Chapter 2

The pleasant sound of chirping birds, rung as the dimly lit sky steadily illuminated, basking in the early morning light of the sun. I rolled myself directly on top of a patch of grass, the dew was still plainly visible. The cool sensation of moist grass tingled the area my leather armor didn't cover.

I turned my head, and faced a certain blond haired youth. His eye were slightly open, staring at the charred wooden stick above the campfire. For an instance, an expression of grief could be seen on his face, as he remembered how he wasn't able to enjoy his Black Tortoise meat.

Afer the sound of the birds died out, readied ourselves for travel. We checked our belongings, to see if our weapons were in good shape, or if our clothes were damaged. Knowing the state of your equipment allows us to draw a rough analysis on our current battle potential. Logically, if your armor was tattered, its defense, most likely, would not compare to that of it's former state.

"Ah~~." A loud yawn escaped Aarons mouth, as he streched his limbs out toward the skies, and arching his spine slightly backwards.

"You're heading to the capital, right?" Aaron asked.

"Yes, I want to see who's entering the Gressant tournament." My lips curled up, slightly, forming a small smile. "I believe, an aquaintance of mine will be entering the tournament."

The Gressant Tournament was, in name, a tournament. In reality, it was a way for fighters, and mages, to test out their abilities in combat. The tournament is held every year. For the common populace, the regular citizens, it was a way of relieving stress, and having fun. Although many people enter, they are mostly beginner or intermediate leveled fighters. Beginner level would be around Adventurer ranks E-C. Intermediate would be ranks B-A. Advanced would be ranks S-X.

"Well, since I plan on entering the tournament, I'll accompany you on the way."

"Huh, you? You'll probably lose on your first match." I mocked.

"No way! I'm pretty confident in my strength. In fact, with my power, I should be able to protect all the women in the world." A huge grin appeared on his face.

Aaron's pace seemed to have increased, after the exchange, as he was ahead of me, proudly laughing. I shook my head, in response. Protect all the women? I doubt it. A light snort escaped my nose. Aaron's current walking posture was quite commical to behold. His chest held high, and his head held slightly backwards, as he laughed contently.

After a while, the stench of nature decreased, and a gentle breeze could be felt ahead. As we got closer, the sight of magnicifent, grey walls could be seen. It stood 30 feet high, with flags hoisted every horizontal distance of 30 meters.

The flags were extravagantly designed. The edges were trimmed, to create a rectangular shape of blue. On the center, the mighty figure of a lion roaring could be seen. The lion was yellow in color, but its mane had brilliant red hue that gave him a majestic appearance.

Relieved that our navigation was correct, we increased our pace towards the forest exit. Before we could step out, onto the beautiful grassy field of green, a ferocious roar raged behind us.

"Owwwwwww, my ears!" Aaron screamed.

A reptilian monster of green, that resembled an dragon with no wings, stood a few meters behind us. Fiery yellow eyes stood back at us, as we looked to see where the roar came from.

"What the hell is that!?" I asked, amazed.

Aaron reached for his sword hilt, as he responed. "It's an Earth Dragon! In this forest, it's the dominating species!" His eyes focused onto the brown scales, that resembled cleanly cut medium- sized boulders.

"Looks tasty..."

Upon hearing my words, the blond haired youth's eyes look at me in disbelief.

Roar! With another powerful roar, the Earth Dragon's 15 meter long body rushed towards us, springed by it's bulging rear legs.

Aaron quickly rolled to the side, blocking the attack from the side, using the momentum of the strike to create distance. The main focus of energy of a tackle, usually resides in the front. If one were to get hit by the Dragon's side, the force wouldn't be as great.

Instead, of performing the same actions as Aaron, I quickly stepped to the side. As I was standing on the right of Aaron, I moved to the right side. My legs widened, three times my shoulder width. My right foots position was a safe distance away from where the giant dragons body would potentially strike. In a fluid motion, my left foot traveled toward my right foot, and flew over it, gently landing to the side of it. The Dragon's Giant body, missed, by a small margin. In a low, crouching poistion, I drew my sword from its sheathe, and countered with a horizontal slash that seemed to endlessly arch towards the direction of the slash. The blade that seperated from the body, after creating a 1 meter long wound, seemed to travel endlessy. From where the blade of the sword left its target, the slash wound kept on stretching until it reached the end of the Dragon's body.

In only a split second, a clean cut, that stretched from the dragons head to tail, was engraved into the Dragon's seemingly impenetrable body. The cut was so precise, the meat did not separate. After the the lifeless dragon's body hit the floor, the impact spread throughout the body, causing the wound to open. Like a fountain, the thick, red liquid sprayed all over the opening. Countless drops of blood landed on the rich, black soil of the forest, filling it with nourishment for the plants.

Aaron who saw the counter, while checking to see if Adira was able to dodge the attack, shortly after he succesfully escaped the Dragon's onslaught, was baffled.

"Impossible, such mastery with the sword..." He thought.

Motions as fluid as water, and a sword slash as graceful as the crescent moon that lit the night sky.

"The slash..., even though the blade left the target, the slash continued to travel onward. How is this possible!" Another thought, invaded Aaron's mind. He was having trouble trying to get a hold of the current situation.

Ignoring Aaron's frozen figure, I slowly approached the carcass of the Earth Dragon. My heart rate increased, and my heart firmly pounded against my chest. A string of saliva escaped the corner my lips, drool.

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"Dragon meat!" A gluttonous smile arched below my nose.

Dragon meat was an extreme delicacy. Not only was it really hard to obtain, the taste of the meat was divine. As a result, its price in the market was sky high.

"Aaron quick! Set up a fire!" I demanded.

Hearing those words, Aaron seemed to have escaped from his daze.

"H-huh? W-what?" I replied, still confused.

I cut out a chunk of dark red meat, fresh blood oozed out of it. "Quick set up a fire! I want to eat now!"

"What are you saying, in this situation!?" Aaron yelled.

"Hmph, j-just do it" I pouted, my lips tightened and my cheeks puffed outward. I continued to stare at Aaron.

He gave up, and set up a fire as quickly as possible.

"Hehe, well, it is Dragon Meat." Aaron thought, as his mouth watered.

After the fire was set, they placed chunks of dragon meat over the fire, using wooden sticks as leverage. The appetizing aroma of the cooking meat, filled our noses. Blood sizzling, as it dropped off the shrinking meat, was a sight to behold.

We both cutt off the cooked outer layer of the meat, and began to dig in.

"D-delicous!" We both mumbled, with bits of the juicy oil of the meat on the edge of our mouths.

Remembering something, I began to speak. THis time, with a serious tone. "Aaron."

"Hmm?" Aaron seemed to have forgotten about the previous events, as he was too busy enjoying the delicous meal.

"Do you know?"

"Know what?"

"About the beings. The beings that stand at the top." The words left my mouth with a chilling tone.

"Uh..., yea. Everybody knows. The beings that stand at the top, are individuals that are so powerful, they can destroy countries. Alone, at that." He replied. " In the end, it's just a legend." He chuckled.

My gaze focused onto Aaron's face, trying to determine if he was joking. I refocused my gaze onto the brilliant yellow hue of the camp fire, and narrowed my eyes. "Legends?" My lips couldn't help but curve upwards. "Events become stories, and stories become legends." Hearing those words, Aaron's expression turned solemn.

"Anyway, what was that?" I began. "Didn't you say, with your power, you will protect all the women in the world? You don't seem all that strong." I teased.

"W-what!? Of course, I can!" His face lightened up, and his features eased, but it was only for a moment. His expression turned serious, once again.

"Honestly, your abilities aren't that good. Not quite sure, yet." I reached for another piece of cooked meat. "You probably know the basics, but that is it."

"What do you mean?"

"Like I said, you only know the basics. Fighting skills are abundant in number." I mocking smile appeared on my face.

"..."

"Want to learn some?" I teased, with playful eyes.

"..." Aaron fidgeted in his eat, and stayed silent.

"Heh." I snorted, playfully. "The basics of fighting, are weapon wiellding, stance, movement, and sight. As they basics they are, that is what everyone starts out with. After that, the more advanced techniques come into play."

I chewed onto the soft meat, before continuing. "Broaden your view on the basics."

"What do you mean, by that. I don't understand." Aaron began to ponder.

"Weapon wieilding basics, you learn how to use your weapon. But, you only learn the basic techniques and movements of the weapon. For example, a horizontal slash, vertical slash, uppercut. Now think, how will you improve your from the basic." I reached for another piece of meat. Aaron seemed to have forgotten about the food, guess it's all mine. "A vertical slash, how will you improve it? Once you master the basic vertical slash, do you think that's the end? If you know the basic form and movement of the slash, then move on. Now, how can you improve it? You can combine other techniques and strengthen the vertical slash. You can use stance, grip the earth to strengthen your blow. Use the movement of your body, to add weight into your blows. Add mana, to bring out a vertical slash that can travel endlessly, or a slash that can cut anything."

Aaron's eyes widen. He had never thought of such a thing. He thought once he mastered the techniques he was set.

I continued, "You can improve, your basics by combing basics or other techniques you have learned." I grabbed another piece of meat, and dug in. Aaron just continued to think about what I have been teaching him. "Of course, you won't be using the basic techniques, only. There are other techniques, more advanced ones, like feints. If both you and your opponent are in a stale mate, where neither of you can land a hit, use feints. Use fake movements, confuse you enemy. Trick them into thinking you are going to attack a certain way. If they fall for it, they will leave an opening. This is one way, of creating openings."

After he absorbed the words into his mind, Aaron asked a question. " What if they know it's a feint."

I laughed, as I responded. "Then make it believable. You can muster up killing intent. Releasing killing intent, means you are serious. They will increase their guard, and take every one of your blows seriously."

"..." Aaron was speechless.

After a while, he calmed down, letting out a long sigh.

"Hah~," He suddenly remembered about the about the dragon meat. He hurriedly reached for one, but was there. Slightly charred wooden sticks, covered in oil, with no dragon meat on it, were protruding from the ground.

"..." His brows scrunched up, and his mouth shriveled. "I can't believe it! I let her eat all the food, again! This glutton, just where does she fit all that food." He thought. "Ah, whatever. Atleast, I got to learn something new."

"Hey, hurry and get up. What if we miss the tournament." Adira spoke.

"Ugh..." With a groan, Aaron dragged his body up, and threw dirt into the campfire. When he saw that the fire was put out, he quickly followed after Adira's figure.