บท 53: Sparring with Shel

Early in the morning Ed opened the door of his cottage to go out and practice but was instead greeted by Shel.

"Hey big guy" Shel said teasingly.

"Hey" Ed returned the greeting in kind and with a small wave.

"I was about to practice my magic again, what brings you here?" Ed did inform Shel the day before that he would focus on magic for a bit so he found her presence to be surprising.

While his physical strength was important, it definitely paled when compared to magic. That being the case he believed that improving his magic skills would be a faster way to increase his power which was exactly what he was looking for at the moment.

"Things are getting a little heated around here so I want to spar with you." Shel answered straight to the point.

'Heated? Does it have anything to do with that other tribe perchance?' Ed asked himself curiously.

Noting Ed's ignorance Shel decided to enlighten him a bit, "The skull tribe, Bloodthorn tribe, and some others have joined together for a grand battle. Unfortunately, they still insist on getting others involved."

Ed didn't need to think for too long to understand their purpose. They probably wanted to appeal to their god hoping to alleviate the food shortage.

'Whether the dungeon will actually provide them with food after doing that is unknown but it would definitely solve their problem...' Ed thought regrettably.

"It is a good thing Vorgarag will be bringing a solution soon, right?" Ed said thinking that it should solve the problem. Shel didn't react favorably to those words, however. Her expression seemed odd, almost doubtful.

"I guess it isn't that simple then huh..." Ed then realized that his thoughts were too idealistic. There was no way that the bloodthirsty orcs would sit still and breed some pigs.

Shel's eyes confirmed Ed's thoughts and words. The subject was a bit dodgy thus Shel decided to shift the attention away from that issue.

"Anyway, are you sparring or not?" She casually dismissed the previous topic and revealed a daring smile.

Ed chuckled seeing her provocative smile and stopped to think for a second, "Sure why not" He then replied. Although practicing his skills was good, he also needed to put them to the test. Going against a battle-hardened orc lady like Shel should prove beneficial.

Hearing Ed's reply, her provocative smile turned into a wide grin, "Come with me" She said and motioned.

Shel grabbed a couple of battle axes and Ed then followed behind her as they made their way out of the settlement. He was curious all the while but followed nonetheless.

They had walked for about a good minute or two until they finally came to a stop.

"There is a good area to fight over here" She excitedly pointed towards some lush green bushes. They were likely blocking whatever it was she was showing him.

'Spar...' Ed corrected her in his mind while making his way towards the bushes.

He parted open the lush greenery and caught sight of a small flower field. The flowers were unobstructed by trees or weeds and were allowed to grow freely. The sunlight shined on the area giving it a divine vibe.

'This seems like the worst place to fight...' He couldn't imagine fighting atop such a beautiful field. Still, it seemed orcs had no sense of beauty as Shel stepped into the clearing gloatingly.

"See! There is nobody here but us! And there are no trees that can get in the way either, it's perfect!" She had her arms stretched out while saying so with a smile.

It seemed she was expecting a positive reply from Ed but he wasn't sure how to break the news to her.

'Well whatever, it's not like I am in a position to protect the nature of the dungeon' In the end, he casually nodded in agreement towards Shel's words and also entered the flower field.

Shel tossed Ed one of the axes and they both then walked to opposite ends of the circular field.

"Before we start, I need to make it clear that we are fighting with strength alone" Shel raised her voice ever so slightly to allow Ed to easily hear her words.

'I was going to do that anyway' Ed said in his head, he was sure it would be an easy victory otherwise.

He wasn't belittling Shel's skills but it was quite difficult to near your opponent in a one on one if you are being bombarded with spells. Orcs are also not known for having nimble bodies so Shel would be no different from a target board if Ed did decide to use mid to long-range spells like fireball and waterspout. His earth spells were also more than enough to make some distance if she were to ever near him. Needless to say, that wasn't what he was going for.

"I know, let's begin!" Ed yelled back in return.

After receiving Ed's approval, Shel let out a loud roar in the form of a battle cry and then charged towards Ed who was waiting for her approach. Maybe it was due to his passive instinct skill kicking in but Ed also let out a fierce roar as he grasped his axe and ran forward.

Shel transferred her momentum into a large leap and she swung down her fierce axe towards the approaching Ed who was forced to stop his spirited approach and block the incoming strike using the shaft of his battle axe.

Ed grunted in surprise as he received the full brunt of Shel's attack, his feet sunk into the flowery field. He regained his bearing and quickly mustered his strength to push Shel back. She was ready for such an approach however and thus easily maintained her balance.

Shel didn't wait for a second as she immediately ran forward for another attack. Ed didn't simply take it this time as he made use of his innate physical advantage over Shel and nimbly dodged the downwards strike. As a regular axe swing would be too awkward to perform in his current position, Ed deftly flipped his hold on the axe and sharply thrust the bottom of the shaft at Shel's abdomen.

Shel, who wasn't ready for the attack, showed a pained expression as she dug her feet into the soil to avoid being pushed back. She managed to hold her ground and then release a keen horizontal slash. The air looked as if it would be cleaved apart as Shel held nothing back in her swing full of killing intent. Ed who was on the receiving end paled as he tried to abruptly dodge the incoming swing. A red line was drawn on Ed's stomach during his attempted to retreat.

'Like hell this is a spar!' He thought before reeling in his anger and charging in for an attack. He couldn't let her hold the reins in this battle.

"Haah!" Ed yelled as he released a basic downwards swing. Shel tried to stop Ed's attack by intercepting the shaft of his axe but failed however as Ed had put a lot of his strength into the ferocious downwards slash and thus came more quickly then she had anticipated. The shaft of her axe was instead cleanly sliced apart leaving her somewhat astounded.

Ed's swing was so vicious that he himself couldn't stop the momentum and his axe ended up stuck in the ground. Ed carefully looked up and saw the astounded expression of Shel. They both looked at each other before letting out a light-hearted chuckle. At least Initially as Shel proceeded to slowly breakdown into full laughter.

"Hahahaha! That was a great spar! That final look on your face! Hahaha!" Shel was trying to hold in her laughter she, however, couldn't help but remember Ed's awkward expression as he dug his own axe into the dirt.

Ed shyly smiled in response, he scratched the back of his head as he watched Shel fall to the ground in a fit of laughter.

'Was it that funny?' Ed couldn't help but ask himself as Shel's hysterical laugh entered his ears. He tried to picture what he might look like as well before shaking his head.

"Shel, we should probably head back now" Ed told the dying Shel. Her laughter finally started to die down after hearing his words.

"Okay, okay jus- just give me a second hahaha!" Ed ignored her and looked at the field following their short struggle. The trampled flowers and the brown dirt told of their quick altercation.

'Hm?' Ed noticed some rustling bushes in the distance and couldn't help but tilt his head in confusion. Out of the foliage, he spotted the head of what seemed to be a goblin. upon noticing Ed's gaze the goblin's eyes widened in surprise before hurriedly retreating.

Ed couldn't help but think back to the first goblin he met when entering this place and decided to ask Shel a question.

"Hey Shel..." Ed curiously said to the recovering Shel.

"Yeah?" She sat up and wiped a tear of laughter off her face with one hand.

"I just saw a goblin but it ran away after it saw us." Ed absently stated what he saw.

His casual remark, however, made Shel's expression freeze for a second.

"Are you sure?" She hurriedly stood up and grabbed the remains of her broken axe.

Ed was a bit surprised by her strong reaction so he couldn't help but answer confused, "Yeah...?"

"Looks like they really insist on involving us, let's go" Shel had a serious expression as she casually threw out those words and motioned for Ed to follow after her.

Ed didn't refuse and followed after obediently. Still, he couldn't help but glance back and wonder...