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I might be a little new, but I am not gonna lose to a mage, Lily thought as she picked up a sword of her own and faced Mia. She gave it a few practice swings as she considered her approach. She had no idea what kind of fighter Mia was, and since she had been in only one fight up to this point, she decided to keep it simple and go for a head on attack, using her speed to her advantage. It worked well enough against the thug, she thought as she waited for the nearby guard to give a start signal.

Once the signal was given, Lily wasted no time. She lunged at Mia, hoping to catch the smaller girl off guard with her speed, but Mia was no novice. She deflected Lily's sword with her own as she juked to the side. Lily's momentum carried her forward, and before she could recover Mia scored a hit.

"One - nil!" she exclaimed, and Lily had to concede she was outplayed.

She's no novice, I need to be more careful, Lily decided as they squared off for another round.

I might actually win, Mia thought as she got back to her starting position. When she suggested the contest she was fairly sure Lily would win, as she had the advantage of her mastery, but even so, she knew the other girl was far too kind-hearted to take advantage of the bet in a big way. Even a small chance of winning was worth it when she considered the potential reward, and for a moment, her lecherous thoughts distracted her from the task at hand.

Focus, you pervert, you haven't won yet, she told herself as she assumed a defensive stance.

This time, Lily closed the distance more slowly, taking care not to overextend herself, and the approach paid off. Her longer reach forced Mia on the backfoot, forcing her to deflect blow after blow, with no chance of striking back. The dark haired girl could not keep up with Lily's superior speed forever, and eventually, her parry was late. Lily had knocked the sword out of her hand, and scored a hit of her own. "One - one," Lily said and Mia grunted in acknowledgment.

Good one, Lily congratulated herself as she got ready for the decisive round. Just take it slow, and you'll overpower her eventually. And when I do … Well, I have ideas, she thought with a smile.

Let's see how good your defense is, Mia thought as she picked her weapon back up. This time, she was the one who closed the gap, which caught Lily by surprise. So far, she never really had to defend herself, and it took her time to adjust as Mia pushed her back, towards the edge of the arena. She was adjusting though, and Mia recalled Lily's fight with the thug.

She gets better and better as her mind catches up to her body's abilities, she remembered, so she had to think fast and end the fight quickly. Already Lily was improving, deftly parrying Mia's blows before launching attacks of her own.

I am gonna lose if I don't come up with something quickly, Mia thought as Lily started to beat her back. Her footwork is still poor, she suddenly realized as she deflected another swing. That gave her an idea.She dodged the next blow, ducking under it, and struck out with her leg, trying to knock Lily off her feet. She connected, but Lily realized what was happening and managed to reach out and pull Mia down with her. The girls hit the ground hard, weapons flying from their hands. Mia was surprised to find herself sitting on top of Lily, her hands grabbing the taller girl's chest tightly.

"Ok, you win this round," an equally surprised Lily said, but Mia barely registered her words. The sight of Lily under her played hell with her imagination, and made her forget the rest of the world. She's so strong and yet so soft, Mia thought as she squeezed harder with her hands.

"Hey, I said you won," an embarrassed Lily spoke out again, and Mia finally returned to reality.

Yeah, I did, and in more ways than one, Mia thought as she got up and dusted herself off.

"So what's it gonna be," Lily asked as she got up. Her face was red, from a combination of embarrassment and effort, and Mia considered her options.

"Well, we didn't say we had to make the request straight away," Mia answered after a brief pause. "I'll let you know when I come up with something." She smiled wickedly, but strangely enough, Lily wasn't worried. Instead, the thought of Mia bossing her around excited her.

Which is dumb, Lily thought as the memory of the fight replayed in her mind. She really did try to win, but losing didn't sound so bad when she remembered the sight of Mia sitting on top of her, hands on her chest. Get your mind out of the gutter. Just because you were thinking about doing something lewd with the bet doesn't mean she is too.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a guard approaching.

"Not a bad showing for a novice, Your Grace," an older man in the uniform of a guard said. He noticed Lily's reaction to him using her title, and smiled.

"Rick, captain of the Dawnheart guard, at your service. Don't worry Your Grace, your secret is safe with me. Mia's father briefed me on your situation, and instructed me to offer you help. I used to be an adventurer myself, before I took this job and I helped train Mia here. Did a good job, if I can say so myself."

"Indeed you have, captain," Lily replied, relieved that her status wasn't quite public yet. "I would be more than happy to have an instructor in my training, especially one I can trust."

"Excellent. Meet me here at the grounds tomorrow morning and we can begin your training," he said, before bowing and taking his leave.

"Rick's a great teacher, he'll make sure you are ready for your first dungeon in no time," Mia chimed in once the guard left. "Looks like we have some more free time though, want me to show you the rest of the grounds here? Can you ride a horse?"

"No, I've never ridden one before," Lily admitted. "These carriage rides are the closest I've ever come to one in my life. Well, lives actually."

"Well it's about time we fix that. Come on, follow me," Mia said, all excited. They got back to the manor to change clothes, and then Mia led her to a stable. She told Lily to wait outside before entering. Lily heard her chatting with one of the grooms briefly before exiting with a beautiful black horse in tow.

"Lily, meet Percival," Mia said as she came close. "Don't worry, he is a very gentle animal, and the first horse I ever rode."

She jumped into the saddle and rode a few circles around the courtyard before stopping in front of Lily.

"C'mon jump on," Mia said, inviting Lily on. Lily was a little scared, not being very familiar with animals in general, but she trusted Mia, and she wanted to partake in an activity the girl enjoyed. After all, due to the effects of Soul Link, Mia could hardly do stuff on her own for any extended period of time. She obviously loved riding, and Lily didn't want to deprive her of that joy, so with some trepidation, she grabbed Mia's arm and jumped on.

"Hold on tight," Mia instructed and Lily complied. Not that I need incentive to want to hug her, Lily thought as they started moving. Mia took it slow initially, to accommodate her friend, but since Lily showed no signs of wanting to get off, she had the horse speed up. Lily sat behind the smaller Mia, and enjoyed the rush of fresh air. She could see why her friend liked this activity so much. Being out on your own, surrounded by nature was not the time of freedom a girl like Mia experienced often.

After circling around the manor a few times, Mia had the horse stop back in front of the stable, where they began.

"I hope you enjoyed that, cause I certainly did," Mia said as Lily got off.

"It was fun," Lily replied honestly. "I wasn't sure at the start, but I trusted you, and I quite liked it by the end."

"Glad to hear that. It's long past midday, let's get back inside, clean up and grab something to eat," Mia suggested as she led the horse into the stable, and Lily nodded. Between all the traveling and the general excitement, she had lost track of time, and she was starting to feel hungry. Once Mia exited the stable, the girls headed back to the manor.