The amazing fighter

Maris wakes up. A cute girl around her age is hugging her.
It's Zenna.
As Maris sits up, Zenna also wakes up.
She smiles at Maris, but keeps lying next to her.

Kael isn't there anymore. He must have left already.
Rafferty is still asleep, though.

Hey, wake up!

She pulls away his blanket.

Rafferty slowly opens his eyes and looks around in confusion.

You could have woken me up more gentle.

Yeah, sorry about that...

It's fine.

Uhm...
So any idea where Kael is?

How would I know?

He must be training already. He's especially disciplined.

Maris is still pretty frustrated with him.
Soon he will show her his abilities, and if he's actually good, she will have to find a reason why he can't join her crew.
Or even worse, she will have to take him with her because she fails.

She has been so excited to get a great sword fighter for her crew, but this all just feels like a waste of time, just so she doesn't hurt anybody.

I'm sorry, Zenna.
I didn't mean to offend you or Kael yesterday.
It's just that I'm looking for a strong man to protect us on our journey, and I doubt, he's capable of that.
So I have to be hard on him.

Zenna nods, her eyes filled with understanding.

Yeah, he might not look that strong.
But that's only because he holds back all the time.
He only shows his real skills to special girls. And I've been one of them.

Zenna sounds lucky and sorrowful at the same time.

And me, too, I guess.

Zenna giggles.

Yeah...

When everybody is ready, they go outside and look around.
After a while they find a group of young men practicing their moves in a secluded courtyard.

Rafferty approaches the group with a smirk.

Well, well, look at these fancy fighters.
You boys seem strong!
I'm sure one of you would be fitting for our pirate crew.

An athletic young man steps forward.

We don't like pirates at a place like this.
You'd be wise to leave this place. You aren't welcome here.
I guess you don't want to be punished.

Maris, already annoyed by Rafferty, intervenes.

Easy now.
We just went by and noticed your impressive fighting techniques.
My name is Maris, and this is Rafferty.
We aren't pirates. We're explorers and want to discover the secrets of the outside world.

Oh, so you must be the people Kael was talking about.
I'm Zane.
You really think about taking him with you, don't you?
I don't think he'll be much of a help to you.

Maris already feels validated.
But if Zenna is right, he just doesn't know about his real powers.

Suddenly Kael comes around.

Hey, you're finally here.
Everybody is prepared already.
You'll be the one to pick my enemies, so I can be sure you'll hold your word.

Maris still can't be sure. They could all just be acting.
But at least Zane already sounded very believable.

So Maris picks five fighters from this group, which look especially strong.
And she also picks Zane of course, even if there are other stronger looking fighters left.

Why did you pick him? I don't like him.
He sometimes hurts my cutie...
And Kael doesn't even let me take proper care of him most of the time...

Don't worry.
I can do it!

After Maris picked the five fighters, it doesn't take long until Kael and the fighters gather on some rectangular fighting area.
All of them only have training swords.
These swords look like they'll still hurt a lot, but it will be difficult to kill somebody with them.
At least they aren't sharp.

Everybody bows down, and then the fight already begins.
It's immediately visible that Kael is different.
The other fighters are cautious and wait for the right moment to attack, while Kael already gets close through fulid movements, dodging slashes targeted at him.

Unlike his other opponents, Zane quickly starts to follow Kael, but he doesn't want to hurt the four other guys, so it's difficult to move around freely.

Suddenly Kael runs directly towards the guy furthest away from him and just stabs his stomach, causing him to move back in pain and step out of the area.

Maris thinks, this was just out of luck.

Now the other guys besides Zane collectively decide to fight more agressively, but Kael still manages to dodge easily and once in a while lands a hit, which looks like it hurts.
Soon one of them has to leave because of the pain.

Now Maris is a little surprised.
They really looked way stronger than him, but only three of them are left.

When Zane realizes that Kael is only fighting against two other guys, he occasionally gets closer, tries to land a hit, and moves back again.

Zane's actually pretty good. Maris is happy she chose him as an opponent.
He might actually defeat Kael.
He also looks pretty good. She would like him as her lover. Or rather her protector and crew member.

Then suddenly Zane hits Kael hard enough to make him fall to the ground.

No! Are you okay? Get up!

After a moment of confusion, Kael elegantly gets up and hits one of the remaining fighters, who was still happy about what just happened, completely catching him off guard.
He almost falls to the ground but moves back as well.

You're really good today!
Did you do some special training?

I've always been good.
This time I have something to win, though.
Are you getting scared already?

Hah, as if you really had a chance.
It's still three against one.
Besides that, you know I'm stronger on my own.

Zane is right. Kael can't afford to fight him last.
Zane might actually be a better sword fighter than Kael.
But as long as somebody else is there, Zane can't fight to the fullest.

But Zane really seems to avoid Kael. He fights very defensive.

Kael has a plan. He wants to hurt the other fighters without knocking them out.

Kael runs towards Zane, trying to land a hit.
Zane doesn't let Kael get too close.
He either dodges or defends himself.
The other guys soon get closer as well and want to support Zane.

But Kael prevents them by suddely turning around and hitting both of them.
One of them immediately gives up.
His body contorts in pain.

The other guy is also lying on the ground now.

Did he even touch them? I didn't see it!

Immediately after finishing his move, Kael has to block Zane, causing him to lose his balance out of surprise.
This is his chance!
Kael tries to make Zane fall by pushing his sword into his stomach.
But Zane just grabs the sword himself and uses it to throw him to the side.

The other guy immediately runs towards Kael, but just before he manages to attack, Kael rolls away.

He immediately gets up, quickly gets behind him and kicks him.
The guy is still in a bad pose after his attack and he falls to the ground.
As the guy is lying on the ground, Kael pretends to stab him, which also counts as a victory.

Zane just waits. He doesn't want to abuse his situation.

Looks like the real fight can begin now.
Or should I rather say, it's about to end?

Kael, already quite exhausted, returns to his fighting stance, holding a sword in one hand and clenching a fist in the other.

Don't get cocky!
You haven't seen my best shot yet!

Oh, in that case, I'm already curious.

Maris isn't sure which outcome she would prefer.
Even if she didn't want Kael in her crew first, he actually did a good job here.
She's really surprised.
If he wins for real, she might not regret her deal.

But it still seems pretty obvious to her that he doesn't stand a chance.
Zane is clearly his strongest opponent, and he already used most of his power.

This is getting boring.
They're just standing around and talking.
Call me when it's over.

What?!? You can't just...

Rafferty already left and is walking around in the yard, looking at the statues again.

Kael runs directly towards Zane, but as Zane tries to fend off Kael with his sword, Kael just dodges and is about to stab Zane instead.
But just in time Zane moves to the side and grabs his sword again.

Zane didn't notice that Kael isn't holding his sword anymore.
Kael can't let him get away with this a second time.
When Zane notices what Kael is doing, his fist is already about to hit his face.
Kael is jumping into him with a strong punch.

It's such a hard punch, Zane gets a little dizzy and doesn't stand straight up anymore.
So Kael can easily punch his face a few times more until Zane finally steps back.

Hey, what the fuck! This is a sword fight.

We never agreed on a sword fight.

Suddenly an older guy clears his throat.
It's their master Kadan.
He must have joined the audience during the fight.

Immediately stop this fight!
Punches are against the rules.
We are sword fighters after all.
So the winner is Zane.

But...
I really wanted to join them.
Can't I just finish the fight?
Else Maris won't take me with her.

Kael totally doesn't sound as determined as before.
He seems more like a whiny child now.
But that's what he actually is in the end.
Maris isn't surprised. What was she even hoping for?

These are our rules.
It's over now!

Maris starts to feel bad for Kael.

Uhm...
If you really want it so much, I'd let you join me.

Maris immediately regrets her offer.

I can't! It's a matter of honor.
I didn't fulfill your task.

I wouldn't let you go anyway.
You're a member of this town.
I and all your friends cared for you.
We helped you to become a decent fighter.
So you will have to stay and pay us back.

Kael is really getting angry all of the sudden.

Don't act as if most of my strength is your merit.
I'm training all the time on my own.
There's not much else I could learn in this stupid town anyway.
And now I'm stronger than any of you. Even you, master!

Zenna is shocked when Kael calls this town stupid.
He should be happy to live in this place.
But he must have good reasons to hate it.
She likes him after all, so he wouldn't say such things without a good reason, right?
If anyone, she's to blame. She should have noticed it earlier.

You're that strong?
How come I've only seen your mediocre skills?
Are you hiding something from me?

Kael doesn't answer. He's still pretty angry.

If you're really so strong, show me!
I want to see all your skills.
And to be sure I'll allow you to leave if you really manage to defeat me in a fair fight.

Kael calms down.
That's actually a good offer.
He would even be able to restore his honor in some way.

So Kael agrees and they get ready.

Zane, please leave.

They start fighting with their swords.
Kael manages to dodge him easily, but he quickly realizes he can't win like this.
He won't be able to land a single hit without getting hit worse himself.

After a while, Kael moves away and takes a deep breath.
Kadan also takes a little break.

Yeah, very good footwork.
But soon you'll run out of stamina, and then that's it.

Kael throws his sword out of the fighting area.

This won't work!
When fighting like this, I won't ever win!

Take your sword!
Immediately!

I tell you now!
I won't even use my sword anymore.
It's still a fair fight if I tell you in advance.

In that case, the fight is over.
You'll have to learn a little more discipline...

Kadan is already about to leave the fighting area, but Kael is getting furious.

It's not over yet.
You will be defeated!

Kadan wonders what he's up to and stays prepared.

Maris likes how Kael looks now.
His face wrinkles a lot, making him seem a few years older.
Seeing him like this causes a gentle tingling through her body.

Calm down.
No need to get mad.
You will get-

Before Kadan could finish his sentence, Kael already ran towards him and punched his stomach.

Kadan immediately wields his sword to fend him off, but Kael already got behind him and is jumping on his back, grabbing his neck.
This causes Kadan to fall on his back.

Before Kadan realizes, Kael is already sitting on his chest and punches his face.
Kadan can't do anything anymore and even loses his sword.

I hate you!
I hate you!

Kael keeps punching him for a while.
He doesn't notice when Kadan loses his consciousness and just keeps punching.

After dozens of punches he finally stops.
Kadan isn't only consciousness. His face is also bleeding.

Kael looks around, everybody is looking at him in disbelief.
Kael realizes what he has done.
Now he really can't stay in this place anymore...
This will get him punished seriously.

So he just runs away.

The other sword fighters seem mad, some of them already go to their master to help him.

Maris and Zenna still aren't sure what happened.
And Rafferty, still at the statues, didn't even notice anything yet.

After only a few seconds, Maris immediately runs after him.
Maris really would like to have Kael in her crew now.
Even if he might not be the best sword fighter, he is definitely a good fighter, and that's what she needs.
She has to get him!