Sunlight cascaded through the window that made up the arena’s roof, gently lighting up the wooden floor of the room. In the center of the room stood two people, a man, and a woman, facing each other. To their side was a rack containing two wooden swords, nicked multiple times with fractures throughout. The amount of use they had seen in the past six months was more than they had ever seen before that.

“Let’s start with a simple spar today Nic. Gotta test just how much you’ve been training these past two weeks since our last session.” The woman was the first one to speak between the two of them. Yuuki Ito, the master or teacher between the two. She has spent the past nine months teaching the young man in front of her how to fight with a sword. Like any other day where the two of them trained together, she was wearing simple pants, a loose-fitting white shirt, and her almost signature black beanie covering the top of her head.

“Um, ah! Can we actually, uh, try a spar with actual swords today?” Her student, Nic Verilo, spoke up as he raised his right hand to stop her. Like Yuuki, he was wearing regular pants, though he had a light jacket over his shirt. In his left hand, he had a sheathed sword which he slightly lifted as he asked his question.

“I don’t think that’s-”

“I know you never duel anyone with actual swords but please, can we spar with them today?” Nic took a step closer, cutting off Yuuki mid-sentence.

“Why do you want to spar with swords this much?” Her question was a whisper, barely audible even to Nic only a few feet away from her. He sighed and gave a small shrug as he took a step back.

“Look, I just want to get a feel for what it’s like using an actual sword. The weight is all different that’s gonna affect how I fight, isn’t it?” Nic unsheathed the sword as he was talking and lightly moved it around. The small gem on the hilt of the sword softly glowed green, revealing the weapon’s true nature as a Magic Weapon, capable of using magic-based attacks alongside cutting, slashing, and piercing.

It had been a few days since the two of them and Aria had gone to get the swords from Sora the smith.

Yuuki said nothing as she looked at him.

“If we are doing this, it will be a one hit duel, no fatal attack. Got it?”

Before Nic realized it, Yuuki was standing next to one of the arena’s walls. She slowly reached out and grabbed a long, slightly curved sword off of the wall. He looked at the sword but didn’t recognize what kind of sword it was or where it originated from.

“What kind of sword is that?”

“It’s a katana. They are a type of sword forged in my homeland. If we’re to battle with sharp blades, then I shall face you using this. Prepare yourself, Nic.” Yuuki pointed the sword at Nic as she stepped back into the arena proper.

No words needed to be said as Nic threw his sword’s sheath to the side and got ready for the fight. They now stood on opposite sides of the ring, on guard and waiting for the other to make the first strike. He stood with a standard mid-guard stance while she held a high stance that he had never seen before. Neither side moved as they watched their opponents.

Nic tried to slow his breathing into a steady rhythmic pace as he stood there. This was his first “real” battle with Yuuki. Every time before this had been with wooden swords, but this one was different, this time they had sharp blades. Even if it was a single-hit duel, that one hit would result in actual blood loss and not simple bruises.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

Nic could hear his own heartbeat as it gradually sped up. His breathing plan had already been thwarted by his excitement for the duel.

Ba-dump ba-dump. Ba-dump ba-dump.

His heartbeat continued to get faster. Sweat began slowly trickling down his forehead, nearly distracting him with how slow it was moving.

Caw.

The moment that started the duel was a caw from a crow that flew above the roof of the arena. In the blink of an eye, Yuuki had the point of her katana on the floor of the arena. A second later, Nic began his rush toward her. However, something had wrapped itself around one of his legs, stopping him before he could even begin.

As Nic looked down at his trapped leg, he found a vine growing out of the floor and wrapping itself around his ankle. Quickly swinging his sword down, He cut off the vine. But it was too late. As he looked back towards Yuuki, she was already on top of him, swinging with her katana. Unable to do anything else, he flung himself backward and downwards to the floor.

The gambit worked and Nic barely dodged the cut, and after tumbling a few feet, he was immediately back up. This time his sword was ready and in front of him, barely blocking the next slash as it came in.

Yuuki was always holding back.

It took blocking a single hit for Nic to realize that one simple fact. Every time they had fought before, every spar, every duel, every single time she had held back significantly. Her true strength was far greater than what he had thought. The sound of metal clashing continued to ring out as the master and student clashed blades time and time again. Every block, parry, and riposte that he managed continued to weaken his arms. It wouldn’t be long until he would be unable to even hold his sword anymore. He had to go on the offensive. The only way to do that was to use his sword’s magic ability to hope for a hit.

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Nic jumped back, creating a bit of distance between the two combatants. As he did, he slashed through the air three times. With each slash, his sword made a blade of condensed air that shot toward Yuuki. Invisible to a human’s naked eye, the attack should be unavoidable.

“Huh?!” In front of Nic’s eyes, with inhumane speed and feline-like agility, Yuuki dodged every single one of the wind blades.

Yuuki is the greatest swordswoman of the generation. A saying that Nic had heard daily for nearly the past year. He had always heard it. But now he knew what it truly meant. There was nothing he could do. The gap between them was simply too great. Nic's guard faltered, and the sword in his hands wavered. His hands were shaking as he thought about the gap between them.

“I-”

“Get a hold of yourself. You think you can just chicken out of an actual fight like that?” Nic’s head snapped up. There was a glint in Yuuki’s eyes that hadn’t been there before. She held her katana horizontally at her waist. A clear sign that she was going in for a horizontal strike. He sucked in his breath.

“This is my final strike Nic. Block it and you win the duel. Don’t and I win.” Nic heard her but couldn’t process what she was saying. There was no way that he could block the attack. There was no path to victory for him.

Looking at Yuuki again, Nic was about to simply give up when he noticed something that was so small, most people would see it as insignificant. She was going all out. But she had to focus on not killing him. Because of that, she lowered her guard in one area. In every fight she had been in that he had seen, Yuuki always guarded her head. But at this very moment, she wasn’t. Her katana was getting ready to strike his midsection. It was not in a place to deflect any ranged attacks against her head. Especially if she was already committed to an attack.

“I won’t give up ‘till the end, Yuuki. I promise you that.” Giving his statement, Nic readied himself. His sword was raised, the hilt parallel to his eyes. His right leg was back while his left leg was forward. Yuuki smiled as she readjusted her own stance.

Ten meters stood between them.

Yuuki was the first to move, launching herself at Nic.

7 meters.

Nic began to move his sword forward, twisting his body with it to give it more force.

5 meters.

Yuuki began to swing her sword. At the same moment, the jewel on the pommel of Nic’s sword radiated green. A small condensed bit of air, less than a centimeter in diameter, formed at the tip of his sword.

4 meters.

The condensed speck of air shot forward.

Nic fell to his knees, his sword clanging to the ground in front of him. He was so tired, he couldn’t even stand anymore. Yuuki fell backward hitting the ground in front of Nic, her sword still in her hand. Nic didn’t have a single cut on him. Yuuki had one. Her signature beanie had been blown off by the speck of air. In its place were two feline ears. The left one had a nick at its base, brand new and slowly trickling blood.

“I… I won!?”

Nic relaxed as he fell onto his butt. His chest heaved as he struggled to steady his breathing.

Not only was he shocked that he won, but he was shocked at what was on top of Yuuki’s head. And he wasn’t the only one.

“Nic!”

“Yuuki!”

Two female voices cut in as Kiara and Sarah rushed to Nic’s side. He wasn’t sure how long they had been watching, but he was glad to accept Sarah’s help standing up.

Kiara stood in front of them, staring at Yuuki with a stupefied expression on her face.

Yuuki, for her part, was dazedly patting her head, trying to figure out why she couldn’t feel the beanie she always wore. It took her a few minutes before she finally realized where it had gone. When she looked at the three of them in front of her, the two feline ears flattened, almost like it was in embarrassment.

Before any of them could say something, Yuuki leaped to her feet and ran out of the hall as fast as she possibly could.

“Yuuki!”

Kiara was the first one to run after her, calling out at the same time.

“Nic, can you stand on your own?”

Sarah, who had been propping Nic up asked him as she slowly stepped away from him. When he gave her a nod of his head, telling her he could, she fully stepped away and quickly moved towards the entrance to the hall.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll catch up!”

Nic called out to her, telling her to get going. If there was anyone who had a chance at catching up to Yuuki, it was Sarah and not Kiara.

After Sarah disappeared as well, Nic walked over to the sheath he had thrown on the ground before the duel. Picking it up, he slid his sword into it before slinging it over his back. After that, he walked over to an identically sheathed sword that had a pitch-black gem instead of a green one in it. He swung that one onto his back as well.

Looking around for the sheath to Yuuki’s blade, he saw that the training hall was empty. He didn’t think that she had had time to grab the sheath before she ran, but apparently, she did.

With nothing left in the room, Nic began his jog to try and find the other three. His legs were still burning from the duel, so a light jog was the best he could do. He was guided by the sounds of Kiara and Sarah yelling after Yuuki.

Eventually, he found Kiara leaning against a door to one of the university's many towers. She was breathing heavily as sweat covered her entire face. When Nic caught up to her, she pointed to the door leading to the tower.

“She’s… up there…”

Nic leaned in the door and looked up. There was a spiraling staircase leading to the top of the tower, nearly twenty mer high. Looking back at Kiara, Nic knew that she wouldn’t be able to make it all the way up by herself.

He grabbed her hand, causing her to yelp in surprise. Nic dragged her along with him. He was determined to have her there at the top as well. It took them a few minutes as Kiara had to pause and catch her breath at regular intervals but they finally made it to the top of the tower.

Sarah was waiting for them by the door, and took Kiara from Nic, letting her rest on one of her shoulders.

Standing in front of them, leaning up against the wall that marked the edge of the tower, was Yuuki. This tower was one of the highest points in all of Sanum. Because of how high it was, it was easy for the wind to pick up. Yuuki’s hair was flowing in the wind currently passing through.

Her feline ears perked up as she heard the door close, and the cat tail that had been swishing back and forth stopped in fear.

“Yuuki…?”

Nic took a step forward as he said her name. He heard her take a sharp breath in.

“...”