Chapter 160 A Friendly Competition* (1/2)

When Rassa woke up the next day, it was already evening. The storm had lasted a good four hours before it had calmed enough for the crew to retire once more. Even then it was not like they got much sleep with it still raining. Rassa retired about an hour after sunrise as his replacement came. Apparently the crew had the morning off to rest and recuperate.

The storm had not been that bad compared to some of the storms they'd ridden out over the years, but that didn't mean it was any easier to recover from such a battering. As such, the competition was suspended until the following day.

The watch was much easier the next night, there was no storm to speak of, though it was a little overcast and windier than normal. Rassa barely felt the chill. That was winter coming, and with it would come bigger and more dangerous storms than the one they'd experienced the night before. It was likely that Jeremiah would spend at least four months in the Southern Continent in order to avoid the worst of it. Rassa didn't mind that, the Southern Continent was a big place, bigger than Eldovia at least. There was a smattering of at least ten different countries, the enormous Sumaka Desert that was itself as big as a country, and of course the Fairy Forest. Plenty to see and explore. Rassa entertained himself with thoughts of the Southern Continent that night.

The next day, the competition didn't start until after lunch, and by that stage, the top 50 were all ready and raring to go.

Again, names were selected randomly from a hat, Ebony being the judge for the fights. Surprisingly, Aegin was called up first. His opponent? Jeremiah.

The Captain took up a pair of wooden training staves that were meant to imitate swords. Aegin grinned and took up another pair. They both stepped into the ring and Ebony declared the fight's start.

Aegin didn't wait this time, he dove forward. He was much nimbler than Jeremiah, his youth giving him the advantage, but Jeremiah was not one to look down on.

Their weapons clashed in a repetitive rap as they traded blows back and forth. Occasionally Aegin would get impatient and add a kick or a punch, but Jeremiah wasn't going down easily.

”You're not bad, kid,” Jeremiah grinned as they fell into a stalemate for the third time, ”Little aggressive though”.

”Just impatient,” Aegin replied with a growl as he pushed Jeremiah back then spun to trade blows again.

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Movement was hard in such a small circle, and more than one time they came close to stepping outside only to dance away from the edge. Finally, with a feint to the head, Jeremiah kneed Aegin in the back of the leg. Aegin's balance crumbled for only a second, but it was enough for Jeremiah to push forward, only for Aegin to surprisingly release the grips on his weapons the grab Jeremiah's arm, flipping the older man over onto the deck. It was a surprise upset as Jeremiah coughed and chuckled in surprise.

”Quite the instincts you've got, kid,” Jeremiah groaned as he sat up, his feet had been just outside the circle and hence he'd been declared the loser, ”A lot of fighting men would think abandoning their weapon is a bad choice. It's good to see that you can take the opportunities given to you and turn them around to your benefit”.

Aegin grinned, ”Hope I didn't hurt you too bad, Captain”.