Chapter 1031: More Than Enough Energy

Samira’s sword struck the gauntlet once again.

Strax deflected the blade to the side and tried to advance, but she twisted her body, slipping out of his reach. Before he could follow her, Samira made another slash, this time aimed at the chain stretching across the ground.

The chain snapped.

Strax felt the connection disappear and recalled the remaining energy. Samira took advantage of the momentary distraction to close in and strike at his chest, forcing him to raise the gauntlet again.

The impact made the ground sink beneath his feet.

Strax closed his hand, absorbing the force of the blow, but Samira withdrew her sword before he could return the energy.

"You’re getting predictable," she remarked.

Strax smiled.

"So are you."

He moved two fingers.

A chain emerged from Samira’s shadow and wrapped around her ankle. She immediately tried to cut it, but Strax pulled before she could complete the movement.

Samira lost her balance for an instant.

That was enough.

Strax appeared in front of her and threw a punch with the gauntlet.

Samira crossed her sword in front of her body.

The impact hurled her backward, carving a long furrow through the ground. She managed to regain her balance, but had to rest one hand on her knee as she took a deep breath.

Strax remained where he was.

He opened and closed his right hand.

The energy accumulated inside the gauntlet was decreasing. After so many attacks, discharges, and attempts to control the chains, the weapon had consumed a considerable amount of energy. There was still plenty left inside it, but Strax could already feel the difference.

Samira raised her head.

"Are we done?"

"Do you want to keep going?"

She straightened up.

"I do."

Strax let out a small laugh.

"Then come on."

Samira advanced again.

This time, however, her speed had decreased. The amount of draconic energy she had concentrated in her sword during the confrontation was beginning to take its toll. Her muscles still responded, but every movement required more effort than before.

Strax noticed immediately.

He could end the fight with a single blow if he used his own strength.

But that wasn’t what he wanted.

Instead, he raised the gauntlet and waited.

Samira attacked from the right.

Strax blocked.

She turned her sword and tried to strike his shoulder.

He deflected the blow with a chain.

Samira advanced again, but Strax entered her shadow and appeared behind her. Before he could attack, she twisted her body and launched a horizontal slash.

The blade struck the gauntlet.

The impact sent them flying in opposite directions.

Strax landed on his feet.

So did Samira, although she needed to take a few steps to regain her balance.

They stood watching each other.

Then Samira began to laugh.

Strax raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"This damned gauntlet."

She lowered her sword and let out a long sigh.

"I’ve spent all this time trying to hit you, and this thing just keeps absorbing my blows."

Strax looked at his right hand.

The black chains moved slowly over his forearm.

"It’s a pretty convenient weapon."

"Convenient for you."

"Exactly."

Samira pointed her sword at him.

"I hate that thing."

Strax started laughing.

"You’re the one who told me to use it."

"I didn’t know it could do all that!"

"Neither did I."

"That doesn’t make it any better!"

Strax lowered his arm.

The black energy around the gauntlet gradually disappeared, and the chains returned to their original positions. He studied the weapon’s surface for a few seconds, thinking about everything he had discovered during training.

There were still many things he needed to test.

The ability to absorb impacts, return accumulated force, and use the chains independently already made the gauntlet extremely useful in combat. However, he had a feeling those abilities were only a small part of what the weapon could really do.

"Actually, I still haven’t completely learned how to use this thing."

Samira looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

Strax raised his right hand.

"I still don’t know how much energy it can store, how many shadows I can control at once, or how far I can strengthen the creatures I absorb."

He moved his fingers.

"And I’m almost certain I can increase its power quite a bit."

Samira stared at the gauntlet.

Then she looked at Strax.

Her expression darkened.

"You’re telling me this thing is going to get even more annoying?"

"Probably."

"Wonderful."

Strax smiled.

"You don’t look happy."

"I’m thinking about throwing that damned thing into a volcano."

"I don’t think that would work."

"Then I’ll find a bigger volcano."

Strax burst out laughing.

Samira finally lowered her sword.

"That’s enough. Put that thing away and pick up a sword."

Strax looked at her.

"Now?"

"Yes."

"Samira, we just spent hours fighting."

"So?"

"I’m tired."

She fell silent.

Then she narrowed her eyes.

Strax immediately realized she didn’t believe him.

"Don’t even start."

Samira walked toward him.

"You’re tired?"

"Exactly."

"You?"

"Me."

She stopped in front of him.

For a few seconds, they stared at each other.

Then Samira dropped her sword onto the ground.

Strax looked at the weapon.

"Giving up?"

"No."

Before he could ask what she was doing, Samira lunged forward and threw herself against his chest.

Strax hadn’t expected that.

He could have remained standing without any difficulty, but he ended up letting his body follow her movement. They both fell onto the grass, and Samira immediately settled on top of him, resting her hands on his chest.

Strax looked up.

Samira was smiling.

"Stop pretending."

"Pretending what?"

"That you’re tired."

"I am."

"You have so much energy left that you could keep fighting for hours without any problem."

Strax raised an eyebrow.

"You’re overestimating my stamina."

Samira laughed.

"I’m your wife. I know very well how much stamina you have."

Strax started laughing.

"That’s a hard argument to dispute."

"Then get up and grab a sword."

"You really don’t know when to stop."

"I do."

Samira brought her face closer to his.

"I just don’t want to stop now."

Strax studied her face for a few seconds.

She was still breathing a little faster from the training. A few strands of hair had come loose during the fight, and there were small smudges of dust on her cheek. Even so, Samira looked satisfied.

He raised his left hand and brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"You’ve improved a lot."

Samira blinked.

The sudden change of subject seemed to surprise her.

"What?"

"The way you fight."

Strax glanced toward the sword lying on the grass.

"Before, you would have tried to destroy the gauntlet by using more and more force. Today, you realized that wasn’t working and started looking for other ways to hit me."

Samira remained silent.

Strax continued:

"You’ve learned to control your movements better, choose where to concentrate your energy, and take advantage of openings. You even managed to discover a limitation of the gauntlet that probably would’ve taken me much longer to notice on my own."

Samira looked away slightly.

"Zi Bai taught me a few things."

"She taught you. You learned."

Samira looked back at him.

A small smile appeared on her face.

"You really were paying attention."

"I was watching you even before we started fighting."

"You were complaining about my sword."

"I’m still jealous of it."

Samira started laughing.

"Idiot."

Strax smiled.

She leaned down and gave him a quick kiss.

When she tried to pull away, however, Strax wrapped an arm around her waist.

Samira raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"Didn’t you want to keep going?"

"I did."

"Then let’s keep going."

Before she could react, Strax rolled over and laid her on her back in the grass, bracing himself above her.

Samira let out a small cry of surprise.

"Hey!"

Strax smiled.

"I’ve got energy for plenty of things, especially having fun with my wife."

Samira stared at him.

Then she began to laugh.

"So you were pretending to be tired."

"I said I was tired of fighting."

"That’s not what you said."

"That’s what I meant."

Samira wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You’re a liar."

"Sometimes."

She pulled him closer.

"Then you’ll have to make it up to me."

Strax kissed her forehead.

"Make up for what?"

"All those times you watched me train without coming over to talk to me."

"You were busy."

"You could’ve interrupted."

"I thought your sword would get jealous."

Samira burst out laughing and gave his shoulder a light slap.

"Stop talking about that sword!"

Strax laughed and kissed her.

This time, Samira didn’t try to pull away. She held him tighter, returning the kiss as the tension left over from training gradually faded.

When they parted, she kept looking at him for a few seconds.

"Do you really think I’ve improved?"

Strax nodded.

"I do."

"Enough to face you?"

"You just forced me to take a fight seriously while using a weapon I barely know."

"That doesn’t answer the question."

Strax smiled.

"You still have a lot to learn."

Samira made a face.

"I knew you were going to say that."

"But you’re on the right track."

She remained thoughtful for a few seconds.

Then she smiled again.

"Then tomorrow, we’ll train again."

Strax let out a sigh.

"Samira..."

"With swords."

"You’re not going to give up on that?"

"No."

She pointed at the gauntlet.

"And without that damned thing."

Strax looked at his own arm.

Then at her.

"I’ll think about it."

"Strax."

"Fine. No gauntlet."

Samira smiled, satisfied.

"Great."

She pulled him in for another kiss.

The sword remained forgotten on the grass a few meters away from them. For the first time in several days, Samira seemed in no hurry to pick it up again.

And Strax, who had started that afternoon complaining that he was losing his wife’s attention to a sword, finally stopped thinking about the Gauntlet of Darkness for a while.