The sun barely drove the night away from Avanom, and prince Oslo was already up on his feet. "Put more mana behind your blows." He said while puffing lightly.
Fending off three Field Generals at the same time was no easy task. They were armed with short spears and dressed in padded armor. He had nowhere to run for they encircled him in a perfect triangle.
Oslo ran his sleeve across his face, and wiped the salty drops of sweat from his forehead. "Mirya, I saw you bend that leg." He said to the young girl nearby. She was sparring with a training dummy under the shade of the Mannor wall.
His own opponents didn't give him time to rest, the one in the front stabbed at him with the spear, but Oslo twisted his body towards three o'clock and dodged the attack with almost no effort. He wanted to counter with a stab of his own, but there was no time for that. From behind him another opponent brought his glowing spear up and slashed downwards intending to hit him in the head. Oslo looked behind him and saw the incoming slash, so he swiftly brought his sword up, and without turning around blocked the incoming strike. The ground beneath him cracked slightly in the form of a spider web.
All of this happened in less than a second. The first two attackers were only bait because the main strike was coming from the third opponent. He stabbed at Oslo with his wooden spear. Despite it being only a training session, the sheer amount of mana in that strike made his hair stand on its end.
Oslo saw the incoming strike and in his mind the only thought that he had was. "Shit, that's going to leave a mark." In that moment he was in no position to block or dodge the incoming spear. His only option was magic.
"Entei!" Oslo said in a rush, and a strong gale of wind roused up with him at the center sending his opponents tumbling all over the courtyard. The guards on the wall almost fell down from the unexpected wind that hit them in the back. The wind raged no more than two seconds, but it was enough to mess up the entire courtyard. The training equipment was all over the place, the washed clothes that were left to dry in the light of the sun also lay on the ground, and some of them needed to be washed a new,
Oslo looked at the young girl that hid behind the training dummy, then at the mess that he made and said. "That's enough for today. Mirya, tell the servants to come and clean the courtyard."
Mirya shouted from her cover. "Uncle why do you always tell me to do tedious tasks?" She seemed genuinely upset by the request. " I want to train not run errands, plus you were the one who did this, not me." After saying that she stroke the training dummy imitating one of Oslo's stances.
Oslo looked at the little fox, and in a calm voice said. "If you don't call the servants to do what they are paid for, I will make you do their job for free."
When Mirya heard him, she smiled mischievously and said. "There is no need for that uncle, It's just that I wasn't sure if you paid them for their hard work. Now that I know that you do, I will tell them to come. I don't want to see their pockets suffer because of me."
Oslo watched Mirya enter the manor, and sighed in the same manner as he always does when the mischievous girl tries to play him with her words.
"Now, back to the three of you, which one of you can tell me what you did wrong?". Oslo asked.
"I think all of us still lack Mana control." Namu said. "If this was a real fight, and you didn't limit yourself to only martial arts, we would be seeing our ancestors right now." Namu was the one who forced Oslo to use magic.
Oslo looked at him and then at the other two field generals, and said. "Exactly! Ranulf, how many times have I repeated that when you imbue Mana in your weapon you need to keep a constant flow. When you attacked me from behind, if you had kept the Mana flow in your weapon after delivering the blow, I wouldn't have been able to brush the three of you off so easily."
Ranulf's eyes dropped to the ground and he said nothing, he understood his mistake. He had a good position behind his opponent, yet he wasn't able to do anything with it.
The fortified gates of the manor opened and a middle aged man dressed in fancy clothes walked in. He was accompanied by fierce looking men wearing silver-colored plated armor, with visible blue colored fabric at the joints. They walked in as if they were familiar with this place, in no time they found the courtyard were Oslo was training.
"Good morning your highness." Emmeric said. He was the leader of those men that arrived, all of whom performed the formal greeting that is used when you meet someone of higher status. This greeting is done by placing your right hand on your heart, followed by a small bow.
Oslo ignored them, he kept giving pointers to the soldiers that were training in his courtyard. "I know it's difficult to keep a steady mana flow in the middle of a fight," he said. "But if you don't learn to do it now. In the future, you may miss the chance to deliver a critical blow to your enemy. Now imbue some mana into your weapons and keep practicing."
"The meeting of the High Lords has ended." Emmeric said. Looking at Oslo's back, he had a sudden feeling that young Prince was a mountain, growing by the day. His physique wasn't impressive, it was his demeanor that showed just how much he towered above everyone else.
"Tyrak's son?" Oslo asked, without even looking at Emmeric.
"We captured him as you commanded." Emmeric said respectfully. He wanted to add something more, but refrained from doing so.
"The gold?" Oslo asked, while taking off his training clothes. He intended to change into something more casual. What he wanted to do later did not require fancy clothing.
"Everything went well." Emmeric said. He observed how Oslo approached the rustic water fountain in the courtyard, and placed his head under the steady stream, his black hair got wet and became even darker, and his bare back displayed all of his scars. A servant girl came with a piece of cloth for Oslo to use as a towel, and some spare clothes for him to wear.
Oslo donned a black shirt that was laced at the neckline and at the sleeves, brown trousers, and leather boots.
"Before we go to the castle I need to replenish the expended energy, and what better way to do that if not by eating something delicious?" Oslo asked cheerfully, he liked to eat delicious food, if he could eat all day he would probably do it, such was his appetite.
"Let's go to the market." Oslo said. Every time he goes to the market, he buys Ezir pie for his niece, the little fox just loves the taste, as does he and all those that have the pleasure of eating it. It's the most famous delicacy in Agnis. Ezir pie is made from the fruits of the Ezir tree, one of the hardest fruits to grow, for one Ezir tree to give fruit it takes three whole years of constant care and nourishment, it's not easy, but the taste is worth the wait.
Ezir fruit can be used to make exquisite wines, and unique dishes. The wood is used to make fancy, durable furniture for those who can afford the price of course. Many have something in their house that is made from the Ezir tree, be it food, drinks, furniture, weapons all serve to display the owner's wealth.
It took Oslo and his men twenty minutes to reach the market, even those that didn't recognize him opened a path for him, one single glance at the armored guards behind him was all it took for any onlooker to understand that this was not someone you mess with.
The market was full of life, orcs and men were engaged in trading, discussions, and all sorts of activities. One bold stall trader tested his luck when he saw Oslo, he immediately recognized Oslo as a potential customer, and tried to approach him in order to sell his stuff, but the armored guards accompanying the prince swiftly intervened, the poor soul didn't even get the chance to speak properly when he was pushed back in a forceful manner destroying his own stall when he landed.
No one said anything but hardly anyone who saw what happened felt sorry for the man. Most people thought that he was a fool for trying to sell his junk to the young Lord.
Oslo made a sign with his head towards Emmeric, and Emmeric understood what the prince wanted, Oslo approached the stall trader that was now desperately trying to gather his goods, while muttering to himself how he was ruined.
The stall trader, saw the young Lord and his retinue walk towards him and said. "My Lord, I'm sorry I offended you, I wished no harm, it was just a desperate attempt from a desperate man." He said in a weak voice.
Oslo observed the stall trader for a moment, then looked at the destroyed stall and at the mashed fruits, but said nothing.
Seeing that the Lord in front of him wasn't speaking nor did he look pleased, the trader quickly added. "My lord, my stall is already ruined and my goods are destroyed, please forgive my insolence I didn't know my place before, but now that Ishrath's wrath has reached me, I understand my mistake." He said while dropping to his knees.
Emmeric couldn't listen to his nonsense any more and said. "Rise you fool. His highness doesn't like to see people on their knees."
"Emmeric, my friend, you're scaring him too much." Oslo's soft voice was accompanied by an equally soft smile when he said those words. "Say bold man, what drove you to approach me?" He asked.
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