A Beast's Tale

Chapter 64

 "Focus."

"Didn't ya hear that explosion?"

I disarmed Luke and knocked him flat on his back, planting one foot on his chest and holding the tip of my training sword at his throat. "If you won't take this seriously, then there's no point in continuing."

He scowled and shoved my sword away. "I am takin' it seriously, but ain't an explosion in the palace kinda important?"

"Allowing yourself to become distracted in battle will get you killed." I walked over to his sword and kicked it toward him. "If the explosion concerned you, your priority should have been to defeat me quickly so you could investigate."

"It's probably one of Clavis' traps," Licht called from the other side of the arena. He parried Keith's next strike and added, "They're loud, but they won't hurt anybody."

"Hold on. Ya said Ivetta was with Clavis, an'—hey!"

Luke raised his sword in time to block my attack and stumbled backwards. I had him back on the ground and his sword flying through the air before he'd regained his footing.

"Focus," I demanded.

"I didn't know we were startin' again!"

"Chevalier treats every training session as a battle." Licht swung down hard at Keith with a grunt of exertion, locking them in close combat and rendering them unable to speak for a moment.

This time, I didn't move when Luke climbed to his feet.

"What? Not gonna attack me now?" he challenged me, his eyes narrowed as he took a defensive stance. His form was sloppy.

I sighed. "You aren't ready for this." I turned my back on him and walked away. "This is a waste of my time."

He let out a wordless shout. I spun to catch his powerful downstrike and threw him back, landing a kick in his gut and putting him on the ground again.

"Your entire fighting style relies on defeating your opponent with the first attack, and if that fails, you rely on your endurance and size to absorb any blows you take while you adjust and gather yourself for another attack. You have survived thus far because you have only faced inferior opponents, but you wouldn't last five minutes in battle with any of my knights."

"Then teach me somethin' instead of beatin' me up an' tellin' me I'm doin' it all wrong!" he complained as he climbed to his feet. I flicked him in the forehead, eliciting an "Ow!" from him.

"Think. When you can manage that, come find me. Until then, train with my knights."

"No! It's 'cause of this sword. I ain't used to a sword this small."

I sighed. The sword would make no difference, but he had to learn the hard way. "Get your greatsword."

"Ugh!" Across the arena, Keith hit the ground. Licht extended a hand, and Keith took it with a smile. "Thanks. You'll have to teach me that technique. I never saw it coming."

"It isn't hard. If your right foot is here, and you put your left foot here—"

"See? That's how you teach somebody somethin'," Luke grumbled.

"Do you intend to attack me or berate me?" I taunted him.

He charged with a roar. The steel of his greatsword flashed through the air, but I sidestepped the attack and brought my dulled blade down on his back. He kept his footing, grunting and pivoting to react with an upward slash. I swung to meet his sword and twist it away, then kicked him in the wrist, dropped my sword, and grabbed his by the hilt when it fell from his hand. He froze with the naked blade against his throat.