CLANG!
Our sword clashes making a loud metallic sound…
The soft and cold gust of wind brushes of our body and the chill…
The serene night with moons watching over us as we exchange blows…
We are swinging our sword at each other for several minutes now and there’s no telling if I can ever land a hit on master, who moves differently than before and uses swift movements to dodge my sword with ease.
As my counter attack fails to make even a slight scratch, I always pull back immediately as master is giving no opening at all as his every movement is predetermined through my initial approach in the offense.
Not to mention, the discomfort my wrist will always experience whenever my swings are too hard or off from the mark. It sometimes hurt my shoulders causing a delay in my attacks.
CLANG!
Master is making a little to none signs of attacking as he dodges my swings with ease. Even if I run around in a circle or I spin around trying to make sleight attack, he always sees through me.
Thanks to my constant training with him, though, my stamina was able to keep up for a short duration of time. I also take the most opportunity to catch my breath and rest even for several seconds. I efficiently use blocking or changing the trajectory of his sword to avoid doing unnecessary movements which take up energy.
“Haa…Haaa….Haa…”
“What’s wrong? Tired already? You seem enthusiastic earlier, where’s that now?”
“Master… did anyone told you that you are a big jerk?”
“No, no one. I’m so popular with my other title that being called by someone a jerk will only embarrass them.”
“Haa… I see. Then, master, you are a jerk.”
“Your yapping is like a music to my ears!~”
“…”
“Anyway, I think that’s enough rest for you.”
“Geh…”
“On you guard!”
CLANG!
I should know better that master already knows of my plan to stall the battle to rest. He did entertain my attempt to an extent but that’s just him being lax about it.
But…
Enough with my half-hearted attack!
Closing my eyes again, I grip the handle of my sword tightly.
I need to be faster, stronger, and much wiser than ever.
My body moves faster regardless of what energy left in me. I am going to make a decisive attack right now so I will give it my all. I directed all of the intangible barrier senses to master that I can even feel the movement of each strand of his muscle. It kind of overloads my brain but I endure it.
I spin around consecutive times to and run around him in a really close proximity. Sure enough, master’s eye isn’t even trying to follow my movements. He just stands there waiting for my next strike.
Is this what they call mind’s eye?
Because I am overloading my brain with too much information from directing every sense of my intangible barrier, my head starts to throb painfully and blood starts to come out from my nose.
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I still endure it.
Master then made the first move making a sweep attack from his left side going around.
I dodge the attack by bending my body over and sliding my knees on the ground scraping it in the process. After my slide, I flung myself up launching my whole body on the air.
As I go to his direction, I spin my body mid-air even my trajectory is awfully horrible making slight cracking sounds in my shoulder and intense pain in my joints.
Guh!
Even with pain eroding my body, I didn’t stop my attempt to strike. As master already knew that I will attack in the air, he prepared to block my attack by shielding his body with the sword positioned horizontally.
I already knew he would do that so I hit the sword really hard!
Upon my sword landing on his, it created a faint blue light and sparks. A reaction made by this sword with magical enchantment.
CLANG!!!
His blocking was so lax that his grip from his sword was unfastened leaving him completely defenseless. My body felt the gravity and force upon landing but I still persevere to end this.
I forced my shoulder to defy the weight and make its way to master making an upward diagonal slash. Again, my shoulder this time didn’t just felt uncomfortable, but it’s pain that it feels like something is grinding my bone from inside.
But it’s all worth it as my attack is bound to land on master now.
“Oh! Isn’t that the human king?”
“Eh?”
As master said those words, I stopped my attack to turn around and look at Fon-nii.
…
He was not there…
Crap!
As I turn around again to look at master, he was already there and…
FLICK!
“Auu..!”
“Heh.”
I hold my forehead in pain as master flicks it.
Because he flicked it so hard, my head kind of flinched a bit from it.
I can’t believe it…
It was a feint…
I hold my forehead with my hands and look at master with protesting face and tears forming in the corners of my eyes because of his trickery.
“Buh… this is an honorable battle!”
“Pfft! Hahahaha!”
“What so funny? Gunununu…”
“You are such a simpleton! Believing an enemy like that! Hahaha! And you say honorable but you as you have noticed, I was just playing around.”
“Idiot! Jerk! Moron!”
“Hmmhmm!~ Keep it coming!~”
“Lecher of a Master! That’s why Violetta-nee is kind of angry to you!”
“Hey now! You’re already crossing the line! And that’s not the reason why she is mad at me!”
“Haaa…”
As I accepted this pathetic defeat, I plop myself into the grassy plains facing towards the starry night sky.
The pain from my earlier movements are now gone but somehow, as I recall it, it seems they are still there. My head starts to get dizzy as I overstep my limit in using my magic.
In the end, I failed to land another decisive hit on master. I have just been hurting myself all the time and nothing happened, but somehow, I have no regrets. I gave my all in this battle, even if it is a mock and I was just being toyed around.
Master quietly sit down beside me and looks at the sky too together with me.
“…”
“…”
“Master…”
“Hmm?”
“How did I do?”
“Terrible. All of your movements are rough, unrefined and readable. You just have a few patterns of attacks. I’ll just be plain about it, you totally suck.”
“Right…”
“…”
“Then…why?”
“…?”
“Why do you keep teaching me? Is it because I am part of your research? Experiment? Or something else?”
“Because you’re a special one…”
“…What does that mean?”
“I told you months ago, I already have conjectures of what you might be, but what you said tonight proved me correct.”
“Nivalis…”
“Yes… you are related to that goddess after all…”
“Tell me something about her…”
“There’s no problem telling you now I think.”
“…”
“As you may have heard, she is the goddess the descended that lands more than ten of thousands of years ago. She is the goddess who granted blessing to few and saved many through the chosen champions.”
“…”
“At that time, I was still young and pompous whelp at that time. I never met this goddess and I don’t remember really much from that time. I don’t even know her name yet at that time.”
“Eh? Master… but…how did you know about it?”
“Before that, let me show you something.”
“???”
As master utter those words, I make a glance to him as he summons his dimensional storage. He put his hand inside it and reaches out for something.
What he pulled inside of it is clothing…
“This is for you… a memento of being my apprentice.”
“This… is…?”
I stand up to receive it as he hands it over to me.
I unfold the clothing and what I saw is normal fabric clothes.
This includes a black top tank, a pair of fingerless long gloves and thigh-high socks. They all have a resemblance to each other, they are all jet black.
Now that I take a close look, it’s kind of gives an eerie aura…
“Try wearing the gloves…”
“Alright…”
As master suggests, I wear the fingerless long gloves on both my hands.
It’s loose… it’s terribly loose…
As I was thinking how it looks stupid on me, the gloves then tightened. Not so loose that there’s a gap but not so tight that it feels uncomfortable, in fact, I feel like I am wearing this for a really long time now.
I can feel something from it. I just can’t put a word to describe it but I know that something changed.
“Master… these clothes…”
“It’s… the clothes I’ve been working on for weeks now… I need to correct it specs so it would perfectly fit on you. I also need to adjust its power output and features that it can grant you. That’s why I beat you up to observe the rate of your regeneration, the speed, and power your limbs can exert, the external force your body can take, lastly, the way how your body recovers from cuts and slashes.”
“You mean… the reason you train me that way is for these?!”
“Yes… I even convinced your maid to be involved too since she seems experienced in combat. I as your opponent is too much so I need someone who is a little bit farther from your ability.”
“How did you even convinced her…?”
“I threatened her. Is what I like to say, but, when I said that it is for you to get stronger, she agreed. It seems she is rooting for you too and would do anything for your growth. That woman… she even presented her own life to teach you something valuable. Treasure her.”
“I see… Milin…”
“…”
“Then… about these gloves…these clothing… I felt something from them…”
“You already noticed it?”
“Yes… as I touched it… I felt something from it…”
“Yes, as you said. Do you remember Alstroemeria’s dress right?”
“She told me that it doesn’t tear apart whatever movements she does. It is so resilient that I also serve as strong cloth for defense. I think it can even beat a steel armor for its defense it can provide. It also has self-cleaning abilities. If I remember correctly, it’s called dragon fiber right?”
“Correct. A dragon fiber is processed from a dragon scale and weaved magically to grant magical properties. The magical properties that it can give will depend on how powerful that dragon you got the scale from. Truth be told, Alstroemeria’s dragon fiber dress came from my own scales you know.”
“Ah?!”
“Yeah… when we met a year back then… when she tried to kill me… well… that’s forgotten already…”
“Is that the reason you feel a bit inferior to her?”
“Having our scale broken or taken like that is a big shame for us dragons. Well… in my case, I am really not that aggressive anymore when it comes to that. It’s just that, I can only give a suitable respect for someone strong.”
“Ahh… so that’s why… Then… how about this one?”
“This dragon fiber here you see… I acquire it thousand years ago. This… came from my brother… Krothgir, the Black Dragon warlord…”
“…”
“I killed him… because of his attempt to destroy the Rainforest of Healing, the land of the fairy kins. I killed him, with the help of a summoned hero name Astlan Lionheart.”
“Astlan…!!!”