"You're going to need to learn how to protect yourself." Says Chaung, as Ara inspects the white marbled blade. The ocean sways the deck as a cradle would, making it difficult for Ara to stand in place. "What I showed you is just the basics, but those won't help if you've never used them before."

She looks up to face Matsuko in a squatted stance, bouncing back and forth as the blade wafts in front of her face. Her eyes fixed on Ara with the resolve of a predator eyeing its next meal.

Nina stands beside Chaung, all leaning against the railing as they spectate the ensuing training.

"This fight ends after first blood. Understood?" He adds.

Both contestants nod their heads. Ara tries her best to maintain confidence with eye contact but cherishes each blink that rids her of the murderous intent in Matsuko's eyes.

She wouldn't kill me, right? Ara panics, realizing that people often die at first blood.

Chaung lowers his hand before she can think any further, signaling them both to fight. Matsuko immediately lunges at Ara as she panics and stumbles away from the pursuing blade.

With divine footwork, Matsuko fakes an attack at Ara, causing her to flinch and raise her hands in fear of the blade. When she opens her eyes, she notices Matsuko moving in her peripheral vision. Before she can act, Matsuko grips Ara's arm and twists it behind her back whilst holding the blade to her neck.

"Ara, Why are you trying to fight her?" Chaung asks.

"Isn't that the point?" She returns, as Matsuko releases her grip.

"No matter how much training we give you, you aren't going to become a better fighter than Matsuko."

"Oh…"

"She has too much experience for you to beat her in a normal fight."

"Then, what do I do?"

"Use your talents to see her decisions before she acts."

"Your style of fighting will have to revolve around the magic you possess. This is to your advantage," Adds Nina.

"I'm not so sure I can do that yet."

"That's why we train. So you can figure it out," Responds Chaung.

Ara nods her head, looking back at Matsuko who is taking her stance. She does the same, raising her blade to her chest as she looks deeply into Matsuko's eyes.

"Remember to listen and focus," Chaung adds.

Ara takes a deep breath before her gaze at Matsuko softens, as though she is not trying to look at Matsuko, but past her. She notices a subtle glow standing amongst Matsuko as if she had a shadow made of light standing within her. This silhouette leans forward, and, with the subtle delay of about a second, Matsuko leans forward too.

Is that- Ara's mind interrupts.

Before she can process what she's seeing, Matsuko's glowing silhouette raises an arm and strikes at Ara's chest. Passing straight through her when she notices Matsuko's real arm following the same pathway. Ara steps backward having seen the path Matsuko's arm will take and successfully dodges the strike that follows.

"Good!" Nina yells from the sideline. "Faster, Matsuko."

Faster? Ara wonders.

She looks at Nina, then back over to Matsuko who is now charging at full pace. The glow is moving significantly faster than before with the same, second-long delay of Matsuko's real body.

Shit.

Matsuko extends a flurry of attacks, striking twice at Ara's chest and then again, at her head. Repeating the combination in succession whilst adding the occasional variant. Ara tries her best to parry each strike, trying to act at the correct timing of Matsuko's attacks whilst stepping back and to her side to evade them. The attacks seem to be missing intentionally, even when the glow strikes, leaving Ara confused about whether they need to be dodged or not.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"That's first blood." Announces Chaung.

Matsuko's attacks suddenly halt as Nina walks over to Ara with a cloth in her hand. She grabs her arm and starts bandaging a slash on Ara's upper arm.

Ara's face is plastered in confusion as the pain of the wound rises with the seeping of blood,

When did she?

"It's like you could see my moves before I made them," Matsuko responds.

"I thought I did, but you cut me?"

"I was curious if you could predict attacks that were done at random, with no thought. You were so focused on predicting, that you weren't watching your opponent."

"You should also try attacking," Chaung comments with cheek.

"This is the most effective way for you to engage, but it will take much more practice for it to become second nature. It seems you are concentrating on so much that a lot of it goes unnoticed," Nina says. "This will come with time, but you'll need to practice a lot if you don't want to die fighting this way."

"I didn't notice she was striking slowly," Ara says. "When she attacked with pace, I couldn't keep up."

"That's to be expected," Responds Chaung. "She took it slowly so you could get your bearings. It's impressive that you evaded as many attacks as you did."

Ara stands next to Chaung as Nina takes her weapon and faces off against Matsuko.

"Watch how these two approach a fight. Matsuko is more skilled with a blade, but Nina has the technique to execute better on strategies." He says as he raises his arm, and the combatants take their stances "Matusko will be trying to overwhelm Nina with attacks. Nina, like you, will have to evade until she finds an opening."

Chaung drops his arm, and Matsuko propels towards Nina. Stabbing her blade towards Nina's chest but pulling it back and slashing towards Nina's neck before she can block it. Nina leans backward, almost baited in by the attack on her chest. Nina attacks Matsuko's blade as it is thrust at her, deflecting it with each impact to avoid Matsuko getting close.

Matsuko extends further than she should, tilting slightly off balance as Nina deflects one of her strikes. Nina uses this advantage to dodge Matsuko's next attack by squatting underneath the attack. She then uses the moment of dropping to spring up at Matsuko's stomach, cutting a slim gash just below her ribs as she does so.

"That's first blood." Announces Chaung as the combatants separate from one another before exchanging a bow.

"That was quick." Ara comments.

"Matsuko lost her balance, overextending to apply pressure on Nina. Nina used this to her advantage and tried to misguide Matsuko's balance by deflecting her blade." Chaung responds. "In a fight with their skill levels, a mistake will cost you your life. If you lose balance, a skilled opponent will strike before you regain it,"

"Then I'll avoid fighting skilled opponents." Ara remarks.

"That's probably for the best until you learn techniques you can use in combat."

"Would those even be good enough?"

"Have you ever heard the name Spritus?" He asks in return as he grabs a long piece of cloth.

"No," Ara responds.

He places the cloth against Matsuko's rib cage and starts wrapping it around her body. "It's the name of a magic user. No one knows where they are from. Or what they look like."

"Or if they even exist," adds Matsuko.

"The last time we were doing work in East Nihil, A highborn was visiting from the West, and we'd received orders to assassinate them."

"Orders from who?"

"We don't know, but they offered us plenty of currency," He says, scratching behind his ear. "We accepted it because we've successfully delivered on blind jobs many times in the past, without meeting the client."

He ties off the bandage around Matsuko before standing up. "A person with a dark hood and glowing eyes showed up right when we were about to cash in. Next thing we know, we're all waking up on the floor. The target was gone."

"What did they do?"

"We don't know. We still don't understand what happened. Or if it was even Spritus." Matsuko replies. "It's the only time we've ever failed a job. We never saw the target again."

"I'd imagine you have this same potential," Chaung says, as Matsuko hands him the blade she was using. "Your goal should be to take all five of us out before we even notice your presence."

"I don't know…" Ara says, clutching her shoulder as it aches.

"This is why we train," Says Matsuko as she raises her arm into the air. "Your job now is to learn as quickly as you can. If your abilities continue to serve as a distraction then you won't be alive much longer,"

She drops her arm, prompting Nina and Chaung to strike at one another.

"You'll figure it out," Says Matsuko. "You've improved a lot today."

"Have you seen Spritus again?" Ara asks.

"No. As I said, we don't know if it really was Spritus."

"That's the only time you can recall magic being involved?"

"Yeah. Since then, we don't take blind jobs anymore. We want to know who our clients are so we can kill them if they screw us."

"Neillum Morello was the child of magic that aided Valantis in their rebellion against Dantian rule." - The A'shic records