"Too weak!"

DING

"Too straightforward!"

DING

"Predictable!"

DING

"Haa... haa..."

Kazuki was holding his great sword while breathing roughly in front of Kenji whose sword was still as sharp as ever.

"How...?!"

Kazuki roared and slashed upwards diagonally.

"You're too agitated."

SHHHINNNNNNGGGG

Their swords had grinded against each other, Kenji didn't block it and instead let it travel along the surface of his sword and afterwards, Kenji spun once and aimed the sword at Kazuki's neck. Just from that simple move, a huge wind pressure spread and Kazuki's hair was flowing.

"Impossible..."

Kenji retracted his sword and moved a few feet away.

"Stand up. If this is all you have, are you really worthy of the role of crown prince?"

"You don't have to tell me that!"

Kazuki didn't lose heart and took his great sword and once more charged forward. Kazuki leaped upwards with an overhead slash but with very slight movements, Kenji dodged his attack and countered with a punch to his armor on the abdomen.

Normally, that'd be called an idiotic move but Kazuki staggered backwards.

"H-how...?"

Kenji moved forward and grabbed his shoulders. Kenji inched closer and kneed his armor once more.

What is this...?! I don't feel his attacks connecting with my body but for some reason, I feel like his attack pierced my body without touching it! He's not using magic, so how?!

Kenji leaned in and whispered at the side of Kazuki's ear.

"I'm guessing you must be wondering how I'm doing this. It's simple really."

Kenji pulled Kazuki downwards and elbowed his back.

"...Wind?"

"You're close."

When Kazuki was hit from the back, he could see the wind flowing down from the spot that he had been hit. It passed through his armor, body, and towards the floor.

Kenji held Kazuki's shoulders and threw him to the other side of the stage.

"My attacks didn't do much damage, you can tell that much. You've only experienced shock and brief pain accompanied with a loss of breath."

Kazuki stood up and was surprised as he touched all over his armor.

"That's your mistake! I can still fight!"

Kazuki charged forward and went for another overhead strike but this was obviously different than the last one.

"Good, good. Your movements need more polishing but with that position, you won't be taken in like last time. But..."

Kenji stepped forward and spun again. This time, he kicked the side of Kazuki's face with the back of his foot and sent him staggering. If Kenji had added more force, Kazuki would've been sent flying but he intentionally made him stagger.

"That attack would've been more effective if you had worn your helmet."

Kenji's attack wasn't over. His foot that was positioned at the side of Kazuki's head came crashing down on Kazuki's neck.

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This time, Kazuki was going to lose consciousness but before he could, Kenji sent him a shock with a punch which helped him stay awake.

"K-Kenji, isn't that enough?"

Haru's words were small but Kenji could hear it loud and clear.

"No, he can handle more than this. Right?"

"...Yeah!"

Kazuki roared and threw his great sword at Kenji.

"Reckless!"

Kenji slashed upwards with his sword to deflect the heavy sword but in that instant, Kazuki took the opportunity to slam into Kenji.

"Take this!"

Kazuki sat on top of Kenji and launched attacks one after another towards Kenji's face.

"Is that it?! You can't even hit a single attack!"

Kenji blocked each one with his forearms that accurately predicted where Kazuki's attacks would land. And when Kazuki went for a strong swing, Kenji hit Kazuki's forearm and redirected it towards the floor. Then, a single hit to Kazuki's chin and he lost consciousness for a split second.

But in that split second, Kenji threw him off.

Now, both of them had no weapons. Kazuki charged like a mad bull again.

"Naive!"

Kenji held Kazuki's head in his arms and slammed it on the floor by laying down as fast as he could. But strangely, Kazuki didn't bleed at all.

Kenji rolled backwards and kicked the side of Kazuki's abdomen which made him face upwards.

"Stand up. It's not over yet."

Another kick landed which sent Kazuki flying and rolling over and over until the edge of the stage.

This time, Kazuki had grazes but that was it. If not for the rough breathing and pale face, he could have excused himself as falling down the stairs.

"That look in your eyes, keep that."

With those words, Kenji stepped on the floor. A second after his launch, the floor broke and a shockwave spread from his previous position.

"Wha-?!"

Kenji turned around and placed his hands on the floor, then a kick came launched towards the bottom of Kazuki's chin and sent him flying upwards.

With that, Kazuki was out of the stage. Kenji stood at the edge of the stage and looked down on him.

Ah, I accidentally treated it as a sparring session. Well, better to keep up the act.

"You have potential. If you were to hone yourself more and figure out your weakness, you'd be a great asset in battle. You can fight well but you lack experience, you can't adapt quickly and need a lot of time to cope with the situation. When you found out your great sword was useless against me, you still continued using it and only gave up on it to try and do a last resort by tackling me. You launched several punches and it was good but you got frustrated and tried to launch a strong attack which provided me time."

Kazuki sat up but it was obvious he was still out of it.

"It's my complete defeat. But, can you continue with your assessment?"

"Alright. Your attacks are too straightforward. For someone who uses a great sword, your tactic is normal but you can wield a great sword as freely as a normal sword, you should have a variety of tactics to choose from. In the first place, a great sword should suit your personality but your way of fighting is more suited with a two-handed axe or a one-handed axe with a buckler on the other hand. I don't blame you for not dodging my last attack, only a few would be able to dodge movement at the speed of sound."

"Speed of sound...? Sound has speed?"

I expected this...

"Don't mind it. Let's just say that it's so fast that I can reach your position just as your words land on my previous position."

"It's still difficult but I get it a bit now."

During our talk, Haru ran towards us.

"But you kept spinning during our fight and I thought those were unnecessary movements but now that I think about it, you used those spins skillfully."

"Spins may look unnecessary but it's actually useful to gain momentum and it can help you avoid attacks that are normally for blocking or deflection. But I don't suggest you to use that fighting style, you're more suited to simpler techniques like using magic while fighting. You were too focused on making your great sword lighter but in your mind, it was still a great sword. You attacked slower even though you could increase the pace. And like I said, you need to cast magic while fighting. I didn't use magic because you didn't use any offensive spells against me but the moment you did, I would've countered. I'd say that creating simple winds to obstruct your opponent's vision or to increase your swing's power. And..."

Haru was beautifully ignored.

"But how did you attack me while ignoring my armor?"

"Shockwaves. I sent shockwaves from your armor to your body. It works better if the opponent is wearing full body armor. When your armor is hit, the shock from the attack is transferred to the entirety of your armor so I take advantage of that and focus that shock towards one point and transfer it through your body. The wind that was traveling out of the places I hit was just the excess force traveling outside of your body. It's mostly harmless but in some cases, I can make it so that the wind could break a wall."

Their conversation lasted for about three hours with Kenji giving Kazuki a whole bunch of tips and in the end, it was starting to get dark. Kenji stood up.

"Well, we should end it here. You can consult me about this topic more but don't be annoying."

"Wait, before that. Please make me your disciple!"

"I refuse."

"Then become my royal instructor!"

"I refuse."

"Then become the royal instructor for the royal family!"

"I refuse."

With those words, Kenji turned around and left while leaving a dumbfounded Haru and Kazuki.

"W-wait!"

Haru soon followed after him.

"Hey, Kenji... Was it really okay to say all that to him?"

"If you think about it, this is the best result after a duel. If I had just shown him overwhelming power, he'd be cautious but that's it. He'd still continue pestering me in the future. But now that I show him that I have knowledge to accompany my ability, he'll try to pull me into his camp which is a lot less annoying than challenging me to a duel for you..."

Kenji fell silent.

"...You forgot, didn't you?"

"..."

"You did, didn't you?"

"...Nn."

"It's your fault. Not helping."

Haru said this as she left leaving a depressed Kenji.