Chapter: 596 – Insights Gained

Tala charged forward, coming into hand-to-hand range under a withering barrage of strikes, before both she and Eskau Meallain fell back on knife work.

In Eskau Meallain’s case, she covered her off-hand forearm with a sort of close-in, oblong buckler to aid her in their clash.

Tala made a full, fingered gauntlet for her own left hand, allowing her to block and even attempt to ensnare the elf’s knife.

The back and forth was a blur, but in the end, Eskau Meallain’s literal centuries of combat experience won through.

Tala planted her knife deep into the woman’s shoulder, even as Eskau Meallain plunged her own weapon into Tala’s heart, coming in from an angle to avoid the sternum and threading between the ribs with expertise that spoke of uncounted lethal encounters.

Tala spasmed.

The feeling of a blade through her chest wasn’t particularly pleasant, but as the elf immediately withdrew the strike, stepping back and holding her hands to the side to show she was no longer a threat, it was a minor inconvenience overall.

Tala’s magic—along with her will and abilities within Kit—immediately righted the injury.

Eskau Meallain was bowing, not commenting on Tala’s oddly clear blood having already vanished from her weapon. “Well fought indeed, Eskau Tala. I am proud to have had you as a pupil, and I state unreservedly that there are few Eskau in all the Major Houses who would be your match, even limited as you made yourself here.”

Tala bowed in turn, taking a deep breath before willing some blood from her lungs. “Thank you for the match, Eskau Meallain.” She then turned to the Talons. “I hope that this has been instructional to all of you as a look at what is possible. As we were limiting ourselves to a power-level below what you all currently hold, it should have been easy for you to watch what we were doing. Take the insights you gleaned, talk amongst yourselves to learn from one another, and train hard.”

Captain Ron stepped forward, despite the few murmurs. “As Mistress Tala says, we will train hard. It is high time to add sparring back into our routine. You are in better magical and physical condition than you have ever been, and your white steel is more useful to you than ever before. More than that, Mistress Tala has arranged for Mage Hunters to train you all on occasion in the coming weeks, so that you can learn to counter magic of all sorts. We are not Mages. We do not alter reality to our will. We are Talons.”

They all straightened, responding as one. “We are the weapon. We alter ourselves.”

He nodded decisively. “Dismissed.”

As the bulk of the Talons moved back toward their training, Talax and Lea were still talking animatedly. Tala almost started listening in, but held herself back.

Alat was likely hearing and keeping record of everything, but Tala didn’t want to be the type of mom who eavesdropped on her daughter’s conversations.

-Hey, what are you saying about me?-

That you’re the type of person to be nosier and less caring of privacy than most?

-Well… fair. I do monitor everyone and everything that happens within Kit, passively. It would be difficult not to. Most just flows right on by though.-

Right. Tala sent a flat look toward Alat, and the alternate interface ignored it.

Eskau Meallain approached Tala, placing the white steel that she’d used for their match around her forearm, mimicking one of the vambraces of the Talons. “Are you going to be keeping that?”

The elf indicated the short, thick weapon that Tala still held in an off-hand manner, having absorbed the gauntlet into it already. Tala glanced down at the weapon, then shrugged. “Probably not, no. I have sufficient metal for my needs already.”

Eskau Meallain nodded. “Then, may I have it? I have not been granted my own as you have not given permission for such.”

Tala arched an eyebrow. “Oh, really? I know that I’ve seen you practicing with it.”

“And I am required to return it to the quartermaster at the end of each day.”

She grunted at that. “So, you would like some of your own.”

“Yes.”

“To keep?”

“For now.”

“For what reason?”

“To train with, in my own time, limited though it may be.”

Tala grunted again. If the situation were reversed, she’d want the same. “Very well.”

From beside them, Captain Ron cleared his throat. He’d approached as they were talking, but waited so as to not interrupt. Neither Tala nor Eskau Meallain had felt the need to break off their conversation, and now, it seemed, he felt the need to add something. “That will leave you with less volume than each Talon has.”

Tala raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

He nodded. “I believe we easily have the volume to match her to the average Talon. We have been preparing for the next ‘granting’ of white steel, and the plan was to do an unequal distribution, based both on effort and results demonstrated. That way, those who are putting in the least effort, and are doing poorly, will get the least. In that way, we’ll begin to differentiate between ranks based on the volume of white steel each Talon possesses.”

“Where would Eskau Meallain fall in that metric?”

The elf huffed and smiled, clearly confident, but she didn’t comment.

Captain Ron gave a half smile of his own. “She would land at the top of both, but that only makes sense, given that she is intended as an instructor, not an actual member of the Talons.”

Eskau Meallain nodded definitively. “You do not want them building camaraderie with me. I am, at best, an allied combatant, training them as penance for crimes committed. At worst? I’m a barely imprisoned, hostile, high-ranking enemy, giving advice and instruction under duress.”

He sighed. “As she said. Regardless, I think that she should be allowed the same volume as the average Talon, hopefully inspiring her to increase the competence of all, thus increasing the volume given to all, and therefore herself.”

Tala considered a moment. “Why not equal to the least Talon?”

He shrugged. “That might inspire one or more of the Talons to ‘fall on their own sword’ so to speak, either to spite an ‘enemy’ or just to get back at an instructor for some perceived slight or other.”

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Tala raised an eyebrow. “Some of them would do that?”

He shook his head. “I’d love to say no, but human nature is what it is, and the temptation would be there. If Eskau Meallain gets the ‘average,’ then it would remove even the temptation for such nonsense.”

She grunted. “Alright, then. I’ll defer to your wisdom in this.”

He bowed. “Thank you, Mistress Tala.”

She turned back to Eskau Meallain. “Please go with the good captain to get the balance of white steel.” She then handed over the weapon she’d used. “And, yes, you can take this too.”

The older woman accepted with a contented smile. “Give me another century, and these Talons will be able to individually take down almost any Eskau in the Major Houses.”

Captain Ron sighed. “As I’ve said, Eskau Meallain, our goal is to train them with unit tactics. I want any group of five—any Claw—to be able to take down any arcane, and the Talons as a whole to be able to be the best fighting force they can be, person for person.”

“Well, I want the founders of the House of Blood to stride forth from the grave, revived in truth, but we can’t always get what we want.”

The man narrowed his eyes at the elf, but Tala decided to interject before their back and forth could continue. “Eskau Meallain, you will work with Captain Ron to train unit tactics, for better survivability and quicker mission success.”

Captain Ron was just beginning to smile smugly, when Tala turned to him.

“Captain Ron, Eskau Meallain isn’t being purposely difficult.” Tala glanced toward the other Eskau before turning back and rubbing at her temples. “At least not mostly. There are Eskau in the arcane cities that could tear through Reforged, not without effort, and likely not to a definitive victory on their own, but you get the idea.”

She paused for a moment there, ensuring that she had his full attention.

“Beyond that, the City Lords are hard to quantify, and they aren’t necessarily even the strongest arcanes there are.”