"Is that woman really a soldier?"
Most of Ato's expression was hidden by his helmet. Otherwise, Riven would have noticed something was off.
As for her telling him to take responsibility, he'd treated it as a joke and hadn't paid it any mind. Ato was certain that kind of force wouldn't hurt her.
"Swordmaster, you know I've trained with these two daggers since I was little. How am I supposed to fight without them?" Laza said, looking aggrieved.
"Is that your idea of reflecting on your mistakes—making excuses?" Riven's expression was cool. "You never know what might happen on the battlefield. What if your weapon breaks or you lose it? The enemy won't care whether you have a weapon!"
"My knives haven't broken in over twenty years..." Laza muttered, but didn't argue further.
"Next, Leon!" Riven called another person forward.
The sparring ended sooner than expected. By the time Ato had knocked down all the soldiers there, the sun hadn't set yet.
Since he was there to spar with them, Ato naturally didn't beat them so badly right off the bat that they ended up clutching their stomachs on the ground. Instead, he gave them a couple of pointers.
Five more recruits joined during the session. While Ato sparred with them, Riven tested their mettle, but even with her holding back, no one could last two moves against her.
"Have you all realized where you fall short?" Riven asked, hands on her hips as she looked at the bruised veterans before her. She was once again astonished by Ato's strength.
"We're convinced, Swordmaster." Laza's attitude had completely changed. As the first soldier to be defeated, she'd watched Ato beat everyone else without breaking a sweat. Now she was a little afraid of him.
"That's all you took away from