"Talia’s up?"
"Hale must want to see what that new guy can actually do."
"You know her?" Daren asked Max, having stayed near the edge of the mat.
"We met yesterday," Max answered.
Daren looked toward the shield. "Then don’t let her hit you with that thing."
Before Max could ask what he meant, Hale called them into position.
"Talia, same rules. No unnecessary force. Max, a clean hit or takedown wins. Ready?"
"Ready," Talia answered.
Max nodded.
"Begin!"
Unlike Daren, Talia didn’t attack immediately. She raised her round shield, keeping the wooden baton in her right hand behind it, and advanced with short, measured steps.
Max moved to her left.
The shield followed.
He changed direction and approached from the right, but Talia turned with him, never allowing him a clear line to her body. The whole time, she kept advancing, gradually reducing the space he could use.
’Interesting. She isn’t trying to chase me.’
He threw a light jab toward her shoulder. Talia caught it against the shield and brought her baton across his ribs.
Max leaned away before it could touch him. He barely moved his feet, but the baton passed several inches short.
Talia withdrew it and raised her guard again.
"You saw that coming?" she asked.
But Max simply smiled without without saying anything.
Her expression sharpened. She stepped forward and tried again, this time striking from a different angle without drawing her arm back as far.
Max slipped aside, although he had to take an extra step to avoid the shield that immediately came after him.
THUD!
The reinforced rim struck the mat where he’d been standing.
He glanced at the shield, surprised by the force behind it. It would have hurt if he’d taken that blow on an unprotected arm.
’No wonder those straps kept breaking.’
Talia’s approach was quite different from the other students he’d watched. Every movement gave her something.
When she struck with the baton, the shield protected her. When he moved to avoid the baton, she used the shield to cut off his route. Even when her attacks missed, she rarely exposed herself.
Max tried closing the gap with a quick burst of ordinary speed. His stronger legs carried him around the shield before Talia could complete her turn, but she planted her rear foot and pushed the shield backward instead of trying to face him.
He stopped just beyond the rim.
The shield passed in front of his chest, close enough that he could feel the air move.
"OOH!"
Several students reacted, expecting the impact. Talia recovered her stance and gave him a brief, assessing look.
"You’re faster than you look."
Max didn’t answer. He was beginning to see why Hale had picked her.
Against Daren, he hadn’t needed to think about much beyond the boy’s movements.
Talia was making him consider his own position as well. She couldn’t match his speed, but she knew exactly how to make it inconvenient to use.
Still, there was an enormous difference between inconveniencing someone and stopping him.
Max approached again, allowing her to drive him toward the side of the ring. Talia followed carefully, her shield always in front. She was trying to leave him less room to escape.
Then her stance changed.
She bent her knees and drew the shield closer to her chest. A pale glow spread along its metal rim.
Max’s instincts reacted before he’d even worked out what the glow meant.
’Danger.’
He pushed off the mat.
BAM!
The shield released a concentrated burst of force, striking the space he’d occupied a moment earlier.
Air rushed across his jacket and rattled the loose straps of the equipment rack nearby.
Max landed out of its path, one foot skidding slightly before he steadied himself.
The student with the numb arm gave a low groan. "That’s the one."
Talia lowered her shield just enough to see him clearly.
"You avoided Shield Burst."
Talia glanced at Hale, then returned her attention to Max.
"All right. Again."
She wasn’t angry. If anything, she looked more determined.
Max could respect that.
This time she came forward more aggressively, using the baton to make him move while keeping the shield ready. He avoided the first three strikes, then caught her baton arm with his left hand before she could withdraw it.
Talia immediately drove her shield toward him.
Max let go and stepped away. The shield missed, but she had already freed her arm and retreated into a guarded stance.
’Good recovery.’
He could keep dodging until she tired. He could also use Burst Step and touch her before she had time to turn.
But he wanted to see if he could get through the shield without relying on a skill or simply forcing it out of the way.
So he tried something else.
Max advanced toward her left, making it obvious that he was aiming to get past the shield. Talia turned to meet him, exactly as she had every other time.
He pulled back before striking.
She stopped too.
He repeated the movement, this time coming slightly closer. Talia adjusted again, lifting the shield to cover her shoulder while keeping the baton ready at her side.
Max noticed her rear foot move.
’There.’
On his next approach, he went farther to the left. Talia took the bait and turned her body to block him. But Max never followed through.
He changed direction sharply while her weight was still shifting and slipped toward the opening on her other side.
Talia tried to recover. She was a good fighter, and her baton was already coming around, but Max reached her before she could bring the shield back into position.
He caught the baton wrist gently, stepped behind her shoulder, and placed the padded gauntlet against the center of her back.
"Got you."
Hale’s whistle sounded.
"Point to Max!"
The other students were talking much louder now. Some were arguing over how Max had moved past her, while others kept returning to the fact that he’d avoided Shield Burst without using an obvious skill.
Max stepped away and lowered his hands. He’d enjoyed the match, but he was also beginning to understand the difference between his current strength and that of most ordinary students.
Talia was E-rank, and she was clearly one of the better fighters in the hall. Yet once he understood her defense, he hadn’t found it especially difficult to get past.
’And I still haven’t used Burst Step.’
Hale approached the two of them.
"Talia. What happened?"
"I kept reacting to his approach," she answered. "He made me commit to the left and went right before I could recover."
"Correct. Your defense is solid, but you can’t let your opponent choose every angle for you." Hale turned to Max. "And you didn’t try to break through the shield. Why?"
"She was expecting me to. It seemed easier to make her move it herself."
Hale nodded. "A good decision."
Talia removed the shield from her arm. There was a faint red mark along her wrist where the new backing pressed against her skin, but the repair had held.
She gave Max another long look without saying anything.
The conversation around them died down when Hale spoke again.
"Max, stay in the ring."
Max turned toward him.
Hale removed the whistle from around his neck and handed it to the assistant standing nearby. Then he rolled up his sleeves and walked toward the equipment rack.
"Let’s see how you handle someone with a little more experience."
The assistant straightened. "Sir, you’re sparring?"
Hale selected a pair of padded gloves.
"Unless our guest has had enough."
Max looked at the gloves, then at the instructor whose movements he’d been trying to understand all morning.
A much wider smile spread across his face.
"Not even close."