The shadowy figure standing in front of Alnea was a little taller than him. And a little bulkier. Even its sword was a little larger than his. From his experience, even the figure’s strength would be greater than his… probably around Cecilia’s level. But that did not matter. Though strength was important, it was not always the deciding factor in a fight. He had fought hundreds, if not thousands of Oren Beasts, and all of them had greater strength than him. Yet, except for a few fights in the beginning, when he was still a novice, he had never lost. The shadowy figure would be no exception.
The moment that the figure had coalesced, it rushed towards him, swinging its sword at him. But Alnea was prepared. To the downward swing at his head, he responded with a stab, aiming directly for his enemy’s head. As if he was going to trade a blow for a blow. However, right before his stab could reach the showy figure’s head, Alnea changed the trajectory of his sword just enough to make the tip of his sword slide against the side of his enemy's blade, using that as a leverage to deflect the incoming strike, letting it fall to his side.
He could have blocked the sword, but deflecting it not only made it so that his sword was in a better position to attack, but also created an opportunity for him, leaving the shadowy figure’s chest wide open. Building up on the opportunity that he had created, Alnea swung his sword from the position it was in, while his enemy’s sword was still falling. Unfortunately, the shadowy figure was not an easy target. Sensing the attack, it jumped back just in time so that his sword only slightly grazed its chest.
Still, the initiative had fallen into his hand. So, the moment his enemy stepped back, he stepped forward, and followed with another thrust, this time, aimed at its throat. Unlike him though, the shadowy figure was literally made out of shadows, and darkness. Or maybe, it existed only in his eyes. In any case, jumping around in the muddy banks of the stream did not seem to affect its footing every much.
So, by the time his thrust reached the figure, it had already regained its balance, and swung its sword, deflecting his attack just towards the side of its neck, while tilting its head slightly. In the opposite direction, of course. But this also meant that for a moment, the tip of his sword went into its blind zone. Taking advantage of that fact, Alnea changed his thrust into a swing, one aimed directly at the shadowy figure’s shoulders.
Unfortunately, though the distance between his sword, and the shadowy figure’s shoulder was too small for it to dodge in time, it also meant that he did not have enough space to gather strength, and power behind his swing. Still, it was enough to—
Optah’s fingers, Alnea cursed, as he saw the tip of the shadowy sword coming right for his nose. Though the shadowy figure was probably just an illusion, he did not dare risk it. More importantly though, he did not wish to disappoint his master. And so, he was left with no choice, but to jump back in order to save himself, relinquishing the initiative of the fight to the shadowy figure.
And as he had expected, seeing him retreat, the shadowy figure followed right at his heels, using its forward momentum to send another stab, aimed directly at his Heart. This time though, Alnea was prepared, and responded to the stab with another riposte. The shadowy figure, however, had been clever enough to not commit everything to the stab. Moreover, it had also maintained a certain distance with him. As such, their confrontation ended with both of them being on neutral ground.
Thus, began a chaotic exchange of blows, with both of them pressing against each other, not intending to give their enemies any chance to breathe, or relax. Though, on second thought, the shadowy figure did not seem to breathe at all…
Alnea dodged a sword aimed right at his eyes by ducking down just in time, while cursing himself for getting distracted in midst of a fight. The shadowy figure though, did not seem to very intent on letting him go so easily, and followed up with a downward slash, with a little angle added to it, probably intending to slash off his head. At this point, he could not hesitate anymore.
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“Come,” Alnea mumbled, as he did a back roll, before flipping onto his feel, while borrowing Oren from within the Origin Sea, and supplying it to his Aspect. “Sword of Heart… Sword of Guard.”
Almost immediately, a golden glow, with streaks of black mixed in it, began seeping out of his body, making him feel almost invincible. As if he could do anything. As if he could just crush the shadowy figure in front of him. After all, the shadowy figure had dared to harm him, and in consequence, hurt the people he loved. That, he could not forgive. What he guarded, no one could hurt, or take.
Almost on instinct, the golden light began spilling over from his body, dyeing his sword in its shade, making it a part of his body. On the other side, the shadowy figure, intent on hurting him, on taking things away from him, reached towards him with its sword once again, in vain. By then, Alnea had already completed his initial transformation. And for the shadowy figure, that initial transformation was enough.
Not even bothering to dodge, or block, Alnea swung his sword at the shadowy figure. To the shadowy figure itself, this may have seemed like a very stupid decision. To Alnea though, that was the most natural course of action. After all, when strength reached a certain point, all kinds of tricks, and techniques were useless. And boosted by his Aspect, he did not just have strength, but technique as well.
Consequently, his sword, backed by his Aspect, cleaved right through the insubstantial sword, and the body of the shadowy figure, sundering both of them apart in two halves, forcing them to dissipate, and merge back into the surrounding darkness that they had formed from. The strike drained him a little, but it was oddly satisfying. Only until the time the Aspect was overflowing from him though.
The moment that his Aspect receded from his sword, and went back to its home, all of the nausea, and unease of slashing another figure came rushing back to him, causing his hands to shiver a little. Controlling those shivers, and not daring to let them show on his face, Alnea let out a sigh, and put on a smile on his face, before turning towards his master.
“How was it, master?”
“Much better,” his master said, nodding at him in satisfaction. “There has been a drastic improvement in the way you handle swords these past few days. Still, it could be even better. Especially if you get rid of your hesitation. I know this is hard for you to accept, but you have already experienced some of the cruelty of the world. If you show mercy to your enemies, then it will be akin to being cruel to yourself, and to those who care for you.”
“…I will try, master.”
“That is all that I ask,” his master said, walking up to him, before ruffling through his hair with a smile. She did not smile for long though, and soon looked at him with a solemn gaze. “When you are facing your enemy, you should have only one thing in your mind. Either you live, or they live. There cannot be any other choices… at least in most cases. As for the special cases, that is rarer than encountering a Mystery right at the edge of your Domain. So do not pine on miracles. Do you understand?”
“…Yes, master.”
“Good, now let us go back.”
“But my Spirit Power has still not recovered, master. Rather, I just wasted a bit of it right now. So—
“It is alright. There are things that I have to discuss with you. You can recover your Spirit Power while we do that.”
“Things to discuss? What?”
“Did you forget? It is time for you to choose the type of sword that suits you the best.”
“Huh? So soon? But it has barely been a week since I started practising with a sword.”
“I am just as surprised as you are,” his master said. “But I guess I should have expected it. Your Aspect… It is much more useful than normal Aspects of its Rank. No wonder it needed such a large well. Though it can be bit draining on your Spirit Power, its effectiveness cannot be denied. You have mastered the basic movements of swords. Next, you need to choose a type of sword that suits you best. Practising variations of your sword moves, and learning some advance concepts of sword would come after that. Besides, I think it is time for you to learn how to use your Aspects in a more efficient way.”
“Does that mean…”
“It is time for you learn some Martial Styles.”