… “But why did it feel like they were on the back foot ?”

  The dragon thought, each beat of his heart making his anger more in line.

  The fire spreading through his body was no longer burning, but warming him up.

  They all were staring at each other, unsure of how to proceed, waiting, looking for an opening.

  *** *** ***

  [Kow] -Las … what the fuck was that ?!-

  *The small kobold asked in a hushed tone, his voice traveling like a whisper*

  [[ Ba-Thump ]]

  The unnatural pause in the Air felt even longer, Kow was trying to wrap his head around the Dragon, to extract something from all his experiences that would give him and his team an Edge.

  [Kow] “Why didn't he commit ? Las said he was angry enough to snap, and he did, why was the first attack not all out aggression ? Why did it retreat ? Why did it stop ? How did it stop ? IT JUST SNAPPED IN ANGER AND NOW WAS OBSERVING ?!”

  [[ Ba-Thump ]]

  Kow was drawing blanks, his Danger Sense was ever increasing its warning, that was making him feel anxious.

  He needed more information before he could do anything but fight blind.

  [Kow] “I'm not wasting my shoot”

  *** *** ***

  [Las] -His anger feels just as intense as before, but it's different now … Kow, he knows how to fight, but he is still learning how to move ? … -

  *** *** ***

  Las was genuinely scared at this moment, her mana clamping down on the emotions and making her keep it straight, but the fear was there, keeping her sharper.

  She fought beasts before, even greater ones, she fought other kobolds and other goblins, she was used to her skill, used to the feelings and trained in how to make use of them.

  Beasts were simple, they had one plan of action and reacted accordingly, they were easy to figure out.

  Smarter opponents, or Beasts with sharper instincts have deeper Intents, branching actions of possibility, the choice was still there, but it is made that much later, and if they were fast, she needed to Guess what they would do so the information got there in time.

  It’s why she made sure to think faster.

  The faster she could think, the less she needed to guess, and the more her guesses could be well throughout, she needed to be faster in her warning then the opponent was in his action, or else the knowledge would spoil faster then she could pass to her companions.

  It’s not useful to know a punch is coming, if it already hitted you in the mouth.

  So she trained to give that briefer warning, make the reaction of her friends that little bit faster, and as Kow would say, in a fight, a blink matters a lot.

  So she needed to figure out the Dragon.

  [[ Ba-thump, Ba-thump, Thump, Thum, Thu, T … ]]

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  The Dragon was fast and it was confusing.

  At first, it was easy, the intent was sharp like that of a beast, simple action, simple consideration, it had a deeper purpose in there, but it was predictable, it’s intent easy to read.

  The Dragon was not thinking of how to flee, nor on how to survive, he was thinking if he could take at least one of them before getting killed.

  It was looking to Hurt us whatever way it could, and its anger was making his actions simple.

  But that all changed in that single dash, that single movement where Has got scratched.

  It was like something had clicked into place for the Dragon.

  Its anger was there, and it was an ever raging inferno, but before, it was as if Kow had pulled his bow as far as he could, and when his fingers could no longer hold, released the arrow.

  That was the dragon before, going at us in a straight line, ready to cause as much damage as it could before it was stopped, this is where he snapped.

  But as if, with the arrow still in mid flight, Kow decided that no, he actually didn't pull the Bow with enough force, his fingers could hold just fine.

  And he pulled, pulled, pulled, pulled until the Bow cracked, pulled until the string frayed, and then pulled some more, trying to see what would break first, his fingers or the Bow … and for the dragon ? … the Bow lost.

  The Dragon was a mess of emotions and Intent, he was deathly afraid of dying, and he Hated it, he Hated us for making him feel that way, he would make us pay for it.

  But his anger was controlled, it no longer made the decisions.

  The Dragon’s intent was no longer simple.

  *** *** ***

  The mind provided a plan and the body followed, it was a partnership, the body learned to move, the mind guided it.

  But the Dragon was commanding it on what to do and how to do it.

  Like it was giving a step by step on what the body should do, and then leaving the body to do it, like it was teaching the body at that very moment.

  It should not work, it takes months of hard work to teach the body, to make it know how to perform something at your mind's command, it’s not a matter of how good you could imagine your movement, your body just could not comprehend it that fast, it needed time.

  The body was a particularly slow child that you had to spend time and effort teaching … it was not a trained warrior ready to receive orders … it didn't understand the orders … Some people had a particularly bright child that learned faster, but they still needed time to grasp the movements.

  Except the Dragon apparently … that scared her but also … it lent her a surprising helping hand.

  If she could decipher his instructions, she would be a step ahead of him, and her friends would also be a step ahead of him.

  [[ Ba-thump, Ba-thump … ]]

  [Las] -We need to stall, i think i can figure him out, but you guys need to make sure he is forced to move … Don't get hurt too much beloved …-

  *The female kobold said to the big one, a grunt of acknowledgment and a small kiss were blown in her direction*

  [Has] - … Won't fall, Dragon not strong enough … -

  *The big Kobold gripped his ‘Spear’ harder, standing tall and large*

  *** *** ***

  Has was doing what Kow always said he should, project confidence, when in combat, aways project confidence, because his confidence made his friends fight better.

  So Has would project confidence, he would hide his fear even from Las, because nothing could go past him, and even if it did, Kow would get it, he was Great like that.

  Las was not in danger, because the danger was focused on Has and Has could take it, and if Has could not ? Kow would.

  [Has] -Puny Dragon, Has is Bigger, Has is Stronger and Has not a coward, face Has face to face-

  *Has taunted, his voice and intent carried by the mana in a manner refined by countless practice, a true Skill*

  Has had only one skill that is truly his.

  He was not as talented as Las, nor as Great as Kow, but Has knew he was the big one.

  He was the one supposed to take hit’s so his friends could do the harder job of winning.

  But too many times Beasts ignored Has to attack his friends, and sometimes, he was not fast enough to stop it.

  Has was tired of it, he didn't like the attention, but he needed the attention on him, so his friends were safer.

  So he asked them how to do it.

  It was hard, harder than everything else Has have done before, the mentality for what he wanted was not natural to him, he could not project the confidence Kow could, and didn't know how to project intent like Las could.

  But he had to learn to protect them, so Has learned.

  What he said mattered only to him, so he could think himself as an even Greater Kow.

  A Warrior so strong, so skilled that it could not be ignored, because if you did, you would get hit.

  Has learned to use the ‘Danger Sense’ of Kow against him, to project danger and threat no matter what, to give that little bit of pause when someone tried to ignore Has.

  It was a simple thing, ignore the big Kobold, and he would clonk you in the head, he made sure that their instincts said that a Tree-Branch was coming and they needed to defend against it.

  It didn't matter if Has could get there in time or not, it always gave them a pause … and as Kow always said, in a fight, every blink mattered, and Has could give his friends a Blink.

  *** *** ***

  -Pina Drako 'Has' estas Pli Granda, 'Has' estas Pli Forta kaj 'Has' ne malkura?ulo, viza?o 'Havas' viza?o kontra? viza?o-

  The big one roared in a language Rei didn't understand, because obviously they would not speak something he knew.

  But as far as voices go it carried a pressure, like when he woke up in the cave and the Air felt … More … only this time, it felt dangerous, like if i changed my focus out of the big one, that tree-branch would fly out of his hand and crush my skull with uneary precision.

  “That bastard … now i can't look away from him, i wouldn't know if a hit was coming or not, and that would be super distracting … How did he do it ? What is this feeling ? How can I deal with it ? … The female one feels like she is planning something, but I can't pay attention to her because I don't know if the danger I'm feeling is real or not … I can't ignore it, I can't pay attention to three fighters at once, and I'm sure the female one will do something soon … I need to be on the offensive …”

  *Despite the situation, Rei smiled, there was no fear, only action and excitement, only the trill and the objective*

  “If you want my attention, you will HAVE IT”

  The stalemate was broken and the second round began.

  Hum … i really thought the fight would blast through very fast, but as i’m writing it, there is a lot of ‘build up’ and ‘planning’ after a probing attack, lots of considerations i remember making as i was on that first probing round of a spar.

  Well, that part is done, next let’s try some heavier handed action there.