Hey! I know it’s been a while, but I am starting to get these out faster, hm? Thanks a lot for coming to read, really. Big thanks to my beta, felicia13, and enjoy!

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Dimitri led us to a room with a blue, padded floor and walls. The ceiling was low, enough so that with a jump I could almost touch it and made of straight, pale wooden boards.

“Here,” he said, taking a thin short sword off the wall, upon which many weapons were bracketed. “Have you ever wielded a blade before?”

“Well, I was a ninja for Halloween,” I joked. Kara gave me a light shove.

I don’t think Dimitri knew what I was talking about, because he didn’t respond and instead just handed me the sword. I grasped the plain bronze hilt with my right hand; the sword was a bit heavier than I expected it to be, maybe five pounds, and it was cold.

“Show me something,” Dimitri commanded, standing back.

“Like what?” I jiggled the sword in my hand a little bit. Kara, too, took a step back.

“Anything,” he said. “An attack.”

“Er…alright.” I drew the sword back past my left side and then swept it forward. Nothing fancy, really; there was no sound as the blade sped through the air in front of me to be lowered back to my side.

“Good. The blade’s weight isn’t too much for you to handle with some skill. Still, you’ll need practice; agility and strength will be the most important, then we’ll have to work on your ability and overall style.”

I wondered how he could tell so much about my skill level from a simple swing of a sword. He must really be proficient in swordsmanship.

Dimitri continued, “The key was right though; you do have untapped potential, lots of it.” He brought a hand to his chin and his eyes wandered. His mouth turned slightly as his teeth pinched the inside of his lip.

“I…yes. I’d like for you to continue training, but I’d also like to get Kara started, as well, so here’s what I’ll do. I’ll summon some drones for you to practice against, animated dummies, really, with wooden swords. They,” he snapped his fingers, “will come from there.”

In the dark blue matted floor opened a circle about the width of two men that shone sky blue.

“One at a time; once one is felled, another will take its place. Continue for as long as you wish; if you feel you are in danger or are finished, leave the room and the summoning spell will deactivate.”

I nodded; with that, he left the room with Kara behind him at his gesture.

“Okay,” I breathed, looking down at the faintly glowing circle five feet in front of me. “It’s just a wooden dummy—no problem. Hell, it doesn’t even have a real sword. If it hit you, you probably wouldn’t even die.”

I need to stop giving myself pep talks. I really do.

The circle’s glow flashed intensely as my first opponent began to rise through it. It came quickly and stepped out of the circle. It was a plain wooden dummy made of smooth, ovular pieces—a featureless head and body, a torso made of a thicker wooden oval than the rest of his appendages, and a wooden, double-edged sword carved as part of its left arm and pointing upward. All of it was a cool beige color.

I bent my knees a little and prepared for whatever the thing could throw at me. My sword was held in my right hand and pointed slightly upward at the wooden ceiling, and my feet dug into the blue pads below them.

The puppet took an awkward step toward me (I realized it didn’t have any feet, just rounded stumps—how did it even balance like that?) and stumbled a little but managed to stay upright.

This gave me some confidence—the thing could barely walk. I stepped forward and attacked with a kind of slow thrust at its chest. My tip connected with the smooth wood below its neck—it didn’t even try to block—and buried itself about a half inch in. The thing jerked as my sword entered it and again as I pulled it out, but it didn’t collapse.

It swung weakly at me, now that I was in range. The attack was laughably slow—I could have blocked it with my hand and not have been hurt, but I raised my blade and stopped it dead. With a grin, I pushed the wooden weapon to the side and thrust forward with more power. This time the sword pierced deep, going in a little over a foot; almost half of my blade. I slid it out rather easily and the enemy dropped to the ground with a clack of wood on wood.

Hm. Dimitri had probably enchanted these so that an injury that would take down an average person would get rid of these, too. Smart.

Once I had taken down one I wasn’t worried anymore. Just as Dimitri had said, they continued to pop out, one by one, each time another hit the ground. I got through four without getting tired. Once I knocked down the fifth with a slash across its blank wooden face, my right arm began to burn a little from swinging around the weight of the sword.

I was getting better. My strokes with the blade weren’t awkward anymore—they were more focused, clearer, and I could balance the weapon’s load easier. I also had started standing on tiptoe with my feet angled upward. I hadn’t really noticed until now. It was easier to get around in quick bursts that way. Actually, I was more used to it that better with it. Like cafeteria food. It was easier to handle; plus, my own insecurities about using this had been wiped away since I was alone.

As I cut across the arm of the seventh dummy, something hit me very hard. I don’t why it was at that particular moment, but the thought of home, my family and friends, and everyone who was back on Earth just flooded my mind and I stood there, stunned.

Bad idea.

The dummy took its opportunity and whacked its sword across my face. The attack was stronger than I expected it would be; it sent me sprawling to the mat. The right side of my face stung like hell and my jaw ached ferociously.

The dummy stood over me, ready to hit me while I was down. I was suddenly very certain that if it could grin, it would. It swung its sword down on my prone form. I raised my own horizontally above my chest to block the attack. The wood hit my blade with a hollow ring, successfully blocked. But the downward blow was strong—it forced my blade down and I could feel the cool steel on my chest through the black fabric of my T-shirt.

I let out an animalistic snarl and raised my right leg forcefully. My calf crashed into the crook of its legs. It hurt pretty badly, but it was enough to knock the dummy to the side and off of me. I quickly whirled off the ground and swung my sword, cutting through its side. It slumped, lifeless, and fell free.

I breathed heavily. I could have been hurt pretty badly if a single thing had gone differently and was it just me, or were these puppets getting stronger as I defeated them? That last one was certainly stronger than the first had been, and quicker, too.

Now I had defeated seven. How strong would the eighth one be?

I was about to find out. It rose from the circle like all the others, though it stood differently—with more of an air of command and power. This one had attached feet instead of blunt stumps, as well.

It was quicker and stronger, as I had surmised. Still, I managed to take it and the next one down without any injury to myself. That was when the real problem started.

As I stood gazing at the blue circle and waiting for it to spit out my next opponent, it closed and disappeared. I raised an eyebrow; Dimitri said that it wouldn’t end until I left the room, and my feet weren’t getting any closer to the ground, so… I turned, thinking maybe I would see if I could find Dimitri or just chill until he returned with Kara when red light spilled across the floor.

I spun and saw that a new circle had opened, this one a blazing crimson, in place of the old. The powerful red light shone through the top in a funnel, and through it rose a nightmare.

It was made of wood like the others had been, that much I could tell. But it was hideous. It was painted, all of it a dark blue and purple, like a mottled bruise. It had gnarled legs that were bent backwards at the knee. The rest of it was hidden by a torn, dark green robe that hung off of most of it in rags. A hood hid whatever head it might have had.

Its hands, very much like human ones, clenched the pommels of two long, narrow blades. Steel blades.

Real blades.

This is not good! My mind screamed at me as I watched the thing straighten up and the black recess of the hood gaze directly at me. This was not in the job description. Back off, run, get out of here so this thing can’t slice you into Hamburger Helper!

I brushed away my common sense with my overconfidence. I had taken down a good bunch of these things already, and even though they hadn’t been properly armed, it wasn’t like they weren’t dangerous. And this fresh hell looked even more awkward.

I tensed up my body and went into my stance, my right arm feeling weightless and ready to lash out and strike at any moment. Rather than wait for this thing to pull any tricks, I charged in.

I thrust my sword forward, confident that it would run through its chest and it would go down before the fight had even started. Of course, the thing about confidence is that it clouds judgment. Before my point had gotten near it, it brought down both its swords and crashed them against my own. The strength behind the blow was disproportional to its speed; my sword was immediately forced down and I was sent tumbling forward. The dummy jumped up high and I rolled under it, ending up sitting as it landed behind me.

I quickly scrambled to my feet and poised. The wooden attacker was straightened again, entirely humanoid except for the reverse angle of its knees. I figured that this was what enabled it to jump so powerfully.

Now it was my foe’s turn. It didn’t run at me, but leapt, a jump that propelled it straight forward with all the accuracy of a rifle. It opened its arms as it flew through the air, swords out to the side. I knew I wouldn’t be able to defend against a double-sided blow, so I bolted to the side. It closed its arms and one of the swords slashed my left shoulder blade. I hissed at the stinging pain, but the cut was nothing more than a scratch. Luckily.

I heard a soft thud as its feet pounded the mats. It turned with perfunctory slowness and precision to face me. As I watched it do this, I saw my window. The thing may be quick when it was aligned and prepared, but it turned like a mechanized rotisserie; very measured and, most importantly, slowly.

My breathing slowed. Okay, I had identified my opportunity, so now I just had to utilize it before my head was lopped off.

I guess it’s weird that not once did the thought of escape run through my mind. All I had to do was walk out the door…but I was way too into this. Plus, the thing probably wouldn’t let me leave, at any rate.

We were on the side of the room opposite the door, anyway. My back was inches from brushing across the business end of a curved sword (scimitar?) that hung on the wall. The mannequin was now facing me, its swords held in front of it.

An idea crept upon me. This thing pretty much didn’t walk—it leapt. I was in from of a wall that was adorned with a dozen of sharp weapons. Putting two and two together and assuming that Dimitri wouldn’t care if one of his walls got wrecked, if I jumped out of the way of the next attack there was a good chance that the thing would be impaled.

At least, I hoped so.

It leapt again, this time with both of its swords stuck out in front of it like a ram. I slid to the side and at the same time swung my sword against its parallel blades, forcing them away from me. Instead of crashing into the wall as I had planned, the dummy’s swords impaled the wood down to the hilt, right in between a sword and a spear. It struggled to pull them out.

It was stuck.

I took my chance, tossed the sword to my left hand, and swung back. The sword sliced through the ragged green cloth covering its back and then sheared off, sparks flying as the blade was knocked upward.

What the hell! The thing was metal! I was thrown off balance by my failed attack and went to the left, whereas the power of my full-body blow gave the thing just enough wiggle to yank itself from the wall.

It faced me as I struggled to keep from falling, because I knew that if I did, I was finished. I stumbled back far enough to knock my shoulders against the wall and thus retain my balance, luckily enough.

As my enemy leapt at me again and I rolled out of the way, Dimitri and Kara appeared at the door. I saw them peripherally as the dummy’s shoulder thudded against the wall and I got on my feet.

Dimitri and Kara stopped in the doorway and Kara gazed at the puppet as it slowly turned toward me, brandishing its two blades, but Dimitri seemed oddly…expectant.

I didn’t have time to say anything before a sword lashed out. I caught it with my own and gripped my hilt with both hands, pushing off the attack with all my strength. I ducked the second sword as it flew at me, then skidded backward to avoid a third swing at my neck.

“Dimitri, stop it!” I heard Kara say, panic in present in her voice. “It’ll kill him!”

I couldn’t say anything. I was too focused on not getting gored by this thing. My arms were burning from fighting off its strength and my breathing was heavy. I saw its legs tense up and braced myself.

This jump at me was incredibly fast and low to the ground, its feet barely an inch from the mats as it darted through the air like a bullet. I had no time to run or even raise my sword. Luckily, neither did it. Its leap turned into a body blow as its right shoulder smashed my collarbone painfully, sending me to the floor. I was barely able to keep my hand on the hilt of my sword as my back slammed against the pad.

“Dimitri!”

“No.” His response was absolute, definite, sealing my fate. I wondered what the hell he was thinking, my back to them both, as my opponent loomed over me with both swords raised. I heard Kara grunt. She was probably trying to get in here to help me, but Dimitri must have stopped her.

My lips were dry. I ran my tongue across them in reflex as I raised my blade above me with my right hand pathetically, trying to stop a hit that I had no chance against.

I heard the faint whistle of the swords coming down upon me and a thought ran through my head. I’m not. Going. To die.

I twisted my wrist so that the flat of my blade faced the cutting edges of the twins above me and jammed my left hand up against the bottom of it in a millisecond. My wrists jarred as the unbelievable strength of the steel menace was forced upon them. I screamed, once in pain, then again in rage. Grabbing vigor from God knows where, I forced the duo of swords off of my own so forcefully that the thing was sent sprawling backward and I moved up onto my left knee. I lowered my weapon so that it laid across my left thigh.

I’m not. Going. To die.

A final yell tore from my lips as I threw myself forward like a runner. Through my eyes in deliberate motion I saw the point of my sword crackle with some strange cobalt force as I whipped it across the chest of my foe, a perfect blue arc trailing behind it. The metal sizzled as my blade ran through it, opening a gash as wide as my arm in its torso as the cutting edge sliced through as though the mannequin were made of soft plastic.

I stopped at the end of my stroke, sword held out to my right and pointing at the far wall, legs straight and pointing me at the fallen assailant who laid on the mats before me. The blue energy had dissipated into the air. Dimitri’s voice rang out from behind me.

“You, newfound warrior, are a mighty fencer.”

My eyes lazily traveled over my victory as I thought, Mighty fencer? and then I decided I didn’t care whatever my new title was; I was just glad to be alive.