The next day also passed without much change. Kesshō continued to perform well at Kyojutsu, even moving on to hitting moving targets at the farthest distance already. In Bōjutsu, Kesshō's progress, formerly hindered because of the staff being too long on the first day, skyrocketed right after, already moving on to blocking hits from multiple direction while being blindfolded.
On the other hand, her progress in Taijutsu seemed painfully slow, in a literal sense. Hori didn't hold back against her in the slightest, causing multiple injuries, though they healed fairly quickly. If not for her regenerative abilities she would have already been out for the count and in recovery for a few weeks. He showed her a technique and then allowed her to practice it.
Since the technique was supposed to use the enemies' strength against them, he attacked Kesshō with every intention of killing her, which Kesshō was starting to believe was his actual intention. Even Mei needed to step in multiple times to stop Hori before he wounded Kesshō too badly for even her regeneration.
As for Kenjutsu, there was no progress whatsoever. She spent three entire days just trying to hold her bokken without dropping it. She made no progress in the slightest, not even in the number of times she dropped it. All she could do was watch the other students practice slashes, blocks, and counters while she stood in the corner with her bokken in her hand, and many times dropping it, sometimes on her feet and hurting herself, not crying out in pain due to the fear instilled in her.
Her fourth day of training, like every other day, started with Kenjutsu. She stood in the corner, her bokken in hand, watching the others practice like every other day. Like the other days, she made her way to the hall after eating her breakfast, only to be instructed by Hori to do the same as usual. And so, she again stood there, her bokken in hand, as other students started entering. They all assumed their positions they always stood in and prepared to perform their daily routine.
"Stop!" Hori called out. Everyone stopped at once and awaited their teacher to continue as Hori stood with a smile. "You all have been practicing for a while, now, it's time to put your skills to the test with practice duels." Hori announced and gestured towards the raised rectangular platform in the center of the hall. "Who wants to go first?" He questioned.
Everyone looked at each other. One by one several hands shot up from the crowd, everyone soon raising their hand to show their enthusiasm and courage.
"Good, now sit around the platform, I will choose two of you." He ordered pacing back and forth as the students seated themselves.
The announcement of the practice duel piqued Kesshō's interest and she edged closer to the platform, one step at a time so that Hori wouldn't notice and she could get a better view. Selecting two students sitting opposite to each other Hori followed them onto the platform.
One of them wore a red kimono while the other wore a green one, both being guys with black hair and brown eyes. Their faces wore serious expressions without any hostility, having respect for each other but determined to win with everything they possess.
"This is going to be a first-hit duel, the one who lands the first hit on the opponent's body wins, do your best to not seriously injure your opponent. All those who are not in the duel observe closely and learn from their mistakes," Hori informed. "Now, begin!" He announced and stepped away from the two students, stepping off the platform and standing close to it.
Both the students circled each other cautiously, looking for any weaknesses or openings. None of the two made any moves, their entire focus on their opponent. The one wearing the red kimono feigned an attack to his opponent's left, but the man in green kimono didn't even flinch, his eyes fixed on his opponent. They resumed circling each other, both keeping a completely straight face to not give anything away.
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The one in the red kimono saw an opening in his opponent's defenses and went straight in for the kill. A smile crept on to his opponent's face on impulse as he sidestepped the charge, bringing his bokken crashing down at his head. Being too late to retreat the one in the red kimono brought his bokken above his head to protect himself from the attack. Their bokken collided and the two were stuck in a struggle of power. They tried to push each other back but both proved to be equally powerful.
Disengaging, the one in the green kimono tried to retreat backwards, but the one in the red kimono didn't allow him to. The teo of them constantly attacked and blocked, the green one being pushed back. An upwards slash blocked by a downwards slash, parrying a horizontal slash with an upwards slash, the two of them reacted to their opponent in an instant, their bodies having been trained for these type of clashes. Their bokken clashed with each other and they started breathing heavily as they were again locked in a clash, tired from the constant struggle.
The one in the green kimono stepped back again, exactly what his opponent wanted. Striking three times with his bokken in quick succession and with all his strength, the one in the red kimono disarmed his opponent. The one in the green kimono quickly dived for his bokken, but he was too slow. The one in the red kimono struck the one in the green kimono on his back as he dived for his bokken, winning the duel.
A cheer erupted forth from the other students that watched the duel, completely breathless from the spectacle, just like Kesshō. The duel was like nothing she had ever seen, the movements of the swordsmen flowing like water in a river, the battle going on inside the mind along with outside, everything about it, it was all truly beautiful to Kesshō in a way she couldn't describe.
Without wasting much time Hori called upon two other students. By the end of the lesson there had been about ten duels, five of them being as spectacular as the first, three ending shortly but being no less intense, and one which seemed brutal at first, though it didn't end as she guessed it might. The last duel was between a short girl and a boy atleast twice her size, similar to another duel which ended very badly for the smaller guy. She looked like an ant compared to an elephant, and Kesshō was somewhat worried about her. The battle ended just as quick as Kesshō expected it to, the result being the opposite however.
As soon as the battle begun the girl charged straight towards the hulking opponent. He swung his bokken straight at her but she dodged it with ease, being much faster than her opponent. Without giving him any time to swing again she drove her bokken straight into his stomach, knocking him backwards. He fell with a great thud as everyone watched in disbelief.
Hori gave an approving nod of his head. "In a sword duel, the size or strength of your opponent doesn't matter as much, it's the skills that do, and she showed just that here. Your weapon will cut through the enemy regardless of who or what they are if your skills are honed to that extent, only those whose skills are sharper than their blades can truly be called masters of this art."
Thinking about what Hori said and what she saw in the duels Kesshō lost track of time completely. It seemed like just what she needed, if she could hone her sword skills to the utmost limit then no one would stand a chance against her, no matter how much bigger or tougher they may be. There was nothing she could do about size or strength, but she could improve her skills if she just practiced enough, something she could somewhat easily.
"I don't care how many times you dropped it today, just leave, I am already tired." Hori waved her off while arranging racks with weapons.
Kesshō snapped back to attention as he said that and looked straight at her hands. The bokken was still in her hands, which she had completely forgotten about as she watched the duels, the realization striking her like a landslide. She had not picked up her bokken even once till the lesson ended, and it still remained in her hands, meaning only one thing, she didn't drop it. Kesshō tried to attract Hori's attention by waving her hands, but he ignored her entirely.
"I believe I told you to leave, now." Hori ordered, his voice hostile.
Scared, Kesshō did as she was told. Putting her bokken in the rack at its place she exited the hall in a hurry and went straight to the shooting range looking for Mei. She wanted to tell someone about what she just did, but there wasn't a way to, not one she could think of at the very least. She decided to wait till all her classes were over to tell Kurai, the only one who might understand what she is trying to say. She could have spoken but Kurai made her promise to not speak unless she was in danger. He only did so as she might lose the ability to speak entirely if she spoke too much, the stress on her throat from speaking having already increased, along with the pain of doing so.