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The first half of the next day went by in a flash for Chris. Ayla had indeed stopped by for breakfast, after eating they went to one of the higher leveled training grounds, where they met up with Seafy. Chris was trying to get the hang of several new spells, chiefly shadow magic spells that he hadn’t mastered at their last meeting, so Seafy instructed him for most of the time they trained. He couldn’t figure out why, but they seemed to be harder to master than the other shadow spells he had learned so far. Though he did admit to himself that he wasn’t overly interested in them as compared to the others, a possible cause for the slow progress.
Regardless of the difficulty, they trained until lunch time. Wanting to get some sword practice in, Chris bid them farewell after eating lunch together and made his way over to the temple. He entered the arena just as Grudge caught a flurry of blows with his shield from an acolyte, while Vorgak observed from the side.
“Good. Dwarf, a shield was the right choice. Your people are hardy and your arms are like forged iron. Even a heavy heater shield would not tire you as quickly, allowing you greater protection. Though its size may be too gangly for you. You said you used a round shield before, correct? When you are done, switch out for a round shield, and I’ll compare how you handle them.”, Vorgak lectured.
Grudge fought on, blocking blow after blow, and even occasionally letting one loose himself. But like Vorgak said, the large heater shield was too big for Grudge, it was made for an elf after all. It restricted his movements and range of attack, coupled with the superior skill of his sparring partner, he was struck dead a minute or so later.
Vorgak nodded as if he expected this. “Switch out for the round shield now. In the meantime, I will start on the champion, rest and observe.”, he said. Vorgak had never turned around, but somehow, he knew Chris was there, lurking in the back of the arena watching.
Having been found out, Chris took the sword he used yesterday, as well as a wooden heater shield from the wall, and approached Vorgak. “So, how different is fighting with a shield, versus just a sword?”, he asked as he walked in front of
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