Lloyd

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 Here it comes!

Which direction. The left? The right? Lloyd swayed from side to side. Eyeing his opponent. Ready to pivot at a moments notice. His stick is now all but weightless. All that form training is actually paying off. He smirked to himself.

 His opponent rushed him head on. Lloyd readied himself by planting his feet squarely apart, bracing for a heavy blow. Scenarios filled his head. His opponent had a low stance and, an almost like, crouching run. Only two possible actions then. A low cut from bot to top. Or slash from their right. From his left then. Only two possible. Two. 

No. 

His father taught him better. When you deduce the odds of only a limited action of possibilities, you are only lowering your own perception of the battlefield. Blinding yourself to the bigger picture. A self-handicap of your own making. What else is there? He can't make a slash from the left. He's carrying it on his right side. So that's not a possible action. From above?...No. With his stance that would have no momentum. A weak hit opening itself up for counterattacks. 

What is it? Lloyd thought furiously. 

Lloyd had no more time. He brought his "sword" up for a block on his left side. For himself, to call his stick anything but a 'sword' hurt his pride. His opponent reached him on the left with a 'by the book' slash. No trickery whatsoever. Their sticks clashed for an instant.

A blink of an eye.

That was all his opponent needed.

A second stick, albeit small, came from the right. Heading straight for his temple. Getting hit with these 'sticks' on the head was not on his to-do list. They hurt. A lot. He should know. His father had hit him enough times for pain to be an intimacy. 

It's too close! Lloyd thought immediately. 

Options. Try to tilt his head away to dodge it. 

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No, that won't work. At best he'll be grazed by it and at worst it will make the angle even dangerous. Maybe poke his eye out even. And he loved his eye right where it was. How else was he going to get a date for the upcoming ball. He already knew who he was going to ask. Miss Penelope Gard-

No! I'm getting distracted.

A whole body pivot then. Change the angle of himself to position his 'sword' to intercept. Grazing his arm is a lot better than grazing his face.

Lloyd slightly lifted his right foot to try a pivot to his left. His opponent's stick came within a breadth of his face and cut across his arm. 

Faster! 

Changing his stance from a defensive one to an offensive one, he pivot all the way around turning his back to his opponent briefly before bringing his own 'sword' for a mid blow. RIght before the moment of impact he loosened his arms to lessen the strike. 

A clean hit.

"Winner!" Arthur yelled. "Lloyd with three points!"

Lloyd exhaled audibly.

"Thought...I had you there," huffed Tim. "Phew! That stings." He dropped his sticks and grabbed his side. Collapsing onto the dirt and laying back.

"And you nearly did too," Arthur gladly praised. "Very creative useage you had there Tim."

Tim brightened at the compliment. He was the same age as Lloyd, but no matter how hard he tried he was always one step away. It was frustrating, but also humbling at the same time. He knew that he was one of, if not, the best student his age Arthur had in the dukedom. He wasn't being conceited. It was the truth. 

But there was always someone better. He had a long way to go.

"Yea," breathed Lloyd. "Almost...had me there...too." He breathed in again. That was close. Too close. Tim hadn't trained for as long as he did, but out of most of the other students, he was the only one that kept him on his toes. Tim had a way of surprising him. He looked toward where Tim was laying down clutching his side. There were two sticks? He just remembered the instant when they clashed there was a second stick coming for his face. 

"Hey!" Lloyd yelled across what seemed like they were leagues apart when they were but a spitting distance away. 

"Yea?" Tim picked up his head from his side to look at Lloyd.

"Why do you have two 'swords'? And when did you even grab the second one?"

"I grabbed it before you showed up. His highness allowed it." Tim grinned.

"Right...that sounds like him." Lloyd sulked. "Maybe next time why not just have random students ambush me on the way here as well." 

"Actually I did pose the idea..."

Lloyd stopped his heavy breathing to glare at him. 

"Joking....of course..."

"Right. " Lloyd muttered. "Joking."