As the blonde-haired young man named Kendrick spun around, swinging his massive broadsword, his eyes landed on his opponent Lucas. As Lucas charged at him, now reunited with his hidden blade, Kendrick ducked under the massive sword’s attack as he entered Kendrick’s range. Before Kendrick could block, dodge, or retaliate, Lucas thrusted his hidden blade forward, piercing Kendrick in the left shoulder.
“The young man who had been putting up a façade could do nothing but giggle as he watched his second-strike land – first a slash across the chest, now a piercing attack. Yes, this was good,” he thought, “very good. That makes two strikes I’ve landed upon you now, you son of a bitch.”
Kendrick was stunned for just a moment, his mind going back to the second phase of the exam when the purple-haired girl named Amethyst had pierced his right shoulder. It was almost comical how both his shoulders had been wounded within a single day, but Kendrick didn’t have time to waste on such thoughts. He pushed them out of his mind as he focused once again on the battle and his opponent before him.
Now that his head was back in the game, Kendrick lifted his massive sword with his right hand, preparing to thrust it down. Seeing that Kendrick was putting his counterattack into motion, Lucas decided to spring into action himself. He immediately pulled the pierced blade out of Kendrick’s shoulder. Doing so made the blonde-haired young man shiver in pain. Then Lucas brought his own sword down, piercing Kendrick again, but this time stabbing into his foot.
After the first stab, he smiled like a madman, then stabbed at the foot over and over again. Sadistic chuckles left Lucas’ lips as he stabbed his opponent. Hot pain burned Kendrick’s foot; he felt as if his foot was engulfed in flames. He clenched his teeth as he fought through the pain. As he finally lifted his sword, then brought it down fast, but his one-armed opponent was too fast.
Before Kendrick’s attack could even reach him, Lucas had jumped away, dodging the attack. Then, after a brief moment, he ran full speed at Kendrick. His smile grew as Lucas thought, “That makes seven, I’ve landed seven blows on you now. It’s over.”
Kendrick tried to swing his blade at Lucas, but he was moving too slow. Before he even got the chance to attack, Lucas thrust his blade forward. The hidden blade nicked Kendrick’s right shoulder. Then the blonde-haired young man swatted at Lucas as if he was a fly, but the young man simply evaded the pathetic attempt of an attack. Then he bounced around his opponent for a while, then slashed at Kendrick again, this time cutting him across the back. “That makes nine,” Lucas thought.
As Kendrick swung his sword at him with one hand, the young man ducked under the attack. Then slashed at Kendrick’s right arm that was holding the massive blade, “And that’s ten,” Lucas exclaimed. He came closer into Kendrick’s range; his opponent wasn’t about to throw a punch. But Lucas stomped hard on his injured foot, which made Kendrick pause. With a small opening, Lucas stabbed Kendrick in the side. The moment the blade entered his skin, Kendrick’s eyes bulged as sweat poured from his head. “That’s eleven,” Lucas thought.
As he pulled his weapon out of Kendrick, getting ready to stab him again, “And this makes twelve,” Lucas declared. But before the blade could harm Kendrick once more, the blonde-haired young man roared. He took a massive step forward as he swung his blade with all his might, even with one hand. Lucas sidestepped the attack then propelled his sword forward, his blade stabbing into Kendrick’s right arm.
When it was pierced all the way through, Lucas was filled with joy. “That makes twelve,” he exclaimed. After landing his twelfth strike, Lucas pulled his sword out of Kendrick’s arm and put a great bit of distance between the two. Not to give himself time to breathe, no. Lucas didn’t think he needed that. He simply wanted enough distance to truly marvel at his work.
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After Lucas’ onslaught of attacks, Kendrick used his sword to keep himself from falling on his face. He was hunched over, using his sword as a makeshift cane as he breathed heavy breaths. “He’s done for,” Lucas thought as he smiled a wide smile, no longer bothered that the mask he had been wearing had fallen off.
“I might have overdone it. I only needed a single strike, maybe two. But now I know for a fact that the poison I coated my sword in is taking its effect,” Lucas had the look of the devil in his eyes as he chuckled, watching Kendrick fall to his knees. “Yes, yes, I maybe overdid it. A single slash is enough to kill a behemoth elephant, but twelve? Oh, twelve is enough to burst his heart. It will make him bleed from his eyes as he chokes to death. In his own blood,” Lucas chuckled to himself as he watched the downed Kendrick. “Too bad for you, you would have made a decent recruit.” After a minute passed, Kendrick suddenly lifted his head. When Kendrick lifted his head up fast, Lucas got excited as he thought, “Oh, here it comes,” but that smile he had dimmed as he saw his opponent’s face. There was no blood, no blood pouring from his eyes. He seemed normal. The look on his face was one of someone waking up suddenly from a nap.
Lucas was confused. All he could ask himself was, “What is going on?” But he wouldn’t have long to think about it because Kendrick immediately shot forward, grabbing his sword. As he did, Lucas was puzzled. “What the…”
But he wouldn’t have time to finish that thought. In no time, Kendrick was right upon him. He swung his sword with both his hands with faster speed than anything he displayed before. It was so quick that Lucas barely had any time to dodge. The young man jumped backwards, but before he even landed, Kendrick had rocketed forward, already readjusting his blade, swinging it down.
This time, the moment Lucas’s feet touched the ground, he brought his blade up quickly to block the blow. The two swords collided, and Lucas could feel himself being pushed down. As the young man stared at his opponent, his mind raced uncontrollably. How? Why? This isn’t right. Why isn’t he dead yet? Why’s he still standing? Why’s he still fighting?
Lucas began to quickly struggle, trying to hold Kendrick back. The blonde-haired young man’s strength was unmatched by most, but it was even more difficult because Lucas was doing it with one hand. As he was pushed down more, he had to do something, or he would die. So, he took a gamble and kicked Kendrick in the head. The attack threw off Kendrick’s attack, which gave Lucas a small amount of breathing room. He immediately took advantage of it and slashed his blade at Kendrick, but without even trying, the young man dodged the attack. Then, he thrusted his uninjured foot forward, slamming it into Lucas’s stomach. Lucas felt as if he was stabbed as Kendrick released a flurry of attacks at Lucas. As the young man did his best to evade or parry, he grew more and more confused. How is this possible? He should be dead right now. But he’s fighting at his best. No, he’s fighting even better than he did before. How? How is this possible?
Lucas screamed these questions in his mind, but he was given no answer. As Kendrick prepared to slash at Lucas again, the one-handed man felt backed into a corner. “I can’t keep dodging forever. I have to end this now. But how?” he pondered. Then, a light bulb went off in his head, and that familiar sinister smile returned, placing itself proudly on his face.
Before Kendrick commenced the swing of his sword, Kendrick threw what seemed like a punch at his opponent, but it was a strange way he did it with his left arm, the bloody stump that was his left arm. It was still bleeding profusely the entire time, and when Lucas threw what seemed like a punch, blood was flung into Kendrick’s eyes. The moment it did, Kendrick couldn’t help but close his eyes, and when he did, his attack was halted.
Lucas chuckled as he pushed forward. “This is it. This is my final chance to beat him.” He jumped then swiped his right leg out, kicking Kendrick in the neck. The attack seemed to throw the blonde-haired young man off. Smiling wide, Lucas got his blade ready. He was going to thrust it forward, piercing Kendrick’s neck. When he saw his opportunity, all he thought was, “This is over.”
But he would never get the chance to land his thirtieth and final strike because, seemingly out of nowhere, Kendrick grabbed Lucas’s leg hard with his left hand. The sneaky young man’s leg was trapped firm in Kendrick’s grip. He thought he would break it, but soon he would think differently. As he saw Kendrick with his eyes still closed, lifted his sword with his right hand, Lucas looked at the sword, then at his opponent, then at his leg. He was connecting the dots, putting together the pieces of the puzzle. He knew what was about to happen, and he knew he couldn’t stop it. In less than a second, with one swift motion, Kendrick brought his massive blade down and cut off Lucas’s right leg. With blood spurting from two wounds, Lucas’s body hit the ground with a loud thud. But he didn’t feel the impact at the moment. He didn’t feel a thing. His body was in shock. All he could do was lie on his back as he watched Kendrick lift his sword upwards for the final time. As he gazed at the young man, he saw that Kendrick’s eyes were reopened, even though specks of blood still surrounded them. Lucas watched as Kendrick brought his sword down, ready to split him in half. As he watched the weapon come closer and closer, all Lucas could think about was how he was correct. It was over. The battle was over. He just didn’t expect to be on the losing side.