“I’m looking forward to this,” Avryn psyched himself up.

  The final part of the obstacle course was laid out before him. Magical traps hummed with energy, he could feel it from here. He felt a nice shiver up his body. He smiled, knowing he spent countless times preparing for this rematch. His feet left off the ground as he ran. He jumped over the magical traps. The projectiles were next. He spun around and twirled like a ballerina as he dodged many of them. He ducked another just in time.

  He felt like the wind’s breeze was with him. His feet was light as a feather as he continued effortlessly dodging the magical projectiles. He rolled through one more time and finished the obstacle course for his squad in record time.

  His squad was the first to finish as they were transported back to the barracks. Leifren’s squad finished next. They celebrated together as they basked in their victory. Avryn and Jenilah shared a moment together as they were the ones who did the last parts of the obstacle course. The two gave each other high fives.

  The officer commended them,

  “Congratulations, seems you both earn extra days of leave.”

  Some murmurs from one side made Avryn curious. His eyes followed to where the crowd of soldiers was staring at.

  “Make way for Oliviere,” a man who looked to be his escort announced.

  “Yeah, make way!” his twin brother parroted.

  The man of the hour had arrived to the barracks to oversee the military exercises.

  “Barracks commander, it has been a while,” he greeted.

  “Mr. Oliviere,” the commander bowed his head.

  “You remember Cody and Cory,” Oliviere gestured to them.

  At the same time, he managed to make eye contact with Avryn. He had a slight grin across his face. He continued his conversation with the barracks commander.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Avryn returned to his squad mates as they discussed how they went through the obstacle course, sharing their strategies. An hour passed and all of the squads have finished. Two exceptional squads earned their promotions on top of extra days of leave.

  “Hoo wee, my tummy’s rumbling fierce,” Harver complained.

  “Wait until we’re dismissed, you numbnut,” Kiria scolded him.

  “Wonder what he’s here for,” Avryn placed his hands on his hips as he turned to Leifren.

  “Who knows,” Leifren responded.

  The twins flanking Oliviere seemed to have picked that up.

  “He’s here to see if Baradov’s best is still the best army in the world,” Cody spoke.

  “Might poach-- I mean recruit them to his personal guard, too. If they’re that good,” Cory added.

  Avryn and Leifren both crossed their arms upon hearing that. A man like Oliviere had a personal guard at his beck and call. What type of dangers did he face to need one? An idea seemed to spring up in Oliviere’s mind. He pointed to Avryn,

  “You there, Avryn Starbright. Fancy yourself a fighter?” Oliviere spoke. “How about we have a sparring session right here, right now.”

  There were many questions running through Avryn’s mind. He didn’t mind having to fight, what he did mind was Oliviere’s motive. Was he scouting him for his personal guard? He did offered him that during. Oliviere took his coat off and handed it to the hands of Cody. He cracked his knuckles as he approached.

  “Hesitating, are you? I thought you love fighting strong opponents. Come on,” he grinned.

  Avryn removed his jacket and met his challenge. He warmed up his wrists as he stood opposite from Oliviere. The soldiers formed a circle around them, eager to watch the fight unfold.

  “And begin,” Oliveire started.

  He started by testing Avryn’s defenses. The latter seemed to be passive in the fight, only throwing a few jabs in response. Oliviere was running circles around him. A combination of hooks and uppercuts nearly rocked Avryn.

  “Tired already?” Oliviere taunted.

  It was only then Avryn took it up a notch and returned the receipts. With quick footwork and well placed parries, the fight swung to Avryn’s favor. He landed a good kick to Oliviere’s body. The man countered with a roundhouse kick of his own. Avryn ducked in time and felt the wind the kick created.

  “Damn, this guy is trying to kill me,” he thought.

  It was time to take it up one more notch. Avryn became semi-serious as his fighting stance lossened up. He tested Oliviere’s defenses with a flurry of quick patches. An uppercut broke through and forced Oliviere off balance. A swift low roundhouse kick had Oliviere down on the ground.

  “Hmm,” Rinna looked on.

  “What is it?” Valoche turned to her.

  “He isn’t taking this serious,” she observed.

  Despite being faster, Avryn wasn’t hitting his top speed nor using all his agility. Oliviere kept goading Avryn. He wanted to see the killer instinct he displayed against Ulver Olesin. Didn’t wanted to leave without seeing it.

  Time was ticking and Avryn could only defend for so long before his arms couldn’t take it. He still pulled his punches, still settling for shots to Oliviere’s body than his head. Oliviere caught one of Avryn’s kicks, swept his other leg, and got on top of him. They were wrestling for control on the ground. Oliviere battered him with punches to the face. Avryn still had the wherewithal to dodge the incoming blows.

  He managed to counter one punch and rolled over so now he was on top. However, he got right back up, preferring the stand up approach. Oliviere was ticked off by this.

  “I’ll get my money’s worth, then,” he internalized.

  Oliviere stood up and started landing some well placed blows on Avryn’s body. He opened his defenses up with jabs and rocked him with powerful hooks to the head. One excruciating blow to the body drove the wind out of Avryn’s system. The punch itself almost cracked bone. Avryn was down on one knee. The barracks commander called the fight and declared Oliviere the winner.

  Just as the business concluded, two more figures showed up to the barracks. Oliviere wiped the sweat off his chin and smiled. Just on time.

  “Father,” Oliviere bowed. “And general.”