𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖'𝕤 𝔽𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕪

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟺

Forge felt as if he had barely even got a break before they were all called to train once again. Luckily, both Penetrate and Daunting were already there once he arrived, standing side-by-side and chatting amongst themselves. Forge made sure to take his place on the training grounds as far from that overly-arrogant skeleton as he possibly could.

While Daunting was at the very back row of assembled soldiers, Forge settled within the frontmost row. But while it was good that he was as far away from Daunting, now he was even closer to Sergeant Ruthless. A tremor of dread washed over him as he recalled his earlier encounter with her. What if she purposefully made an example out of him as she had done to Daunting?

Forge didn't mind being so close to Fury. She was quiet. Not really the type of creature to get onto anyone else. The worst she would do was give them a disdainful glare as far as he could tell. But Ruthless on the other hand was the complete opposite. To say that the female wither skeleton scared him was quite an understatement. 

Forge glanced behind him in hopes that he could still catch glimpses at Daunting every once in a while. But from such a distance, and with multiple rows of other soldiers lined up behind him and obscuring his view, it was impossible to see the larger skeleton from where Forge stood now.

This has to be better than dealing with Daunting, right? Forge sure hoped that was the case at least. 

"Now that you have learned all of the basics for sword-fighting, you will all be put into pairs of my choosing." Ruthless began, staring down the line of five frontmost soldiers that included Forge. But no matter the fear her intimidating expression invited, Forge tried as hard as he  could only to show his determination to train and his loyalty for the nether wastes as her gaze fell on him. "Firstly, since you both have seemed to take a particularly fond liking to one another, you and Daunting will be a pair."

Greaaat. Just his luck.

"Are you kidding?" A harsh voice demanded from behind them all, and Forge didn't have to try and peer over all of the other skeletons behind him to know the look of pure fury that was plastered all over Daunting's skull. "You want him to be my partner?" 

"Uh-huh. Perhaps then you won't start unnecessary fights with each other outside of your training." Ruthless replied to him in a flat tone.

It wasn't until every soldier had been merged into a duo when Forge began sidling toward the very back row of soldiers, where Daunting stood, looking thoroughly uninterested in whatever was about to take place between the two of them. Penetrate was still at Daunting's side once Forge approached, looking the smaller skeleton up and down a few times before she turned to look at the soldier beside her. "Pffft. Good luck dealing with that dumb-skull, Daunting." That was all she said to him, smirking as she sauntered off to search for her own assigned partner in the crowd.

None of them spoke as they awaited further instructions from Ruthless, watching as other skeletons around them made quick introductions to one another, most of their interactions seeming far more friendly and calm in comparison to Forge and Daunting who were succumbed by an awkward silence and accompanied by a tense aura that rose from around them like a thick cloud of smoke.

Finally, though, once things began to settle down over all of the gathered creatures, Ruthless's ringing voice caught all of their attention once again. "I want all of you to practice what you've learned thus far on your chosen opponents. From there, you can assess your own skillset at the moment, and work out areas in which you feel you need to improve upon the most. Before you begin though, I feel it must be said that you are not trying to hurt your opponent. This is a spar. You're one goal is to recognize your aptitudes, nothing else. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Sergeant Ruthless." Came the replies of all of the soldiers. Well, most of them at least. Forge noticed that Daunting in particular had stayed silent.

They all adjusted their positions in front of their opponents, ensuring that there were a few steps worth of space between them. Then, before Forge could even take a moment to prepare himself, Ruthless's commanding voice resounded across the training grounds. "You may begin! And I'd better not catch any of you intentionally trying to harm one another."

Forge could have sworn she was glaring at where he and Daunting stood when she mentioned intentional harm. But while he was watching Ruthless, his chosen opponent made no hesitation to lunge toward him, the larger skeleton's sword pointed at Forge who just barely avoided getting hit.

He had only seen Daunting fight with a sword once, and even then, it had only been for a few moments before he was stopped abruptly by Ruthless. But as Forge thought back to his previous encounter with Daunting, the overly self-assured creature claimed that he was confident in his sword-fighting abilities. Perhaps it was just his conceited attitude, or maybe he had been bluffing in front of the sergeant and actually was skilled with a handheld weapon.

Forge retaliated with a swift slice at Daunting's forearm, although it didn't do much to benefit him as long as he was wielding a practice weapon. Forge had been taught that it was always effective to aim for the arms or hands if possible to give an opponent a disadvantage and take care of them efficiently.

Daunting stepped out of the way from the oncoming wooden blade, taking a few steps back and carefully watching for whatever Forge would try next. Apparently, Daunting didn't learn much at all from his encounter with Ruthless because he still stood around and watched Forge for the most part, although it was crucial for a creature to keep themselves moving during an authentic battle.

The smaller skeleton effortlessly jabbed at him, catching his exposed lower rib area before Daunting swung his own weapon toward his attacker. But Forge was able to easily anticipate the oncoming attack by analyzing Daunting's body language. In one swift motion, the two wooden blades collided, and likely out of surprise, Forge's opponent was thrown off-balance and he fell to the ground. Forge lowered his weapon, and even though he could hardly suppress the surge of triumph he felt, he managed to remain unpretentious as he looked down toward Daunting.

"I was distracted," Daunting said, although Forge assumed he was just making excuses to cover up his embarrassment. "You got lucky. I want a rematch."

The smaller skeleton cast a glance around him to find that most of the soldiers in the training area had already finished their spars with one another. Only two quarreling pairs were remaining as far as he could see.

"Not now," Forge replied, keeping his tone even as Daunting got to his feet once again, "You heard Sergeant Ruthless. We'll have plenty of other opportunities to practice with one another at a later time."

"Awww. Looks like someone's scared." Daunting taunted. Forge was almost tempted to accept his challenge right then and there, but he didn't. He would have a sufficient amount of time to further prove himself. He could refrain from giving into Daunting's criticism, at least for the time being.

Forge just hoped he could push past his irritation until that point.