"Many people think they were the best at what they did. Most of the time, that just means they haven't traveled enough, and thus simply haven't found someone who makes them look like an amatuer." - old saying from the Kingdom Down Under.

After Cal broke down what mistakes her students had made during their spars, and pointed out how they might be able to improve those areas, they paused for a break and to have lunch.

Cal actually brought them to her family's house, where they had some simple home-cooked lunch together with the rest of the family. That day happened to be Lorna's turn to cook, and they enjoyed some of her rustic fare.

Chunks of meat were skewered on long metal rods, alternated with chunks of spice-rubbed fats, slices of potatoes after, with one at the end of the skewer. The whole thing was then left to bake in a dome-shaped oven. The rendered fat dripped down to the meat and potatoes below and further enriched their flavor.

They were eaten with some thick porridge made from cornmeal, heavily spiced with orcish herbs, with slices of mushrooms and other vegetables suspended in it. Together the meal made a hearty fare that satisfied everyone, and it was a harmonious gathering around the table while they ate.

A half hour or so after they ate, Cal stood up from her seat and walked towards the house's backyard. Aideen followed her, and so did all her students, as well as most of her family present.

Her students had asked to see her fight seriously for once, since they have not had an opportunity to witness that so far. When Cal considered that Ying Xiao would be leaving soon, she agreed to their request, and Aideen agreed to serve as her sparring partner.

That was why they stood across one another in the house's backyard, a good five meters apart. Cal had her halberd in hand, as she comfortably twirled it around with the fingers of one hand. Across from her, Aideen showed that she took this request seriously, as she had her adamant three-sectioned staff at the ready, with the built-in blades in full display.

Aideen deVreys, the Silver Maiden

All of Cal's students seated themselves around the sides of the yards, as they looked at the two figures in the middle with focus. Cal's nieces also looked particularly interested, as did Idania. Khal-Est and Lorna were of a more peaceful persuasion and just watched out of curiosity. Vark and Unitia happened to be out on a trip to Levain, but Krystal was present as she held Ilena on her lap.

Cal nodded to Aideen, who returned her nod calmly, and then, without any warning to the spectators, the battle began.

It was Cal who went on the offense, her magic at full bore as she launched herself forward. Her halberd was swung diagonally upwards with brutal force at Aideen.

Aideen calmly swayed backwards as she avoided the strike, as her own weapon whirled around her body as if it was a living being, and swooped low towards Cal's ankles. Her movements were fast and measured, every move calculated beforehand.

Even so, Cal was faster and stronger than her by a good bit, and she blocked the blow with the other end of her halberd. The ebony heartwood staff clashed with solid adamant and repelled it, even as Cal blocked a second blow with the flat side of her halberd.

Despite Cal being faster and stronger, Aideen knew how to exploit any opening she inadvertently made, and saw her attacks even as she began to move, which allowed the unliving woman to intercept her and make Cal unable to leverage her physical superiority.

Even so, this time she just pushed forward, as she forcefully took a strike to her side. She felt the sharp adamant blade carve into her flesh, but ignored it and pushed forward, as both her hands brought her weapon down on a full-force blow at Aideen.

This time, she managed to land her blow, as the crescent blade of her halberd struck flesh. A long gash opened up from Aideen's left shoulder to halfway down her breast before she managed to pull back enough, and she had not just retreated, as the other end of her weapon scythed the back of Cal's right knee and severed many of the tendons and nerves there.

Cal just forcefully made up for it with her magic, as she kept up with her push. To tell the truth, most of the fight between her and Aideen might well be considered a show for her students. Both of them knew full well that if they were to clash for real, neither of them would be capable of dealing lasting damage towards the other.

As Cal was a Blood Mage, and Aideen was an unliving, neither of them had the necessary methods to put the other down properly, while both of them were pretty much gluttons for punishment, as they easily took hits that would have been fatal to most anyone else without even a blink.

Their brawl, if it could be called that, lasted a good couple of hours before the two of them decided to call it a draw and end it there. Cal had many wounds on her body, all of which eerily did not bleed at all, evidence of how strictly she kept her blood in control.

On the surface, Aideen looked unblemished, as if not a single wound had scored her flesh. The utterly tattered state of her tunic showed that she simply had healed them up as soon as they were made, though, and that Cal had landed her own share of hits during the fight, even if each of them were paid with two or more wounds on her own body.

Aideen quickly helped fix Cal's wounds, and the two women changed into some new clothes before they walked towards the students by the side. She noticed that most of them looked on with some awe - her nieces included - but that Willa and Ying Xiao viewed the battle with excitement instead. Those two probably imagined that they might be able to reach such heights too, in the future.

"It's not impossible for you two to go that far, as long as you put effort into it," Cal said to them kindly. "Just keep in mind, that there's likely going to be people stronger than you still, and never get carried away by your strength."