Chương 17: Sparring

The Northern Union's Oakhaven branch stood apart from the grim, weathered stone of the Vanguard Barracks in almost every way that mattered. Where the Barracks smelled of oiled steel and old campaigns, the Union hall smelled of chalk dust, fresh parchment, and the faint ozone tang of raw mana being tested in a dozen practice rings at once. Stelle wore simple training clothes, her long hair tied back in a neat ponytail.

Beside her, Vira wore her sharp Vanguard uniform, acting as if their tense, conversation from yesterday had never happened.

"The Northern Union handles anyone with a core. It's one of the largest guilds in Valeria," Vira explained as she led Stelle through the wide iron gates.

"As far as the Union is concerned, you're my personal student. Your name, Tier, and rank are public record because they have to be. Everything else stays between us. But don't assume you are completely hidden since the Mage Ministry checks backgrounds. Be careful around them." Mage Ministry, I heard it is an organization of mages, Stelle noted, cataloging the variable. The courtyard beyond the gates was alive with motion.

Most of the trainees training here looked close to her own apparent age, practicing forms with wooden weapons or throwing small, controlled bursts of elemental mana at straw targets under the watchful eyes of instructors in gray Union sashes.

"You'll be assessed first," Vira said, steering her toward a smaller side building set apart from the main courtyard.

"Standard procedure for any new recruit. Mana Core rank, Tier, and elemental affinity. This will be recorded in the Union and other guild branches." This time she's prepared. Back in the church, she doesn't have any way to counter any otherworldly perception... yet. But this time, her [Ghost Core] will use it's true function. They entered a small side building housing the assessment chamber. At the center sat a waist-high pedestal holding a fist-sized crystal orb a Mana Reader. Stelle understood the mechanism now.

This was the same crude measurement, mechanized and standardized for a room that processed dozens of children a day instead of one miracle at a time. An older Union clerk with tired eyes gestured for Stelle to place her palm against the crystal. She rested her palm against the crystal. Internally, she made a small, deliberate adjustment to the fabricated signature humming beneath her false core.

To keep things subtle for the onlookers, she needed a Core rank that was neither too high nor too low and just enough to avoid bringing further trouble or suspicion to Vira. A Mana Core's rank was based on how well it handled and controlled mana, as well as its capacity. It was only one of many factors for an Awakened. [NOTICE] [External resonance device detected.] [Deploying Ghost Core Camouflage: Mana Core Rank C.] The crystal orb brightened, held its glow for a long moment, then dimmed.

"Tier 1, Frost affinity," the clerk read aloud, unimpressed, jotting the figures into a ledger without looking up.

"Core Rank... C." He glanced up at the number, then briefly at Vira, before deciding it wasn't his business to comment further.

"Not bad for a personal sponsorship. Commander Solene doesn't put her name behind students often. I suppose that explains it." Vira's expression didn't change, but Stelle caught the faint, private satisfaction in the set of her shoulders. The clerk set down his pen and finally looked at Stelle directly.

"Now. Path assessment." He gestured toward a second, smaller pedestal near the wall. It was bare of any crystal, featuring only a worn wooden board etched with eight simple symbols arranged in a circle.

"Normally, we'd have you attempt a small technique from each discipline to see which one your core takes to most naturally," the clerk explained.

"But Commander Vira informed us ahead of time that you don't have formal training yet. No point running you through eight failed attempts just to make a chart look thorough. So it's your choice for now. Whichever Path you commit to will be the one your training track builds around." He tapped the symbol carved as a raised fist, briefly explaining the basic Paths with far less passion than Asha had shown the night before.

"If I were to suggest one, maybe a Catalyst or a Manipulator if you want to engage in combat. Insight is also good." Stelle looked at the eight symbols in silence, running the decision through her processing loops. A Manipulator or a Catalyst would require visible technique from the very first lesson and control I don't actually have, dressed up as talent I'd need to fake convincingly under close observation. Insight and Mystic is not worth considering.

She turned toward the remaining option, her eyes landing on a shield with a crossed spear and sword. Beneath it was written the word Enhancer. Enhancer requires no spellwork to begin with, only a body that responds well to reinforcement, which mine already does natively. It is the one Path where my actual capability and my claimed capability can overlap with the smallest gap between truth and performance. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Enhancer," she said aloud, letting the word land with the simple, decisive confidence of a child who liked the sound of it best. The clerk marked it down without comment.

"Well, it's your choice. I'll have someone walk you over to the Enhancer grounds. Instructor Halden runs that section personally. She'll want to see you move before she slots you into a training group." The Enhancer grounds occupied the far end of the courtyard, separated from the elemental rings by a low wooden fence and a hard-packed dirt floor scuffed pale by years of practice.

Trainees were scattered across it while some hauling sand-filled sacks, others locked in grappling drills, a few running laps around the fence line. Conversation dimmed as Stelle and Vira approached, dropping further as the trainees noticed the new arrival.

"Hey, look. A new face?" one boy muttered to another.

"Is she a new recruit?"

"Enhancer, though?" the second replied, openly skeptical as he eyed Stelle's slight frame.

"Look at her. She looks like she can't even lift a sword." A girl nearby snorted into her waterskin.

"Maybe she picked it because she liked the symbol. Some kids do."

"She's... pretty," the first boy replied. Stelle absorbed the commentary and discarded it as irrelevant. Their opinion of her body cost her nothing. A broad, heavily muscled woman in a gray Union sash cut through the cluster of trainees. Her sharp gray eyes settled on Stelle, cataloging her with blunt efficiency.

"Instructor Halden," the woman said by way of introduction.

"Commander." She offered a brief, professional nod toward Vira.

"This is?"

"Stelle," Vira confirmed.

"Core C rank, Tier 1, Frost affinity. She's chosen Enhancer." Halden circled Stelle once, slow and unhurried.

"Tell me about your combat experience," she said, addressing Stelle directly.

"Formal, informal, anything. I don't slot bodies into groups blind." Stelle held her expression carefully still, letting a small flicker of hesitation cross her face before her eyes drifted toward Vira. Vira said nothing, her face a mask of steady patience, waiting to see what her student would choose to say. Stelle turned back to the instructor.

"I don't remember any formal training," she said quietly.

"But I know how to defend myself." Halden held her gaze a moment longer, looking for something in the girl's quiet demeanor.

"We'll see soon enough," she said, turning on her heel.

"Kellan!" A boy detached himself from the sandbag line, tossing his load aside. He looked roughly fourteen, tall for his age, with sharp amber eyes and dark hair. A wooden practice sword hung loose in his hand, spun once between his fingers with idle skill.

"Finally... I didn't want to spend more time carrying those," he said, looking Stelle over with an appraising slowness before offering a confident smirk.

"Cute. Sure you won't cry when I land a hit? Don't worry, I'll make it easy for both of us."

"Kellan," Halden warned in a weary tone.

"Manners."

"I'm always polite, Instructor," Kellan said, unbothered. He turned back to Stelle, raising his sword into a loose guard.

"Tier 1, Enhancer-Stalker Path, Thunder affinity. Core ranked B, if anyone's asking. You can still step down, little miss. I won't laugh." Stelle cataloged the introduction, filing away the Enhancer-Stalker dual path and Thunder Affinity beside the growing list in her archive. Halden stepped back toward the edge of the sparring circle, raising a hand between them.

"Standard assessment rules. Physical only, body against body. No mana, no techniques, no affinity effects. This ground exists to measure what you are underneath your Path. First clean hit, submission, or my call ends it. Understood?"

"Understood," Kellan said, rolling his shoulders. Stelle said nothing, dropping into a low, narrow stance with her weight balanced and her wooden sword held at a shallow diagonal across her body. It was the exact guard her archive had cataloged for controlling range against a longer, stronger opponent. She decided to keep her performance consistent with someone who had survived the encounter with hobgoblin and goblins. Match that ceiling. Nothing higher. Halden's hand dropped.

"Begin." Kellan closed the distance in a single sliding step, whipping his practice sword low toward her ribs with pure physical momentum. Stelle didn't meet the strike head-on. She angled her blade downward and outward, catching his sword along the flat near its tip, a precise deflection that cost her almost no strength, redirecting the full weight of his swing past her hip. Wood cracked against wood, and Kellan's blade skidded harmlessly off to the side, his momentum briefly throwing off his balance.

He is not an average Tier 1, she registered immediately. His footwork carried the compressed precision of formal training. Kellan recovered mid-step and rotated his hips back into the fight, whipping his blade around in a short arc toward her exposed shoulder. Stelle's guard shifted instantly. Her rear foot slid back a half-step while her blade rose to intercept the strike near his hilt, where leverage mattered more than force. Thwack! The tip of his sword passed a finger's width from her collarbone.

Onlookers along the fence line audibly drew breath. Kellan's smirk faltered. He reset and circled left, testing her guard with two quick probing strikes. High then low. Stelle answered both with small, economical parries. Her wooden blade barely traveled more than the width of a hand, displacing just enough force to survive. By the fifth exchange, the idle chatter along the fence line had gone completely silent. Kellan's grin vanished, replaced by a sharp focus.

Abandoning his testing rhythm, he drove forward in a rapid three-strike combination. A feint high, a real cut low, and a final thrust aimed mid-recovery. She let the feint pass, caught the low cut on the flat of her blade with an angled bind, and turned her hips to let the final thrust slide past her side, close enough that the wind of it brushed her ribs. Where his attacks relied on power, hers relied on geometry and timing. To Stelle, it felt like restraint.

To Halden, Vira, and the watching trainees, it looked like a twelve-year-old new girl is trading blows on equal footing with one of the Union's top talents. Frustration flared in Kellan's amber eyes. Being held to a standstill by a younger girl without a Path broke his composure. Forgetful of the rules, his grip tightened on his hilt. A sharp, electric crackle echoed through the courtyard.

Blue sparks suddenly hissed along the length of his wooden sword, and his speed doubled as he kicked his footwork into a full Enhancer - Stalker burst, lunging forward with a mana-infused strike meant to blow past her guard entirely.

"Kellan, STOP!" Halden's voice boomed like thunder across the grounds. Before the lightning-clad practice blade could reach Stelle, Instructor Halden crossed the ring in a blur. She stepped directly between the two trainees, her palm striking Kellan's weapon with a heavy, mana-reinforced swat that shattered the lightning resonance and sent his wooden sword flying out of his hand to clatter across the dirt.

Kellan stumbled back, his breath ragged, the faint blue glow fading from his hands as reality caught up with him.

"Assessment over!" Halden barked, her gray eyes flashing with fury as she glared down at the boy.

"You activated a Path technique and elemental mana during a pure physical assessment, Kellan. Disqualified." Kellan stared at his empty hand, then looked up at Stelle, who remained standing in her quiet, low stance, her wooden sword held perfectly steady, her eyes entirely unbothered by the sudden burst of lightning that had just come at her.

"I..." Kellan swallowed hard, rubbing his wrist. He looked at Stelle with an expression devoid of arrogance, replaced by genuine shock and intense curiosity.

"You... you didn't even flinch." Stelle slowly stood upright, relaxing her stance and lowering her wooden blade. This is enough for now. Halden turned her gaze from Kellan to Stelle, her expression unreadable. She glanced over toward Vira, who stood near the edge of the grounds with her arms crossed, a faint, knowing smile playing on her lips.