Readying myself, I followed them to the yard behind their forges. They each had a longsword for their own. I had a greatsword and my armor. I had a slight advantage on them, but now that they had become opponents, I could see that they were no pushovers. The youngest was Noel, a level 7 peasant. Adrian was the one that was at the forge stoking the fires. He was level 12. The eldest was level 15 and named Calvin. The father was a level 23 veteran named Sean. I was only level 5. While the quests I took and the encounters did give me exp. for my troubles, I was not ready for fighting them all. I still had to try my best. Noel was up first. He charged me and I went on the defensive. While we were more evenly leveled, I could not afford to lose any health on him. I would be a sitting duck for the others. I blocked and did my best to parry until I saw an opening. When I did, I went for it and stabbed him in the gut. During spars, you could not die. That made it okay to go all out on your opponents. He yelped in pain, but I did not let up. I pummeled him with my hooves and then slashed at him again.
Kicking someone when they were down was not good. That was a dick move. I was not about to do something so low. Adrian started to get ready as soon as Noel went down. I took my javelins and threw them at him. The first hit him dead on in the chest. The force launched him back and he landed prone. I threw another as he writhed on the ground. He had the wind knocked out of him. It caught him in the thigh. He was still stunned so I hurried over and stabbed him with another one in the chest. That took care of him. Sean's stomach gurgled and he said "I gotta go! Take care of her Calvin while I'm on the privy!" That was good for me. The strongest opponent was now leaving the combat area. This would give me the chance I needed. I ran over to Calvin with my javelin and threw it. The charge gave extra force when I threw it. He barely dodged it, but I was already in front of him. I knocked him back with my hooves and drew my sword. He had a lot more heath than I did, so I had to keep the pressure up. I hacked and slashed at him. He dodged and parried as best he could, but he was sloppy.
A few directs later, and I knocked him out. Since Sean was away, the sparing counter began to count down to the end of the special conditions. When it finished, I was a clear choice for the winner. I just had to let Sean know it and finish up the quest. Going over to the privy was not pleasant. It stunk. However, I was able to tell him. He was not happy to hear it. "Damn it!" he snapped. I could hear a fist hit the wooden wall of the privy. I'll have to run those boys through drills until they they can each kill a general blindfolded. If others wanted to join in... I guess they can." he relented. I nodded to myself and went to report it to Father Clinas. He was overjoyed that his idea was going to happen. He offered to hold us up in the village for another day. We would stay in the chapel. "I thank you for the time and offer of hospitality you have shown us, but it would be better if we would get going. I have a job to return to." Father Shalo nodded furiously. He really wanted to leave. Father Clinas nodded and allowed us to go. I offered to let Shalo on my back, but he declined. That was totally fine with me.
