Somehow, this was not the way I had originally wanted to exhaust myself with Sigmir.

With a sigh, I pushed myself off the ground, looking at Sigmir, who looked down on my wiped-out form with a look between amusement and apology. Given that she had just used her shield to remind me why jumping in combat was generally a stupid idea, by swatting me out of the air, I could understand both sentiments but at the end of the day, I had asked her to help me train.

Earlier, when I had watched the night, outside the capsule, the difference between my Avatar and my real body had made itself obvious to me, which, in turn, made me consider how that difference manifested in the opposite direction. Even before I had crossed the second Divide, my Avatar had higher physical capabilities than my actual body, allowing me to perform movements and forms with enviable ease. But I had never thought to push my fighting abilities much further than those I had learned in my real body, outside of a few reflexive movements in emergencies. Essentially, unless I was forced to react to an incoming threat, I moved as I could with my physical body.

Which was akin to fighting in restraints, using less force and a lot less agility than I might be able to use, if I developed a fighting style suitable for my Avatar-body. And that was while ignoring the potential movements that my Avatar would be able to perform, like the rather acrobatically stupid jump I had tried earlier.

With that sentiment in mind, I had asked Sigmir to train with me, giving me a living, breathing and, most importantly, defending partner to work with. Which was what she mostly did, keeping her shield between the two of us, blocking my blades, while using the blunted edge of an Ice-Axe to keep me on my toes. While our technical fighting abilities weren’t that far apart, Sigmir’s fighting training hadn’t focused on them, she was still better than me, with long years of actual experience. Adding on to that, was the simple fact that she was stronger, faster and more accurate, with enough endurance to simply outlast me, to make an actual fight pointless, unless I used my magic. But that would be entirely against the idea of physical training, so I had to grit my teeth and try to come up with ways to surprise her.

Which, more often than not, ended with me on the ground, with another spot that might bruise a little, thanks to her being very careful and gentle with me. But even getting gently swatted with a heavy shield wasn’t pleasant, giving me ample motivation to do better.

Letting out a slow breath, I decided that I was being stupid. Or maybe just obstinate, a part of me not wanting to accept that I simply was no match for Sigmir when it came to physical combat. But then, I really didn’t have to be, the only reason I would ever use weapons in melee was to defend myself and get time to create distance to use my magic.

“Love, I think there is a better way to train.” I told her, an idea forming in my mind. “Trying to close in with a physical fighter like you would be pure idiocy on my part, what I need to do, and to perfect, is a way of getting away and defending myself, not trying to attack.” I explained, when she interrupted me.

“I won’t attack you!” she growled, the intent in her words palpable, a bit of the familiar red aura she used when fighting seriously leaking out.

“What about trying to catch me? We both put away our weapons and play a game. We define an area, let’s say this grove, and my goal is to escape from the area, while your job is to put me into the cottage. Winner gets to perform whatever she wants on the loser, later tonight.” I suggested, my tongue flicking out when considering whether I wanted to win or lose. Both options were seriously tempting.

My suggestion, or maybe the look on my face, caused her to start laughing as she shook her head.

“Only you…” she grinned, before putting her axe and shield away. “Yes, we can do that.” she agreed, prompting me to sheath my blades and placing them on the cottage.

“Best out of three?” I asked, after we had taken position in the center of the grove, maybe five meters apart. Sigmir simply nodded and we agreed on a thrown rock hitting the ground as our starting signal.

The moment the rock hit the ground, I instantly twisted to the side, trying to get as much speed as I could. I even went so far to activate Bullet Time and use Blood Magic to enhance my speed, quite certain that the first few moments were the most dangerous, the starting-position relatively open and Sigmir already close.

It was as if I could feel Sigmir’s breath in my neck, I certainly could hear her moving behind me, and decided that I needed to use all the tools in my toolbox, if I wanted to win. Which I did, not for the reward but because only by doing my best, the training would be meaningful.

With time as precious as it was, I activated Overflow to get a little more power out, before I was caught. Not to increase the magic used in my legs, channelling an almost uncontrolled burst of power into that particular magic would likely rip my legs apart, but to create a smokescreen.

My Astral Power burst out of me, forming a dense mist around me, giving me a few extra moments, with Sigmir’s line of sight interrupted. The mist, and my connection to it, also meant that I actually had an idea where Sigmir was, almost right behind me, as I twisted behind the first tree around the clearing. Letting more Mist burst out, letting it flow into all directions, I decided that a bit of misdirection was necessary and shifted my direction from the direct line towards the edge of the grove to a more angled one, trying to step as gently as possible. Speed was important but if I tried to win with speed, I was bound to lose.

A thought pushed together some of the tiny particles that made up the mist, forming small hailstones which I blindly shot into the direction I had originally been going, creating noise in that direction, while I continued moving on my new path, making as little noise as possible.

By the time Sigmir realised that I had duped her, the distance between us was high enough to allow me to get out of the grove and to safety. She managed to catch up quite a bit but at the end of the day, she hadn’t been fast enough.

“That’s the first round going to me.” I grinned, giving her a soft kiss, when she caught up. She merely nodded, while I looked into me, realising that I had used more Astral Power than I had anticipated, given the short time. With a moment's thought, I realised that a lot of Astral Power had to be within the mist I had created and was still connected to. Pushing on that connection, I drew together the mist, forming the tiny particles into something akin to very soft ice-cream, only without flavours, before inhaling the substance, similar to how I had ingested Liquid Moonlight before. It was a little different but the power was still mine and still in my body, allowing me to recover my Astral Power by eating my magic.

Between that and some Astral Meditation, I was able to recover my power quickly, letting Sigmir and me get into position for the second round.

Again, the stone landed on the ground and I dashed off to the side, this time instantly channelling Power to create my distracting Mist. However, this time, Sigmir had obviously considered what to do against it and I could feel a sudden burst of power behind me, moments before a roaring howl, laced with Astral Power, shook the air around us, to the point that the trees started to lose leaves.

The mist I had just created was instantly dispersed, leaving me out in the open and Sigmir, her red aura flaring around her, caught me before I could take more than a couple of steps. For a moment, I considered trying to get away but there was no way to squirm out of the bear-hug she had me in and a slap on my rear stopped even that attempt.

“This is my win.” she told me, an adorable grin on her face, so unlike the powerful aura around her, before she kissed my nose.

“Mhm, let’s do another one. Do you need to recover?” I asked, not certain just how much power what she had done had taken.

“Give me a couple of minutes.” she nodded, giving me time to consider further plans.

Soon, we were standing in the middle of the clearing again. Again, a small rock, hitting the ground started the festivities.

My initial opening was similar to the one I had used for the second fight, using Overflow to channel as much power as possible, while using Bullet Time to speed up my mind, only this time, I didn’t even try to use Blood Magic to make myself faster. Instead, all my focus went into Ice Magic, creating a burst of mist while also letting the vines from the Eisblumen I was still wearing around my arm lash out behind me, while jumping back.

This time, I hadn’t yet turned around when Sigmir’s aura flared to life and her voice shook the air, dispersing the mist I had created. Unlike the last time, I didn’t just try to run, instead, as I jumped backwards, the Eisblumen gained more length, enough to reach a branch overhead and behind me. Pulling on that branch, my jump turned into more of a glide, while another vine reached out and wrapped around one of the trees, allowing me a bit of control over my movement. Enough control to dodge Sigmir, who had tried to catch me by jumping after me.

More and more Mist formed around us, enough to obscure sight quite handily and once I felt there was enough, I did my very best to blend into the mist while landing on another tree-branch. Darkness-Magic allowed me to conceal myself and the Eisblumen allowed for some movement without making too much of a disturbance, alas, I realised too late that I had forgotten something.

Namely, if there was one person, I would never be able to hide from, it was Sigmir. Thanks to my Astral Power still connecting me to the mist, I was able to sense her, and notice when she stopped for a moment, completely stilling, making me wonder what she was doing. When I felt a tug, deep within me, I knew the answer, she was using our connection to find me, homing in on me without fail.

“Cheater!” I called out, just a little offended, but also amused, while abandoning any attempt at stealth, instead darting through the trees as fast as my vines could pull me.

Alas, it was not enough and before I was able to escape to nominal safety, I was caught, again, only this time, I used the vines to give my cheating Sigmir a slap on her shapely rear-end.

“Who was it, that said all is fair, in love and war?” she asked me, the bear-hug she had caught me with shifting into more of a princess-carry. Grumbling a little, I conceded that she had, indeed, won this round, but I wasn’t conceding the day. There would be more rounds afterwards.