endless path, infinite cosmos

chapter 71

The moment the spar began, Vahn and Tiona immediately leaped towards each other. The surprising thing for Vahn was, even though Tiona was at the peak of Level 4 he was easily able to keep track of her movements. Though she was much faster than him, it wasn't nearly as difficult to follow as Tsubaki's had been.

As the two closed the distance in an instant, Vahn tried to perform a fast instep to transition his weight behind his right punch. He twisted his body and aimed directly towards the exposed stomach of Tiona, but before his fist came anywhere near a hand grabbed the inside of his forearm and dispersed the force of the blow away from Vahn's body. In the gap that had been opened in his defense, Vahn saw a healthy brown thigh peak through the gap in fabrics as a knee approached his face.

Using his left hand, Vahn tried to vault off the knee and use the contained momentum to launch himself away, but the moment his hand made contact he felt a pressure on his left shoulder. Tiona had locked down his body to prevent him from evading the incoming blow and Vahn was unable to stop the momentum of the knee as it crashed into his chin. He was sent flying, but since his forearm had prevented a direct hit he managed to retain his consciousness.

After sliding across the ground for several meters, Vahn managed to steady himself and leaped back to his feet only to be met by a small exposed brown foot right in front of his eyes. He tried to intercept the blow, but it was moving much faster than his body could keep up with. Though his senses could 'see' it coming, his body was unable to react as the foot stopped right before colliding with his defenseless face.

The wind from the blow blew back Vahn's hair and in his absentmindedness, Vahn continued his defensive action and grabbed the stalled leg even though it had ceased its advance. The moment he grabbed, he could hear a sweet laughter as Tiona said, "That tickles, but I think this is my win."

Vahn released the leg and gave her an awkward look before apologizing. Tiona didn't seem to mind as she wagged her foot back and forth. "Its fine, I don't mind if you want to touch it again in the future. Just make sure you work hard to become strong, okay?" After her parting words, she ran happily towards the Loki group while Ais took her distance from Vahn.

Vahn, seeing she had her sword, became somewhat nervous. He knew she was even stronger than Tiona presently and was much more agile. Seeing his nervousness, Ais looked at her sword before setting it off to the side. Instead of the blade, she lifted her sheath and took her stance again. Noticing that she had swapped her sword out, Vahn released a sigh before grabbing one of the training weapons off the wall. They were all blunt with rounded edges that wouldn't severely injure, but Vahn didn't hold any expectation of landing a hit in the first place.

He assumed a stance with his feet squared apart while holding his blade at a twenty-degree angle favoring his right shoulder. He leaned his body slightly and prepared to attack the moment the signal was raised. Ais's stance seemed full of opening as she pointed her sheath forward while raising her left hand slightly.

Tsubaki confirmed they were both ready before repeating her earlier actions. She took a deep breath before dropping her hand in a cutting motion while shouting, "Begin!"

Vahn dashed towards Ais who had remained standing in her starting position. As he closed the gap, he tried to attack with a low sweeping motion to force her to reposition. Ais slightly bent her knees before slamming the butt of her sheath into the attack vector of Vahn's sword. Her actions caused the blade to collide with the ground and stopped Vahn's momentum. Using the moment he lost his balance, Ais deflected her sheath off of the blade and stabbed it into Vahn's diaphragm.

Falling backward, Vahn felt the air escape his lungs but he managed to prevent himself from collapsing to the ground. He put his sword into a defensive stance to prepare for a counter, but Ais just stood in her original spot holding the sheath towards him. Realizing she had no intention to attack, Vahn steadied his breathing before renewing his efforts.