OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH TTTTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPP!! *Death by Glamour fades in*

~Dogaline~

"Okay, listen up, punks," the Captain says. She's full-armored, as usual, but it looks like she got dressed in a hurry. "I'm sure you're all wondering what the heck is going on, but Papy and I have decided it'd be best if you brats stayed out of it for now. Yeah, there's another human fallen, but it's safely contained in the Ruins for the moment."

"Is it hostile?" Seke asks. They're a dragon monster about half as tall as me, with four wings that they can use to zip just about anywhere with incredible agility.

"Not sure. Sans is keeping an eye on it."

"Don't you mean an eyesocket?" Dogopher asks. Dogric, his twin and partner in crime (by which I mean bad puns), snickers. The rest of us don't.

"Shut your trap, soldier!" The Captain summons a spear. "Just because there's some new human punk doesn't mean you all are off the hook! Dogaline and Raldan, Dogric and Sekeolath, Snowfalcon and Dogopher! Go!!!"

The world bleeds into black as Raldan and I summon our SOULs and begin the fight in earnest. I attack first, calling my greatsword to my hand and taking a mighty swing almost before he has time to react. I have the edge here in brute strength and senses, but he's quicker and can use ranged ice magic, something I'm still working on. He dodges my strike and two more before a feint lets my blade graze his elbow as he's overcorrecting. It registers a hit, but for only 0.27 damage. The most either of us can do with the ATK-reduction equipment on is 1. This is a training fight, after all.

On his turn, he swings his flail at my head, hoping to cover for a sneaky ankle sweep, but I see through it and hop out of the way. He shoots ice pellets at me instead; I dodge most and block a few more with my sword, but a couple get through to impact on my shoulder and tail. 419/420 HP. As soon as the turn switches, I kick him hard in the chest - he's usually the one pulling that trick, so he doesn't expect it and goes down, not long enough to count as a point but long enough for me to get a good solid hit to his calf.

The fight continues like this for the rest of practice. The Captain watches everyone, assigning pushups and laps around the house for sloppy footwork or poor magic control, but I can tell her mind is somewhere else. The Ruins with the human and her brother-in-law, probably.

None can tell yet what this human will be like. It could be scared out of its mind of us, it could want peace, it could want war, it could want to kill or it could not. I just know that if it's hostile like Seke fears, the Guard will be ready.

Myself included.