The man seemed disappointed as he said 'What is the meaning of a sword to you? The purpose you wield it for? Dream? Fame? Power? Or just for the fun of mockery. Your movements are too rigid. Almost as if you hold the imitation of others and not the sword itself'
'Meaning of the sword' questioned the boy confused.
The man looked seriously at him 'Do not make fun of the dead by mocking their style so poorly' sounding like a warning from him 'The way you hold your sword is not even suitable for your small body. You are able to mock the style yet can not adapt on how to use it with your body and just bleeding more energy from the edges than using it on the sword'
The boy's mockery was like seeing dots at joints connected together at a line. He copied those points but no matter what, those nodes out matched his small body can never copy them perfectly
And without giving him much time to think, the man charged once again, swiping for his legs.
Even now, it was fast for him to follow the shadows, forcing the boy to act on his instincts. The boy lunged his sword to the ground, blocking the sword but at the price of the sword getting stuck onto the ground.
The panic started to kick him 'I should had just jumped back' regretting his actions as he tried to get it out
The man retracted his sword and swung back aiming for the head of his as the kid struggled to pull out the sword, making multiple mistakes while doing so.
As the sword reached for his neck, the boy leaned backwards and the sword glazed his hair making a but the kid had not let go of the sword.
He lifted one of his legs and relaxed his arm to aim it towards the man kicking him to buy some time to retrieve his sword back but the sword just fell out as he fell onto the ground.
The man seemed unfazed said 'Better but it would not be enough to defeat me with such little progress' and he looked at the boy dead in the eyes 'Show me that you don`t only have a mouth but power to back it up'
The kid had already retrieved his sword and questioned 'Are you dead serious on one of us dying?'
'I am– for those are my orders that I can`t defy."
'What orders?' questioned the boy but the man just silently raised his sword up at the sky elegantly and swung it down at the boy as his answer.
The boy instantly guarded his front with both hands but the strike was too heavy to be guarded.
He knew he could not win in strength so he slid his sword sideways, redirecting the force and without giving him any time, the kid tried to counter it 'But what if I miss…' hesitation and doubt struck him. The fearless eyes of his were now doubting themself.
The man seemed disappointed and said 'still too slow' as he pulled back his blade.
The boy looked confused as to why he had not already killed him. With that man speed, he could have easily cut his head off multiple times.
The man said 'Stop thinking of the sword as just a tool in your hand'
The boy looked at his sword and something clicked inside him.
For him, It's like throwing a punch but instead of letting the fist take control. He only focused on the arm and forearm while letting fist depend completely on the arm. While it allowed him to throw a punch, the accuracy and strength are lost with it.
Just like that, instead of thinking of the sword as just a tool in his arm, he imagined it as an extra limb extending from the fist. A limb whose movements he could copy and move freely.
Up till now, he was merely copying the movements up to the fist leaving the sword dependent on the fist but now it felt different. It was like the sword had became a part of his body. Now he could feel not just every fiber on his body but his sword as well.
A feeling that he had forgotten long ago.
The man's eyes smiled as he looked at his sword and genuinely smiled as his eye reflected off the boy's sword being enveloped in the same essence as his body 'Talentless you said? Ha- this kid learned how to wield his soul before he learned how to wield a sword properly. Many are never able to reach what he just did on his pure instincts.'
The sword had become an extension that he could now control with precision just like an extra limb. It can no longer be called a cheap mockery but a core principle of sword play.
The man charged towards the boy in excitement without a head up and the boy stopped relying on the shadows. He closed his eyes and reopened them as the shadows disappeared.
He brought his sword up and parried his sword cleanly. His movements were more refined. Still predictable but more precious yet a sensation of tiredness creeped in on his arms. He felt tired just by holding the sword just like how he felt tired wielding the sword for the first time.
The man claimed 'That`s it' in excitement with a slight smirk before eventually returning back to his normal tone 'but it`s a pity that you will have to die without even reaching the bottom line of your true potential' as he started to pick up the pace.
The man thought 'I must heed caution. He has not only learned how to infuse his soul but made himself one with it… This is not luck or talent. So this is pure instinct. Any strike from such sword can lead me to early death'
The kid asked 'Why are you teaching me when in the end you claim to kill me?' as he started to smile. For him a smile felt natural after all.
The ground went silent and only remained the echoes of swords crashing around them and only increasing in speed with every strike sounding faster and more intense than the previous one.
A smile to hold onto his sanity or smiling for he had already lost it. Either to stay sane or become insane to survive in it.
People would consider it insanity to smile after all that and they might not be far off either.
'You could had killed me instantly' spoke the boy to which the man claimed 'I just like to see the full potential of people in people' as he struck again and said 'But don't me wrong here, I am not that weak to die by your hands, Lad.'
But he had not taken account of his mockery. He only knew he was mocking others' styles but he failed to account for the fact that the boy at that very moment was learning his movements constantly and adapting himself on how he fought with every swing he delivered.
Every passing clash, the boy who had mastered understanding stances now started to predict the movements of the man himself.
It would have been weird for him not. After all, he knew how to pick off the movements of others with just his eyes and simulate them in his mind.
And thanks to those mysterious phantoms, he was able to find the sword path much easier and even make out the path in between the images.
The man started to get serious, for before he knew it, the boy in front of him had already started catching up. No, It was more that the hard work of his had now started to organize itself on the new better and stronger base.
It was never that the boy did not have any potential, but the opposite of that. He had potential but his base upon which his potential stood was too weak to uphold his entire foundation and it cracked down. Falling down upon itself, making it unreliable for anything.
For no matter how strong one may be, if the base can't uphold the structure, it will break down one day, taking all down with it.
His learning blocks were too massive as he mocked them and were inefficient unlike those who mastered them. Think of it as two boxes containing the same information but one is small and contains needed information to perform it while the boy's box made by mocking was an unorganized mess which contained basic stuff from how to breathe to how to take a step forward.
But now it's different, thanks to the very man who wants to kill him, the kid was able to build a newer base which was wider and stronger than ever before. Now all that is left is for him to stack up his broken structure upon that new base. A base where he could not only store the potential but also experiment and learn on it.
In just a split moment the boy realized 'I do not need to follow the blade. Peripheral vision is enough for that' and implemented it mid fight giving him an exponential growth and letting him follow his swift sword without even having to follow with his eyes.
But even that was not enough as he kept on dodging the blade on pure reflexes.
His headache started to worsen beyond pain into something else but he no longer cared for it and kept on pushing forward for that is the only way to find his answers.
With every swing, the boy grew undeniably stronger than before. The man's eyes widened as he looked at the boy's sword whose essence had now become sharper. 'Yes, THATS IT'
The mask he had on before was now broken apart as he no longer suppressed himself.
But soon the man's nonserious attitude changed towards a concern of being forced to push harder himself.
He looked at the kid in front of him and he was smiling, smiling in the face of death. He no longer feared death like he used to. Death felt like an old friend of his for he had nothing to lose.
The man thought 'This might be bad… He is growing— No, he is adapting too fast. This pattern… If this keeps up… I might no longer be able to stop it'
But it was far from the truth. He was not that strong. He is still far too weak but his exponential growth and mockery got mistaken causing a panic within the man.
The kid raised his sword behind his with hands behind his head and moved the sword for a slash from the right side but his left arm twisted and left the sword unguarded as his right shoulder rotated for the slash. The man easily figured out he was coming for the right and looked at the sword coming in recklessly towards him.
He instinctively guarded him on the right 'Too easy, You did not even thought—'
The boy's sword was deflected too easily. He had put no strength in his sword and then the boy slammed his right foot forward into the ground coming close to his face.
'Huh a decoy?—' the man's eyes widened as he shifted his gaze towards the left to see a punch…
A punch came from the opposite direction of the one he blocked.
'This boy… not only did he hide his hand behind his head and showed like he twisted his left arm which made him let go of the sword but also while rotating it widely, he shifted his right shoulder towards the front to charge up his left arm on which I had lost focus… Just how far ahead was he thinking?'
Suddenly the confidence of the man turned into worry. Not that of losing but to have awakened a beast from his slumber
The man was almost unfazed from it and he just pushed himself back with legs
And just then all of his shadows disappeared and only he remained.
And the man wasted no time as he instantly charged towards the kid faster than ever before but just as he came near, he shoved and buried his right foot into the ground using it as a pivot point with the sword in his right arm, swinging down with all his strength. Focusing onto a single point, a thrust to break down all defences.
But to the man's surprise the boy held the sword with two hands once again but unlike before, he instantly opened his left hand and slid it to the side as he knew that he could never block him just like before.
This time, the man with no hesitation switched the blade direction and swiped it towards the guts of the boy.
The boy wasted no time as he twisted his right arm, changing it to reverse grip and he pointed his sword towards the man's chest while using his left arm as support and thrusted it like a spear towards him, cutting some of his skin on thumb in the process.
But it was all in vain as his sword had already reached out to his guts before the kid was even able to get his sword close to him.
'This is gonna hurt. Isn`t it?' the kid thought to himself as he closed his eyes peacefully as he smiled accepting death as if he was waiting for this moment for a long time.
The man said 'Checkmate—'
Silence fell on the ground once again and the kids' stamina started to fall rapidly… and felt hungry?
He thought to himself 'I should have taken that bread…'