A rare silence blesses the Academy grounds with a sense of peace and tranquility. Guards continue their patrol, occasionally stopping to yawn at the tedious and repetitive task of walking back and forth across the empty Academy.
While the peace and silence was a welcomed change, most guards found themselves growing increasingly bored without the lively laughter of students to annoy them through the day. The guards patrolling the training fields, however, had no such issues with boredom. Despite the peace and tranquility across the rest of the Academy, these guards were blessed with an entertaining chaos every time they passed one specific training field.
“Again.”
Dan lays flat against the scarred tiles in a puddle of his own sweat, trying to control his racing heart. Upon hearing the word, he clenches his jaw and pushes his bruised body off the ground, trembling uncontrollably on the way up. His short dark hair sways lightly as a breeze passes by. A pink ribbon decorates his left arm, fluttering along with his hair in response to the passing gale.
Beside him, a boy of similar age heaves for air as the pressure disappears from the training field. Hearing that dreadful word causes him to flinch. His face contorts with pain as he tries to lift himself off the ground. Unfortunately, legs give in just as he makes it onto his feet, causing him to collapse backwards. A ribbon trails upwards from the boy’s left arm, fluttering as he descends towards the scarred tiles.
“Breathe.” Dan reaches out, locking hands with the boy and stopping his fall. Upon pulling him back to his feet, Dan continues. “Your pulse is erratic. The pain will fade to the background if you focus on controlling your breathing.”
Following Dan’s advice, the boy closes his eyes and hones in on his breathing. After a few breathes, he feels the pain begin to fade just as Dan described.
Off to the side, guards in charge of patrolling the area gather and watch. Some make themselves comfortable, quickly opening their prepared lunch containers, not wanting to miss the most interesting part of their mundane days.
“Bets for today?” One guard asks, keeping his voice low so as to not distract the three in the training field.
“Today is the day, I feel it.” Another guard pulls out a silver coin, flattening it between his hands as he silently prays for the unlikely duo. “One silver on the Zhou prince and that boy.”
“Idiot. Two silvers on the instructor.”
More bets rapidly pour in, each guard reaching into their sleeve to swiftly retrieve their wagers before the action continues. The guard who first spoke collects the bets from his peers, sighing at those who continue to bet a sizable sum of their daily wages on the two boys. In the end, however, it makes no difference to him as he will always come out on top, collecting a small sum for simply facilitating the bets.
“No more bets.” The guard snaps the lid shut on the coin box. “It’s starting...”
“Dan, Wei…” Sun’s voice causes both boys to flinch as a crippling pressure descends upon the training field once more. “Again.”
Before they can get into stance, the wind suddenly shifts, collapsing towards Wei’s abdomen. Seeing Wei unprepared for the kick tearing towards him, Dan kicks against the ground, propelling himself towards Wei to intercept the attack. Realizing that his fist won’t reach in time, Dan lifts his knee towards his chest before kicking forth.
A split moment before Sun’s attack connects, Dan’s foot slams against his calve before sliding beneath his leg, shifting the trajectory of the attack. Sun’s leg tears through the air above Wei, grazing his short hair as it passes by.
Seeing another attack rapidly approaching, Dan stomps his kicking foot onto the ground, grabbing onto Wei’s collar and dragging him outside of the line of impact. As the follow up attack whiffs through empty space, Wei regains his footing and kicks off to circle around Sun.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Too slow, Wei.”
Sun suddenly stomps his lead foot down, canceling his kick, and using it as a pivot to sweep his other leg towards Wei. Feeling the air rushing against his face, Wei tucks his head and lifts his arms at an angle to redirect the impact. He smirks upon feeling the sensation of Sun’s leg sliding upwards against the bandages on his forearms. Seeing Sun stuck in the middle of an attack, Dan sweeps his leg in a crescent towards Sun’s other leg, hoping to throw him off balance.
Seeing the smirk on Wei’s face, paired with shifting air sweeping towards his planted foot, Sun couldn’t help but smile slightly at the boys’ timing and tenacity. Unfortunately for them, their efforts are still not up to Sun’s standards.
Sun bends his knee slightly, kicking upwards into the air to dodge Dan’s sweeping kick. Borrowing from the upwards momentum, he twists his hips and redirects his kick downwards. The smirk on Wei’s face disappears as the sliding sensation on his forearm suddenly disappears, immediately changing into an unbearable weight crushing down against him.
As Sun’s leg sinks against Wei’s forearms, a slight shift in air pressure causes him to raise a brow. Despite missing his sweeping attack, Dan did not give up. Instead, he follows through with the sweep, transferring the momentum of the spin into a rising back kick. Just as Wei is about to crash backwards against the training floor, Dan’s foot reaches Sun’s thigh. The impact relieves some of the pressure on Wei, allowing him to slide through.
Dan winces upon impact, still unable to get used to the sensation of striking what feels like an immovable wall. The recoil sends him sliding backwards on his hind leg, only stopping thanks to the cracks in the tiles giving him much needed friction.
“Good try, boys.”
Borrowing Dan’s kicking foot as a pivot point, Sun follows through with the twist of his hip, spinning horizontally in the air as he whips his other leg towards Dan. A pink ribbon trails behind his head, fluttering wildly in the path of his rotation. After passing the apex of the swing, Sun’s leg crashes downwards. Dan’s knees suddenly buckle under the combined pressure of the attack and the oppressing aura.
“DAN! LEG!” Wei screams out as he kicks into the air behind Sun.
Seeing Wei in prime position to land an attack, Dan clenches his jaw and sends every ounce of aura in his body towards his leg. With barely enough strength for one final burst, he bets everything on Wei and kicks off towards the attack. Seeing the boy dive head first towards his leg, Sun finds himself surprised once again by their impeccable timing.
Unfortunately for them, Sun sees right through their plan to receive the attack head on in order to tie down his leg. Even if just for a split second, it would afford time for Wei to land one clean strike.
Good try, boys. But it's too obvious.
Sun smiles as he prepares to borrow from the collision to redirect his momentum back towards Wei. Just as his leg is about to connect with Dan, Sun’s eyes suddenly grow wide. In the last moment, Dan slides one leg off to the side, twisting his entire body just outside the line of impact.
With nothing solid to redirect his momentum, Sun laughs internally as his foot continues crashing through empty space, mere centimeters from grazing Dan’s nose. Upon impact, a reverberating clap echoes across the training grounds.
The guards sitting off to the side clasp their hands together as they wait for the dust to settle, hearts racing in anticipation of the results. They all squint their eyes, trying to pierce through the thinning dust cloud to catch a glimpse of what happened. Within the sea of gray, three pink ribbons flutter as a breeze sweeps by.
“Mister! Dan! Weiwei!” A cheerful yell pierces through the palpable tension. “Aunty Lia and Yuyu brought lunch!”
Weaving around the crowd of guards, Yuyu runs towards the three figures standing within the cloud of dust. Before she could get too far, a guard snaps out of his daze and sweeps the little girl off her feet, spinning around before setting her back on the ground beside Lia.
“Yuyu, we already talked about this. It’s not safe right now.” The guard smiles nervously at the little girl before whipping his head back towards the cloud of dust.
Another gust of wind rushes across the field, sweeping the dust away. With full vision of the training ground, the guards’ jaws suddenly fall slack at the sight before them. At the center of the crater, Sun eyes the fist planted squarely on his cheek. Despite Wei pouring everything he had into that punch, Sun shakes it off like nothing. Turning towards the two, he places his hands on their heads, smiling as he ruffles their hair with affection.
“Good job, boys.” He compliments them for their tenacity, persisting through despite unfavorable conditions.
Turning towards the crowd of guards, Sun waves upon seeing Lia and Yuyu. He glances past a crumbled section of the training field wall, nodding slightly towards the two guards hiding in the distance, before turning back towards Dan and Wei.
“Thirty minute break.” Sun withdraws his aura, allowing the boys to breathe easy as he turns towards the aroma. “Let’s eat.”