Nari tightly stared down Yi Xiao as she held her wooden sword tighter than she had ever before. Yi Xiao gently walked towards her with slow steady steps with an echoing beat and ever-growing pressure. A sweat gland broke down Nari’s seemingly calm and composed expression as Yi Xiao entered fighting range.
It had been quite a lot time since Nari had last used the sword. As the last time she did so was three weeks ago before she began her great preparation to study for her final exams. So with a tight and firm grip over the sword, Nari would tightly hold her sword in front of her in a vertical stance as Yi Xiao was the first to attack.
With a raging piercing strike, Nari saw it coming and with the sword in her hands, used the sides of her wooden sword to throw to counter thrust. It seemed that Nari’s counter was by all means inferior to Yi Xiao’s casual combo of thrusting slashes but the fierceness behind Yi Xiao's blows quickly dissipate as she jumped away from Nari before chuckling with a smirk running across her face.
"Your counters are surprisingly effective at dispelling my attacks at it turns the trajectory of my attacks while dissipating whatever force goes back to you."
Nari smiled back as as that same burst of sweat streaked down to her eyebrows.
“There's more!"
Nari charged towards Yi Xiao with Erin rushing towards Yi Xiao from behind her and with a thrust towards Yi Xiao, the attack would h-
Yi Xiao vanished as Nari and Erin’s attacks would collide with Yi Xiao appearing beside Noah.
“Hey. I’m over here.”
Yi Xiao chuckled before turning to Noah with a look of confusion.
“You know you can also fight as well. So don’t be here all alone by yourself.”
With a firm slap on his shoulder’s Noah shook up before taking up his wooden blade and thrusting at Yi Xiao who had side stepped the blow.
“Too obvious.”
Yi Xiao sighed off the attack. Yi Xiao glanced to her side with a look of confusion as Erin thrusted towards Nari. With the slave suddenly attacking her master, Yi Xiao rushed off from Noah to involve herself in the fiery battle happening here.
“And what’s this all about?”
“Nari promised to pay me in ice cream a long time ago! But she didn’t want to do so! So I will have to settle the score against her!”
“Hey! I never promised you ice cream! And you still owe me 500 Won from last week which you wasted at the arcade!”
“If you want it, come and fight for it.”
Erin reached for her pocket and showed off a 500 Won coin and Nari struck first with a vertical strike that Erin easily predicted and countered with a horizontal slash and a kick to Nari’s legs tripping her over.
“Is it alright if she uses her feet?”
Yi Xiao turned to Nari who had fallen onto the ground with a slightly dirtied face. Her face inflated with air before puffing it out as she couldn’t help but feel some degree of growing resentment against Erin the Ice-Cream stealer.
“It’s fine. Hunting is a very brutal world so, it’s natural for people to do everything that they can in a fight even if it would be normally counted a foul. And besides, Nari’s my princess so I won’t push the line when fighting against her.”
“Right…”
Yi Xiao’s words awkwardly trailed as she continued to watch the battle play out before her with Erin dashing towards Nari who slashed with a horizontal slash, forcing a tear on the sleeve of Erin’s shirt. Erin glanced at the slash before sighing.
“I just bought this shirt!”
“And you took it from my closet!”
Yi Xiao sighed. She didn’t even know who was telling the truth between the two girls. But it was clear that having a close yet silly relationship like that of Erin and Nari would have been something pretty interesting and perhaps she could raise the two of these young girls as students.
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Yi Xiao then turned to Noah who shook up as a face of displeasure ran across his face.
‘And another one. So I could have three kids to teach how to use the sword properly.'‘
Yi Xiao commented with a haughty chuckle despite also being a kid like the three that she had identified…
Nari pointed her blade towards Erin and struck with a swift thrust that was so quick and fast that Erin couldn’t move her blade in time as she had been preoccupied with counter Nari’s previous thrust with a horizontal strike; resulting in her chin facing a brutal strike by Nari’s sword. An exhausted look ran down Nari’s face as she turned to Yi Xiao who walked up to them while Erin held her chin in pain.
“Congrats. You beat her."
Yi Xiao said as she turned to the two and walked closer towards them
“The two of you did pretty well. But rest up because now that I’ve seen what you are capable of. I’d like to fight all of you together!”
Yi Xiao then turned around to face Noah.
“And that includes you too Noah.”
Noah shook up before nodding meekly.
“So in the mean time, drink some water and rest and discuss the strategies that you will doing in order to defeat me.”
“But you are so strong so it’s not like we will be capable of defeating you to begin with!”
Erin protested with a look of concern causing Yi Xiao to chuckle.
“I’ll hold back and the circumstances for your victory is landing a good strike on my skin. If any one of you guys do that, I’ll consider it your victory. You will have 15 minutes to rest for now and 10 minutes to fight me. If you fail to attack my skin before the passing of the 10 minute mark. I have won.”
“But what happens when either of us wins?”
Nari asked and Yi xiao turned to the concerned shifting eyes of the other two.
“Well if I lose, the three of you get to make a request to me and I’ll have to comply with it, and if I win, I’ll make requests out from you three.”
Everyone nodded to Yi Xiao. It was a more than fair deal. Noah then approached Yi Xiao with his sword held firmly in his hands in a defensive position.
"May I test out your strength?"
“Alright. I won’t bully you that badly since we are friends and since I’ve already bullied you before.”
Noah nodded with a look of shame across his face as he recalled the events of the early morning before Yi Xiao slowly and steadily closed the distance between them. Once in that five-meter range of combat, Yi Xiao slashed her blade in a strong vertical strike which Noah furiously parried.
While he had parried the blow, he couldn’t help but worry as he felt the entire blow reverberating throughout his entire body.
‘Yi Xiao’s attack was strong and heavy. It’s a lot like my brother’s fists but unlike her, my brother is so much more vicious than this. But still, I shouldn’t lose track of her actions nor should I get overconfident. Because if I even make one mistake, I could lose this battle dearly.’
Noah sighed to himself before cranking his neck to the side. Raising his right arm over his body and lowering the rest of his body.
“A fencing position?”
Nari commented as she stared at Noah’s odd choice of form. Despite the fact that she had known him for so little, Nari held faith in Noah’s decisions and perhaps this would be necessary to hold off the menace that was Yi Xiao.
“Yeah, fencing. I’ve never fought a fencer before so this is my first battle. Though, oddly, you would use such a stance that you aren’t proficient with.”
Yi Xiao glanced at Noah’s shaky hands and feet.
“And to add your physique isn't the best for fencing because you are a shortie and you have short arms. Are you trying to imitate someone else?”
Noah stared at Yi Xiao who trusted her blade right towards her in a quick and obvious strike. In response to the rapid thrust, Noah quickly counter struck and neutralized Yi Xiao’s bold and obvious strike.
“Maybe I was wrong about what I said. Though I doubt you could keep it up for any longer.”
Yi Xiao smiled before continuing to thrust toward Noah while he continued to parry again and again. With each and every strike, it was becoming clearer that Yi Xiao was by all means a better fighter than Noah as well as both Nari and Erin. In terms of speed, strength, technique, experience, and perhaps talent, it was clear that these trainees would need a lot of training to fight at her level. However, it’s questionable if they could ever reach her level to begin with.
Yi Xiao chuckled while staring at the exhausted Noah.
“While your technique does well to lessen the impact of my attacks, it doesn’t mean much if you're going to remain on the defensive with an ever-depleting stamina.”
Noah sighed before throwing his sword off to the side causing Yi Xiao to have an irritated look.
“I give up.”
Yi Xiao chuckled victoriously before a shadow appeared right behind her and took her by her arms. Nari grabbed Yi Xiao and dragged her away. Out of curiosity, she did not resist the motion as she was taken away to the side of the room..
"Why did you drag me out to the side? There's no one here?"
"I want to know what made you strong."
“It’s my brother’s training regime which made me this powerful as well my purpose to becoming powerful. Because if you don’t have any real reason to become powerful, you just won't become powerful to begin with…”
Yi Xiao threw a swift punch at Nari causing her to fall to the ground to evade it.
"I was testing your courage while holding back so you didn't have to fall to the ground like that..."
Yi Xiao stopped talking to reach out to Nari who had been laid out on the ground. Nari reached her hand out to her.
“If you wish to live as a Hero, then every day you will have to die as a coward to leave behind your weakness and become a strong Hero.”
Yi Xiao repeated that memory of her past while tightly holding her hand as a smile ran across her face. Those were the same words of her older brother so long ago.
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It was during the Winter that the young Yi Xiao of the past and her older brother had been all alone in the house as the servants had been summoned off for the clan meeting.
Yi Xiao couldn’t help but stare at the TV while watching childish cartoons. Particularly a cartoon all about superhunter heroes dedicated to protecting the weak and wronged.
It was a film illegally smuggled into China but was produced in America, specifically in the City of Dreams, New Las Vegas. On the other hand, her brother stared blankly at the page of a black-and-white manga (also smuggled) and back to his innocent sister.
Yi Xiao stood up from the TV and turned to her brother who she pulled by the sleeve.
“Brother, are you a superhero?”
Her brother chuckled.
"Not exactly. But if you wish to live as a Hero, then every day you will have to die as a coward to leave behind your weakness and become a strong Hero.”
Yi Xiao’s childish eyes instantly lit up.
“That’s such a good quote! Did you make it up yourself?”
She continued to tug on his sleeves causing him to chuckle awkwardly while a flush pink of embarrassment ran across his face. He had completely stolen that quote from the manga that he was reading.
“Yup because I’m the best big brother in the world after all I’m strong, a master of technique, well-experienced, and more than just talentful!”
Older brother threw the manga comic to the side while Yi Xiao chuckled.
“That isn’t the reason why you are the best big brother in the world.”
She teased.
“So what is it then?”
“You are the best brother in the world because you love me.”
Yi Xiao innocently pecked her brother’s cheek with a kiss.
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Tears began to drip down Yi Xiao’s face as she silently whimpered. Throughout the entire room, Nari was the only one who noticed with concern throughout her face.
“Did I do anything wrong?”
Yi Xiao shook her head.
“It’s just dust in my eyes.”
Nari Sariel reached out for Yi Xiaodan’s face cheeks and wiped the tears away.
“It’s alright to cry even if it's for a moment.”
Nari smiled while Yi Xiao grew pink.
End of chapter.