Osborn, Ryder, Cicily, and Slade all knew that it was probably best to stop here. The three boys ended up stepping back but Cicily stayed firm. "Mr. Grayson I will still try. Even if I get hurt it's fine. At least it will be an experience for me."
"Alright if you want to try you can try. I will stop the dummy if you are about to take a fatal blow. But I should let you know that from D rank up all dummies use weapons and are very intelligent." Grayson gave a fair warning before pressing the button.
The dummy rose from the ground was no longer made of wood but of some kind of metal. There were many magic circles etched into the metal that gave off a faint bluish glow. Seeing this Alicia became very intrigued as to how such things worked. She figured she could ask Berlin once he came to the capital since she knew now was not the time to ask.
Everyone stood back except Cicily who was going first. She already had her daggers in her hand. This time she did not wait for the Dummy to attack first and quickly formed a few hand signs disappearing and reappearing behind the dummy. She struck down in an 'x' hoping to get in a one strike kill but to her surprise, there was a ripple of magic on the dummies back and a sword made of magic shot out towards her head. Cicily had no choice but to give up her attack. She bent her whole body at her waist backward narrowly dodging the sword strike that would have pierced her head. Cold sweat formed on Cicily's back she knew she would have died just now if she did not react in time. But now she was on the defensive as the dummy had taken the initiative to counter attack while she was off balance. After that Cicily was on a one sided defensive. She could not counter in any way and any time she tried to make room to use some of her ninja tactics the dummy would stick close to her while continuing to put on the pressure. After almost five minutes, sweat was pouring from her head. Cicily finally raised her hand and shouted: "I give up!"
"Haha! Not bad! Not bad! Your reactions are quite good but as a ninja, you are meant for one strike kills. You need to work on your disengage more than anything. Of course, this testing ground, works against you since there are no hiding places which are essential to ninjas. But I have to hand it to you little lady, you really passed my expectations. Alright, let's see who is next." Grayson's eyes swept over the five who were left until they landed on Heath Ashworthe. "Heath your up!"
Heath walked up feeling a little nervous. He drew his sword and readied himself. The dummy activated and without any warning charged at Heath two swords appeared in its hands and two formed around it as it fiercely attacked Heath. Heath felt enormous pressure on him as he parried the strikes one after the other. Every so often he would get in a few counterattacks but he was still mainly on defense. Compared to Cicily he was doing a bit better but he was not able to do enough damage to actually kill the dummy. After almost ten minutes he gave up.
"Good! Not bad heath in another year you will be able to kill this dummy. Oswin! Your next." Grayson continued the matches. Like Heath, Oswin was not able to do enough damage to kill the dummy and also gave up. "Haha! Okay, now it's down to the girlies." He was not saying this to be sarcastic. He had found that the three girls in front of him to be the next shining stars of the capital. Each had their own prowess. He was especially curious about Alicia since all she has done so far was flick her wrist. "Okay, next up we will start with Rose."
"Young Miss I will do my best!" Rose said. She was trying to encourage herself. Mainly because this dummy was very odd and took into account for a lot of openings humans would have. Rose was not a sword wielder but a hand to hand combat specialist. Which was very rare in the Alastine Kingdom. If Alicia had to compare it to anything Rose's fighting style could be compared to kungfu back on earth.
"Un! Good luck!" Alicia gave a smile and a bit of encouragement. Rose nodded and took her place.
The dummy did not waste time attacking Rose with its four swords but that did not mean Rose was unprepared. As each strike of the sword slashed down at her, she would parry the sword with the back of her fist and unleash a powerful counterblow. As the battle continued Rose's attacks became faster and faster causing the dummy to fall into a state of defense for the first time. If one had to describe these attacks, it was as if Rose had to build up momentum gradually becoming faster and faster. After only five minutes the dummy no longer attacked but did its best to block Rose's fist but each strike broke through its strong defense until finally…
*Crack!*
The dummy's head was cracked open and it fell to the floor. "Excellent! Your style of fighting is very unique. But it is a very good style. Your use of magic to encase your hands at the moment of contact to give and even more power to your attack is also ingenious. Very good!" Grayson gave Rose a lot of praise. But this praise was well given.
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