The city master's property sat directly in the center of Undgarten. On it was a large castle where Cain, the staff, and guests alike would mostly reside. Sprinkled throughout the grounds were gardens, sheds, stables, and a few other amenities, one of which were training grounds.
On those grounds stood Oborors and Eli, who both were preparing for a spar.
Eli had been feeling a bit restless since his arrival here a few weeks ago. His training with the young looking old bat had taken precedence as of late.
He did have a couple days off towards the end of each week, however he had felt too exhausted to do anything but sleep during that time.
Now that he had finally acclimated to his schedule however, he was ready to start sparring once again.
It was almost a daily occurance when the group was all together. Eli had begged for them to train him when they had taken him in, and thankfully they had obliged.
Aeros used a great sword, and was proficient with using flames, though not exactly fast, it was certainly easier trying to avoid his swings and flames than try to take them head on.
Lori could conjure ice, combining it with her long sword, speed, and accuracy, she was a very tough opponent.
Ella was an augmenter, preferring to use steel that wrapped around her knuckles. She was a bit more wild than the others, and was always more than happy to spar with Eli whenever he had asked. Since Eli was a healer, for better or worse, Ella tended to overdo it when it came to their spars.
Sasha never spared with Eli, saying she couldn't ever stand to hurt a hair on his head. She was also the one who'd break up Eli's and Ella's spar whenever she'd get a little too excited.
Sasha was a bit of an anomaly to Eli, since he had never actually seen her fight anyone. She'd always stay in the rear and watch, never interfering. He had hoped one day he'd get to see what she could do.
Oboros and Trish both wielded daggers. However Trish dual wielded two, while Oboros only used his single blade.
Since Trish was apart of the beastkin, her ability was not too different from Ella's.
The different being she was much faster and couldn't hit as hard. It worked well for her.
Oboros didn't have any mana, so he had spent much of his earlier years becoming proficient with poisons and the like, on top of his attention to detail during fights. His past was a bit of a mystery too, but so was most of the groups.
"Are you ready Eli?" Oboros asked, removing his dark cloak and revealing the dark shirt and pants beneath. His obsidian black blade almost sucking in the light around it.
"One second," Eli said as he removed his shirt and gloves. Beneath was a layer of bandages covering every square inch of his skin except for his head.
Thinking Eli was now ready, Oboros began to get ready, but abruptly stopped in surprise. Eli had started to unravel the fabric lining his upper body, slowly revealing the pale skin beneath.
Oboros was surprised, for Eli had made it a point to hide his flesh from his neck downwards.
Eli took his time, slowly letting out unsteady breaths as more of his skin was revealed to the world.
A passing maid let out a gasp as Eli soon stood with no more fabric hiding his neck, arms, and torso.
Oboros hid his grimace as Eli now stood barren from the waist up.
Deep scars ran across his body, even moreso at every joint and appendage, as if each one had been detached then re-attached an innumerable amount of times.
Though his muscles were defined, most of the attention would certainly go to his scars.
Eli was now in position, ready to fight, though Oboros could see the unease in his eye. The boy had taken a large step forward, though he was sure this would be just for the spar, which he wouldn't be wrong. Still, Oboros felt proud that Eli was taking a step forward.
He had hoped one day Eli would be confident enough in his own skin, and this was a one more move towards that goal.
Oboros smiled slightly as he too got ready, "I'll be sure to go all out."
Eli returned a smile, a little bit of confidence returning to his eye, "I guess I'll have to as well then."
Eli rushed first, quickly arriving in front of Oboros and shooting a fist forward, only to hit air.
Oboros had easily side stepped Eli's strike, sending his blade faced downwards, in an upward strike towards Eli's torso.
Forcing his upper body back, Eli reach over his head towards the quickly approaching ground, grounding his palms to the stone below as he his legs shot upward, one foot aiming for Oboros' chin.
Again, Eli had missed. Oboros had swiftly leaned back, causing Eli to send his legs up and back, landing back on his feet.
As Eli was straightening back to his ready stance, Oboros was already coming forward, sending the blade in a downwards strike towards Eli's neck.
Barely moving in time, Eli's neck was nicked from the strike, leaving a small trail of blood oozing out.
Wincing, Eli shot back, trying to put some space between the two, however Oboros kept up his attacks while Eli went between dodging, parrying, and even throwing a few of his own punches.
Oboros was swift and precise, and had who knew how many years of experience, yet Eli was still able to somewhat ready his movements, thanks to his own few years of sparring different strong partners.
Oboros' attacks continued, only increasing in speed.
The first cut he had landed on Eli was already beginning to react with the poison. Eli could feel his movements slow slight, allowing more of Oboros' attacks to land.
'Shit he wasn't kidding when he said he was going all out,' Eli thought with gritted teeth. He was being pushed back, struggling to keep up with Oboros' attacks.
A thought entered Eli's head as he parried another swing of Oboros' dagger. In one swift motion, Eli wiped his finger on the blood oozing from one of the deeper wounds and flicked it directly into Oboros' right eye.
The man stumbled back, grimacing as the mixture of blood and poison covered his eyeball.
Eli laughed as he took this chance to land a clean right hook into the man's face.
Eli's smile faded quickly as Oboros spun around, landing his own left hook into Eli's skull, causing him to see stars momentarily.
On instinct, Eli began to work his healing magic, making sure to precisely heal the deeper wounds or those in places like his joints.
"Not a bad idea," Oboros commented as he continued sending strike after strike at Eli. "But I'm not most people. I've spent countless years acclimating my body to the poisons I use. It's a bit of a requirement if you're going to make them you're primary weapon."
Soon Eli had one knee on the ground trying to catch his breath, while Oboros stood next to him, a slight trickle of sweat on his brow.
"You're getting better," Oboros said casually confidently, "smarter too. Keep at it."
Eli nodded and stood and thanked Oboros. It was a good workout for him, and a good way to relieve some of the stress he had been feeling.
As the two talked, a man with a horrified expression ran through the front gate of Cain's property.
"Get the city master!" He pleaded to anyone he passed by. "It's an emergency!"
Oboros and Eli looked at each other for a moment with puzzled looks.
"Get washed up and heal your wounds," Oboros said quickly, heading back towards the direction of the guard who was yelling.
Eli felt like he had a vague idea of what the man was calling the city master for. He had truly hoped he was wrong.