My Servant System

By the seventh sparring match, we were all slowly returning to doing something else, with the spars between the the Sultana and her eldest daughter still being the central point of our attention but not consuming all of it.

They were lasting longer now that Anput had tossed aside her odd reluctance to fight like she normally did, the Jackalkin's weird desire to stick entirely to the scimitar and fight like one of the Death Jackals hindering her and doing her more harm than good.

Now that she was back to her usual jack of all trades style of fighting and making use of all sorts of weapons, the Jackalkin was able to eek out a few minutes of sparring instead of merely a single minute, which allowed her to hone her skills even more than before.

Swinging a heavy axe down towards the Sultana's skull, she made use of the weight to force the Sultana into shifting positions, the idea of attempting to block something like that with a mere scimitar not much to her liking.

Leaping away from the axe, she suddenly found herself being stabbed at by a spear, which she could block with a scimitar, albeit not well with how she was currently on her back foot and still moving backwards.

I paused what I was doing to watch as Anput's spear delivered a small cut to the Sultana's bicep, one of the very few wounds that she had managed to leave on the Sultana's body throughout these spars, besides the various bruises that we couldn't see on her feet, legs, and of course... groin.

Anput had paid dearly for that one with a rather nasty cut that traveled from her left hip all the way up and almost around her right shoulder, though it had been relatively shallow all things considered, so it would seem that the Sultana had gotten her 'revenge' for such an honor less attack.

"Big sis..?"

Batul yawned before looking at me confusedly, the small, ever tired pup ignoring the sounds of battle and reaching for my cheek, not happy that I had stopped bouncing her to lull her to sleep yet again; she wasn't a baby, but she certainly acted like one... which wasn't an issue since she was just tired.

I don't know why she was tired all the time, but it might just be that this heat, the sun, and the constant antics of your family might simply get you to this point no matter what...

"Hm?"

Looking back down at the pup shaped shield I had acquired, I tilted my head before nodding as I began to bounce her gently, eliciting another yawn from her as we continued to watch the spars together... or at least I was watching them, and she was napping.

"Mm..."

Closing her eyes, she snuggled against my chest and fell asleep again, and after a moment of studying her smooth olive skin and silky raven black hair, I shivered slightly as the glare from her Mother landed on me once more, Lady Kio still a bit irritated from earlier but unable to do something now that I had Batul in my arms.

Beside me, Leone was lounging on the warm tile with Samira and Safa, the two shier children watching the Vampire in amazement and unknowingly letting themselves be distracted from something rather 'heavy' for their eyes, which was good; the various flaming objects that Leone molded from her mana into, like flowers and birds.

Then there was Jahi, standing stock still and watching the spars with narrowed eyes, observing each and every minute movement the two Jackalkin made to try and learn whatever she could from their successes, their failures, their mistakes and everything in between.

It was beautiful to see, and also intriguing to see how the Sultana fought in a way that almost seemed far to plain and simplistic that you wouldn't expect her to be at the level she was at, but like with everything, I could recognize that the perfection in the moves she displayed were far superior to anything I had seen before in our own fighting styles.

Hence why I was more than content to remain quiet and not make a bet with her to spar, and why I was also not really wanting to spar Lady Kio either, since I had a feeling the woman my own Mother claimed to be relatively her equal in everything they ever did - down to the way they managed to get partners that were on the same level - was probably going to beat me just as easily as my own Mother had.

And this Dogkin in front of me had extra motivation to make sure her hits landed a bit harder than Mother did...

So I was going to really relax today and be lazy because... damnit I wanted to be lazy today, and now that I had a tiny puppy nestled into my arms I had no real reason to be doing anything that would tire me out physically, like sparring some really strong people just because.

Instead, I could just relax and play around, all while the looming dread of needing to head out into the desert sands to hunt down Fiends of all things darkened my future, but hey, at least today I could eat some good food, lounge in an amazing palace, talk with my in laws and lovers before retiring when the sun fell.

Whether or not I was actually going to be able to do those things is another story though, since the gradual viewing of the spars began to taper down as they finished out, the time passing by swiftly as the score rounded out to an unsurprising 10 to zilch.

Even if she lost every single round of the spars, Anput still showed improvement since she no longer looked like she was going to die each time she lost, and instead just looked exhausted and in need of a boost of energy, which was given in the form of that reddish gold liquid that she drank each time.

I just knew the crash from that was going to be harsh since she had ten of them in such a short period of time, but considering the Sultana trusted that older Caninekin enough to give her daughter ten potions straight, I imagine it had already been tested and found to be safe for consumption.

That wasn't to say that Anput looked fine and ready for a night out on the town, since she didn't; her eyes were listless and her skin was bruised, while her body creaked slightly as her muscles and bones gradually returned to their normal spots, the over exertion and mental drain evident in the way she carried herself over to us.

I approached her first with Batul in tow, giving my mate a smile and leaning over to place a kiss on her cheek, only to have her growl "I'll need those lips somewhere else later..." quietly into my ear as she kissed me back, making me roll my eyes at how she brightened up slightly saying that.

After my kiss, she bopped Batul on the head and woke the pup up, much to her disgruntled annoyance as she glared at her eldest sister, but that only earned her another poke before she was sadly and unwillingly stolen from my arms by Anput, who made her way over towards the others.

With my pup shield now gone, I tried to make my way over towards someone, anyone at all to save myself, but instantly a slightly shorter, petite woman found her way over to me and was glaring up at me, her lips curled into a sneer as she said "C'mon then, brat. It's just you and me."

The others all watched as I was dragged over towards where the Sultana remained standing, and I sighed as I was nominated as this petty woman's chew toy for the next few minutes, something that made Jahi smirk at me from afar as she remained quiet, not coming to my defense at all.

I would remember that later tonight...

"What do you fight with, brat? Short sword? Or was it a dagger?"

Taking a scimitar from one of the Death Jackals - who swiftly handed the irate woman their weapon before leaping away like they were in the danger zone - Lady Kio flourished the blade a few times to get a feel for it, only to frown when Anput came back a moment later and handed me the weapon she had been using, albeit in a new form.

The crescent blade felt all too familiar in my hands, and I sighed as I accepted it, not wanting to fight but... I needed to do this now, or I would likely never have peace in this palace for as long as I lived.

I had to admit I contemplated throwing the match just to get out of it - perhaps holding Batul rubbed some of the pup's laziness onto me - but that would likely only earn more of her ire than anything else...

But I couldn't win either because that would only make the Dogkin dislike me even more since it would wound her pride...

I was in quite the predicament...