Chapter 7

Taking in some air, Harmony tried to regulate her breathing. Even though he had lost the bout, Steven had made Harmony expend a lot of energy. It was obvious that Steven was getting better.

Standing up from the rock, Michael picked up his sword which had been leaning on the same log that they had been sitting on. The expression on Michael’s face was serious. Not too unexpected considering that he was going to have to go against Harmony next. She herself knew that her tactics could be annoying.

“You appear to be getting better Steven,” Michael’s face softened for a second, “if you keep practicing you might become a real contender for the first and second spot someday.”

Steven grinned at Michael in response to the praise. It made Harmony feel happy that he was making so much progress. At the same time Harmony realized that Michael was correct. If Steven kept improving he would eventually grow to be a true competitor for them both.

“Don’t just praise him, tell him what he did wrong,” Maya said annoyedly, “if you want him to truly improve at least give him some tips on what he can do better.”

“We’ll have an after action review, but after we finish our match,” Michael replied.

Brandishing his blade, Michael held it aloft. With a click from the trigger on the hilt resulted in the shield on Michael’s arm expanding.

Glinting off of the metallic shield, light from the sun beamed into Harmony’s eyes. Harmony could just barely make out the wings that represented their family insignia under the light.

Harmony herself raised her scythe into the air. Going against Michael was never an easy thing. His prowess was apparent. It was no wonder that he was the top of their class.

“Ready when you are,” Michael called out to Harmony.

Responding to Michael's words, Harmony collapsed her scythe back down into a sword. She wanted to wait and see what was going to happen next. More specifically, if Michael was going to make the first move. Harmony needed to play this smart.

Gradually, Harmony and Michael both made circles around each other. Both of them were looking for the best moment to strike.

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Harmony saw some potential openings. They weren’t really openings. They were just ways for Michael to draw her in and finish the match quickly. He had pulled that trick on her one too many times for it to work again.

About half way through another circle, Michael rushed toward Harmony. In the blink of an eye their blades clashed and Harmony managed to move over to the side. Had Michael noticed a weakness in her defenses?

Changing tactics Harmony switched her sword back into its scythe form. If Michael saw a breach in her guard then she better attack before Michael had the chance to exploit it. That way she might be able to catch him even a little off balance.

Drawing upon her aura, Harmony flashed towards Michael without ever pushing off the ground. With this speed she was hoping to catch her brother unaware, but it seemed that he had already anticipated the move.

Raising his shield, Michael managed to block the strikes raining down from Harmony’s flurry of attacks. Michael’s shield was going to be the most difficult part. Getting around it was going to be the key to victory.

After her rush of attacks Harmony backed off, returning her scythe back to its sword form. Rapidly, Harmony started to formulate multiple plans in her head. Many of them would likely not work. A sure fire plan was needed.

Right before Harmony could fully recover, Michael pushed forward. Promptly, Harmony was pushed back, losing much of her ground. Fortunately Harmony managed to keep her footing through proper use of her aura.

Michael continued to press the attack. There wasn’t much that Harmony could do. The only thing that could be done was deflect the onslaught of attacks coming her way. Even that wouldn’t last for long.

Out of everyone that Harmony could fight, Michael wasn’t really one of them. In the past Harmony hadn’t really put any effort into fighting against any of her classmates. The only one that she really had to work against was Michael.

That was very apparent now. Going against Michael was like trying to fight against a raging river. It isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do. He was a fanatic when it came to training. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just meant that he was leagues above the rest of the class.

That skill gap was still apparent with Harmony. Michael’s onslaught kept pushing Harmony further and further back. Her guards were becoming less and less effective, and Harmony could feel her arms getting tired.

Looking at Michael’s face, there was a seriousness that he only had when it came to swordplay. Harmony had seen it many times before.

Coming to a decision, Harmony quickly changed her scythe, Crescent Fall, back into its original form. This would be her last chance to win. Her final gambit.

Using the shaft of Crescent Fall, Harmony blocked a blow from Michael. Then she tried to get her scythe’s blade around Michael’s shield, hoping to stab him with it.

Unfortunately, Michael had already repositioned his blade. Before Harmony could strike Michael, her field had already been shattered. It had been a close match.