The Orion Project (Rewrite) (indefinite hiatus)

Chapter 17

Rose wiped her brow, the sweat sticking to her skin. She leaned on her training sword, it's dull wooden blade supported her weight. Arcturus twirled his own in his hand with a bored expression on his face. He glanced at her and inspected his weapon.

"If this is all you got kid, then you're gonna die first. You gotta show me somethin' or else we're done." He said.

Rose glared at him and charged. Her blade poised to strike his chest. Arcturus moved fluidly and avoided her strike without issue. He backhanded her and she stumbled to the ground. She clenched her fist and charged again, this time aiming for his throat. Their blades clashed with a 'clack' and the two exchanged blows.

"Maybe you are worth somethin'. Entertain me more and maybe you'll move on to the next lesson!" Arcturus said as he pushed her back.

Rose rolled past him, landing a blow on the back of his knee, making him buckle forward. She spun around, twirling her blade around and over head. The tip just barely stopped on the left side of neck. He swore he could feel the wood tickling his skin.

"Ha...ha....seems I win." She smugly stated.

"You should keep track of your surroundings." Arcturus hissed.

        Rose looked down and found that was holding his sword in a reverse grip, the tip jabbing into her stomach. She was shocked, confusion flowed through her mind like a river as she tried to figure out how she missed his blade.

"Damnit, and I practiced that move for months!" She groaned.

"Your turn is over kid. Next!" Arcturus bellowed.

       Devon grabbed his sword and twirled it in his hand, similarly to how Arcturus had been doing so earlier. "Guess I'm next?" Devon asked.

"I don't care. I just want to leave." Arcturus mumbled.

       Devon took up his stance with his blade stretched out in front of him. Devon showed no emotion to try and keep Arcturus on edge. Arcturus did not seem to care if he was trying to hide his intentions and rushed him first.

       Devon blocked the first strike, then the next, and locked blades on the third. He pushed as hard as he could against Arcturus, trying to to force him back. His enhanced strength from the previous day's injections gave him an advantage over Arcturus, but his inexperience is what held him back.

"So basic. I taught you more than that kiddo." Arcturus grunted.

"Yeah, you did, but I think I'm gonna play dirty this time." Devon smirked.

"Oh really? One of you is actually going to start being unpredictable?" Arcturus asked with mock intrigue.

"Sure, you could say that." Devon chuckled.

Devon removed one of his hands from the hilt of his sword and brought his right hand back. He waved his hand creating a sudden gust of wind that flung Arcturus' sword right into his face, disorienting him for a moment. A moment that Devon abused to his hearts content.

He swung left and right, landing blow after blow. Arcturus could barely keep up with the flurry of attacks being thrown at him. Devon landed an excruciatingly painful blow to Arcturus' left temple, the shadow walker fell for the first time in all of their training. Devon had beaten Arcturus, finally.

"Oi! The fuck was that?!" Arcturus angrily, and groggily, asked.

"Hm? I'm just playing to my strengths 'sensei'. I didn't do anything wrong did I?" Devon said with an evil grin on his face.