*THWACK!*

The sound of solid wood hitting solid wood reverberated in the spacious arena of the training grounds. Jeritza's training blade pressed down against the shaft of Leonie's lance. She gritted her teeth, her whole body tensing as she braced the attack and tried to muster enough force to push him back. Her opening to strike came when Caspar ran up behind Jeritza, yelling a battle cry, with the blunt training axe he wielded high in the air. The masked man adjusted his footing and deftly turned to avoid the blow. Having swung with all his strength, Caspar's miss caused him to hit the literal dirt as he fell, dismayed.

Leonie saw her chance and took it.

She angled her lance down to the right, dropped to one knee and directed Professor Jeritza's sword away from her and towards the ground as he still was applying force, but was distracted enough to be caught off guard. His awareness returned quickly after that as he took advantage of her lowered weapon and planted his foot upon the tip, weighing it down. He would've had time to strike her had not the young Fraldarius boy attempted to slash with his weapon that same moment. Jeritza's breathing intensified. These were youths with potential; he had not broken a sweat once in a fight as long as he could remember. He raised his foot off of the girl's lance and kicked her off balance. He took a wooden sword to the leg. The pain confused but excited him. In a real battle, a severe leg injury would've occurred. He faked a chuckle. The heir to house Fraldarius would make an entertaining sparring partner. Felix Hugo Fraldarius was, unknown to Jeritza at the time, hellbent on mastering his sportsmanship. He was already nearly skilled enough to match Jeritza. Each fierce *crack* and *thud* of their weapons meeting each other was louder than the one before. Leonie picked herself up off the ground, and not missing a beat steadied her weapon and ran headlong towards the two.

A lance was most dangerous when used in a thrusting attack. As soon as each student had selected their sparring weapon and begun the session, the masked Professor had gone straight for her, keeping her on the defensive from the start. It was a smart tactic. Captain Jeralt would've approved, Leonie felt sure of that. Jeritza had been strategizing on the spot. The students hadn't bothered discussing a group approach to duelling the mysterious teacher, and this was a mistake, as Leonie had soon realized. Embarrassed, and sure that the Captain would've lectured her on the importance of cooperation with allies, she made the conscious decision to improve, starting now.

"Hey! Don't you dare--"

Parrying a strike from a winded Felix, Jeritza menacingly glared from behind his mask at Leonie. He abruptly cut her off.

"Forget about you? Quite the opposite. You're late. And wide open."

His hand reached out, prepared to catch the shaft of her weapon and cast her aside.

"Now! I have you. Thanks for turning around."

Her feigned lance thrust had gotten his attention Leonie kicked up a cloud of dust, and the mask he wore didn't do anything to keep it from getting near his eyes. The irritation causing him to lose focus, and in an instant, Felix had the training blade pressed against Jeritza's throat.

"Good sparring session, Professor. But we've won this time." he asserted matter-of-factly. "And here I thought you made a big deal about this not being fair for us. I'm not a fan of empty threats; only challenges."

In an instant, Jeritza had whirled on him and, with both hands firmly grasping Felix's head, forcefully cracked it to the side with a sickening *snap*, the boy's eyes wide in terror.

But of course, this was all happening in the Masked Man's head. His frustration with his loss had momentarily opened the door to his dark alter-ego, the Death Knight. He was still, so very still. He needed to calm down. This was no time to lose control; he knew that. Reluctantly, the dark persona within slunk back into the deep recesses of his mind. He raised his hands skyward, surrendering and officially ending their brief training session.

"This would have never happened if I had used my scythe. I can let these students live; they have the potential to challenge me at my greatest strength, should they improve." these words he thought to himself.

"Clever strategy young miss. But tricks won't always work, especially not on me. Focus on improving your strength, and if power eludes you, you've got the correct bearing to make a formidable archer. That is all. " he moved away from the three students and made his way in the direction of the gate.

"Wait!" shouted Caspar and Felix, almost in unison.

"What about me?! What did I do right and or wrong?" Caspar roared.

"And I was the one who was most evenly matched with you. Where is my recognition?" spoke Felix, his eyebrows lowered in annoyance.

"You're arrogant. I would've forced you to surrender had the girl not intervened. Work on cooperating with others. As for you, " he looked Caspar in the eye. "I don't know what you're trying to prove. You're too loud. Your enemy would hear you a mile away before you get the chance to land even one hit."

They all stood there, stunned. Felix scoffed and left without a word. Caspar raced over to the weapon rack and returned the wooden axe.

"That was awesome! I'll see you around, yeah? We've got to do that again. I'm going to get as strong as that Jeritza guy!"

Leonie decided that she liked Caspar's positivity in the wake of such stern criticism. Still, he didn't seem to be the brightest. And Felix, the heir to House Fraldarius had skill. She would have to challenge him one-on-one when she got the chance.

She wondered if Jeralt would've been proud of her. He had taught her to use whatever tactics the environment provided her with.

What she didn't know is that at that very moment, he was walking through the Monastery gate with the rest of the convoy. The former Captain of the Knights of Seiros had returned. And with him was someone who would change her life forever.