“Again!" Ulf roared.

Gregory took a deep breath, slammed his fists into the dirt and pushed himself up to his feet. Stupid. Training day and night with one of the deadliest warriors in the camp and it had taken barely more than a second into his first spar with another partner to forget everything he'd been taught. Snatching up his club, he turned back to Ulla who had circled about to face him again.

The second bout lasted a bit longer than the first. It took Ulla an entire six seconds to plant him in the dirt, this time on his back.

“Again!" The command came from ULf before Gregory had even Landed.

“This is brilliant," Nullik said. "He can fall over so much that we'll be out of the provings before the other packs can even get to the rest of us.”

Ulla was grinning maliciously as he pulled himself back up once more to face her.

“The human grows soft between his bitch's thighs."

She didn't know it at the time, but Ulla Strongblood very probably saved Gregory's life with those words. They had an almost reverse zen-like effect on him, as all his fears and self-doubts seemed to seep away into one focused beam of rage. He no Longer felt angry at himself, for he was suddenly filled with a wild and desperate need to beat the living shit out of her.

“Fuck this," Gregory growled before throwing the unbalanced training club into the dirt and raising his fists instead.

Ulla laughed with glee at the human throwing away his weapon. She decided to break one of his bones to teach him an evidently much needed lesson about coming prepared.

ULf watched the two opponents with a grim expression whilst he waited for the seemingly inevitable. Gregory's performance had been so bad that he wasn't going to be able to take part in pack manoeuvres. It would be too dangerous for him, Ulla was their best fighter, but even she was often outmatched by their opponents when set against the other packs. If Gregory couldn't even take on one orc, how would he fare when it came to fighting three?

It was then that ULf saw the change in the human. The young man's eyes seemed to clear and he stood upright as Ulla started a final charge of brutal intent. Gregory simply didn't move. He didn't take up any of his fighting stances. He didn't dance around to make himself a harder target. Instead, he simply stood stock still. The thought of what was coming made ULf wince for the boy, though he resisted the urge to cover his eyes.

Except when Ulla did reach Gregory, things didn‘t quite go to according to expectations. Instead of dodging back and conceding ground to her, he took a single stepped forwards and jammed both his fists directly into her exposed shoulder. The blow connected like a hammer on a bare joint, and the sudden move caught her completely off-guard sending a sharp bolt of pain up her arms and down her neck. She barely had the time to scream before Gregory moved again and planted his fist squarely in her jaw. The crushing impact sent the unbalanced orc flying backwards to Land on her ass in the dirt. Her club Landed several paces behind her.

He took a sure step back to where he'd been standing. It took him a few moments for the red mist to clear when he realised what he'd just done. He'd won! Someone else had a mouthful of dirt for a change. Orcs weren't all invincible behemoths of unbeatable force.

Oh, and he'd just hit a girl.

Crap.

When that Last thought sailed through his mind like a mouldy raven his anger faded and he stepped towards Ulla to check if she was alright. She'd tried to get up but he'd clocked her so hard that it was proving to be more of a task than she'd anticipated. It was hard to get her legs beneath her when it seemed as if she suddenly had six of them.

“I'm sorry about-" He started his apology, only to be met with a another roar of rage from her.

She finally found her footing, grabbed her club and ran at him as if possessed by a demon.

Gregory saw the danger, but the fear and the uncertainty of battle didn't return this time. Instead, he reacted exactly how Algra had shown him. No thoughts were cast to the short-fight, and he simply let instinct take him along the sidestep to dodge Ulla's opening blow. Focusing on the long-fight, he saw an immediate opportunity as Ulla was thrown off balance by her own club. This time, he brought his forearm up under her chin and pushed hard to take her off her feet and bring her down on her back. He quickly descended upon her and pressed his arm against her throat.

"yield!" For the first time it was a command rather than a declaration. She growled, clawed and spat. Her legs were lifted on either side of him, her heels desperately kicking against his sides. She couldn't get a solid kick on him, and he'd immediately pinned her weapon arm to the ground. Her only free limb was used punched him on his upper arm with her free hand albeit at an awkward angle. It hurt like hell. He could take it.

She didn't yield. He realised that she'd probably choke herself out before giving up willingly. It would take a different tactic to best her, so he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her upright. She wasn't expecting it. Nor was she expecting him to roll backwards with her in tow, plant his foot on her stomach and hurl her backwards over his head and into a nearby empty weapon rack.

She clattered into the wooden beams Like a bowling ball hitting a fresh strike.

Gregory looked over to her and got back to his feet. Ulla only groaned before slowly trying to get back up. This time there was no rage or fight left in her, and Gregory was privately very glad to see that she didn't reach for her club again.

Nullik burst out Laughing. He'd never seen anyone beat Ulla in single combat, let alone seen it done quite so spectacularly.