Sorry for the wait and "short' chapter I'm bringing you today. I didn't have a lot of motivation to write recently, which is why it took me that long to finish this. It's more of a filler chapter than anything else. The interesting stuff is coming in the next one: trials, Arya, Alex getting his ass kicked by said elf... (oops, I said too much)

Anyway, thank you for the reviews, favs and follows, it keep me determined to see the end of this story. Oh, there's also a little reference to Street Fighter near the end of the chapter, I love listening to the games' OST while writing the fighting scenes, some of my imagination come from it.

Good reading!

Chapter 16

The next day, when the alarm on his watch went off, the swordsman woke up in a gasp, at 7:00 am sharp. Grunting, he pushed away the blue wing covering him and slowly stood up. Not without some difficulties, he managed to escape from Saphira's grip. Alex took a cereal bar from his backpack, drank a few sips of water and jumped out of the cavern, ready to begin his day.

After walking down the stairs leading to the dragonhold, he asked for directions and after a few minutes, Alex stopped in front of Tronjheim's library. He then walked inside, browsing through the aisles in search of any book or scroll that might be interesting in his eyes. The place was completely empty except for the librarian who was replacing a few books in their place. The young man suddenly stopped, his gaze falling on an edition of Domia abr Wyrda. He took it from the shelf, sat on the nearest chair and began to read it. When he had to close it at the end of his stay in Teirm, the book was explaining the war between the elves and the dragons.

Absorbed by the content of the book, Alex wasn't even aware of the time passing. It was the sound of his stomach growling that brought him back to the outside world. But he dismissed it, too captivated by what he was reading.

But, unfortunately, and before he could continue the current chapter, he was interrupted by someone clearing his throat. Looking up, Alex found himself face to face with the Twins. He sighed before resuming where he had stopped.

"What do you two want?"

"You're lying. You can't be an ambassador! The Surda don't need to send one and the elves have Arya. So, who are you truly?"

Alex sighed before closing the book and standing up, his face inches away from one of the magicians. His face showed absolutely no emotion and despite this, there was a dangerous tone in his voice. "Listen and listen carefully, I don't give a fuck about you two. I don't have to justify myself to anyone. You think I'm hiding something? Cool and you're right but don't think you're clean either. I know you're up to something. I don't have any proof and maybe I'll never have a single one but know that I'm watching you."

"We'll see about that… Ambassador."

The duo walked off, leaving the swordsman alone and quite irritated.

"If these idiots think they can boss me around, they're dead wrong. Me, intimidated by two petty magicians? Pfff, what a joke."

Not in the mood to read anymore, he put the book in its place and left the library. Shortly after, Alex arrived in the kitchens, took some bread and drank a few sips of water. Then, he walked to the training ground. There, he found a lot of men sparring, doing some jogs to warm-up or learning how to use a weapon. Alex walked to a huge man. He had an untidy beard and was rather muscular. He also wore a set of ox-hide armor and a very long two-handed sword was strapped in his back.

"Excuse me, sir?"

The man turned to him, a little surprised to be interrupted in his supervision of the current fight.

"What can I do for you, boy?"

"I'd like to have a sparring partner for some hand-to-hand combat. Someone like you or you would be nice. Is it possible?"

"I'm sorry, I don't have time for this." He replied, pointing to the group of soldiers. "I still have to teach some things to these guys before they can train themselves."

Alex smirked. "Trust me, if you accept, they'll learn a few things by the end of the match."

"Oh, really? You seem so sure of yourself, in that case, let's see what you can do. I know a lot of people here but it's the first time I see you. I am Fredric, may I have your name before we begin?"

"Alex. I arrived yesterday, in company of the Rider."

At the moment he said this, whispers could be heard from the group who had listened to the conversation.

"I recognize him!" exclaimed one of them. "It's the swordsman who practically annihilated the group of Kull by himself."

The others looked at their comrade in shock. It was true that they've heard a few rumors about yesterday's fight involving a lone fighter with two swords and the beasts but to see it confirmed in front of their eyes.

"Me who wanted to stay discreet about this… well, fuck."

The young man removed his jacket and shirt, leaving him topless, before taking his fighting stance, his fists and arms close to him and protecting his chest.

"Since you agreed to spare with me, I'm letting you have the first blow. Just one rule: we don't give any hit that may cause any permanent damage. Personally, I'll try my best to restrain myself."

The weapon master didn't say a word but nodded in acknowledgement before lunging forward, ready to deliver a direct to the face. Alex stepped to the side. His sparring partner continued to throw lefts, rights and a few uppercuts, the swordsman swatted them away with his forearms or kept guard up while walking backward. Despite this, he still felt the few hits that landed on his body and it was hurting a lot. Alex was forced to stay on the defensive since Fredric wasn't giving him time to give a single hit or even breath. «He's strong and fast, this man could kill me without any problem if he wanted. Well, he gives me no choice, I have to find the first opening possible and strike back with THAT technique. »

A few moments later, as Fredric was trying to strike him with a left hook, Alex seized his opportunity. He crouched low, tucked his fist to his side and then pushed up with his legs while driving his arm upward. The second it connected with the weapon master's jaw, he yelled:

"Shoryuken!"

His sparring partner stepped back, dazed and feeling a strong pain in his jaw. Alex didn't let him go that easily and followed with a heavy right to the cheek, two directs to the head, a knee stroke in the stomach and an uppercut.

Fredric was far from knocked out but had some difficulties to keep his fighting stance and his balance.

"That move, what was it? I've never seen something like that before."

"It's a fictional fighting art based on the mix of two martial arts: Karate and Kempo, with a bit of boxing I added to personalize it. It don't really exist but those who know about it call it Ansatsuken. There's only two of the three moves I can use but a magic user could learn the third."

"Anyway, it was a nice hit but we should stop here. It was a good warm up but I don't want to get my ass kicked in front of my students."

Alex shook his head, smiling.

"Nah, I don't think I would have won. Your blows were accurate and had a lot of strength in them. You were on the offensive all the time, I couldn't do anything but endure the hits, I had to use one of my secrets moves in order to have some room and counter-attack. At best, it would have ended in a draw or I win but not by much. I'm willing to admit a defeat when I'm confronted to one. You're a good fighter Fredric."

The swordsman presented his fist to him.

"Same about you." The weapon master bumped it with his own hand. "I heard what the patrols were saying about what you did yesterday and I'm impressed. It's good to have people like you on our side. I don't want to be the one standing against those two blades of yours."

"Thanks."

"But before you go, can I ask a favor?" asked Fredric, smiling.

"Sure." Alex raised an eyebrow, curious. "What do you want?"

"You can teach a few things to those soldiers? A few tips here and there. I'm sure they could learn something from a young man who know his way in hand-to-hand combat and journeyed through the country."

Alex blinked. Hard. Him? Playing the teacher? Some of those guys were older than him and probably knew more than him. He didn't know what he could bring to them but anyway, he couldn't back down since he agreed.

"O-okay but don't expect much."

The young man put himself in front of the group. They were in row, waiting patiently for the next order. Alex cleared his throat before beginning his talk, his voice taking a more authoritative and instructive tone.

"Soldiers, I don't know what your coach taught you when you began your training but when my masters took me under their wing, they engraved one thing in my head: Stay determined. Oh, and in battle, always keep your fighting stance. I stopped counting the number of times I had to do push-ups because I was forgetting this." Some of them laughed. "First, we'll do some basic movements and do the more complicated stuff a little later."

The group did some stretches, Alex doing it with them. Then, he slowly showed them a suite of moves with his left sword, ending it with a horizontal slash. He did it again but at full speed this time.

"This combo is usually used in a duel but it never hurt to know it for a full scale battle. Normally, we just hit and defend ourselves with our shields but surprising the enemy with this kind of attack is good."

After this, Alex spend two hours teaching them some other techniques and tips. He even fought those who volunteered in a sparring match, with their bare fists. He won some fights but also lost others. However, his win/lose ratio was positive so he was happy. Some of those fighters were showing talent, if they survived, maybe they would reach a higher rank.

Finally, the young man decided to let their main training resume. The guys thanked him for the lesson and the matches, he bid them goodbye and walked away, his body sore and making strange cracking noises from all of this.

"As much as I want to say I'm too old for this bullshit, it would be lying."

The swordsman arrived in the dragonhold, greeted Saphira and Solembum with a "What's up?" before throwing himself in the dais, rolling in a fetus position and dozing off. The blue dragoness looked at the scene with a small smile and a strange glint in her eyes. Solembum noticed this and smirked, knowing exactly why she was looking at him that way but said nothing.

The moment after, they resumed their conversation as if nothing happened.