‘Huu, dammit,’ the man thought to himself, staring ahead at the stretch of dull skies scattered all around. With the grass blades tickling him from beneath, his limbs were sprawled out while his chest heaved uncontrollably, still grasping his weapon in the right hand.

  “Stop lying down and stand up. We just started the lesson,” with the dummy sword resting along her shoulders, the teacher’s relaxed expression poured over through the tongue. However, the student didn’t listen immediately, simply drenching his shining blade with dew from below.

  Despite witnessing the disregard, Folvana’s mien turned little, simply gesturing with her left hand. Right at her motions, the man’s body twitched slowly.

  His jaw clenched up immediately as he felt inert all around, especially in the legs.Watching himself as the body moved on its own to rise up from the ground and fix him on his feet, Lutiel grimaced lightly before once again gripping his sword.

  Walking through the grass whilst eyeing Folvana’s empty stance, he quickly showed his back to the tree with a hollowed out center. Despite closing the girl after stepping moving with his stance put on display, she copied his position after just a while of watching him.

  He could no longer encircle the demon. Cutting him off deliberately, she closed the distances with the wooden sword pointed ready at the murky clouds. The student’s eyebrows swiftly furrowed as his eyes reverberated her calm, watching steadily the girl’s approach.

  Regardless of the man’s action, his figure was nippily engulfed by her presence, the fluttering shirt clinging to her body underneath gales they stood within. His eyes quickly followed for the arms, but just as he was doing so, her sword descended right at him.

  With a quick motion, she performed the simplest of actions, yet Lutiel staggered about before swiftly cutting down as well. The sharp verge of the blade easily met with the wood, however, it behaved unnaturally.

  Unable to hack into the material, his eyes widened slightly when the arms let loose, dropping the sharp sword down to the grass once again. Breathing heavily at the girl’s maneuvers, he gazed down to witness the curved, blunt end of the wood pressing against his neck.

  Meanwhile, the girl’s reserved face danced within his mind. Folvana quickly went back to her resting position, only to finally break apart. “What is it with you?” She asked suddenly, creasing her eyebrows ever so slightly.

  “What do you mean?” The question lingered around her silent face for a few breaths. However, as he began reaching down for his sword, Lutiel suddenly froze in place.

  “Even though you’re learning so quickly, you would lack an important factor in an actual battle. You’re too indecisive for your own good. The way you’re attacking too. It’s almost as though you don’t want to hurt your enemy.”

  Opening his eyes wide for a brief moment, the staggered figure still rose from the ground, only to stare at the girl with serene breaths. Albeit remaining there for a while as no answer could boil out inside, Lutiel eventually parted his lips.

  “... I don’t know. All I remember from my past are a few cloudy dreams. But, do you think there is a chance I didn’t like killing?” He asked whilst moving his eyes at the lady, seeing quickly as fuddle settled within her face.

  “Of course there is. Most people don’t like killing. It’s just that they have to sometimes. With you however, it’s as if you’re scared,” she spoke, pointing a finger directly at his chest. “We’re in a meager spar, but you take no initiative even as I come closer to you. Before you know it, you will drop dead in a real battle, even against just humans.”

  “Is it that bad?” The man pried anew, raising his head back at the girl.

  “Bad? No, it’s atrocious,” she ridiculed with a straight face. “You will get nowhere without an urge for blood in your blade.” Saying so, Folvana finally looked at the man. Seeing as his lowered glance wouldn’t hover back up, she sighed slightly.

  “Still, it’s not like we can’t fix that, even if it will take a while. Alright, bring your stance up again. And start attacking with a decision, not out of a necessity.” Her voice quickly brushed past his shoulders, breaking the man from his vague dejection.

  However, as he finally raised himself, his face seemed even blander than usual. Without any more corrections, he simply brought his stance out, the same one they had kept training.

  At the same time, the girl stepped back to form a firm distance around them. Despite that, as she herself gained a stance, he wouldn’t move for a few breaths.

  ‘You’re telling me I have to kill to progress, huh? I don’t know if I can do that,’ he mused, quickly looking back ahead of him. The moment his focus intensified around the demon, the vision around him trembled. Shivering in the eyes, Lutiel’s feet weren’t better, immured in place before quivering as he witnessed the incoming figure.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Keeping her stance identical to before, Folvana increased the speed, glancing deep within the man simultaneously. Grasping him with her golden sight, the man couldn’t move a single muscle after seeing the red hair raise by themselves.

  She had already reached him, to which he flinched and began to put up his sword to defend the incoming strike. Yet, phasing through the cold metal as though it wasn’t there, Lutiel’s eyes widened anew, staring blankly ahead while feeling his left cheek with his fingers.

  A stream of warmth trickled down. Peering at the fingertips painted ruby, the lady’s figure traced back to normal, along with a command of hers. “It will hurt a lot more if you just stand still.”

  Instead of letting the man cool off like before, her feet daintily rushed through the grass again, leaving faint marks around the blades. Quickly ducking as the sword headed for his head, Lutiel ran through the space, breaking his stance completely in the name of survival.

  “You’re nothing more than prey right now. All you do is run away from the actual battle. How the hell have you managed to win against the leader of the revolutionaries?” She asked, keeping up with the man effortlessly. Practically flowing through the hill, Folvana abruptly raised her eyebrow. However, even if he actually slashed down with his sword, she went at it with her own.

  Bending his arms to her will, the blade was pried away, right before she cut through the sides. Rending the pants he wore as though it was the thinnest of fabrics, blood smeared out again, tainting the attire around it.

  However, she wasn’t done. With quick actions, her sword continued to move. Reverberating across the right side of his ribs, the blunt strike festered his face into a grimace. The girl still didn’t stop. As he headed to grab the side of his torso, the sword struck down at the left shoulder.

  “Gharrr!” He groaned abruptly, air escaping his mouth at the brisk senses before stumbling backwards. Digging through the dirt with his feet whilst plummeting to the butt, he panted painfully, grabbing hold of his shoulder whilst looking up at the cold eyes staring him down.

  “Get up. We aren’t finished yet,” she ordered, swiftly for him to follow. At least on the surface. Fighting through the invisible forces around him, Lutiel could only move once the girl raised him back to his legs.

  Breaths mingled with grunts as he stared at the instructor, however, just like she said, he raised the sword back to his position. Immediately to be assaulted anew.

  As soon as his thighs lowered themselves, the girl moved, omitting his incoming slash with the faintest ease. The shoulder that held the sword quickly spilled blood as a thrust cut through its flesh.

  “This could have been your brains,” she said while her student lost focus of her figure. Quickly looking to the side though whilst searching for the disappearing enemy, his head suddenly glanced up towards the sky, his chin brimming with pain and blood as she cut it clean. “This could have been your face, split in two.”

  Continuing to slash against the man, Folvana made no efforts to stop. Bruising and nicking him tens of times, his face eventually drowned in red.

  Heaving as he sat against the harsh winds, although already dried, his face still released a few streaks of new blood. Meanwhile, the lady kept watching him, finally resting her sword on top of her arms. “Lutiel.” She parted her lips suddenly, making him glance up.

  “That’s enough for the spar. We will be training the stances and footwork now, so stand up,” her voice trailed past his bloodied ears, one of them cut in two. “Prepare yourself for this every day from now on and make sure to apologize to Raeyine.”

  Through the harsh breaths, he slowly raised himself from the ground, to which the girl acted out. Stretching out her hand, she moved her fingers slightly, surprising Lutiel at the sudden waft around his face.

  “What did you do?” He asked out of nowhere, feeling for his smooth face. Of course, the wounds were still there, however, almost no blood remained.

  “Cleaned you up a bit. It’s definitely nicer to watch your handsome face without all the blood around it,” she said whilst coming closer to the man, breaking apart her stern look to a blank one.

  “I see, thank you,” he muttered, grazing the finger back to his hips before glancing at the teacher again.

  “Leave it. I wounded you purposely, so it’s natural I take care of it,” she said, only to drown the topic. “We will be changing the moves today. You already replicate the stance pretty cleanly, so it's time you learn a new one.”

  Before shutting her lips however, she followed on. “Follow my movements.” Just like any time they had their session, Folvana moved first. Before engaging the wooden sword, she first moved her left leg forward, leaving the other behind. Placing her weight on the first one, the girl lowered herself on it and finally moved the sword.

  Rotating it slightly, she moved it behind her whilst pointing down at the hill. Exactly as she stopped, the man followed her actions. Putting up the legs in similar positions as the first stance he had learnt, the sword fell down to his right, quickly to be corrected by the girl.

  “You want to cut through the air. The way you’re holding it will only drag you back,” she said, and the man swiftly rotated the blade and she nodded her head, finding it accurate. Though, after staring for a while at him, her lips parted again. “Don’t hold it in the center. Scatter your hands on each end of the handle.”

  Immediately, he had fully replicated her moves, within just two corrections. Nodding again, she calmed herself down, breathing silently before the winds were cut coming from below. Stopping for a brief moment before descending down yet again, Folvana stared back at the man, who didn’t need long to understand.

  Slashing in a similar way, he swiftly went back to the stance, awaiting her approval before starting back at the ground.

  “A bit lacking. Tense your stomach more,” she said, swiftly slashing up again. The man followed right after her, letting her guide him while the skies turned duller with every tens of swings they performed.

  “Alright, that’s enough for today,” Folvana eventually spoke up, once more letting the sword rest along her nape whilst staring at the man gasping for breaths, supporting his arms atop the knees. “Get some treatment from Raeyine and rest for the night. Well, unless your lady calls for you,” adding at the end, Lutiel could only raise his furrowed eyebrows at her before sustaining the harsh breaths.