The Test of Skills

The following morning, Dawn seemed very eager to have a bout against me. "Aren't you a bit too advantageous?", I asked Dawn, who positioned herself about fifty metres away. "What happened to your confidence? I'm an archer, remember?", she mocked instead. She might've been older, but also acted like a kid sometimes. "In that case… *Swoosh*... Let's begin!", I exclaimed while rushing at her.

Dawn's archery skills really improved. My advancement slowed down, and sometimes stopped completely thanks to her great aim. Moreover, she used sharp arrows, these weren't for some shabby practice. One mistake was enough for my body to receive a new and unnecessary hole. This wasn't the time to play around, I had to fight her seriously.

"Pak, pak… Pak Pak… Pak…", my movements changed to that of a dance, as Dawn's arrows missed me. "Not bad, but can you handle this!", she exclaimed before releasing a volley of arrows. Perhaps her accuracy wasn't that great, but her coverage was indeed good. That gave me some troubles, but only until my rhythm changed.

"Pah, you should change your name to slippery… Such being the case, how about this!", she taunted, then released another volley of arrows. This wasn't anything new, or so I thought. Dawn's position remained the same up to that point, she stood her ground while shooting. Once she began to move, her arrows became a lot more unpredictable.

"Swoosh… Pak, pak, pak… Pak…", one of the arrows managed to graze my leg, but that wasn't enough to distract me. Thanks to my encounters with Elysians, my ability to avoid arrows and focus at the same time, improved by a lot. That of course meant nothing, if she kept her distance. 'It's worth a try', I figured while taking out my dagger.

My plan was to disturb her movements. Just enough for me to get within the range of my own attacks. There was a problem though, Dawn seemed to possess an infinite amount of arrows. 'Damn these archers stock up on those arrows…', I cursed the style in my mind. Patience was key, and with enough patience, I finally found an opportunity to throw my dagger.

"Huh?...", Dawn didn't expect me to throw anything at her, and that element of surprise was enough for me to get closer… Much closer. "Let's see how you handle close combat!", I exclaimed, but something was off. Dawn's face wasn't that of panic. Instead, her blood red mouth turned into a grin, before she simply disappeared right in front of my eyes.

'That can't be!', I exclaimed in my mind. My first thought was the Art of Stealth, but my thoughts were incorrect. Dawn couldn't use that Art, and she didn't have to either. "You lose, but I have to praise you though. If not for this trait, I'd probably lose… Well, you didn't use your Aura either, so perhaps my win wouldn't be set in stone after all", she said half sticking out of my shadow.

That was an exclusive trait for Shades. Moreover, it was quite rare, even with many Shades walking the Great North. "You kept that hidden pretty well. Ahh, whatever, I admit defeat. Besides, I didn't want to use my Aura against you, I'm not crazy to do that in a simple sparring", I admitted. "Yea, if your Aura is any similar to that of your father's… I'd probably lose. From what master Crow said, he's like a monster on the battlefield while using that Aura", she replied with a nod.

"I haven't shown you everything though. How about we go again? But this time, I'll position myself much closer to you", she proposed. "Hooh, do you plan to go two for two? Well, I'm aware of this trait now, so yea, I'm in". I agreed, but something told me it wasn't overconfidence speaking through her.

This round, Dawn positioned herself about twenty metres away from me. Considerable shorter distance, and of course much easier for me to cover. I had to be on guard due to her trait, but with such distance, there was a chance for me to win. 'Hehe, this is a second round, so better be prepared', I thought before rushing at her.

The same pretty much occurred at first. She shot a volley of arrows at me, while constantly changing position. She of course tried to distance herself, but that wasn't so simple anymore. Not only my movement technique was involved from the start, I even tried to utilise the movements master Yater taught me.

"What the…!". This was the time for Dawn to be surprised, since the distance between us became that of about five metres. "What's wrong? Can't handle closer distances?", I taunted while evading her arrows. Archers were especially difficult to deal with at distance, because even if their aim was a bit off, their rate of fire was much faster. Up close, dodging her became easier.

She didn't grin that time, but used her trait as expected. "You'd have a fight, if this was in the Endrosian Empire. Unfortunately, there's only my shadow here", I said confidently while pointing my sword at my shadow. "That may be, but you're forgetting something…", Dawn replied while leaving my shadow very quickly, dodging my sword at the same time.

Her next move was indeed surprising. She didn't try to distance herself, instead, she actually advanced towards me with her bow. I grabbed my sword confidently, with the intention of repelling and defeating her. That wasn't what she planned at all. Instead of facing me, she shot an arrow from up close, then disappeared. I had to deflect or evade the arrow, but she already hid in my shadow. No, she was prepared to attack at that stage.

"Swoosh… Cling!... Interesting, but you forgot about something too. My instincts aren't as useless as you'd think", I stopped her attack with my dagger. "Perhaps, but I'm not done yet", she replied before releasing a few arrows my way. The proximity was close, but that didn't mean the arrows couldn't harm or obstruct me.

That was exactly her plan, to kite me around using my shadow. This made me constantly back off, but not without a purpose. Dawn was really skilled with her trait and bow. She even learned how to fight well in close combat. Yet she forgot about one very crucial skill of mine.

"Give up, you are simply wasting your time. I can go like this all day, there's no escape. I'll admit, if you used your Aura, I'd have trouble escaping from here", she said but heard no reply from me. 'Just a few more metres… Just a bit more…'. We only had to go back to my starting position, that was all. Then, the win would be mine.

"Pak, pak pak… Swoosh… Alright, I win. If we continue this any further, I'll only hurt you", Dawn said, but my idea was totally different. "I think you've underestimated me greatly, better watch out", I warned her, then activated the Formation below my feet. "Booom!", a sudden blast of wind rose from the ground. Of course lifting me in the process, while my shadow remained on the ground. No shadows could be cast in the air, hence she couldn't follow me. Adding in the blast of wind as surprise, she was a sitting duck.

"Swooosh… Pak, Ungh… So, this should be my win then?", I proclaimed after knocking Dawn to the ground. Her face looked a bit unsatisfied, but no complaints left her mouth. "If you actually complained, I'd use my Aura next. My ability to use Formations isn't a secret, you simply didn't think I'd use them in an actual fight… That's not even that far off from the truth. I wouldn't have the time to draw a Formation during a fight, but right before it, well that's a different story", I explained.

"I'm a bit mad at myself. Should've seen you leading me back here. That's your win, I totally lost this one, hehe", she admitted defeat. "That's a draw, but, I think we showed each other our skills just fine. How about we leave it at that?", "You know what? I'll give you that much. I'm like your big sister after all, letting you win some isn't such a bad idea", she replied with a grin.

"Did my father teach you that, or were you hiding that as well? Anyway, you are doing really well with the bow. Especially that close combat. Ha! An archer who's hard to deal with up close, that's new to me for sure", "I'm not that great, you should've seen your father… He's the one who taught me this method, or rather introduced it. The incorporation of the Shades' trait was my idea. Besides, it seems to work really well", she explained.

"Anyhow, you got really good with those Formations. I should've paid more attention, but you became quite sneaky. I couldn't even tell that you drew it. Your movements were weird too, I actually tried really hard to get you, but simply couldn't. That must be your movement technique right?", she added. "Yea, I've learned it during my journey, though it's still incomplete… Or rather, I'm not sure whether it can be completed", I replied.

She asked for an explanation, so I told her how my movements relied on rhythms. Rhythms weren't like Runes, where a set amount of them existed. There could be many rhythms and ways to move. My experience and knowledge was meagre, compared to what was out there potentially.

"Heeh, I'd like to visit that Endrosian Empire too. Seems like a great place to hone your skills". Dawn seemed impressed by the improvements thanks to my journey. "Hehe, you never know. My father doesn't seem to mind… It's just my mother now. Anyway, we'll go one day, count on it!", "Sure, I'm looking forward to that. You are a great opponent for me, so how about one more go? It's not about winning or losing this time. I'd like an equal opponent to fight against", she proposed.

'I'm supposed to rest, but we see each other so rarely', "Alright, I'll train with you today. Though remember, there are other things for me to do. Help me out later on, I'm gonna be busy", I accepted her proposal. She also agreed to help out, therefore we could spend a few hours sparring like never before.

The days slowly passed after that. My mother tried everything to keep me longer, but half of it wasn't just because of the wolves. She really wanted me to stay longer, be with them some more. Unfortunately for her, my mind never waivered. A lot of work awaited me back at Arangard, that one week of absence was supposed to be my resting time. Nonetheless, at the end of that promised week, I grabbed Curly, said farewell to everyone and left.

"Welcome back, Princess. The Royal Lizards were getting worried that you wouldn't finish the project. Hehe, you should've seen their expressions", a guard called Gin told me. "You guys know I'm not that sort of person. Anyway, good to see you guys". I've become a bit more familiar with a few guards. They chose a small team to protect the Formation room, but more importantly, they were all very trustworthy people.

They could fool around with me, but other times they acted properly and strictly. I also made a few Formations for them, improved their weapons and whatnot. A small token on my side, but also an open door on the other. They liked me, which had its merits. 'Anyway, there's loads of work ahead of me. Haah… What did I get myself into?'.

The Royal Lizards were really glad once they heard about my return. They were even happier when they saw me working on the project straight away. I told them to vacate the area and leave me alone. They of course complied with that, allowing me to work in peace.

Day by day, one Formation after the other was completed. The course had only three sections, but the lack of Formation experts was taxing on my body and mind. Though my energy pool was larger than before, and my knowledge of Formations improved, the small team of Grey Lizards back then was really valuable. We shared the tasks, talked with each other and sometimes fooled around. That project lacked pretty much all of those things.

No matter what the difficulty, quitting wasn't part of the deal. My promise to Leran alone was worth a lot to me, but of course others were important too. They provided me with materials and help to construct the course, abandoning it was out of the question.

I've lost count of days, but once all the Formations were placed, the course was completed. I didn't have to test the Formations much, because this wasn't Woody's Course. There was no wind pushing people through the course. Instead, slides, tunnels and loops were used for that. We tested them while making the course, therefore no further testing was required.

"I'm tired… This was one hell of a project. I'll think twice before making another such promise. You seem tired too, Curly", I said while overlooking the whole course. "Arf…". Though Curly couldn't help me with Formations, she was there as my emotional support. "Alright, we are done here. How about we try it out for the first time?", I proposed. Curly didn't seem to like the idea, but she could complain some other time.

I grabbed and took her with me anyway. "Arf, arf, arf!", she protested. "What? Scared of a little slide? You helped out, right? We have a rule here in the North. You helped out, you have to give it a try. No ifs or buts", I stated. She couldn't escape, her only option was to give up and accept the reality.