"Listen up, students!" Racrern hollered, recapturing the attention of the spersed students, seemingly declaring his final announcement before commencing their little combat.
"Please familiarize yourself with the faces in front of you! The one that will challenge you in a duel in a minute! Make sure both of you make yourself acquainted, and you might as well consider this an ice-breaking session!" he added, wanting his students to be more open with their respective opponents since they were housemates.
After that, he concluded his announcement with a stern tone, a notice,
"Besides, please carve this message into your mind! Heed this, do not attempt to go extreme in the duel. Given that you're not in a life-threatening situation, so it's needless to go overboard and hurt your housemate over friendly training! As I said, remember! Do not try to prove yourself and cripple your housemate for the time being!"
His message was loud and clear, with nearly all students harking and nodding to his notice, affirming to self-regulate.
They were then stationed at their spot, having their chit-chat before their instructor declared the commencement of the duel, and Mina also found herself in conversation with a girl she just met, Tamina.
"So, Tamina, have you ever played a sword before?" said Mina in her leisurely tone, wondering if Tamina was proficient in the sword art, so she leveled herself with Tamina.
"Well... I did..." Tamina mumbled but later denied it agitatedly, as she wasn't meant it that way.
"No, not exactly! It was only for playing during my leisure! I was never actually trained by any instructors or trained professionally. So I- I- I actually know nothing about a sword! And this will be my first time learning about it, so... I'm counting on you, Mina! Show me what it's like to be a knight! A defender of the realm!"
"A knight?" Mina was baffled, wondering what she could have meant by a 'knight' and why?
When Mina intuitively clarified the word 'knight,' Tamina blushed, palpitating her head out of embarrassment, retaking the word she could've said out of her regard,
"Nothing! Please ignore that!"
Mina tilted her head, baffled but chuckled, finding Tamina to be quirky and funny and liking her immediately. Instead teased Tamina for her impromptu assertion, Mina steeled her tongue with supportiveness, defending Tamina from her doubts and clarifying the greatness within,
"There's nothing wrong with dreaming about wanting to be a knight! It's a noble dream, after all! And Mina always finds someone with dreams admiring! Because Mina is envious of those who have! Since Mina knows that her passage to the future has already been determined ever since she was born. That is as the heir of Vuzgaria, becoming nothing else other than the next crown in line. So, Tamina, it's alright to bore an ambition, and Mina would never ridicule you because of it!"
To further encourage Tamina, Mina clenched her fists, hovering them before Tamina, expressing in an upbeat manner,
"So, don't be embarrassed about it, Tamina! Mina believes you can become the knight you wish one day! And Mina can even become the one that knighted you!"
Instead of being uplifted, Tamina sighed, smiling, but it wasn't a bright smile, but rather a tenebrous one, hinting her aspiration was unlikely to succeed.
As she lowered her gaze and uttered,
"Thanks for the kind words, Mina... But the chance of me becoming a knight is very unlikely. Since I'm no Zaran, Urkon, Xorros, or even a clan like Fantagon, Mahorn, Lacrea, or Saffar. I'm just merely a descendant of a humble clan, Ukumo. A clan that only tainted our hands with mud and crops and nothing else."
Tamina then faintly raised her head, concluding her sentence with a titter while flapping her hand, assuring she was fine, "But it's okay though, Mina! I mean, not everyone was meant to be something they wished for anyway! So, don't sweat about it, Mina! I mean, what's bad about being a farmer anyway!"
Despite Tamina voluntarily relinquishing her dream, Mina wasn't happy with it, sensing the sourness in Tamina's tongue, though it sounded voluntarily but it was more inclined to mandatory. As Mina expressed with an austere look, disdaining Tamina for her renounce to her dream, besieging her with rhetorical questions,
"How is it fine? Why Tamina thinks having her dream crushed by reality is fine? Why does Tamina think giving up on her dream before starting is fine? Tamina's words only made Mina find it absurd and worthless. If Tamina was really cherishing her dream like a jewel, then she wouldn't forgo such an aspiration. She would insist, invest and pursue it, till the day she became the impossible, achieved the unthinkable. So, Tamina has faith in yourself and don't succumb to defeat before the war starts. You will never know what you reap if you never sow!"
"But- but-"
"No more 'but', Tamina! Prove Mina that your dream wasn't just a dream but a key to reality!" said Mina and pointed to Tamina with her wooden sword, suggesting Tamina pursue her dream, rerouting her passion toward her aspiration.
Tamina sighed again, but this time she smiled, an enthusiastic smile, who asserted in an ardent tone, seemingly inspired by Mina, "Yes, Mina! I would give it my all! And become the first ever knight in my bloodline!"
Right after Tamina claimed to strive for her future, coincidently, Racrern shouted, "Let's begin!" starting the sparring session at this instant.
Without a second to deliberate, Tamina immediately diverted herself into the dueling stance, preparing to duel Mina with her wooden sword.
Meanwhile, Mina also posted herself in the stance, circling with Tamina on the spot, eyeing her movement, and waiting for her to let loose.
"Hah!" Tamina yelped, lunging at Mina with her sword and pummeling it with a combo, left, right, right, up, down.
But Mina effortlessly parried all of the attacks, as those attacks seemed amateurish.
Namely, Mina's prestige inheritance kicked in, boosting her reflexes and her agility, and to topple that, Mina did learn swordplay when she was much younger, giving her the upper hand in this duel.
To reenact their distance, Mina shoved Tamina away during their clash, pushing her a few steps backward, taking a toll on Tamina's balance, offing her by little, and she regained in no time.
Soon after Tamina repositioned herself back to the stance, she sprung toward Mina again, this time with a different set combo, delivering a powerful and improvised strike, which Mina again parried without breaking a sweat.
To return Tamina's attack, this time Mina decided to pull off a different string of counter, bypassing Tamina's clash with a leg sweep, attempting to immobilize her by tripping her.
But Tamina foresaw her attack and dodged it out of her hair. As she retracted herself back to a fair distance with Mina, she caught her breath thereafter, recognizing she had almost lost the duel immediately.
Before she launched herself at Mina again, she realized that Mina didn't even strive to strike her, solely retaining her ground and only tried once to trip her.
Responses were then deliberated in Tamina's mind, fumbling over Mina's course of action,
*Why hadn't Mina used her sword? Is it because she is just toying with me, or did she have another game in mind?
To reveal an answer, Tamina questioned her action directly, and there she did, hollering, probing Mina for her disputable action,
"Mina! Why haven't you swung your sword once? Is it that you're holding back?"
Mina was startled by her sudden query, seemingly worried and replied with a stutter,
"Mi- Mi- Mina feels like Tamina was to- to- too good with the sword that she can't make her own move..."
Those words from Mina's mouth were somewhat rendered suspicious undertone, triggering Tamina's wariness toward her skeptical demeanor.
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So she merely heaved Mina with a point-blank statement, cornering Mina with a proposal,
"If that is so, how about I let you swap me with some blows? I might as well learn a little about the parries since I've never seen to have chances to do so. Please, Mina! Give me the best you got!"
This agitated Mina in the meantime, with her sweat dripping down her nose while she gazed at her silently.
She was now botched, not knowing what she must do to excuse herself from it again, but for what reason? Why did Mina reserve her strike, unwanting to participate in exchanging blows? Mina never answered. Instead, she weaved another excuse, detaching herself from landing it,
"Mina feels unlikely to swing because she feels under the weather today, so... Mina doesn't feel like it."
Her excuse made no sense, and it painted Tamina with question marks, failing to discern it as judicious.
As a result, Tamina wasn't gratified, unconvinced by Mina's reluctance to attack, exclaiming, "But Mina! I must learn how to parry! If not, this duel is just becoming unavailing! Since countering is the major cause of mastering swordplay! So please, Mina! I must learn to take a hit! Otherwise, all of this talk and duel is meaningless!"
Harking such fiery and courageous words from Tamina, Mina gulped, sinking her thoughts into a vortex of dilemma, unable to decide whether to fulfill her demand by landing a strike that was.
Mina cursorily glanced through other students, realizing the intensity of their fight, whether equivalent or one-sided, still the enthusiasm lingered.
An answer then popped into Mina's mind. Yes, those were the emotion they suppose to relish, not this monotonous fight where Tamina was just carrying the tide while she was plainly playing to abide by her prance.
"Fine..." she reluctantly mumbled as she bent her knees and was readied to return her regard, her swing. But before she did, she declared, requesting Tamina to continue this duel in general without letting her achieve what she wished, landing a blow.
"Tamina, Mina wants this duel to continue as it was. A duel without an intention to let others land their hit. So, come to Mina with all Tamina's might, preventing Mina from dealing her blow."
Tamina nodded and clenched her sword, preparing to accept or counter Mina's blow when the chance was bright.
"Here Mina goes..." said Mina and dashed to Tamina in a wide-open manner, which, as everyone normally would, Tamina decided to stop Mina with a thrust on her sword, attempting to immobilize Mina by stabbing in her chest that plainly displayed to her face, but she didn't know it was Mina's plan after all, building a feint opening to exchange her own.
As Mina briefly evaded Tamina's thrust, and there, she arrived out right in front of Tamina, a distance that was impossible to miss, and swung her sword.
Tamina thought it was over, but... It didn't land, it was utterly missed, and she quickly veered her gaze to Mina, discerning the picture of her missing.
Was she bewildered or relieved? How could Mina even miss in such a minute distance? Even an amateur like Tamina could land a blow that closes 100% accurately.
Or was it something beyond that?
Before Tamina could react, an extremely violent gust of wind boomed at the side of her face, slicing up the floor slightly off to her feet, devastating it into a massive crater, and with this daunting powerful aftereffect, it sent Tamina off her feet, perching her bottom onto the ground.
With that, Tamina turned for a check, and she nervously chuckled thereafter, acknowledging why Mina was abstaining from striking her and why she was reluctant all this time.
Yes, it was because of this, this uncanny force she possessed, which she would've gotten badly injured if Mina had swung at her.
After swinging her sword, while Tamina was still gawking at the crater, Mina casually straightened her body, wiped her sweat off her forehead, and tried to pick Tamina up thereafter by granting her her hand.
Tamina then vigorously shook her head, realigning herself with her senses after witnessing such a monstrosity strength. And period after that, Tamina accepted Mina's hand and was pulled off the floor, though her sanity remained wobbly.
Shortly after they restored their poise, feet to the ground, Mina glimpsed at Tamina's back, who coincidently posted a man that was far away from them, and it was none other than their instructor, Racrern, who witnessed the whole massacre Mina cast.
Racrern's expression plainly depicted his satisfaction with Mina's call, thumbing up to praise her judgment, approving the judgment that Mina refrained from injuring her housemate and protecting them in an implicative approach, purposely to miss Tamina that was.
To reply to Racrern's faraway appraisal, Mina also thumbed up with a relieved smile, resonating his approval with her assurance, where this formed a high evaluation of Racrern's impression toward Mina, knowing Mina's a student he could trust.
Meanwhile, Tamina, still in the moment of recollecting herself from the impact, caught her breath with her body bent to her knee, missing every interaction between Mina and Racrern that just skimmed next to her.
Their duel was eventually determined, and Mina stood up as the victor since Tamina lost her posture and fell to the ground.
In addition to that, she also lost her grip to continue the duel where she just accepted her defeat, unwanting to prolong this one-sided duel, knowing she was bound to be trounced.
Though Tamina was thrilled, she was bestowed with an opportunity to clash with one of the strongest students she had ever stumbled upon. Although Mina was the only one she ever clashed with, still, Mina flaunted her aptitude to be the finest, inducing her courage to thrive in her swordsman skill.
Though their clash was finished, they weren't the first, where many duels remained ongoing. So, to pass their time, Mina glanced through the crowd, spectating others' duel, with Tamina joining her until her gaze was locked on Keena and Konnaugh.
In the scene of Konnaugh getting utterly destroyed, Mina narrowed her eyes, catching Keena lowkey bullied Konnaugh in certain aspects, who was grinning throughout the duel while Konnaugh struggled to parry her attack.
To perpetuate their duel, Keena also asserted each direction she was about to launch, making Konnaugh strung in her playing field.
Mina was unimpressed, hollering at Keena, requesting her to stop tormenting Konnaugh, "Keena, you should stop toying with Konnaugh, Mina found him losing his will to live the more he was prolonged in this duel! Mina thinks it's best you end this right now!"
In response, Keena was knocked out of her trance that was dueling with Konnaugh in an automatic mode. It was not her fault to be in a trance while challenging Konnaugh since he wasn't a threat to her in any form anyway.
Now she was restored to her conscious state, halting from further pummeling Konnaugh, and she realized Konnaugh was already in a completely battered state, a broken man kneeling on the floor with a sword tipped to the floor, attempting to withstand his weary body, stuttering, "Keena, I yield... Please stop the duel... I cannot... do it no more..."
Keena was shocked and quickly rushed to him, assisting him while scrambling with words, "Are- are you alright, Konnaugh! I- I- I'm truly sorry for going so extreme on you!"
"It's okay, Keena. I'm fine." Konnaugh responded, reassuring Keena of his sorry state.
"Though it's one hella a fight, isn't it?" he added with a bright smile, expecting Keena to agree with him but was shattered thereafter with Keena denying his statement, stating in a plain face,
"No, it wasn't..."
Konnaugh was lost for words, silently stared at Keena with a broken smile, crying deep inside, and crumbled right after with his last energy being drained.
Keena was agitated, imploring her instructor for assistance, and Racrern reacted to her cry in an immediate manner, rushed to Keena's side, and carried Konnaugh to a shaded area.
To curb the situation, he assured Keena that Konnaugh only collapsed out of overexertion and requested her to guard him while he was recovering since her doing led Konnaugh to his current state.
While Keena was sitting adjacent to the motionless body of Konnaugh, Mina, and Tamina approached her, and Mina briefly greeted her, "Hello!" with her hand up.
She also continued by introducing Tamina to Keena, saying,
"By the way, Keena. This is Tamina, my opponent for just now."
Tamina blushed and repeatedly bowed to Keena, asserting in a timid timbre, "Hi- Hi- Keena! Ni- ni- nice to meet you! I'm Tamina "Linnie" Ukumu!"
"Oh! Nice to meet you!" Keena exclaimed while sharply raised from her knee, adding,
"Keena Zaran!"
"Za- Za- Zaran?!" Tamina was confounded and overwhelmed by Keena's family name that listed out in her face, as she wasn't meant to meet two powerhouses in a row.
"Of course, Mina's friend will be someone as competent as Zaran..." Tamina uttered while turning her face away, granting an image of someone conceding. Probably her belief that the birds of a feather flock together, unlike her peasantry, was totally out of the house.
But she missed something, Keena was supposed to be the peasantry in their group, a no-name figure.
Her enigmatic reaction placed Keena in perplex, bewildering by her queer behavior, who then sought Mina for an answer, wondering why she was depressed soon after her name had been told,
"What happened to her?" Keena asked.
Mina simply shrugged, not knowing why Tamina acted that way either, and responded, "Maybe the wind is a little cold today."
As usual, Keena squinted at Mina's nonsensical response and sighed, knowing it was foolish of her to attain an answer from that oblivious little creature.
She then dwelled in her mind, brushed her chin while murmuring,
"Besides, Ukumu, huh..." contemplating what the Ukumu clan stood for, what was their history. There, she realized, veering her eyes back to Tamina, asserting,
"Could it be that you come from a clan that specializes in agriculture?" her statement was a question since Keena wasn't ascertained whether her guess was accurate.
And Tamina nodded,
"Ye- yes..." she mumbled while lowering her head, assuming Keena to belittle her because of her bland background, but that was never the case.
Maybe it was the instinctual assumption that was imprinted in the middle class toward the higher class, as many of us would when we intertwined with someone with higher standing in society. Those unexplainable disparagement feelings of them against us implanted in our self-degrading notions that we simply couldn't outline.
Back to where she was succumbing to her intrusive thoughts, Keena exclaimed, attempting to elevate her sullen face with a couraging utterance,
"Come on, cheer up! It's no need to frown over such achievement. Farming is a great asset to a kingdom too! Because of your family's sacrifice, we have our tasty vegetable to feast on! Without you, our kingdom could be depleted of food resources! So, be proud of it!"
Which it did. The attempt to expunge her sullen heart by lacing it with bolstering words worked, tidying her messy self-doubts with a subtle nod of her head, glancing at Keena with a speck of hope wavering in her luminous pupils.
But until it lasted, Mina decided to express one of her impulsive harsh statements, collapsing this whole heartwarming movement,
"But Mina despised the veggies... Mina wished them to go extinct faster than it wilts. Just think about it. It makes Mina *bleh!*"
Little did Mina know the statement she formulated carried devastation that even surpassed her strength, killing Tamina instantly, who broke down next to them and crumbled with a fractured heart.
And they both ran to her, shouting agitatedly, "Tamina, are you alright!"