A fire burned in her eyes. She was dressed in a black uniform, and a dark grey cloak fluttering with the wind.
“Don’t hold back, Induen. Fight like your life depends on it,” she spoke with palpable excitement in her voice.
Midhir nodded, grasping the hilt of his blade. He planted his feet firmly on the ground, steadying himself and ensuring his balance. He knew little about Instructor Soraya, but her stance and the blazing fire in her dark blue eyes told him that she meant every word she spoke.
The wind blew to his face, tugging at his hair and clothes.
Instructor Soraya raised her sword to her chin, blade facing up as she saluted him. As soon as he did the same, her lips parted with a smile. She bent her knees, lowering her sword to her right side. Her torso turned slightly to the side as she grasped the hilt of her blade with both hands.
“Alistair, please initiate the match,” her voice was cold and calm like a frozen lake, but the fire in her eyes betrayed that image.
The young noble stepped forward. He took a deep breath, then shouted “Begin!”
In the blink of an eye, Instructor Soraya dashed towards him. He could barely follow her with his eyes as she crossed the courtyard. She seemingly appeared before him within a heartbeat of Alistair speaking.
He just had the time to raise his blade. The cling of metal hitting metal sounded as he felt the strength of her blow. His muscles ached as he withstood the hit, somehow keeping his balance. Sparks flew in the air, and immediately his instincts screamed at him to move away.
He pushed back with all the strength he could muster, forcing her to take a single step back, then leapt back just in time as the crystal embedded into her sword’s guard brightly shone.
Flames danced on her blade as she followed him without hesitation. Every swing of hers forced him to either block or retreat several steps. The flames roared on her blade, and each time their swords crossed, he felt the flames reaching for his face.
Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as he desperately tried to fend her off. His arms had begun to ache from simply blocking her strikes. She was so strong, almost inhumanly so. Every strike he blocked took a toll, and every moment passing made his chances of winning even lower.
It felt like his only chance was to wait for a mistake, but… that wasn’t right. This wasn’t Willow or Alistair, this was an experienced swordswoman, someone so far above him in terms of experience, power, and mastery of her weapon. She wasn’t going to make any mistakes he could exploit. Not after having scolded him about it before.
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His jaw tightened as he deflected an overhead blow, letting the blade harmlessly slide over his. No, he couldn’t wait for a mistake. He needed to try something, use what little experience he had.
He put some distance between them with a few quick backsteps. He tightened the grasp of his right hand on the hilt of his blade but let go of it with his left hand.
He couldn’t match her mastery with the sword, or her speed and strength. But there was one thing she hadn’t made much use of – the gem embedded in the guard of her sword. She wasn’t using that augment properly, the only resonance she cast was to light her sword on fire. It looked dangerous, and definitely made him mind his hair and clothes, but aside from it, it was hardly a threat.
As she dashed at him, he tugged at the thread of power within.
His vision blurred for a split second as he felt power well up within him. It rushed towards his blade, into the crimson gem embedded into the hilt. The short blade of the sword burst into flames, which almost immediately began to gather at its tip.
Instructor Soraya’s smile froze. She stopped her dash halfway through. Her lips parted in surprise, and her eyes widened slightly as she quickly regained her balance.
This was the one and only chance he was going to get. Summoning his remaining strength, he broke into a dash. Holding his blade with one hand, he controlled the flames with the other. They parted from the blade, flying towards her like a thrown javelin.
Instructor Soraya’s eyes widened further. She ducked under the flames, then rose back up to meet his blade, only to notice the returning flames at the very last second.
She kicked the ground, leaping up, above the flames, above Midhir’s head, she rose several meters high in the air before landing a few dozen steps away from him, sword in one hand, dagger in the other.
“That surprised me,” she breathed out with a wide smile. “Not many people can do that,” she was panting, the fire on her sword had gone out, and the pommel of her dagger – a gem, embedded in it – was glowing green.
Midhir smirked. At least he made her exert some effort. “Thanks?” He wiped the sweat off his brows.
Instructor Soraya planted her feet firmly on the ground. “Oh no,” she said with a cold voice. “Don’t thank me yet, I need to see just how well you can control that,“ she glanced at the flames floating around him.
The wind picked up, blowing strongly around them. It took him a few seconds to understand that it was her doing. The gem on the pommel of her dagger glowed brightly as the wind howled in his ears.
Eyes wide and jaw clenched, he took a few steps back in disbelief. How was she affecting such a large area with such a powerful resonance, only using a simple weapon augment?
She walked forward, her steps light as the winds swirled around her. “Alistair, this match will end in one minute,” As soon as those words left her mouth, she dashed forward, carried forth by the storm of her own making.
Their blades crossed once more, and Midhir felt a sharp pain on his cheek. The whirlwind caught a drop of red, but all he could focus on was the bloodthirsty eyes of Instructor Soraya.