All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 212: Play Fighting

Chapter 212: Play Fighting

Bee looked over at Arthur, watching the man's worried expression as the two combatants stepped into the ring. The first was a little girl, Irene Chadwick. Bee suppressed her smile. She was sure that no one else knew what was coming. Arthur's worried frown just deepened.

The commander's expression was mirrored on the other combatant's face. The soldier's grizzled exterior, complete with a prickly beard and nasty scar along the cheek, would have identified him as some sort of rugged bandit in most stories she had heard. But the hesitation and disapproval radiating off of him spoke of one with young children of his own.

He shifted his grip anxiously on the hilt of his sword, looking at its blunt wooden blade. Trepidation filled his every movement. Bee couldn't blame him. Going up against a four-year-old girl seemed excessive, even if they were using practice swords. Not only that, but these men probably didn't understand the reality of these kids' power.

The number of children who had earned levels before they were ten was vanishingly small. As impressive as it sounded, the achievement was usually due to some sort of traumatic experience as opposed to intentional training. What parent would make their children kill so young, after all?

That was not the case with the Chadwicks or any of the Nighty Knights. They had all gained power through the direct intervention of a god. Little Irene Chadwick was especially blessed. At least, she was if her "God-touched" title was to be believed. Not to mention that her first skill was quite broken. Since the festival, she had even reached level ten and received her second skill. However, Beatrice hadn't seen her use it yet.

Her theory was that Irene had gotten a variant skill, one that each progressive level in skill choice didn't offer her new skills but simply upgrades to her base skill. These skills were rare and unusually powerful. As Irene grew, she would become even more specialized and deadly, but the soldier was just a soldier.

Sure, he was ten times as old as Irene and had at least double her level. And the physics of having a larger frame, longer reach, and just years of experience fighting has to count for something, right? At least, that's what Arthur was telling her. Bee would have agreed, usually. But the element of surprise was not to be underestimated.

The referee called a start to the match. The soldier rushed forward with his guard up, aiming to finish the fight without harming his opponent. He moved quickly, though, likely to avoid his comrades teasing him about fighting a little girl. Irene, though, simply bowed her head and prayed. The massive, ghostly figure of Void appeared behind her, seemingly larger in size since the last time Bee had seen it. With a fluid movement, its claw smashed down toward the man.

Still, the soldier had some experience, and that wasn't to be discounted. Bracing the blade of his sword against his gauntleted left hand, he raised and blocked, not catching the strike but deflecting it off to the side. A look of shock flashed across his features at the sheer force. From what Bee could tell about the skill, it wasn't based on any physics or magic innately provided by Irene. It was simply based on the strength of her faith. And since faith was by far her highest stat, even the glancing blow had a ton of power behind it.

The angle of the soldier's block forced most of the momentum off to the side, but the recoil still drove him to one knee. But instead of trying to rise, the man dove forward and rolled. The quick reaction was the only thing that saved him from the second attack.

Another claw materialized out of nowhere and smashed down into the ground, leaving a crater where he once stood. The appendage then vanished back into the floating disc behind Irene.

Irene hadn't even opened her eyes to redirect the attack, but it had nonetheless honed in on her opponent. Bee grinned over at Arthur, who was muttering something under his breath.

"I think you're going to have to do my paperwork for a week," she taunted.

Arthur grimaced, clearly regretting the friendly bet she had baited him into. He didn't seem like a gambling man, but he couldn't say no to the challenge in front of the men who would be fighting. Showing such little faith in his own soldiers would probably have been too demoralizing. Plus, the stakes weren't too big of a deal. It's probably just a little bit of missing sleep.

Her focus returned to the spar just in time to see the second part of Irene's ability; a blinding light flared out from behind her, silhouetting her. A long blue beam of magic shot out, scorching the ground at the feet of the soldier and making him jump back. At the same time, the claw swept down toward him.

The soldier had no choice but to take the full brunt of it on his sword and shoulder. Luckily, Irene had apparently accounted for this, or at least her prayer had recognized that she did not want to kill the man. Instead of slamming him directly down, it came at an angle and sent him tumbling out of the arena. He landed among the steadying arms of his friends, where they ringed the sparring circle.

The grizzled veteran climbed to his feet, panting. On all sides, he was showered with deriding mockery from the other soldiers as they helped him up. The referee declared the spar over by knockout.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it off," the man called to his detractors. "I want to see any two of you go against her."

No one took him up on that challenge. Meanwhile, Irene walked back over to the waiting group of Nighty KnightsWords of praise and a few claps on the back greeted her before her brother swept her up in a big hug, spinning the tiny girl around. Her girlish giggles floated across the arena and drew collective "awww" out of the crowd by her very cuteness.

Bee couldn't blame them. She really was adorable. Getting used to dealing with these children had taken her a long time as they were far too adult in some ways. But unlike her, they hadn't lost her childlike innocence. While they had a rough time training under Void, they never truly felt alone. They were never scared. They were never saddled with more than they could bear. And despite having power, they wielded it responsibly. Well, most of the time.

"I guess I do owe you some paperwork, Miss Bee," Arthur sighed, shaking his head. "If I had known what a monster that little girl was, I don't think I ever would have taken that bet. Morale be cursed."

Bee just laughed at him, and he continued. "Where did you find her anyway? That skill bears a striking resemblance to Lord Void. She must have quite a story."

Bee shrugged. "You'd think so, right? But it's not a story any different from ours. Void cares for the children, though. We think it's one of its domains. Void looked over a lot of the orphans from Greg, even the ones who had mothers. That's where all the Nighty Knights came from."

"So this is just a consequence of Void's training?"

"Yeah. Well, mostly. Void just took them under its wing, taught them the sword, and ran them ragged while playing with them. They got their first levels and classes from dropping rocks on undead though. I think all the cleaning Void had them doing got them a lot of experience after that."

"Hmmm…" Arthur mulled over the information.

"It seems that anyone who holds Void in respect and worships him gets experience from that sort of stuff, as I'm sure some of your soldiers have started to notice. Especially If you take the class that the system offers related to Void. There's been a few variants I've seen that have only increased those effect. All these children are examples of that."

"So what you're saying is, I have good reason to politely decline any future bets."

"Yeah, it's probably a good idea." Bee said with a laugh. "I do appreciate you taking the loss for this one. I believe it was important for building excitement and maybe a little bit of rivalry. I hope your men will take losing to children well."

Arthur shrugged. "They'll have to. We have to face reality at some point, no matter how absurd it seems. Besides, they want to learn anyway, right? This will just show them what Void can do for them."

As they set up for the next bout, Bee considered the encampment around her. While building the first settlement had been exciting, things had started to slow down. Most of the main buildings were constructed, and everyone was in generally good shape and prepared for the next snow. In fact, according to Arthur and a few of the lieutenants that Bee had talked to, this was the best camp they'd ever made. The strong foundations they'd laid before they really planned out the permanent buildings made this more of a small town. A town was what Void had indicated, and thanks to Arthur, it was finally becoming a reality.

The next soldier to face one of the Nighty Knights was significantly more wary than his predecessor. No hesitation or concern about fighting a child lingered in his gaze. Bee was glad because the elder Chadwick stepped forward to meet this challenge. While she had seen the Nighty Knights power before, it was something she had to remind herself of frequently. And it was impossible to remember that without remembering the finals of the birthday competition. It hadn't been little Irene with her terrifying avatar that won. It had been Bradley Chadwick with his impeccable sword skills.

The Nighty Knights let out an excited cheer as their champion took the field. The soldiers followed their representative with laughs and mocking taunts. Bee noticed that they were primarily from those who hadn't agreed to fight for a weekend pass.

The ticket system was working out better than anyone had hoped. The competition for the chance to break the daily grind of work and training seemed to motivate the troops well. At the same time, the castle had reported no problems with the visiting soldiers. They mostly just came and worked, talked, or traded with the members of the castle. In fact, they worked harder than they likely would have if they'd stayed back in their camp. But more than anything else, they seemed to relish the chance to interact and enjoy the food Mary and her staff whipped up. They were all rather boisterous for being chosen for the weekly excursion.

A few of Arthur's men had been shy or reserved, but the children's and residents' general friendliness had pulled them out of their shells. By the time everyone left after dinner, there were usually great relations and promises of future visits left behind. Bee had also noticed a growing bond in her spiritual sense for the soldiers who visited. This faith in their god only strengthened as they walked amongst their fellow soldiers. After just a few weeks of this, Bee started to see that spread to soldiers who had never even visited. The faith they showed was slightly different and less personal, but the strands remained.

Each and every one of those people was marked to her, and perhaps it was just her imagination. But as she watched them, she swore she could see them slowly make an effort to embody Void's ideals. They were slightly neater. Their armor was better cared for. Even the angles at which swords hung on their belts seemed a little less haphazard. But who could really tell?

Bee blinked. Bradley was already walking away from his defeated opponent. Bee had apparently missed the fight in the brief time she was thinking.