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((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 1 of 2))
Above ground and in the middle of a rocky clearing, Hector and Lynn stood by themselves, a good distance away from the recently constructed buildings. They had a handful of spectators, including Garovel, the King, Matteo and his reaper, as well as Roman and Gina.

Hector scratched the back of his head. "...Is this really necessary?" he whispered.

"Yes!" Lynn exclaimed.

He should've known that it was already too late to back out, he supposed.

Lynn drew her sword and pointed it at him. "How's your swordsmanship? Have you honed it at all?"

"As a matter of fact... no, I haven't." Hector just gave her a flat look.

Lynn seemed briefly disappointed. "Well, that's okay. I can give you a few more pointers later. First, show me your most powerful stuff."

"...I don't think that's a good idea. "

"Oho. Big words, Lord Goffe."

"That's not what I--"

"C'mon. I can take it." She began closing the distance between them. "Show me before I get mad."

He sighed. "Alright, fine, but before this goes any further, let's do a test. I don't want to risk--"

The violet shadow lashed out at him, and he narrowly sidestepped it, ending up with a scratch across his chest instead of a hole through it.

"Good dodge," said Lynn. "Little slow, though."

Hector's expression hardened. "Aren't you being a bit too aggressive for just a sparring match?"

"Yeah, well, maybe I'm working out some frustration." She twirled her sword in her hand. "Besides, you can heal, so what difference does it make?"

He could tell for certain, now. She was definitely annoyed.

But increasingly, so was he.

"Let's do a test, first," Hector said again. "We can see how well your shadow--"

"Mm, don't feel like it." She bolted toward him and swung her sword wide.