Frostbound

After the novelty of the new guard tower wore off, all of us continued with the rest of the day. There were endless things to do and not enough time in the day to do them.

The most labor-intensive task was that we had to dig a moat around the wall and fill it with spikes. Is it still called a moat if it doesn't have water? If it's not a moat then it was a ditch around the wall. Or would trench be better?

Ah, it didn't matter. We were digging. I took every chance I could to practice my magical skills and every time I had enough mana I used [Power Strike]. I also practiced my mana skills the whole time to try and get better at manipulating it.

Digging itself was its own workout and left me exhausted after it was over. My muscles felt like jelly and a strong wind could probably knock me over. When it came time to do our daily mock fighting I could barely swing my axe with how hard I spent the day digging.

Still, I pushed through and powered on. Austin and I paired up to be partners and we held nothing back. Usually, during this time I didn't think much of it, I just went through the motions and did what I was told. Now, I was giving it the importance it was due.

We weren't people playing at Warriors anymore, Austin and I were truly trying to fight each other. I used everything I had learned so far to beat him and he did the same.

We were both tired from waking up early and spending the day hunting and working, but both gave it our all again during the fight. It wasn't a mock fight anymore it was a spar.

It was the most intense fight I had been in so far and it made me excited to find out how much better I was from when we first got dropped here. I used everything at my disposal and all the tricks I had picked up during the wave and nothing worked.

Austin had the longer reach with his spear so I had to try and close the distance if I wanted to win. If I stayed back and let him dictate the fight he would slowly wear me down before finishing me off.

Fighting a person was different than fighting an animal and it showed in the creativity of attacks. Animals relied on instincts and the natural weapons they've been using all their life, humans relied on weapons.

Since ancient times humans created weapons for fighting and throughout history, we have improved on them building on the previous versions and that is what led us to the top of the food chain. We didn't have claws on our hands and we didn't have sharp teeth used to bite with, nor did we have venom to kill things with. We relied on ingenuity and sheer endurance.

With all the fighting that I'd done so far I could use my weapons reliably well but that was also true for Austin. We were both around the same level in experience and we were both level 5 with similar stats.