'Properly?' Lukas mused, wondering what happened with the real Alara. Since when did she care about properly more than beating the shit out of her students?
[Apparently, you weren't the only one mulling over yesterday's training session]
Lukas chuckled at the system's cheerful observation, causing Alara to raise an eyebrow.
"What? You don't think I can, Ygroa?" she said with a laugh, accentuating his god name.
Then she rushed at him, ignoring the surprised squeals of goblins.
His body instinctively took the position of her stance. After spending an entire night studying the stance, it appeared his body had actually learned something where his brain had failed.
Raising his own sword, he blocked her attack with surprising ease.
Alara raised her eyebrow even further, this time less playful, though.
"Quick learner, huh?"
Shortly following her remark, she raised his sword with her own before extending her palm.
It struck his chest, sending him sprawling to the ground. Sand dug into his palms as he tried to force himself to his feet.
The task proved impossible, and all he could do was roll across the sand like a kid who was tossed by his dad.
Well, mommy in this case.
Her foot pressed into his back, stopping his roll. Then the cold metal of her blade pressed against his arm, signaling his swift defeat.
A heavy sigh escaped her lips, and even though he couldn't see her, he knew she was shaking her head.
"When will you use more than your eyes?" she said, her voice low and filled with disappointment. "Reading your opponent isn't enough in a battle to the death. By the time you've read your opponent, they've already moved past the trick. In other words, you can only see the trap they set, not their actual move."
A hand suddenly shot into his vision, a soft and delicate hand despite its many calluses.
He ignored it, rising to his feet by his own strength.
Turning back to face Alara, he saw her roll her eyes before continuing. "More than that, most sword fights are far too quick to trust your eyes. You must be ready for anything far before you can see their action. A sudden thrust of the palm, a sudden turning kick, a sudden change in the trajectory of their sword. Maybe your detective skills will work on weak opponents. However,"
A smile shot across her face as she pointed at herself with her thumb, "When you face someone like me, you'll be dead before you even learn the color of my eyes."
Lukas could do nothing but nod in response to her speech. He couldn't fight it, couldn't say that she was wrong, because that was blatantly false. In the past 2 days, she had put him on his ass more than any other girl he ever knew.
And, contrary to popular belief, gangs were filled with badass women.
Yet he doubted that, even with every gang in the world teaming up against her, they would be able to defeat Alara.
"Ah, sorry!" Alara cried out, smacking her head. "I got carried away again."
Her face was red as she took her usual stance. "Eh, let's start over. You can do this much, right?"
Lukas nodded, instantly replicating her stance. It was strange because he still didn't understand its functionality. However, it was almost like his body operated under a second mind.
Either way, it was enough to earn an approving nod from Alara.
"Good. Then, let's begin."
...
They practiced together for around an hour before suddenly realizing the other goblins were eerily quiet. The shouts and screams of a sparring session had suddenly become more silent than a library.
Turning around, they saw that most of them were kneeling. Fred, Poki, and a few of the other elite goblins had moved over to them.
Fred unsheathed his sword and quickly said to Lukas, "2 representatives from the greater goblin tribe of the Golden Hills have arrived. Do not look at them directly, as they come from the direction of the mountains."
'Mountains?' Lukas thought, confused for just a second.
Then his eyes widened at their cunning.
As he had learned from the moment of his arrival, it was a death sentence to look directly at the mountains. Though he hadn't thought of it much during the tournament, he now realized that the goblin ring wasn't entirely circular.
An entire section was missing, the section that would have been looking at the mountains.
That was how dangerous looking at the mountains was: it literally changed everyday lives.
Before he even met them, Lukas knew that these greater goblin tribes were far smarter than his own little army. However, that didn't mean they were smarter than their god.
As far as he was concerned, they were perfect first customers for his store.
A small smile crept on his face as Lukas prepared to greet his new guests.