“Wersa, don’t kill him.”

With this last statement Dem buffed Wersa with his best spells, offering Graf nothing. It would be good for Graf to see Dem’s spells in action, to understand what bonding a Tamer might offer him. His spells invigorated Wersa, her complexion becoming redder, her breath coming faster. The spells he used were fairly basic, compared to what Karmis had available, but they were useful. He used spells like Strength Other, Toughen Other, Dexterous Other. Each spell was now at the mid-tier thanks to the grimoire’s changes to him. These spells had a fairly significant effect, but were costly to the power his Path provided. Once he was an Adventurer he would receive a couple of cantrips that would allow him to mark the progress his Path made and the cost of his spells. Only Adventurers had access to such spells, as they were property of the Tower, and generally most laborers wouldn’t need to constantly measure their progress. Workers only needed to advance their Path enough to do their work, and little more. Some like his Da, took it further, but the cost of following a single Path was unappealing to most.

Graf cast at least two spells on himself, Wersa only cast one herself. He would have to ask Wersa about her spells when he got the chance later. He was sure she knew what she was doing, she was older than his parents apparently, but he wanted to know if there was a way to best coordinate their spells. Sometimes spells overlapped and lost effectiveness. With the potential increase to his income, he could buy more spells in the future to supplement both Ina and Wersa. Graf might join them as well, and so he had to take into account having a true defensive Warrior for their party. If he were still following his previous Path, all of this possible cooperation and coordination would have been fantastic for his Path, but the most he could do now was maintain and replenish his previous Path. There was little sense in trying to advance it, without a Class to match it.

Finishing with his spells, Dem moved away from Wersa, letting the fighters begin to circle each other. Ina sat above the fight, acting as a referee and lookout. He spoke nothing to begin the fight, simply evacuating from clearing to the sidelines was enough to start both fighters moving. He could tell the two Warriors were impatient, which wasn’t surprising he supposed. Unlike Class Fighters, who fought out of duty, or for coin, or out of necessity, the Warrior Class was for those enjoyed fighting and battles for their own sake.

Wersa was the first to test a blow. She didn’t put her all into this blow, as she had against the rubber rhino, but it was a strong blow nonetheless. Graf took the blow on the haft of his axe, two handed, his arms only bending slightly while receiving it. The way Graf’s feet sunk into the ground as the blow was received, was a testament to its strength and the strength of the beastman. He doubted Wersa could take a similar attack so effortlessly as the beastman had. The beastman attempted to hook Wersa’s blade with the head of his axe as she pulled away, trying to disarm her, but she was too quick and swung her sword again into a series of attacks chained together. Was she trying to overwhelm or exhaust the beastman? Attacking was generally more tiring that defending. He hoped she was just playing around.

The clearing rang with the strength of Wersa’s attacks. The first five or ten strikes of the duel were all offensive swings from Wersa, probably for the purpose of testing the beastman. As the moments ticked by, her attacks were growing faster with each swing of her sword. She was still slower than Ina or Dice, but more than fast enough to begin to pressure Graf.

She disengaged for a moment, hopping backwards to the other end of the clearing in a single step. She then casted a spell on herself, while Graf moved forward to re-engage her. Graf was too late, of course, he was slow, needing time to get his bulk up to speed. For Wersa to cast a spell on herself, in the middle of battle, meant it was a spell with a short duration or spell that offered a single powerful attack. Graf stopped his forward momentum, just short of the middle of the clearing, and stood with a broad stance, knees slightly bent, waiting to see what Wersa had in store for him.

Wersa re-engaged with two quick steps. Suddenly her attacks came in a flurry, blows raining down on the beastman from every angle. Graf couldn’t respond quick enough to block all these attacks, his axe was simply too slow. Inevitably some would get through his defenses, and so he did what any Quill-Boar would do, he hunched over and bent his legs, so that he could cover his head, chest, and arms with his axe. Hunched over Graf’s back would now take a number of Wersa’s strikes, his quill-hair providing good protection.

Dem hadn’t noticed before, but the armour on the beastman was thickest on the arms, legs, and head. Clearly there was a strategy here. The beastman was probably trying to tire the warrior woman out, or at least conserve his own energy. The raw energy of battle might advance a Warrior down their Path, but it did not replenish their stamina. The beastman was likely still tired from his previous battle, and so this strategy would be helpful to him for that reason, if nothing else.

Wersa laughed, as the flurry of blows seemed to wind down. A number had landed on the beastman’s back, but each had glanced off or bounced the sword back towards Wersa.

She spoke, “Fine, you armoured pig, I will try something else.”

With this, she pulled a trinket from her armour and crushed it in her fist. This was a one-time spell trinket, designed to cast a powerful spell quickly, without the need for focus, without the need to even know the spell, but at the cost of destroying the trinket on use. Only a caster who had mastered a particular spell in-depth could create such a trinket.

The spell took hold of Wersa, while the beastman just observed. He didn’t dare leave his defensive stance. The spell caused Wersa’s eyes to go red and bloodshot, her body began to swell, and her skin began to darken, like she had spent too much time in the light. He knew this spell, this was the spell Karmis had used on Wersa both to defeat the rubber rhino and during the fight at the campsite. This was the spell he had assumed was Berserk spell, though he wasn’t really sure. It was another thing he would have to ask Wersa about.

Wersa strode forward, her sword raising for a mighty two-handed blow. The beastman was nervous, shifting his weight and gripping his axe tightly. Wersa stopped just outside the range of the beastman’s axe, and readied her blow. Sweat streamed down her face, her breathing rapid, as she leapt forward, her attack coming down on the beastman from above. Graf had readied an attack of his own, probably hoping to deflect or distract Wersa, but he must have thought better of it at the last moment, because he raised his axe to take Wersa’s strike instead.

As their weapons met, wind exploded out from the clearing in every direction. Branches, leaves, and dirt blew past him, Dem had to raise his arm over his face to protect his eyes. He missed the immediate effect of Wersa’s attack, but did look up quickly to see who had won.

The aftermath was impressive. The clearing had been.. cleared further of anything they hadn’t already removed. He noticed a stone, the size of his head, hadn’t left the ground thankfully, but had moved backward toward him the entire length of his body, leaving a trail in the mud. Wersa and Graf now stood in a crater deep enough that it would come up to Dem’s knees. Graf’s axe had bent along its haft, to the point the weapon was now useless. Dem could tell the haft was made of granite tree, banded in steel. His own spear would be far less tough than the axe’s haft. Graf had taken some of the strike with his left shoulder, his quill-hair providing extra protection. Graf’s quill-hair was clearly bent in such a way Dem could see a depression the shape of Wersa’s sword. Wersa’s chest heaved with the exertion of the blow, but was otherwise fine, she brought her sword back into a guard, and stepped backward out of the crater they had made.

Graf looked strained, and was swaying back and forth, maybe a little dazed. Graf’s legs were buried up to his armoured calfs at the bottom of the crater. After holding steady for a moment, he dropped the remnants of his weapon. He too was breathing heavily, but his gaze was steady. He pulled his buried feet out and stepped back from the crater as well, to face Wersa on even ground.

Was it over? Would the beastman yield without his weapon? Dem hadn’t thought to stop Wersa from using her spell, or from using such a heavy attack. If it had killed the beastman, all of this would have been a waste of time. He was a little too engrossed in the fight for his own benefit. Should he say something? Call for an end? Tell Wersa to pull her attacks? Normally a Warrior would invariably fight to the death, but she was absolutely loyal, and so he was confident she would listen.

While he considered the merits of intervening, the beastman pull off his heavily plated arm guards, dropping each to the ground with a thud. Graf then did the same with the armoured plates on each his legs. Wersa’s eyes were glued to the beastman, but she made no effort to stop him. The powerful spell from her trinket was still active, and so she was still a significant threat.

Finally finished, the beastman flexed all the muscles in his body slightly, causing a resounding crack. Quill-hair popped up from his arms and legs, forming spiky guards. This new defense was sparse compared to the quill-hair on Graf’s back, and so it would not stop a significant blow. It was clear to Dem these arm and leg quills were for offensive purposes. They were long and thicker than the quill-hair on the beastman’s back, and probably sharper too. What did Graf intend to do? Dem was baffled. Why would the beastman drop his armour?

The beastman charged at Wersa now, his speed increased without the heavy armour plates. Was Graf intending to try to get inside Wersa’s guard? Dem could think of no other possibility except for Graf attempting a grapple. Graf risked taking a deadly blow from Wersa’s sword, but at least he would have a chance at getting into range to grab Wersa. His bulk and quill-hair would give him an advantage, if he could just get ahold of her.

Wersa laughed and yelled a challenge when it became obvious what Graf intended to do. She readied another big blow, this was not an overhead strike, but a sweeping one from the side. As Graf reached the ranged of her sword, she swung sideways with the flat of her blade. Graf twisted to take the blow on the shoulder and back. Wersa’s swipe batted Graf away from her, causing him to fly backward into the crater. She laughed again then, at this attempt to engage in close combat. Graf responded simply by charging again and again, only to be met by the flat of Wersa’s sword each time. After four attempts, Wersa put on a more serious expression, signaling she had enough of Graf’s antics. Her change in demeanor likely meant her spells would start to wear off soon. She needed to end the fight. Dem watched her set her jaw, scowl, and square her shoulders.Then she did the unexpected. She dropped her sword.