"You're actually pretty good at this, aren't you?"
Early in the morning when the sun was still about to rise, I met with Miss Rio in the outer fields of the floating islands.
With wooden swords in both our hands, we pitted against each other with pure technique and nothing else.
I pushed the blade slightly further ahead, and Rio counteracted the force by applying her own at the perfect angle.
Her body that never moved more than necessary was formidable, there was no telling what she would do next until she had already done it.
"I apologize for hiding most of my skill."
"No, I already knew you were doing that. I could tell because I am your teacher."
We both jumped back, smiled, and then charged in again. Like wind, she nimbly danced around the land as she avoided every single strike and swing.
I gripped the blade, spun it in my hand and drove it into the ground.
"Oh?"
A cloud of dust rose from the sheer force, blinding the sight all around me. In that stance, I listened for her steps and dashed through the dust.
My blade emerged from within and almost hit Rio's eyes, when she raised her free hand and redirected my stab into the air.
Before I could regain my balance, she raised her knee and drove it toward my chest.
I managed to block it with my other arm. Taking leverage from her own body weight, I regained my balance and drove back my sword hilt-first
She raised two fingers again.
This time, before she could redirect my attack, I swept my feet under hers in an attempt to topple her to the ground, but she jumped at just the right time.
Her fingers tapped my sword, and it went tumbling around in the other direction.
"Woah!"
I was about to fall.
My collar was grabbed.
"Be careful—"
Jackpot.
I dropped the act and immediately turned my blade again, this time toward her neck.
Rio let go of me and raised her hands. There was nothing she could do this time.
"Cheap…"
"Is it? All is fair in love and war."
"This is a battle."
"War."
"Battle."
Whatever.
I got back on my feet again and dusted my clothes.
"What is that thing you do?" I asked, amused at the way she continued to redirect my attacks without much effort. It almost seemed like magic.
"I mess up your center of gravity, for the most part."
Rio's words were as monotonous as I assumed her face would be.
"Hm?"
I did stuff like that too, but something like this never happened.
"I know what you're thinking," she said as she picked up a bottle of water and started splashing it on herself. "It's actually useless on weak people. When you're as skilled and fast as us, you become very sensitive to such little details."
"Huh?"
That made sense. What she meant was that every slight change in one's center of gravity affected the way a person like us swung their sword.
Form and grip to muscles and flexors, once you would start perfecting all of these large details the only way to bring out even a minute more power would hide in the little details. That meant I subsconsciously always moved so that every aspect of my attack, from the muscles I use to where my center of gravity was, all of it was in perfect alignment.
"By changing it slightly you make me lose balance."
"Incorrect," Rio shook her head. "Come, try swinging again."
She tossed over the wooden sword back to me and placed one hand behind her back, the other open and waiting.
"Give it your all."
I took in a breath, narrowed my gaze, and charged in again. My muscles clenched and relaxed all at once as I swung the sword right at her neck. Before it could hit, I maneuvered it in a different direction and went for a low swing.
"Hmph."
Rio scoffed and tapped the blade. It was slightly pushed away and the center of balance broke. I almost fell ahead, but immediately got my balance back and whirled around for another strike to the back of her head.
A gust of wind spread as I stopped my blade just short of hitting her.
"This is what would happen if you just break the balance."
"Don't lie, you made a mistake didn't you?"
"I can never make a mistake. I know because I am your teacher."
"You're lying."
"Am not."
We both coughed and I moved back again.
"This time, I'll show you what I am doing. Try and see if you can figure it out."
I nodded and took in another breath.
This time, I wanted to hit her.
I shot off the ground and charged ahead. She leaned back as I stabbed the blade out.
And then, her hand fell near the cross guard of the blade. Just a simple slide with two of her fingers.
The next thing I knew, my stab had turned into an upward swing.
My foot landed back on the ground and I turned my gaze toward her.
Rio pumped her shoulders and patted my head before walking away.
"See what I did?"
She didn't just break my balance, she utilized my instincts and muscle memory to cause a synapse reaction and changed the structure of my attack itself. It was a display of pure skill.
"My ancestor Isaac made that technique. He was a millennium wizard, but practiced sword arts too."
What the hell was a millennium wizard.
"His grand sword was a powerful artifact that got lost in the east. We called it the blade of the thundering firing watering school."
I was so lost.
"Anyway, I'll teach you that later if you want."
"You will? Promise?"
Rio stopped.
She turned back, walked over to me, pulled my cheeks in a single go and then turned away again.
"Sure, I am your teacher so of course."
How cute.
I stretched my hand above my head. The sun was about to rise up.
"Make sure you go to class on time, Irina will be coming with a transfer student."
"Hm?"
Transfer student?
Now what was this?
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l