Kingdom of humans - night

The ballroom full of occupants began dancing the night away, and I happen to be one of those people, unfortunately, I’m not good at it since I keep stepping on Nunnalé's feet. Honestly, I’m overcome by my urge to win the cup to realize my incompetence at dancing. Nunnalé noticed this and took the lead. Naturally, we got some weird stares at us but I did my best to ignore them.

"Master Richard, please watch your footing while moving this time."

"Sorry, I'm just not too good at this."

"I'll try to move without causing you trouble."

"Okay, I'll try to follow along."

Our height difference wasn't a problem, but my footing is off with her steps. Her movement is strict with no leeway to act out of turn. I don't know how this is being judged but I know that we aren’t going to win this one, no matter what we do. However, giving up is not an option. That teacup needs to be in my hands, so even if we're not performing the finest we’ll still try!

“Master, you slipped again.”

“S-sorry!”

I was caught up in my thoughts again, I need to focus on this and nothing else. However, I can’t stop myself from doing so, it’s just hard to keep on task with the thought of failure. Plus, I'm also kind of anxious with Proxy on the loose. I just hope that he's not causing any trouble. Damn it, stop thinking of anything other than this! I look at Nunnalé who’s focusing on her footing.

"H-hey, you're pretty good at this."

"I am copying the other dancer's movement."

"Really? That's impressive, I thought you had experience in dancing."

"Dancing is a worthless skill, it has little to do with protecting you."

"Maybe, but it's not so bad to be good at other things besides fighting."

"But that has no bearing on my duty."

"Just forget about that, your mission to protect me doesn't matter right now."

"Then what does?"

"Having fun."

She seemed puzzled by what I said. Please don't tell me this is a case of "I don't have fun as a term in my dictionary" sort of deal.

"...Your movement is stiff."

"Sorry."

"Why are you so tense, master?"

"It's just. . .We need to win that cup but I just can't stop thinking about losing."

"Then simply don't."

"It's not that simple. Winning that cup is important, so I can't simply ignore the thought of losing."

"Thinking of such a thing is useless."

"Really?"

"If you think of failure too often when performing a task then you'll be overcome by distracting thoughts."

"What should I do instead?"

"Come up with the best method of success.”

Come up with different means of success? Hmm, perhaps that is a better use of my time rather than just worrying about failure. The only plan I see going through if we fail this is just taking it by force. However, saying it now would probably gear up Nunnalé. I should hold off on that.

“You know what, forget it, let’s just forget about that, let’s just dance,” I say out loud.

“Are you sure, if you want me to, I can take the cup right now?”

“Don’t do that, let’s just take it easy for now. You deserve that much.”

“I do?”

“Yeah, you saved me more times than I can count.”

“I must protect you.”

"Even if it is, you still deserve it for saving me so many times."

"I see, then I shall take your thanks into consideration."

We danced on as the minutes went on. Eventually, the music stops and so do the other dancers.

"That was well-done everyone, truly splendid dancing,” the king congratulates. “. . .but, I shall now be selecting the dancers that caught my eye."

The king is now thinking about who caught his attention. Naturally, I think we didn't do a good job, so there’s a low chance of us getting it. However, I’m not as worried as I should've been. Maybe, I was able to have some fun? Speaking of which, I wonder if--

"Stop, hang on a moment!" Oh God no. Proxy raises his voice as he goes up to the king. "Don't you think you're rushing this a bit? I mean, the real dancers haven't even danced yet."

"I'm sorry, who are you, young man?"

"Who am I, well, I'll gladly answer that." He strikes a ridiculous pose. "I am known to the world as not only the greatest delinquent but also a man of absolute kickassery; at your service, my lord."

"Yes, thank you for the stunning display. Tell me, why have you interrupted my judgment?"

"Isn't that obvious, I want to show off my dancing."

"I'm sorry, but you should've danced when you had the chance."

"Trust me, my lord. This dance is going to rock your soul."

"And pray tell what that means?"

"Means, that'll give you a show like none other. Of course, this will involve some fighting."

"You wish to fight, inside here?"

"Is there a problem?"

"You dare come up to me and ask to use this ballroom as a fighting ground?"

"Yes."

He's going to die…

"You are an odd child. I like that. Very well, we'll give you a weapon. But who will you be fighting?"

"Glad you asked."

He turns his head and points over at Legion.

"That young blonde man will do just fine."

"Why are you dragging me into this!? I don't wish to fight you!"

"It'll be fun, so who cares. Besides, it's kind of too late."

"No, I must step down from doing so, besides, if we fight with real swords then one of us will get hurt."

"Fine, I'll just use this."

Proxy takes off the shrouded item that is strapped to his back, revealing his stone sword.

"See, we're good to go. Just keep your blade in your scabbard and we're golden."

"I--"

"...Come on, give the people a show."

Legion seems troubled by the fact that Proxy is pushing him to fight as well. I go up to him.

"Sorry, but he won't back down until you just give him what he wants."

"Your friend is stubborn."

"Sorry, we're working on that."

"If he won’t give up, then I guess I have no choice."

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Legion steps forward with his sword in hand. Proxy jumps with joy and goes to meet him. Everyone else made room for them.

"So, it looks like we're fighting after all."

"You didn't give me an option. Just know that I'm against this."

"Sure, whatever, just know that I'm all for this." Proxy juts his finger towards the musicians. "Give us a tone for the occasion! Something fast, energetic, awesome!"

The musicians look amongst themselves, taking a moment to figure out how to deliver on Proxy's request. After a moment it seems to have come to them, they get their instruments ready and begin to play.

"Well, at least we got some killer tones."

"Proxy, this isn't a game."

"I know but good music with a good fight is a pretty great deal."

"I can't get your laid back behavior."

"Don't worry, you get used to it."

…

We snuck into the library after Chip picked the lock. There are rows and rows of shelves, filled to the brim with books.

"How long do ya need to get what ya came for," Chip asks Quincy.

"It might take a while, but my informant on the inside has been using the library for years, he marked the material I requested. Just look for red marks on the spine of the book in the third row."

"Gotcha. Blondie, come help me."

"Okay."

We go off to search for red marks, in the third row of the gigantic library.

...

I get into my stance, readying myself for the fight. Legion readies himself by putting his sword in a downward position, both his hand firmly gripping the sword.

"Trying to rush this," I say as I charge in.

"A frontal assault will do you no good!"

He whips his sword upward at me, I jump above him and spin my whole body in the air, landing like a cat. The audience claps after I landed.

"Sorry Legion, too slow."

"You read my move?"

"Maybe." I went in for a second attempt at an attack. He brings his sword down, but I knew that he would go for that, so I block. With a brief chance, I hit him with my fist. The attack pushed him back a bit.

"Gotta be more careful than that, I'm not the same when we first fought."

"I can see that you can see through my moves. I'll have to be serious about this."

"That's more like it!"

He charges at me, thrusting his sword at me. I knock it off course and counter him, but he just steps out of the way, making a counter himself. Each time we trade a strike we would just end up going for another soon after. I’m able to react to his attacks this time around and predict where his sword would go. Instincts tell me where his sword will go, however, it doesn't tell me how fast, so I need to fill in the gaps on my own. His strikes are strong and his blocks are as amazing, and his reaction time is nothing to scoff at. If I want any chance of beating him it would have to be with my style rather than trying to fight properly. I begin to wield my sword in a reverse grip style. I went in with several fast attacks that ended with me moving behind him to get a clean strike. I almost landed an attack but he anticipated the attack. Blocking it, he turns his body around to deliver a kick to the side of my torso.

“An excellent position to attack but you were too slow to strike,” Legion criticizes me.

“Yeah, yeah.”

He’s right, I need to go faster if I want to make a clean hit.

“Here we go!”

I run off toward him as he is preparing to hit me. As he makes his attack I shift behind him without any warning, he notices I did, but it was too late. I land a punch against his face.

‘ALRIGHT!”

I did it, I was able to trick him, even if it was for a brief second.

“What do you think of that, think I still don’t stand a chance?”

“That was impressive, your speed is amazing, and that strike was great,”

He wipes the area I hit and seems unfazed by it.

“Come on, we’re not done yet.”

“I know, you want more, right?”

“Of course, are you having fun yet?’”

“I don’t really know, on one hand, I’m still opposed to this fight, but on the other. . .No, I can’t, I must push those feelings aside.”

“Loosen up, it’ll do you some good.”

“I am a knight of the church, I cannot loosen up, not on my principles nor my obligations.”

“How about you forget about that stuff, just have some fun.”

He dashes for me with his sword sticking forward. I’m prepared to move behind him, but he lowers his sword to his side as he spins himself to meet me from behind. He strikes me from behind before I could react.

“Ow, that hurt!”

“You hit me but you can’t take it?”

“I didn’t say that!”

We engage back into combat, our swords clash with heavier strikes than the last. His swordplay is strict, straightforward, with no cheap tricks. Mine is crude, brutish while trying to gain the upper hand through style and speed. Despite our differences in combat abilities, we’re both going faster and faster, trying to outdo the other so we can strike a decisive blow. I wouldn’t say I’m doing better than him, even I can tell that regardless of his boy-scout attitude, he’s been in some real fight, your life hanging in the balance and all that. He’s far more experienced with a sword than I am. With our last clash, he knocks my sword out of my hand, then pushes me down on my ass. He points his sword at me.

“I win this fight,” he declares.

“Come dude, this is a fight, just cause I don’t have a weapon doesn’t mean I’m out!”

I spin my body to build up momentum to kick his sword out of his hand.

“Shit!”

“So boy-scouts can curse?”

“I am not a boy scout.”

“Sorry, should I call you Mr. knight?”

I get into a position where I put my fists up in front of my head. My dominant foot forward.

“Put up your hands and let's do this unless you need your sword to fight?”

For a moment he seemed frustrated by the situation I put him in. However, after a moment of hesitation, he sighs to himself heavily, giving in to my challenge. He got into a pose of his own with his hands lowered and his right foot out.

“Okay, let’s get it going!”

We race off to get the first hit in against the other. Legion uses martial arts on me. I don’t have a style to call my own, I just go on what I've seen. I wasn't too interested in making one since it just sounded like a hassle. Plus, I'm skilled enough to fight without one. However, I don't know if he was just warming or just screwing with me, but he was beginning to match me in blow to blow.

"You're lacking Proxy."

"How so?"

"You're just swinging your body around as if you have no idea what you're doing."

"You want to see consistency, I'll give it to you."

Two punches followed after our brief exchange. Shortly after I went in using kicks. He seems to be put on guard while I use my legs. Now that I think about it, aren't kicks more powerful than punches? When you wanna break open a door, you use a kick. In general, there's more mass in a kick than there is in a punch, so if I add rotational momentum to each kick, then I can break his guard every time. Yeah, it makes sense, don't rely on my hands, just use my feet!

"What the!"

He barely evaded my attacks. My kicks are swift, powerful, and constantly going. The more I move, the stronger the impact would be. Of course, I have to mix in a punch here and there, but the way I’m going about this is putting Legion on the defensive. My next leg attack is a frontal kick that destroys his defense. For the decisive blow, I attempt to slam my foot against his head. However, I see a spark of lightning aimed at my chest. Before I know it, lightning strikes me. The spark sends me skipping across the floor.

"Proxy!" Richard yells out.

Yikes, that really hurt! The area he hit is burning like you wouldn’t believe and it has gone a bit sore. But even so, I’m still good to go!.

"Proxy are you okay, tell me where. . ."

Richard goes quiet from my sudden laughter. I spin myself back up.

"You got scared, didn't you?"

"Proxy, I--"

"You got my gears shifting now. Come on, let's do this."

"Are you crazy, you just got hit by lightning!"

"I feel fine though."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, now come on Legion, let's do this!"

"I cannot, I used my Source when I wasn't supposed to."

"That doesn't matter, I'm still good to go."

"Why are you so brash, do you not think I'll do it again?"

"I don't care if you do, either way, this fight goes until the music stops! Besides, I want to see you flinch again."

"Flinch?"

Legion looks down at his hand. "Did I really. . .flinch?"

"You got scared when I was about to finish you."

"I did?"

I begin my approach, a slow walk turns into a sprint. Before reaching him, I jump, twisting my body in mid-air to build momentum. I deliver a well-timed kick, breaking his guard. Landing on the ground, I drive my fist against his stomach, then I spin myself around to Iand a straight kick against his chest. The kick itself was powerful enough to have Legion soaring across like I did when he hit me with his lightning.

"Oi, is that all you got?"

"How are you still--"

"Come on, I don't wanna talk, I wanna fight!"

Legion goes silent just after being interrupted. Truth be told, I wasn't at 100%. The area he hit me at weakened me far more than I'd like it to, but I'm still capable of moving and fighting. Legion for up from his little rest.

"Even after being hit with such an attack you still want to fight?"

"Why the hell not, wouldn't be much of a dance if I got knocked out by a prissy ass attack like that."

"You truly are insatiable."

"And you're a hard head boy-scout."

Our compliments and semi insults are followed by punches that connected with each other. We struck, blocked, deflected, and evaded each other's attacks. His fighting style is still strict but there’s a hint of relaxation in his style. He relies on offense more so than he did his defense. More of my hits are getting through but more of his are beginning to reach me. However, I'm sure that the two of us didn't care. My mind goes blank, my body is moving on autopilot. Legion isn't stopping either, he keeps going just as I did. The music rages on as we fought on with reckless abandon. Ever since I got to this world it was full of fights that escalated beyond simple street fights. But out of any of them, this was the most fun. Fighting someone like Legion is a blast. It doesn't have anything to do with anyone else. Hell, I didn't care about the teacup anymore, I just want to keep going until we can't move. As we back up for a breather, we lunge at each other. My left leg aimed for the side of Legion’s head while he thrust his fist toward my chest. At that moment before contact, the music stops and the king raises his voice.

"STOP!" His voice caught us off guard, getting me out of my trance. "That fight - that dance, was truly splendid! You two fought not with honor or pride, but as two men who wanted to win, so I congratulate you two." As the king claps the crowd does so as well. Legion is taking in big breaths. I'm about to keel over from the exhaustion. "What is your name, young man?"

"It's Proxy."

"Proxy, well, for your display with Legion here, I’d like to award you with tonight's prize."

A servant hands me the teacup. I hold it up as high as I can.

“Guys, I got the. . .”

Richard, Nunnalé, and Selena weren’t anywhere to be seen. I wonder where they went?