[color=ed1c24][h2]Fleuri Jodeau[/h2][/color]

With Tyaethe's blow having struck Klaus, the sparring match was over, with the expected outcome.  He looked down, too shamed to look either Tyaethe or Klaus in the eye.

"What would you have us do, then, Sir Tyaethe? he asked, raising his visor and looking up at the immortal paladin.  "How might we better ourselves to become worthy of our titles?  By what standard would you desire us to live up to?"

This had been a humbling experience.  Defeat was not new to Fleuri, but before, he could always take heart with the knowledge that his foes were human, just like him.  What stuck with him this time, however, was the realization of how disadvantaged he really was compared to the sort of supernatural beings that the Iron Roses may be expected to oppose.  There were others like Tyaethe out there, supernatural beings unrestrained by the physical and temporal limitations of human mortality, and he was completely unqualified to protect Thaln from them.  He knew only how to fight men, not supernatural beings and monsters.

Fleuri felt a pang of regret over having not become a Reonite paladin.  While some among their numbers may place too much faith in the fallacious idea of a "fair fight", they at least knew how to combat supernatural threats.