“How are you holding up, Koa?” Leta asked, leaning over to make sure that he was okay.


    The only response she got from the Warrior was a mournful groan as the twitching spasms of his muscles slowly subsided.


    The man had stepped into the ring after Leta had accidentally electrocuted poor Afra during their match.


    Atreus initially used Koa to assess her fighting skills.


    He was very helpful and initially approached the interaction as a training session, demonstrating various weapons to test her abilities and providing advice on fighting and defending against them.


    The approach was to gauge her ability the only way he knew how: through combat.


    In the beginning, he didn’t make a single movement. He just stood in front of her with his arms crossed over his chest as he threw questions at her not unlike a teacher quizzing a distracted student.


    “Have you ever attempted to use a spear?”


    Did you ever shoot a gun?”


    “How are you in a fistfight?”


    Have you ever used a sword?”


    “What’s your opinion on ?”


    “How do you feel about longbows?”


    After questioning her about every conceivable piece of weaponry, he then began taking the mentioned items off the rack and handing them to her.


    Koa then demonstrated standing, weapon handling, parrying, and striking to see how her body moved and what would probably be the best weapon for her to use going forward.


    She could tell that he genuinely enjoyed educating her on the merits and drawbacks of all the weapons. He taught fairly, exhibiting saintlike patience when explaining techniques.


    Leta found herself unexpectedly enjoying the instruction. His teaching helped center her and offer a bit of comfort  thoughts of her missing mother and injured father.


    She absorbed the learning experience eagerly, her eyebrows pinching in concentration but a soft smile on her face with each new weapon she was shown.


    The rhythmic movements of the forms were easy to follow during the slow practices, though Leta was starting to build up a sweat.


    After what felt like hours, Allister finally pulled Koa, and Afra stepped into the ring.


    Afra, as Leta quickly discovered, was not a methodical instructor.


    Allister hadn’t even said to start sparring when Afra’s quarterstaff shot forward.


    It could have been instincts or a reaction to being surprised, but the static that seemed to hover near her suddenly increased as if in response to the attack.


    Afra’s staff was centimeters from Leta’s shoulder when the tiniest finger of electricity arched between her and the oncoming weapon.


    Electricity shot up the staff and caused the wood to explode before sending Afra hurdling backward into a wall.


    Leta could hear Samuel and Yelena, who’d been watching from the second floor, flinch and cry out in surprise as pieces of quarterstaff flew in all directions.


    She’d thought that maybe Afra had thrown some sort of wooden grenade and raised her hands to block the perceived attack. In doing so, she completely missed the Hearth Maiden going airborne.


    “Ah!” She flinched as tiny pieces peppered her before she blinked her eyes open to see Afra on the other side of the quart yard on her back, staring up at the sky with a vacant but surprised expression.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    “Oh, my gosh!” She’d thought she’d accidentally killed her until Afra groaned and turned onto her back.


    “Is everyone good?” Allister shouted as those present checked themselves over for damage. He went to Afra to check for serious injuries.


    Other than contemplating her life choices and a slight concussion, the Hearth Maiden was physically fine.


    “You alright, lass?”


    Afra didn’t move for a second before a long, drawn out “” wheezed out of her.


    “She’s alive.” Allister got her back to her feet and helped her slowly walk towards a bench out of the way.


    Koa had been her next victim.


    To his credit, he did not start the experience off by swinging his weapon.


    Instead, he grabbed a small rock and tossed it under-hand at her.


    They watched as it almost leisurely sailed through the air until it bounced off her hip harmlessly and rolled away.


    “Uh…Ouch?”


    “Hm.” Koa nodded to himself and put his fist to his chin in contemplation. “So, it isn’t activated by proximity. How is it triggered?”


    Leta shrugged, “I haven’t a clue. I feel that was a knee-jerk reaction.”


    “Can you try to activate it on your own? That’s good that it will help in a fistfight, but I’m worried about the dangers you fail to anticipate. Snipers, projectiles, and things of that nature.”


    “Gotcha.” She nodded with his train of thought. “Okay, give me a second.”


    After several attempts, Leta could get the small static sparks to hover over her skin before fading from view. The only sign that they were still there was that her hair seemed to move around her shoulders as if she were underwater.


    Koa grabbed another small stone the size of a thumbprint and threw it towards her. This time, a clear “zip” sound marked the projectile’s impact, which deflected harmlessly off her skin to strike a stone column.


    “Did you feel that?”


    Leta looked down to where the rock had landed against her forearm and shook her head.


    Next followed a larger rock, this one nearly the size of a baseball.


    When it rebounded from her to impact one of the pillars, Leta called out, “I felt that one! It didn’t hurt as much as it probably should have, though.”


    And so began a series of progressively more daring attacks as Koa tried to discover the limits of her static shield. Half an hour passed before they figured out that less than half of the projectile’s force made it through the static before pushing the object away.


    They also noticed that any item thrown at her was hot to the touch after hitting her defensive barrier, which Leta attributed to the heat of the electricity. It would account for why wood exploded after it landed against the shield. The static was heating the pockets of gas in the wood grain so fast that weapons like the quarterstaff, spear, and fighting sticks would burst into splinters.


    Koa inquired about her ability to command people with a word, and she then had to explain that the skill evolved last night as well as the challenge that now came with using the skill.


    Atreus held up a hand, his eyes scrunched tight as if fighting a migraine. “It evolved?”


    “Uh, yeah.” Leta licked her lips nervously, “Before, I could give a suggestion for people to follow, but it wasn’t always effective. Now, it will work, but I’m going to feel some of whatever I say. When I made the command to suffer, my bones were in so much pain and I felt like I just couldn’t go on.”


    “And if you told them to die?”


    Leta visibly shivered. “I’d rather not think about what would happen if I did that.”


    He pinched the bridge of his nose, his exhale a mix of frustration and exhaustion. “Alright. We’ll revisit the capabilities of that another time. Let’s focus on gauging her fighting prowess and proceed with weapons.”


    “Will ya not use your Blade?” Allister raised an eyebrow as Koa took a hand and a half sword from the rack.


    The Warrior shook his head, “No. That thing can cut through just about any metal. Although her static may reduce the attack’s impact, I’m worried that it could still reach her and cause damage.”


    It was a tactical error on his part.


    Koa swung his weapon with the same velocity that he would have when attacking a Blessed. Leta recognized the familiar arc of his sword, a form she knew well from his lessons, and raised her blade to meet it.


    ‘Please-don’t-throw-him-across-the-room. Please-don’t-throw-him-across-the-room’. She repeated like a prayer just before his sword connected.


    A bright light flashed, then thunder cracked where weapons clashed. For a heartbeat, she could almost see the arch of lightning as it traveled down his sword and over his arm before it faded somewhere around his shoulder.


    With a surprised expression, he flew across the room and skidded onto the cobbled stone floor.


    A collective “Oh…” came from the second-floor spectators as Leta and Allister moved to check on his condition.


    “Holy crap! Are you okay?” Leta was about to put a hand on him but pulled back in fear that she’d hurt him again.


    “Yes,” Koa grunted, rolling onto his knees before standing back up and shaking his head to dispel the cobwebs from his mind.


    Allister looked him over. “Any damage?”


    “Some scrapes.” Koa flexed the right arm, “And a lot of numbing in my hand.”


    The twitching muscles seem to ripple beneath the surface, a subtle yet noticeable movement. “Looks like that electricity messed with how your tendons talk to each other. Let’s pause briefly for you to recover, then continue.”


    Koa’s jaw muscles bunched, his eyes narrowed in a grimace before he gave a curt nod.


    Shortly after, Koa declared his readiness for another attempt.