?elare stands straight, his arms extended. The view of the training grounds in front of him seems to shimmer, and then it is still once more. From directly beside him, Hunter draws his bow and aims at a mound of dirt seventy metres away. He releases the arrow, which passes through ?elare’s visual barrier and slams into the target, blasting particles of soil up to even six metres away. The projectile is entirely embedded into the dirt, no part of it visible. Hunter places his hand on ?elare's shoulder and speaks.

  “I see why he wanted us to train together. This is a deadly combination due to your dual-mage abilities.”

  ?elare nods, replying, “You said your biggest problem was having to remain unnoticed, but I can prevent any sound or sight from being noticed by an enemy. Quite literally undetectable, perhaps outside of my magic being sensed.”

  Hunter grunts in affirmation as he lets himself fall into a sitting position. The past day of working on his shots along with ?elare has strained his muscles to a point where even moving his arms hurts, but he has a couple of things left to do before he can rest.

  He opens his palm and begins to channel condensed earth element out of it. Slowly, the form of an arrow shaft is built up, seemingly materialising from nothing. It is pure-black in colour, and at one end a sharp, grey point is created.

  He takes a fletching from his belt-pouch and holds it against the other end. The tips of the feathers are absorbed into it, then it solidifies again to complete the arrow. ?elare, having seen this happening, comments, “That's why your arrows are so heavy, huh?”

  Hunter nods as he forces himself back on his feet, quivering the arrow.

  “Made of condensed rock. Strong enough to withstand the impact, and I can make them as long as I have fletching.”

  Once he finishes talking, he walks laboriously to the impact zone and places his hand on the mound. After a long moment, the whole thing begins to lower itself into the ground, eventually disappearing as if it had never been there at all. Hunter wipes the sweat from his forehead and trudges back to ?elare, who finally decides to free them from their exhaustion.

  “I think we can finish here for today. I'm really low on mana, and you seem… tired. I wonder how the others have gotten on. Hopefully Vis hasn't been beating her up too badly…”

  Hunter spends a moment in thought before replying, “That could go very poorly, considering that she is quite small, and he is… massive. I understand your concern, but I think he will pull his punches as required. Hopefully.”

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  “Dodge left this time.”

  Astraea manages to twist her torso to the side just in time for a fist to fly past and miss her.

  “Right leg.”

  She raises her leg hurriedly and a sweeping kick passes underneath.

  “Good luck with this one.”

  Her eyes shoot open as Vis leaps into the air while summoning a war hammer from his bracers. She rolls to the side, freeing herself from his trajectory, but he throws his weapon the opposite way, redirecting him right on top of her.

  She is slammed into the ground with an impact heavy enough to crack the stone tiling of the empty hall. The air is forced out of her lungs, and she coughs up blood, staining the ground. Vis climbs back to his feet, releasing the pressure on her and she rasps for breath. He looks down with a worried expression.

  “Not again…”

  Through hoarse coughs, Astraea sputters, “I am intact,” as she climbs to her feet, dusting herself off. Her steadiness increases drastically over the next few seconds before her voice returns to normal.

  “Let us continue.”

  Vis’ worry turns to excitement as he picks up his hammer, storing it back in his bracers. He slams his arms together again, this time bringing out a spear.

  “Let's try something different. I want you to try attack me. Go all out, no holding back. I will only defend.”

  Astraea nods and lowers her stance, before sprinting towards him. She steps right, only to be met with the blade. Attempting to swerve round it, Vis’ overwhelming strength knocks her off balance with the shaft and she stumbles backwards.

  After a deep breath, she tries to implement the footwork he taught her. Feinting the same way again, the weapon moves to cut her off, but she sidesteps it. She reaches out, but when her hand is only centimetres away from him, Vis launches himself out of range at an absurd speed. She falls forward to the ground, and hears him speak while standing back up.

  “You were super close just there! Unfortunately, I'm a little too skilled for you,” he states, laughing. His face then turns serious as he continues.

  “Try one more time. Imagine I'm your brother.”

  Astraea begins to walk forward, not replying to him.

  “What's your plan this time? I will admit, I'm not sure what your method of actually dealing damage is.”

  No response is given as her eyes stare him down, the approach unwavering.

  Vis gives up talking and prepares himself for an attack, spear at the ready. She walks until she is within striking distance.

  She walks into the spearhead.

  She takes another step, the weapon emerging out her back. Blood begins pouring down out of her chest, Vis too caught off guard to react.

  She places her hand on him, and nothing appears to happen

  Seconds later, Vis begins to feel tired. His grip loosens, his posture slouches, and he finally reacts by shoving her back.

  “You… what? What did you do?”

  Astraea stabilises herself.

  “I absorbed a portion of your life energy. As it turns out, damage is not my sole method of overcoming a foe,” she explains with a thin smile on her face.

  Vis remains silent for several seconds before speaking.

  “That's really amazing. I think we'll end here for today, but keep practising your footwork even when you are alone. It will help you dodge far better and allow you to do…” he gestures to her, “That.”

  She nods and replies, “I understand. Let us separate here and return to our quarters.”

  They leave the hall, each of them going to their designated room to recover from the intensive sparring. Vis climbs right into his bed and falls asleep, while Astraea begins to clean and repair some of her clothing.