After correcting her student's movements, Kethra announced that the real training was about to begin. Her philosophy of learning was as straightforward as it gets: the best way to grow in swordsmanship was to take part in actual fights.
You could memorize every fencing manual by heart, but that wouldn't be enough to beat someone who was used to real combat. Theoretical knowledge was simply incomplete without experience.
Kaiser, for his part, seemed to share the exact same view. The moments when he learned the most were during the fights against Kethra. He got beaten up and it hurt, but over time he understood, absorbed, and reproduced.
"Are you rested?"
Standing in front of him, one hand resting on her own wooden sword, Kethra spoke calmly.
Kaiser merely nodded. He understood his teacher's intentions perfectly.
'Well, enough talking. Time for the beating,' he thought, picking up his sword that had been leaning against the bark of a nearby tree. Despite the short rest, the ache in the young man's muscles was still there, but he had no choice. He had to get stronger.
Kethra positioned herself at striking distance. Just from her stance, Kaiser knew she wasn't here to go easy on him. Her attitude made it clear she intended to push him far beyond his usual limits. Kethra raised her sword and indicated the first move with a tilt of her chin.
"So show me what you've learned."
Kaiser lunged, gripping his sword firmly. The impact rang out sharply when the wood of his weapon struck Kethra's. Though she had parried with obvious ease, a slight nod escaped her, a sign of quiet approval. In Kaiser's arms, the familiar vibration coursed through his muscles, less brutal and less overwhelming than during their first clashes. He now held his footing, no longer staggering at the first impact, and that simple fact was enough to mark tangible progress.
Without pause, Kethra took the initiative. Her strikes came one after another, fast, precise, without the slightest hesitation. Kaiser blocked several assaults, his forearms trembling under the force of the blows, but he didn't yield. Most of all, he noticed he was anticipating better: the barely perceptible shift of her shoulders told him the direction of the attack. That discovery strengthened him.
"You're observing better," she remarked while stepping forward smoothly. "You're starting to feel the rhythm."
Encouraged, Kaiser countered with a direct, honest attack. Kethra deflected the blade with a circular motion of the tip, then, in the same flow, delivered a sideways kick. The impact threw him off balance; he slid across the ground before regaining his footing. No sharp pain, just shortness of breath and shaken muscles. She, meanwhile, hadn't moved an inch, steady as a rock.
"You're still rushing," she said calmly. "Your footing is disconnected. If your upper body attacks, your feet have to lead, not follow. Always keep your balance."
He nodded, catching his breath. "I see. I get carried away."
"That's it. Don't fight with emotions alone. Fight with your whole body."
"Got it," he replied, straightening up.
They engaged again. Kethra launched a clean, straight downward strike. Kaiser raised his own blade and met it with a solid parry. This time the impact didn't break through his guard; his arms absorbed the force without giving way, a first that didn't escape him. Before he could savor the moment, Kethra followed with a lightning-fast horizontal reverse. Kaiser stepped back precisely, mind cool, and the wooden weapon only sliced the air where he had been a fraction of a second earlier. He had judged the distance correctly, and the dodge came naturally.
"Good," she said, curt.
A familiar warmth, not burning but deep, spread through Kaiser's chest. It wasn't the swell of pride, but the quiet certainty of something finally clicking: his muscles and instincts were starting to work together.
Kethra increased the pressure. Her footwork grew more demanding, the strikes chaining together with rising speed and precision. Kaiser kept up, forehead glistening with sweat, his entire focus captured by the staccato rhythm of impacts echoing through the courtyard. Taking advantage of a brief opening, he attempted a counterattack, pivoting on himself to aim for his instructor's ribs. She intercepted the blade with an ease that bordered on indifference and pushed him back with a firm shove.
Defeated but not broken, Kaiser returned to guard. He briefly clenched his fists around the wood and took a deep breath to chase away the frustration.
She watched him, her piercing gaze able to read the hesitation in his eyes.
"You can do better than that. You've already proven it."
He met her gaze and nodded slowly, accepting the rebuke not as criticism but as a reminder.
"I know."
"Then do it again."
He drew a deep breath, then lunged. His mind had planned a sequence: a feint toward the left shoulder, immediately followed by a rising diagonal strike, ending with a subtle twist of the wrist that altered the blade's trajectory. Kethra blocked the first with indifference, sidestepped the second with distant elegance, but the third, more cunning, breached her guard. She was forced to step back cleanly and precisely to regain her balance. That tiny movement, however small, made a glint of triumph shine in Kaiser's eyes.
The corner of her mouth lifted almost imperceptibly.
"Overconfidence is a flaw more dangerous than a weak guard," she said, her voice as cold as steel, before renewing her assault without giving him time to reply.
She came at him with a flurry of measured blows, each designed to test his defense, to probe for weakness. Kaiser managed to intercept most of the attacks, the sharp clack of wood marking their exchange. However, one low, fast strike slipped past his parry and struck his forearm. Sharp, immediate pain shot through the limb. He gritted his teeth, ignored the burn, and held his position.
Kethra, noting his refusal to yield, tilted her head in an almost imperceptible motion. "Persistence, at last, replacing recklessness."
"Does that seem so unusual to you?" he threw back, voice slightly breathless.
"I note what is, without prejudice. Progress alone is worthy of comment," she answered, not coldly, but with absolute neutrality.