27 Taster of the frontline on the horizon.

"Block!" The gym hall is rows of all ages with sticks. All learning the form and postures. Several ranking spirits are walking around, inspecting each and giving word for the some that need to fix a few. The front instructor made only one glance at the youngest ones and was deflated by the lack of effort by the few. There is promising talent but it isn't visible yet. Then there are those on the bench, discarded since they weren't ready or they were injured to take part. Samantha is among those on the bench and her brother was among the youngest still swinging a stick around. Her mind is the darkness, just she is overshadowed by her brothers' promising strengths.

"Right!" A flurry of different timing swings, and no one is uniformed to do this command at the word timing. The instructor poses a hand and screamed at them all for this lack of unity. Repeating the right swing.

"Hold!" They hold the posture and the doors open. Lea holding a travel cup brushed the sleep from her eye. She makes one look at the room. Then sips her drink.

"No drinks for students allowed!" Her expression darkened in a blink. She puts the cup cap on and waltzes herself over to the bench, she stands looking at Samantha. The age gap is small, 4 years. Lea looks at Samantha and glares at her brother, whose age gap is 2 years. A smile and hand messing up Sam's hair.

"A pleasure to meet you, Samy. I don't think your mom told you or if she did not a lot." Lowering to be eye level, "I am your new American auntie. I aim to be the cool aunt." Samantha looks up to her and then lowers as an instructor spirit came behind, "Will you dance with me? You will love these steps and learn to use them well." Offering her left hand to little Samantha. Samantha tilts confused but complies, "Dancing. One. Two three. 5. 6. 7. 8." Each number was a foot pose, "Don't worry about mistakes, we will improve together." A soft nod. Lea now was at command in numbers and Samantha was getting a handle on the rhythm and postures held, "OK, I am going to make this a bit advanced. Ready to trust me?"

"I guess." Like that they were suddenly faster, Lea able to hold and throw Samantha about, just like dancers.

The world for these two was a ballroom full of other dancers. In reality of the moment, what was happening was that no spirit or student was able to land any surprise attack. Unable to break Lea's defence over her niece, Samantha was enjoying learning the combated skills they were forced to do while being here.

"Lovely work!" Lea claps with Samantha lightened up and gets praise for once, "See combat isn't hard and it doesn't need to be boring to learn. We are all different and learn at different paces." Hugging Samantha, "You are just so lovely, I don't care if you are not one for hugs too." Samantha loves being hugged and hugs back her new auntie without worry.

"I command a duel." Nathan throws a stick to Lea, she doesn't bother catching it. One of her reptiles did. He backed off confused about where the scaled hand from the air came from.

"Come have a hug with us." Lea waves an arm free, "Then I will knock you to your but." He shakes and holds form.

"Nathan, you might want to listen to auntie Lee." Her new nickname which Lea giggles and hugs more with.

"This isn't family Time." The human instructor hissed, "You have disrupted my class and now you will face me." Trying to not be fazed by the floating scaled paw holding the stick.

"Luna, give stick," Lea commands. The stick isn't moved an inch, "Stick Now. Let it go." A little wiggle and a different stick were dropped, "I don't want that. I want this stick. Now." That dropped stick is dragged slowly like a pouting child putting away toys. She made a click of her tongue and the stick was now for her.

"Auntie Lea, what was that?" Samantha asked.

"One of my many lizards. I have a lot of them. This means you don't have dreams anymore. Morpheus eats them."

"I don't have nice dreams." Samantha frowns.

"He eats nightmares too. He's like a black-scaled monster eater. He loves hugs and sleeping on your chest." Lea nodded softly, "But don't be confused for Ragnar. He looks like Morpheus but he sits around corners and eats imps." She pointed at Ragnar and the imp wing hanging out the jaw, "My lizards can't touch humans. They can't hurt you without me." Samantha nods softly, "When you smile, don't use your teeth. That is unless you need to get rid of a demon. When you show teeth, it tells the lizards to eat that guy." Samantha nods more.

"So like this." Samantha looks at an imp and smiles baring her teeth. The imp was snatched with claws through the wall. She stopped smiling.

"Yeah. Don't do that to anyone you want around. Even some humans. Smile if you hate them." Samantha nods liking this new cool thing but afraid of smiling. Nathan stepped up with his weapon and went for a jab. Lea redirected his motion to make him hurt himself. He flexed the pain away and posed form ready to strike.

"Stop." The human instructor intervened, not wanting a promising student injured. Nathan does as commanded and Lea wasn't even seriously trying, "If you are a ranked member, then prove it."

"Oh?" She has Samantha sit down from that dance work. Pat your shoulder and move to a wider space. She twirls the stick about and gets faster with it. She slams the floor and the wood floor plank creaked. She was finally warmed up enough now, "A little light spar then. Break the stick first. No hurting each other and no death. This isn't some soul trick and I am simply filling your demand to prove my worth. My human form is a little sluggish but it will do."

"Sorry, did she just say her human form?" A student asking others.

"Like a 2-year-old like her can beat a demon war vet." The class laughed and some parents arrived to pick folks up but importantly her sister and brother-in-law were snickering at the situation. They placed beats between them.

"We use the undertaker duel rules but we make no price of winning or losing. A simple spar match. The marker is the circle we have here." The instructor knocked the floor where he meant and crowded around steps watching her approach the circle.

"You demon!" She pointed at the spirit helping the instructor, "Step out. This is a test between humans." The demon complies, it is not expecting a little girl to win this. No one is.

"No tricks for you either." The teacher points out.

"That's fine. I was going to leave my mask behind anyways." Her living body steps forward, her shadow lingering behind the ring, "Fight me like you mean it or face being known as another idiot. You are welcomed in a club of fools." She makes the bow with the human instructor. An outside person shouted and began a trade of stick jabs. The teacher was attempting to hit weak points and knock any sort of arrogance out of her. Only to be finding his move used against himself, the stick nearly scraping his neck or his force redirected to fling him off balance. The harder and angry he loses it, the easier he was forced to the edge of the lines. The stick in his hand breaks into two halves in one her trade back blows. The end of the sparring match. The gasp of parents and spirits alike.

"I shall now introduce myself." She used him to stand higher in the crowd to see her, she had such balance on a sweaty man's back, "My name is Lady Tricky Mystic. I am a court hunter but I serve no kingdoms and no titles to be known within public sectors. They send me when most other court hunters are returned empty-handed or as dust." She knocked the guy's head with the stick and he passed out. The drop made her get off him. She throws the stick and it is caught by a slobbering lizard. She lowered making sure this guy was OK. She acted like a trained first aid, hearing breathing, and heart rate. She sits waiting for him to wake up before leaving him be. He was back awake quickly and off her lap instantly. She sighed glad his fine.

"Child, that stick isn't for chewing teeth on!" She screamed at the reptiles. Sounding like a mother reprimanding her children. She calls them by the colour of their scale or their personality-fitting nicknames. When she was done, everyone knew that she wasn't to be messed with. In her human living state, she had a defence to get by. Making a class like this pointless. But at least she won the affection of her niece. Students and teachers were packing up for the evening now that parents are collecting students. The eldest stays around for extra or helps put the equipment away. Her Nephew hasn't warmed up just yet, but give it time.

"This is sort of the taste we are living with. This land is considerable grounds of thin veils and area outright sit on seams." Her sister began explaining, "The more sensitive part of the population is aware but says nothing about it being supernatural. It's just that the land is magnetically sensitive and we all live with that excuse. There is plenty of natural stone valleys and amplifier stone monuments. Like Stonehedge, Avebury, and miniature wood hedges that data older." Lea nods understanding this, "So the physical education of the schools supports this defence against spirit monsters by such class as this. Not everyone is a believer but at least we're somewhat made it healthy."

"It's why Ruby here is so more brutal and bare than American football. The Americans wear protective pads, we don't." Her boyfriend snickered about this difference. Lea simply nods along, she knows about this but it's not as amusing for her as it seems for him.

The Isle that makes the UK is scientifically strange of the magnetic crossways and its slow move away from France. Those who have lived here their whole lives are used to the spirit neighbours and think of them only as wildlife or strange weather happenstance. The land is full of myths like kelpy and sirens. Loche Ness in Scotland. Ireland cults still practice the druid craft from centuries before. Even the dry humour befits the rainy island.

Having practice groups like this may have been odd in the USA. But it's keeping the traditions that Angles and Saxons (the normal term you will have heard is Anglo-Saxon but they were two separate cultures) had. Those aware have practical skills and those who aren't aware can be prepared in case.

With the boyfriend's long run joke fallen to shuffles of bags and coats. It was time to leave. Equipment was put away and many folks have already moved on.

"A pub tonight then we are dropping you off at your boarding school. Thanks to the generous support of what you have done for us, I can send my son and daughter too. Cutting down the funeral costs has been a big help."

"We won over a court case that the spirit courts own us all big time for. Everyone by my estranged Aunt and some twice-removed unmet family is all I have over there. The education didn't improve my learning difficulties." Her sister nods and she sees this wasn't news to the other two. It's only that their sudden aunt-in-law American was joining them. Samy is thrilled but Nathan looks gloomy, very gloomy.

"You are unable to take part in the Sigil rankings until the undertakers have finished transferring your details from the American side." The boyfriend sighed.

"I am an off-book court hunter, I don't have paperwork. I have to follow the standards, but for sake of peace - I can do it."