you should call me Valda. There is no need for titles within the ring.”
“Well then, shall we get started, Valda?” I asked and got a nod in return.
Jane and Rieka took up spots by the wall to one side, with Jane sitting cross-legged on the packed earth to watch while Rieka leaned against the stone wall. Valda and I headed towards the center of the ring. I studied her movements as she walked and could appreciate the lithe grace that the muscular woman moved with.
Because of my familiarity with female clothing from this world because of Kassandra and Rieka, I could tell that Valda had on a fairly tight chest binder to restrain her bust under her shirt, as well as a wide belt that, while it was intended to hold her clothes in place and support the rig for her sword and spell rod, would also act as light armor for her kidneys and stomach.
Glancing up, I caught Valda’s gray eyes studying me in return and nodded to her as we reached the center point of the sparring ring.
“So, Liam…” Valda said, letting her sentence trail off and tilting her head to one side and then the other, studying me with each of her eyes while her left hand rested on the pommel of her sword. “What sort of training have you had already? Jane simply stated that she was looking for a way to meaningfully contribute to her group in preparing for the competition that the dedicated summoners have in a few weeks.”
“I’ve been training twice a week for several hours with a friend in both sword and mace work,” I answered easily, settling into a wide-legged stance that Cerebaton had taught me would keep me balanced in case I was attacked, but would appear less confrontational at a glance. From the way Valda’s eyes glittered and a small smile tugged on her lips, she recognized my way of standing for what it was.
“And hand-to-hand?”
“Mostly self-taught. I learned to brawl when I was younger, and I’ve gotten into more than a few fistfights over the years. What I really need to learn, though, is more to do with grappling, unarmed fighting, and all of that.” I glanced towards Jane and Rieka, who were clearly waiting for us to begin. Rieka was smiling while Jane was glancing between the two of us with a curious look on her face.
“There is not much I can teach you about my method of bare-hand fighting,” Valda said with a small sigh, her shoulders slumping. “Since you do not have claws as I do, that will limit what I could teach you. Though I am interested in crossing swords with you.” She perked up slightly at the last statement, her left hand shifting to rub over the pommel of her sword.
I grinned at Valda for a moment before leaning towards her while holding out my right hand with my palm up. She glanced down at my bare, pink, human hand before looking up at me with confusion in her eyes.
“I take it that Jane didn’t tell you? I appreciate that she keeps my secrets too. Did you mean claws like this?” I said while pushing gently on Shape-Shifting. A moment later, my hands were covered in thick scales the same russet-red as Kassandra’s tail, while thick black claws sprouted from my fingertips, the same black claws I knew that Valda carried as I had copied them from observing her weeks previously.
Valda’s eyes went wide as she watched my skin change color and segment, before widening even further as the scales settled in a ripple up my arm and the claws sprouted. I could perform the shifts in less than a second nowadays as I’d practiced them so much, but this one I did slowly so Valda could observe.
As the shift settled into place fully, Valda opened her mouth to speak, but I gestured with my left hand to wait, so she nodded, her eyes dipping back to my forearm where it was now covered in those thick red scales.
I focused and poured mana into the effect now, drawing on the Shape-Shifting (Elemental Alignment) effect now too. I’d debated holding onto it, since I wasn’t sure if Valda was going to be someone we faced during the competition, but given the fact that Jane trusted the woman, I decided to show it as well.
The red scales thickened further, taking on a metallic sheen as I shifted the keratinous material and used the mana to allow it to harden into stone, compress, and then harden further into iron, leaving the russet-red with a gray sheen now.
“Fascinating…” Valda muttered, a fierce smile holding place on her lips now. “My own bonded familiar is that of a salamander, and our pact is such that it will bless my weapons with its heat while shielding me from fire. It appears you have a similar ability.”
“One of many,” I said, doing my best to keep the pride out of my voice. I’d come so far since those first days with Rieka and Kassandra, but I didn’t want to get a big head. “Learning to fight better in close quarters is what I need most. My sword instructor continues to train me in weapons, but these?” I twiddled my clawed fingers. “Are not something he is willing to train me to fight with. Not because of lack of trust, but due to… other dangers.” I couldn’t think of a subtle way to mention that touching a daemon’s bare skin, even by accident, would be horrifically corrosive to me.
Unless… I shoved that thought away for now. I needed to consider a few more things first, and while I thought it would be an interesting surprise, I would need to speak to Cariad to check my idea with her first.
Valda was nodding now, her smile even fiercer and wide enough to show her incisors were longer than the rest of her teeth, not quite snake-fang size but definitely pronounced.
“Let us begin then.”
<><><>
Valda and I sparred, the scaled woman insisting we move at half-speed for now to get used to each other. She kept the leather caps on her claws for now and I blunted mine, changing the sharp talons to blunt digging-style claws. She explained that, for her people, the scales on their forearms were hard enough to defeat blows from their own claws as well as most small blades, so it was acceptable to block the slashes with their forearms, though the scales on the underside could still be cut through if the blow was strong enough.
While I’d practiced and fought with the claws and my other shifted limbs, I had only been working at this off and on for months. A lot of my training was martial arts forms done without a partner, rather than sparring. So Valda, even moving at half speed, kicked my ass several times.
Just like with Cerebaton, though, I bounced back from each loss and reset. The hours slipped by while Valda worked with me. After the first hour of just sparring, she had me walk through my training kata and showed me how to adjust them to maximize claw and open hand strikes. Just as I had learned initially, they were a lot more like open hand slaps or thrusts, but she added in raking motions and flexing of fingers to drag and rip with the claws.
After three hours of work, I was covered in sweat and bruises. Meanwhile, Valda still looked fresh and ready, only a faint sheen on her forehead showing how much effort she’d been having to put forth to throw me around like she did.
We had just finished another practice spar, with Valda critiquing me on my movements and reminding me that even a single claw hooked into an opponent can deal damage and that I need to stop thinking of them as just fingers and remember they all bore sharp blades, when she paused.
With my higher mental scores in general, I’d noticed over the last hour that Valda’s interested attitude had begun to fail and her brow was wrinkling in either annoyance or frustration. So when she stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest, I mirrored the pose, assuming she wanted a moment to talk.
“Liam, why are you hesitating?” Valda asked after a moment of silent study. “While we have sparred, I have watched your form and your abilities. For someone who has admitted that they only started earnestly training recently, you are doing well. But there are tells that I have noticed which indicate you are holding back.”
I grimaced slightly, understanding what she’d referenced. One of the things I’d been working on training at home was snapping between shifts, to capitalize on opportunities that presented themselves. What I’d been fighting, what had produced those minute hesitations Valda had noticed, was me battling the reflexes I’d built to do those.
“We entered into this sparring and training match with a statement of hand-to-hand only,” I said after a minute. My words apparently confused Valda, and she tilted her head to one side.
“Liam!” Rieka’s voice calling from the sidelines drew my attention to the platinum-blonde wolf woman, and I could see her smirk even from here. “We only have another half-hour on your summoning timer. Go ahead and show Valda what you can do. I think she will appreciate a full strength sparring match to cap things off, no?”
Valda had glanced towards Rieka when the princess spoke, but when Rieka finished, the scaled woman’s head snapped back to look at me with renewed interest.
“You are sure?” I asked Rieka, getting a nod from both her and Jane.
“Valda is on a different track. She’s not going to be in the competition, if that is what you are worried about,” Jane called.
“And I will not divulge your abilities to others,” Valda spoke up on her own behalf a moment later. “I am quite curious what you have been holding back on me thus far, Liam. I will accept that we did agree to a hand-to-hand training match earlier, but I want to see what you can do.”
I took a deep breath and nodded once, rolling my shoulders and shaking my limbs to dismiss my shifted scales and claws. I’d let the earth enhancement fade away far earlier, not needing the extra armor they provided and wanting to feel Valda’s blows so I would know when she got me.
“Weapons and magic allowed. To surrender?” I offered Valda, while tugging my shirt off over my head. The garment was soaked in sweat and sticky, but I’d managed to get through our training so far without it getting shredded. I didn’t want to break that streak now by being an idiot and tearing it with a shift. Valda was a strong enough opponent that I knew I’d not be able to hold back.
Valda was blinking rapidly in surprise, whether at my bare chest or my words, I wasn’t sure, but when her eyes met mine, she shook off her confusion.
“You would be willing to do a full contact spar?”
“Sure, I don’t plan to use live edge weapons though, and I plan to pull any magic I use so it doesn’t actually hurt you. I feel like we have formed enough of an understanding that neither of us would exploit the situation.”
Valda nodded slowly, staring at me for another long moment before glancing towards Jane and Rieka, who were both smiling and waiting expectantly.
“Fine, I will go collect a practice weapon. I will do my best not to burn you, but my salamander has problems holding back.” I shrugged at her statement and worked my arms and legs to ensure all of my muscles were loose and ready.
Valda collected a wooden longsword from one of the rooms off the entry door before returning. We squared up with each other and Valda gave me another odd look when I didn’t retrieve a weapon for myself, just assuming a loose boxing stance before her with my hands held in front of my face and palms open. She opened her mouth to say something, paused, then spoke a moment later, having changed her mind about what she was going to say.
“Are you ready?”
I nodded, my gaze directed towards the base of her throat and unfocused to allow me to observe her actions. I saw the telltale tightening along her trapezius and the subtle shift in her posture that Cerebaton had taught me about. A moment later, the scaled woman was moving forward in a long lunge, the blade of her sword leading the way, a faint shimmer of heat around it showing that she was calling on her bonded summon. I spared only a moment to think about how interesting it was that her summon was doing something different besides appearing to fight for her, and then I acted.
Skipping to the left, I pushed a pair of shifts to my body. My left hand hardened, fingers merging into a flat plate of armored chitin with a sharp edge along the side of my palm that my pinky sat on. The bones in my wrist fused, locking it in place and hardening along the thumb side of my left hand. This allowed me to deflect the blade up in a smooth, scooping parry.
My right arm stayed tucked into my side as the familiar ripple of change caused my elbow to reverse and my right fist to fuse into a knob of bone. No sooner had my left hand-blade deflected the sword to one side before the hammer of hardened bone on my right fired out in a straight punch that was powered by the spring-assembly I had stolen from a mantis-shrimp. The crack of shattering wood heralded the blow striking true, snapping the wooden practice sword off at the handle even as my left hand-blade lunged forward towards Valda’s throat.
The motion was one I had drilled multiple times in the last week, a combination that Cerebaton and I had been working on to help defeat armed opponents if there was ever a repeat of the fight with the bandits that had attacked Rieka and her mother on the road. I executed it without hesitation.
Valda’s eyes widened when she saw my limbs flow and even larger changes occur. She did not try to keep hold of her weapon. As soon as she heard the wood breaking, she threw herself backwards to evade my thrusting strike and lashed out with a kick at my chest while tossing the broken hilt away.
I accepted the blow, hardening the skin of my chest into dense chitin and continuing to pursue her even as she rolled over her shoulder and back to her feet, a flick of her wrists sending the leather caps flying off her clawed fingertips.
The spring-loaded club on my right arm retracted before flowing out into the scorpion-tail, though the tip was blunted and without the venom bulb as we were only sparring. I struck out with it rapidly, though not as fast as I had with the bone club. Valda slapped it aside with rapid, open-hand strikes that deflected the heavy limb. She could defend herself against it, but not close enough to put those claws of hers to use. They shrieked off the armored carapace of the scorpion tail, leaving dull scratches on the shiny shell but not catching.
I slipped into a fencing stance that Cerebaton had taught me, presenting only my profile and right arm, using the extended limb as a mobile rapier to keep Valda at a distance. The look of intense focus on her face showed, along with the wild smile on her lips, reassured me that the scaled woman was not upset at the rapidly changing situation now. If anything, there was a hunger in her eyes as she slapped, clawed, and dodged.
Can’t toy with her. Not smart and also she doesn’t deserve it, I reminded myself. My left arm flowed, the bladed limb lengthening. I switched sides, using the longer blade now to put Valda off balance while still menacing her with the scorpion limb, the switch up keeping her from being able to find the pattern to the attacks. And since she couldn’t find a pattern, Valda must have decided to make one.
I saw her hand drop to the handle of her spell rod, but not draw it a moment before a flash of fire from the scaled woman’s mouth startled me. I threw myself into a sideways roll as she blew a breath of fire across the field where I had just been standing. If I hadn’t reacted instinctively, the flames would have washed over top of me and likely scorched me pretty badly.
I did say magic was available, my fault for forgetting, I chastised and rolled to my feet. A second later, something heavy struck me in the shoulder and I grunted in surprise, glancing down to see the handle of her broken practice sword falling to the ground.
She must have grabbed it while I was distracted, the thought flitted through my mind like a scampering mouse.
I looked up to see Valda lunging towards me, claws outstretched, while more flames danced between her teeth. I was struck in that moment by how fiercely beautiful the scaled woman was, before my survival instincts kicked in and I slammed both of my forearms together, elbow to elbow, as they flowed and changed once more.
Digging my feet in, I shoved forward to meet Valda’s charge as my arms merged together into a single plate of armored chitin that I slammed into her like I was driving forward a shield.
A yelp and a thump were all I waited for before splitting the shield in half to spot my opponent. Valda was stumbling back from me, blinking furiously to recover from her impact with the heavy carapace. But she hadn’t called her yield yet, so I used her distraction to return the favor of the surprise magical attack.
Right behind Valda’s left foot, even as she lifted it to step back, a hole opened up to accept the limb into the packed earth. Yelping in surprise, Valda fell backwards, hands flailing and eyes wide.
Not wanting her to slam her head into the packed earth, I dove forward and caught her around the waist, my arms shifting back into actual arms to hold her up while I ordered the earth to release her foot again.
I knew it was dumb, since she could just as easily use those claws of hers to declare a win by just putting them to my throat. I didn’t want to actually hurt her, though, so I did it. Sue me. Not the first time I’ve done something dumb for a pretty girl.
Thankfully, Valda did not decide to keep the fight going. Instead, she straightened her arms to actually keep her claws away from my bare skin. When I returned her to her feet and stepped back, she was staring at me rather intently, her brow furrowed.
“I can understand why you were holding back before,” Valda said after a moment of studying me. “But if you can do that, why in the world are you worried about grappling and fighting with claws?”
I shrugged before I answered, wiping sweat from my forehead in the process and looking around for where my shirt had ended up.
“I like to keep my options open, and you never know when learning something new might be helpful. I have a duty to protect my charges, after all.”
When I had located my shirt and looked back at Valda, I found her wearing an amused smile with her forearms crossed over her chest, the claws of her left hand tapping lightly against the scales on the back of her right. One eyebrow slowly rose and she glanced over towards Rieka, who was grinning broadly.
“I will say this,” Valda drawled slowly before looking back at me. “I am glad this was only a sparring match and not an official duel. You surprised me quite thoroughly.”
A moment later, the edges of my vision flashed, and a message scrolled across it.
Assist your contracted companions, Jane Carsan and Rieka Coldeye, with impressing Lady Valda Ironclaw so she will continue to train with you.
Reward - 150 SP
COMPLETE
Comments
M. Tress
It might have been the battle between a certain armsmaster as his last act. :)
Robert Thornton
Was that snippet of the fight between polearm and Great axe when he was traveling between dimensions from the most recent aethers revival book?
Freya
Tyftc
