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As long as granpa approves
Quentin soon realized that fighting was much more than brute strength. Even his weapon that he used for thrusting as hard as he could at anything that moved close was more versatile than he knew. Pretty soon, he ditched the shield and learned to fight defensively, haft and tines of the trident providing suitable defense. Not as much as shield would, but it would be much easier to swim without shield.
His speed and coordination improved dramatically. Soon, he was running over obstacle courses that their battlemaster set up as if they weren't anything more than small hills. Suddenly, fighting among the ropes of the ship or even hanging on the side of one wasn't as much of a problem. And with his ancestry, defeating the pirates became as easy as busting their ships hull. Or threatening to.
He bit into it with gusto as he did with everything worth living. He lived to the fullest coming in his room exhausted. But it all came together somehow, tavern brawls sharpened his fighter instincts. They also provided chances to protect Raven from harm or amorous advances of others. She could hold her own, he knew. But no matter how strong or skilled you were, groups were always a problem. Especially if you're too drunk to notice them on time.
Thus, he learned to intimidate them rather than fight. Those skills about leading people...could as well be used to frighten them. He noticed he stopped looking at other women. Raven was capable, beautiful, carefree (for the moment) and appearing disinterested. In other words, perfect challenge. But while it started as a bet against himself, he soon found himself admiring her for real. Once he started looking for excuses to come to the School of the Immortal to watch her training (ostensibly to train against various fighting styles) he realized he's in love.
Other girls in the group could notice the change. But Lyla was the worst. She teased him wherever she got the chance, befitting her fey nature. And more than once she ended up under the cup or splashed with whatever Quentin had to hand to silence her. But never had he tried to hurt her or drive her away. He would occasionally invite others to train with him both as allies and as opponents. Having an archer on your side or a wizard was quite different than having full complement of soldiers.
Equally tactics would drastically change if you had to charge concealed archer or fortified mage than if you just had to slug it out in the open field. The puzzles of the various setups, discovering new ways to bypass them, that was nearly as interesting as finding new port to sail into.
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