FFM 2025 6: Sparring

More Beyari and Steirdrar! This story is a direct continuation to FFM 2025 2: Unplanned Meetings.

Yet another story that went over the limit, this time by 143 words. I am very worried about this trend that’s been going on this week. At this rate, I’m going to have to put “words gone over” into my FFM 2025 stats. Not that today was worse than yesterday, when about 80 words of mandatory worldbuilding notes and about 30 words of “I need to write this detail idea down or I’ll forget it for good within the next 30 seconds” ended up snowballing into 2.5k words of worldbuilding I did not intend to write but had to get out of my head once I had started. Whoops.

Oh well. No matter how any of this goes going forward, this week is going to look glorious in the statistics.

---

Steirdrar could not help being swept away by the thrill of the spar. Once he had warmed up, Agent Ket had ramped up the intensity, her eyes and grin sharp. The Eskel-Zai was constantly testing his defenses and offenses, looking for openings and weaknesses. Her technique was different from what he was used to from his days in the Infini’Republic but Steirdrar found himself analyzing it with practiced ease nevertheless. The knowledge that his own style was being picked apart similarly bothered him less than he had expected. He blamed that on endorphins and the fact that he had to focus on fighting a lot more than usual, being faced with an opponent far closer to his skill level than usual.

“Strong defenses on both sides, huh? You ambidextrous?” Agent Ket asked, her eyes looking into his like they were trying to peel him layer by layer to see what was underneath all the while she kept up the spar.

Only years of training kept Steirdrar from pausing in the face of that look. “No. I’ve trained to ensure that both my hands are equally capable. You?”

“Same.” Agent Ket’s expression remained unchanged, visibly hungry for more information. “It’s surprisingly uncommon to meet a non-Eskel-Zai combatant who’s had the forethought to do that to any extent, you know?”

“Most combatants aren’t interested in going to such extremes with their skillsets,” Steirdrar mused, moving to bypass a jab.

Just as he had expected, Agent Ket foiled him. “Or those in charge of their training aren’t interested in investing the extra resources.” Unexpectedly, she followed up by twirling around him.

Steirdrar intercepted the strike aimed at his back. “Also possible.”

Agent Ket’s eyes widened for a fleeting moment at the swift response. Then she struck again, this time making more use of her agility, clearly intent on seeing just how fast Steirdrar could move. “Faster than your build lets on…” She attacked yet again before asking, “Are you from a warrior community?”

Steirdrar found no reason to hide his background. It was not like Agent Ket could not dig it up with ease. “My family’s got a long military history. My parents raised me to become the best soldier I could be.” He intercepted another quick attack, grinning despite the strain the high-intensity spar was putting on him. “What about you? Your skill level indicates you were born an Eskel-Zai.”

“Nah, I’m adopted. Been an Eskel-Zai for almost five decades now. I became a hunter some two decades before that so I already had some skill to start out with.”

Steirdrar nodded, making a note of how freely he got so much extra information. The numbers he heard also confirmed his suspicions that he was dealing with a Pryzis. “Makes sense.”

Predictably, Agent Ket did not let up at all after the conversation died down, but continued to try to outmaneuver or outspeed Steirdrar. Yet as the spar drew on, she did not seem to grow frustrated. If anything, she looked thrilled to be so evenly matched. She let out a chuckle whenever Steirdrar blocked a particularly fast or cunning strike or executed such a strike himself only to be blocked, flickers of a pleased expression flashing on her face.

And even though his limbs were going to regret this tomorrow, Steirdrar had to admit to himself that he was having a great time, the nonexistent stakes making the spar stressless. Being pushed to his limits here and now felt better than it had under the scrutiny of his peers in the Infini’Republic. Plus, Agent Ket’s enjoyment was infectious, her grin easily mirroring on his face.

The last time he could remember having this much fun while sparring must have been with his older brother.

That thought made him lose focus and he had to scramble to cover himself. Agent Ket frowned, instantly slowing her pace. “I have a feeling we should call this a draw. Otherwise we’ll go at this until one of us collapses from exhaustion.”

Relief rushed into Steirdrar. “Agreed.”

Agent Ket moved into a defensive position and backed away. When Steirdrar settled into a stationary defense position, she stood down, putting her staff away with practiced ease. Her frown shifted to a pleased smile. “You’re one hell of a fighter. Wanna spar again sometime?”

Steirdrar huffed out a laugh, handing the staff back. “You already want another spar?”

“Of course. I very much like sparring partners who can match me.” Agent Ket smirked. “And I’d love to see if one of us can beat the other if we learn each other’s styles well enough.”

“Fair enough. I would like to have another spar one of these days.” Steirdrar suddenly found himself very aware of the hair plastered to his sweaty forehead. “I’ll need a day or two to recover from this, though. My muscles are going to hate me tomorrow.”

Agent Ket chuckled. “Same. But worth it, right?”

“Absolutely worth it,” Steirdrar had to admit.

Agent Ket looked over her shoulder to the somewhat distant main building. “Wanna head to my ship to rehydrate? It’s got a shower that’s closer than the communal showers, and I could properly introduce you to my partner since I was too incoherent to do so yesterday.”

Steirdrar blinked. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I need a while to take all the armorplates off, so you’d have time to take a shower before me.” Agent Ket shrugged. “No pressure if you don’t want to.”

Steirdrar should not, really, but once again he was too curious. “I’ll take you up on that offer, Agent Ket. Thank you.”

Agent Ket’s face lit up with a grin. “Then follow me, Commander Urrang.”

As he followed the Eskel-Zai towards her ship, Steirdrar had to wonder if Agent Ket was aware of who he had been. She must have known… yet none of how she was acting showed any hint of the distrust that usually came with that knowledge…

He would have to ask once they would have showered.