Sarey then walked into the kitchen after summoning her courage with her new outfit. Allan would not find anything strange, of course. Zigmund, on the other hand, could make some comments about it. So what? She thought.
Allan had already waited in the kitchen for the spar to start. It seemed something was on her mind, but he did not ask.
“Let's go,” she said.
“You want to join us today?” Allan said in surprise. He assumed it from the situation he was in. Sarey was glaring at him with unease and pushed him outside with no other words.
“What? Are we that in a hurry?” He asked as he grabbed his shaft that rested by a wall he knew was there.
“Shut it. My father forced me.” She muttered with a half-truth. Sarey did not want to shatter her courage after so long, nor tell Allan about her feelings about the spars.
In no time, Allan was pushed into a courtyard.
Not far, was already waiting for Zigmund, who was half dozing off. Sitting with his legs crisscrossed and a sword between his folded arms. He was waiting for the spar for some time. “There we go,” he mumbles after being awoken by the pair.
Getting up, he patted his trousers, which had some dirt on them. He was unwilling to spoil his favorite uniform. However, tell it to a man for willing sitting on the ground with them.
He glanced at the arrivals. His glare stayed a little longer at his daughter, who looked like nothing, he thought. He noticed the pair of swords at first glance, but thought little of it.
“Well, are we ready?” Zigmund said with kind words. He had a pair of wooden swords on the ground, but he still chose his own sword.
“1 versus 1 or 2 versus 1?” Allan asked while being pinched on his back by Sarey afterward.
“No no. This is only a spar. One by one is the correct way.” Zigmund answered with an obvious plan in mind. Going by the rules from the military, he knew plenty about the way spar and military training acted.
Although, his mind still lingered around his exchange with that stranger hidden behind the wood. He assumed a stance that would not be questioned. Acting as if he did nothing wrong or right is a kind of attitude that he was familiar with. So he did. That would work, right?
Allan was not all that surprised by his act. He knew what this was about, yet his involvement was not something bad. That was at least his true opinion.
Walking into the center of the courtyard, he faced Zigmund.
“What do you want for today?” Zigmund asked in the same tone as before.
“Spar is enough.”
“What I mean is the usage of a real sword. Do you have the courage for it or not?”
“I am fine with it, as long as it's safe. How about attacking me while I will defend myself? This shaft of mine is good as new and ready. You can stop yourself if I will be too slow. Is that alright?” Allan came up with a quick task for himself. If the general theme of the upcoming techniques was a defensive measure, he could move along with it from these spars. Gripping his new shaft, he would not back down from the defense.
“That is fine with me,” Zigmund replied, by drawing his sword. Glittering light moved within the edges. Sun was up and kind for them, but this was no distraction for Allan, who faced Zigmund with his new weapon.
Allan made it with sturdiness in mind. Metal reinforcements would cause less strain on the whole long shaft. The middle parts when Allan hold it most of the time had nothing apart from some parts for better grip. Strips of leather were enough, or a straight-up wood surface was good too. He believed that the most strain would come from the defensive impacts which would go through the reinforced parts. That was one of the things he will try to find out today.
It would take some practice to use this kind of weapon. Even Zigmund did not see this kind of strange shaft. From his memory. Zigmund saw some in the past, but they were nothing like this. Although he could tell it was practical and looked at least a little better than a regular wooden shaft.
Swoosh!
Zigmund attacks with the all-so-familiar attack from a short distance.
A gust of wind spread onwards to Allan's face, who already expected it. Changing his stance, he folded his arms, which were both handling the wooden parts of the shaft. Bending his knees, the force of his body weight acted up against the force.
It was a successful defense of Zigmund's try to calculate his stance. And that is the case in the next move, where the sword traveled in a steady diagonal swing to the shaft. Right into Allan's unsteady grip of his weapon.
Bang!
Zigmund hit the reinforced part with his sword with intention of an easy start. The gust of wind proved an ineffective start.
Allan flexed his both arms and staggered a few moments before stopping the force with no further trouble. He could feel the pressure and shaft's impact it endured.
He could do this! Taking the same stance as before, after showing Zigmund's blade away, he shouted. “Continue.”
Zigmund was a little surprised by the results. He found Allan much more sturdy than before. He hit him not so softer as he wanted, yet he did not even force him all that far.
This time, Zigmund went with a more sharp angle but a slower start. He was forcing Allan to catch the more problematic aspect of his defense. With no sight. He has a plethora of openings that Zigmund sees with his naked eyes. Alas, he attacked straight onto his right side.
No wind came as before.
“No! That is different.” Allan assumed as he lifted his left hand and stepped forward with the shaft which went alongside his knee downwards. Since it went more forward than before. Zigmund's attack came sooner. He did not expect this move from Allan at all. He was still a few meters away as his sword went head-on with the reinforced shaft. Almost like a sword itself, Allan used the shaft in both hands to force the attack of the sword away.
Allan could feel the immediate differences in a few moments. Forcing his front leg and both hands, he deflected the sword with no trouble.
Zigmund almost lost the hold of his blade, as the clutch of Allan's shaft was way too sturdy. It shocked Zigmund that the effects of Allan's defense were very good. It would be hard to believe that it came from the blind boy. Though he attacked Allan where he could defend himself. Stance or whatnot, the shaft is not as comfortable in his hands, and Zigmund noticed it very early on.
Although, now it would be more kind to describe him as a young man. Allan looked nothing like he was when he was discovered by this pair of family.
Sarey watched this exchange with a dull face. Not all that shocked by the results. She knew Allan was not any different from a person without sight. It all went from him, trying too hard, and a focused mind. She could still remember the moments he described to her. The feelings of the shimmering wind, as well as steps, sounds of cloth, breathing, and surrounding noises. Sarey tried to close her eyes and focus on the world, but it all came to nothing, as she was never used to the dark.
The negative factor was that he was more stressed over the routes and possibilities of acting wrong from the sounds. Imagining the folding attacks in his head, he came up with a neat method to get the defense going in one exchange. It would go from the front of his leg, which would be supported by the stretched other leg after him. With enough stability with his shaft, he could endure a much faster attack if he knew they were coming.
Unknown to him was the fact that all of this was easier said than done. Without enough practical knowledge, he could not do it even if he wanted to. It was the core of the human body that endured the offensive powers of Zigmund. Clenching his fist around the shaft was only the basic reaction. Upon impact, Allan realized the stance and position he was in. Stability was not everything when going against someone stronger than you.
One would end up defeated without a chance for offensive.
“What is the ultimate form of defense? How come the Unmoving technique resolves around it? Is there something more to this that I am missing?” Allan marveled at the position he was in right now.
What offense is without defense? What defense is without offense? They were many keys to his answers, but he would need more time to figure out the best method for himself.
After all, not everything was written on the materials 36 gave them. Many techniques would end up becoming average ones, while some are stronger than others. Based on their strengths and shortcomings, one could get to understand more about the immortal arts. The Unmoving resolved not only with defense only. It was a mistake, Allan assumed, and Sarey's lack of understanding of it all. It was like giving a peasant the utmost beautiful painting to rate. The peasant would be unable to determine the true value or things necessary involved in the premise of making such a thing possible.
It was good that Allan was not stupid to assume everything was the correct way of doing things. He could even change his stance on the matter if he felt like it. Not like he even knew a bit of the underlying truth of the Unmoving technique. He would not get it from Sarey's words, and even if he laid his eyes on the scroll by himself.
Allan had his own head, hands, feet, and heart. He came to this conclusion himself. Long before realizing the words described in the words of Sarey and 36. A scroll that was described to be his new path.
Seeing Allan so unmoving and focused, Zigmund fell a few steps away. Wondering how Allan did it with some ease. It pissed him off a little, but who would blame him? He knew what Allan did doesn't matter and even what he will do in the future. So what if he will embark on a similar path to the few people he knew in the past? He could at least see it with his own eyes this time.
The beginning of the person who would end up not like him. A person who was unfit by the heavens, or a choice in the world. The only reason he could work and smile with no regard was the source of his life. A meeting with his wife and the later arrival of Sarey. There was no time for regrets at the present.
“Good. Good. You deflected my horizontal slash with the swift placement of your shaft. It has a longer amount of handle, so it makes defending much easier. However, it is hard to do the timing right, isn't it?” Zigmund assumed.
“It was luck.” Allan joked around, even though he knew what he did was from his feelings alone. There was no way he could do this in a flow of quick combat. Even Zigmund's attack was not something that would force him to . Not yet.
“Prepare for more, boy!” Zigmund said in seriousness as he decided to not hold back too much. Only a little, so the boy would not end in suffering. Both for his and Allan's sake.
He pushed himself with his sword behind him and jumped around Allan, who assumed the more relaxed stance. Allan heard him moving around. The sound of steps lingered in his ears as he tried to distinguish the right sounds from others. Jumps are hard to pinpoint, unlike the movements of the walking steps, or dragging noises of shoes.
Turning around in the direction of moving Zigmund, he figured he was circling him 5 meters across him and back.
Swoosh!
A change of wind came to his ears.
“Thrust!” Allan forced his position and held his shaft in front of him in a horizontal grip. Defending the sword head-on with the body of the shaft. He could feel the slight bend in his touch. “Heavy!”
Allan grunted as he backed his stance and let Zigmund's attack travel further by his quick sidestep.
“Good. It is good to know when to back off, but how about this?” Zigmund said in proximity to Allan, who was more open than ever before. Zigmund swung his arm for a vertical chop.
“So what!” Allan shouted as he dodged to his right side. Attack missed him without a chance to use his shaft. They could also consider this a source of defense. What is an attack without a chance to strike an enemy? An obvious failure.
“Versatile brat!” Zigmund muttered under his breath. He found it correct. There was no right or wrong when it come to combat. He knew it, and he wanted to teach this to Allan, who shouted.
“Again!”