Free Web NovelChapter 23: Blades under the moonlight [2]
Our blades clashed loudly, producing a symphony of metal that scared away the owls and woke the sleeping squirrels in their nests.
Every animal nearby that could hear us was startled, since the night had been quiet only moments before, and now the sound of swords tearing through the air echoed through the woods.
I moved like a hunting wolf, my katana parting the air as I slashed at Ezio again and again. It wasn’t reckless. Every attack, every slash was calculated, precise, meant to kill.
It felt amazing. I could feel that the energy behind my attacks was far stronger than it had been back at the Awakened rank.
And as I fought him, I started noticing a few inconsistencies in my own swordsmanship that I hadn’t picked up on before.
It was the way my attacks lost half their power just before the blade connected.
The issue traced back to my grip on the guard. I had been holding it too tightly, which made my swings rigid and killed the fluidity.
Holding a katana properly was about control, leverage, and balance, not raw strength, and I had been leaning too hard on raw strength instead of balance. So I relaxed my grip, like holding an egg, letting the power come mainly from the pinky and ring fingers while the thumb and index finger stayed loose.
I gripped the handle firmly with my pinky and ring fingers, letting my index finger and thumb rest lighter to maintain fine control over the blade’s edge alignment.
After making the adjustment, I swung again and felt the difference immediately. My blade wasn’t losing nearly as much power as before. Not perfect, but a clear improvement.
"You finally noticed? Good job." Ezio praised me for figuring it out as he slashed at my stomach, which I blocked by twisting my blade down.
We kept clashing, both of us aiming for each other’s vital points without restraint.
And hell, I was loving it. Sparring with someone stronger than you really was a different kind of experience.
My eyes never left Ezio, studying every movement, trying to burn it into memory.
Ezio moved with terrifying precision. He was holding back on me, but even if we were the same rank, he would probably wipe the floor with me without breaking a sweat.
That alone showed what kind of monster he really was.
His swordsmanship was top-tier, full stop. The way his hands moved was nothing short of incredible. Every cut, every slash carried the will of a veteran assassin.
Each of his movements came so fast I had to stay completely alert just to keep up.
His defense? Was insane.
Every time I thought I had caught him off guard, his katana was already there to block. Even when my blade got close enough to pierce his chest, he would appear out of nowhere with frightening speed and parry it away effortlessly.
No matter what I tried, sneak attacks, feints, Ezio blocked it all like it was nothing and countered in a heartbeat.
And I haven’t even mentioned his body alignment, which maximized his reach, or his center of gravity, kept closely aligned with his sword to avoid straining his wrist and to recover instantly after my strikes.
It was like fighting an impenetrable wall that could throw bricks back at you.
That was the kind of opponent he was.
We kept going and going until I finally hit the limit of what my physical strength alone could do without mana.
I pulled back from Ezio, putting a couple of meters between us.
"I’m going all out now." I said as my hair swayed in the wind. The moonlight caught my purple eyes, making them glow faintly.
The night was cold, yet I felt nothing but intense heat building inside me.
Clashing swords really was exhilarating.
"Give me your best." Ezio pointed his katana at me, moonlight gleaming off the silver blade.
I took my stance, feet forward, knees slightly bent, gripping the katana with both hands this time. I pulled my arms back and raised the blade horizontally behind me, the edge pointing forward.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
The moment I opened them, I let mana surge through me like a living river, flooding every part of my body. Power burst through my veins, strengthening me from head to toe.
My senses stretched even wider as the mana amplified them.
Then, in a burst of mana, my body blurred for a split second and I shot forward like a cheetah. My clothes snapped and flapped against the wind as I tore through the air. My vision stretched as I moved faster than ever before.
I was on Ezio in an instant, my blade slashing horizontally, carving an arc through the air.
Ezio smiled and met the attack head-on.
Clang! freёweɓnovel.com
Sparks lit up the night. The ground shook beneath us and dust rose into the air.
I pulled back and ducked as a spike of darkness shot out from behind me and slammed into Ezio’s chest, sending him flying back.
He flipped midair like a cat and landed silently, unscathed.
Darkness energy surged to life and wrapped violently around my blade, making the night feel even colder.
"Don’t go easy on me." I said.
"Wasn’t planning to." Shadow energy wrapped around Ezio’s own blade. "I couldn’t pass up another chance to beat you into a pulp."
My lips twitched and I launched forward.
Ezio did the same and we met in the middle of the woods. Black met black, darkness met shadow.
The moment our swords connected, the force of our colliding energies cracked the earth beneath us and shook the trees violently.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Our blades sang as they collided again and again. Our hands blurred with insane speed, carving dozens of black arcs through the air in a single second. Our eyes stayed locked, neither of us ever letting the other out of sight.
We tore through the trees, carving arcs into trunks as we passed. Leaves rained down as the trees shook, but none of them ever truly fell, erased from existence before they could before our clashing blades.
It was like watching two bullets tearing through the forest. Every time our blades met under the moonlight, sparks lit up the dark like fireworks, brief and brilliant, before fading again.
Suddenly, Ezio vanished from my view.
I didn’t panic. I had already sensed where the attack was coming from.
Without turning around, I swung my blade back behind me and it met Ezio’s thrusting sword head-on.
"You blocked that?" Ezio raised an eyebrow.
"Did you forget my senses are heightened in the dark? Especially at night." I said, smiling.
"Unfair."
"Unfair my ass." Parrying his sword aside, I spun on my heel, snapped a roundhouse kick into his chest, and sent him skidding back.
"Congratulations, this is the first time you’ve actually hit me, young master." Ezio said with a smile.
"Acting like you didn’t let yourself get hit."
Both our figures blurred, moving faster than before, leaving black streaks trailing behind us.
