69

69

Kaelan's POV

I found it extremely boring to wait, so I decided that I should use the time wisely and sharpen up my skills since I had the opportunity to do so. I didn't really feel like fighting, but it was necessary because it had been a very long time. If I expected myself to remain as powerful as the alpha of this pack usually was without any occasional practice at least to keep me in form, and without practice to make me even better, then I would be a fool.

I stood up, stretching my bones and deciding that it might not be a bad idea after all for me to flex a little. These were my soldiers, after all, and it was going to motivate them a lot if they saw how powerful their leader was. At the same time, I would feel very good about myself showing off my strength, even though I might be a little rusty. Because I knew that no matter how rusty I was, my abilities and my power as the alpha was still not something that a normal wolf could match up to, and they would still be in awe of my abilities.

The thing is, right now they might actually stand a small chance against me, I thought to myself, stretching a little. I would have gone to the workout session, but that was boring. The real deal was the duel section because that was actually what was going to happen in a real fight. If somebody was very powerful in the first place but simply didn't have the techniques to use that power to their advantage, they might as well not be powerful at all, and anybody would be able to easily take advantage of them.

I decided that I would show off my technique and teach them a thing or two from myself personally at the moment. Now that I was still with them, I made my way over to the ring slowly. I could feel heads turn as I approached.

"Is he about to fight?" someone questioned.

"Who's going to stand against him? It's the alpha, isn't it?" someone questioned once again.

The questions rang out around me from seemingly every direction. I stopped trying to pinpoint the location with my sharpened hearing senses because it was a bit too much, and I would simply find another person talking at the same time. So I decided to simply ignore it. Anyhow, these people were about to watch the display at the moment, so I might as well keep my cool and give them a wonderful show.

I finally stepped up onto the ring and frowned, seeing that everybody had gone quiet. Come to think of it, a group of people—two of them had been fighting before I came. I saw them just a moment ago, but now everybody was silent. Nobody at all was speaking. A couple of people were even holding their breath, I could tell.

"Well?" I questioned, frowning. I was the alpha, but it didn't mean that I was the kind of person they couldn't talk to. My soldiers could talk to me any time, as long as they talked respectfully as they would to their commander. I wasn't the kind of person to bite, and so I was annoyed that they were suddenly acting all tensed up.

"Who wants to fight? Who is a man here that thinks he would prove it right now?" I told them all.

Everyone was silent, and no one moved a muscle. I frowned at all the soldiers. "And you call yourself men? You call yourself protectors when you aren't even brave enough to stand against someone stronger than you?" I called out. "If this is how you face someone among you, how on earth are you going to stand your ground against real enemies when they come against you with weapons? When they come and we're unprepared?" I questioned, my voice resounding.

A couple of people soon appeared from the corners. They hadn't been watching my little sermon since, but now they were all here, and they were frowning at me in apprehension. Someone stood up and took a step forward at that moment, just when I started to think that they were all useless people and cowards.

"So, you're the first real man among them," I told him, stepping back for him to climb onto the dueling ring. He did so with his expression fierce and determined. I smiled at him, happy with the determination he had on his face. He knew that this was not going to be easy. Personally, I already knew that he was going to lose, but he was fine with it and was willing to use the opportunity to learn, and that was something that I cherished a lot. He was not a coward like the rest of them, and it would let him go very far in this army if he survived up to that point.

I took a deep breath before speaking to him. "Draw your weapon," I said.

He looked at me with a frown on his face. "I should use a weapon?" he questioned.

I nodded in agreement. Soon he was facing me with his sword, and I nodded. Now the odds were more even than before, and he actually stood a chance, albeit a very small chance, against me.

"Fight!" someone shouted from the crowd, and so we both made our moves.

I had to admit he wasn't completely useless, and he wasn't bad at fighting at all. If anything, his technique was decisive, and his moves were very fluent. I could find myself struggling a little to keep up, and the thought alone made me feel very surprised because usually that wouldn't happen. Of course, I told myself, noticing that a couple of people were actually getting very interested in the fight, seeing that he was holding his ground against me.

That wasn't supposed to happen—they all knew the chances, and now that he was dragging the fight out for long, they were starting to wonder. I wasn't here to disgrace myself, neither was I here to make them lose confidence in their alpha. If anything, I was here to boost their morale and make them feel happy that they had someone like me as their leader, and to do that, I was going to have to win and win effortlessly.

However, that was simply not in my control at the moment. Winning wasn't something I could do at will the way I usually could. I noticed with a start that the men around me were now cheering, some for the other guy and some for me. What the hell, I thought, wondering how funny they were to actually be cheering for the other guy. Well, it meant that they actually thought he had a chance of winning now.

Naturally, the odds weren't that balanced because he was using a weapon against me, but then again, I was the one who told him to use a weapon so it didn't count—it was something that I allowed him to do. I had to defeat him with pride, and I needed to do it as soon as possible before they lost complete confidence in me.

I took in a deep breath and focused everything on my attacks, delivering blow after blow steadily and parrying his sword attacks with my own claws. Personally, I didn't turn into my werewolf form; that would be going overdrive, and I wouldn't go to such an extent against someone in just a friendly duel. So I fought him off man to man and smiled when I finally saw him land on the ground in defeat.

My claw was on his neck, but I found myself smiling at him. He didn't give up. He only stopped because he had no choice. I was proud to have such a soldier serving me. Hewas a true soldier, the kind of person to encounter in a real battle.

The expression on his face—so earnest—almost made me laugh. It was clear that he adored me, and it gave me hope, close enough to envision the possibility of standing on equal ground with him.

I didn’t extend my hand to him or even shake it. Instead, I told him, “All you have to do is practice. Practice long, and practice hard. Practice every day, and improve your technique.”

“You stood your ground against me,” I continued, looking at him seriously. “And without falling off, you held your ground against me for a couple of seconds without flinching. You have potential. So use it wisely and to the best of your abilities.”

It was encouraging advice from me, but I wasn’t about to act like I was overly impressed. Not only that—I like to teach, and I like to speak the truth. He’s one of my soldiers, and if I did have a personal connection with him, I would, as long as I remember, express it to him.

He nodded and bowed deeply. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. I will do exactly as you said,” he replied.

I smiled back at him. He looked at me with determination, and I knew there was more to him. He would do everything he could to improve, and he thanked me sincerely. He knew I would be proud of him.