*Clang!*
Luna used her rapier to deflect Coy's strike. A small window of opportunity was created for her to stab his left shoulder.
Coy didn't panic when his strike was called off. Instead, he saw it as an advantage and performed a right spin move to slash Luna's stomach while maintaining the momentum gained from the first strike.
Luna saw it as child's play and went for the opening she created. Her attack, swift and precise.
Coy sensed the danger and lowered his upper body to avoid the attack, but the rapier scratched his shoulder, tearing his sleeves. Still, he had the opportunity to complete his spin attack, this time aimed at Luna's legs.
When Coy evaded Luna's attack. She quickly took a step back to avoid the spin move slash. Coy was not surprised by that, and he also took a step back.
"Dear brother, good move right there. Is your shoulder ok though?" Luna said, pretending to care for him. But she was in-fact provoking him.
Coy didn't respond to that incitement and continued with his assault. This time, he went for her dominant hand.
When Luna saw him approaching, she didn't say anything else and backed away from him.
'A rapier strength is it's speed and timing. But to achieve that, I need to exhaust him,' Luna reasoned as she redirected Coy's third strike.
This cat and mouse chase went for another 2 minutes, with Coy getting his pants and shirt torn here and there, looking like a ragged barbarian. And Luna deflecting his relentless assaults while not receiving anything besides fatigue.
'Hm? Is luna trying to burn me out?' thought Coy as he stopped to take a breath. But Luna didn't give him a chance and went for a thrust.
"Tch!" Coy clicked his tongue while leaning to his right. 'Why is she going for my left side when my sword is at my right? Is she bluffing?'
"Hahaha, what happened to the spirit you were exuding before?!" Luna said as she laughed.
'Who knows?' Coy grumbled inwardly, his lips raised.
Luna thought it was time to wrap things up. Instead of him coming to her, she went to him this time briskly and focused.
Coy was caught off guard and attempted to back up in order to not lose his advantage. However, Luna was much faster than him.
She thrusted three times quickly one after the other. The initial one was to his left and the final two were to his right. Coy intercepted the first and the second, but the last stabbed his right shoulder, leaving him bleeding. Although it wasn't a serious injury, it did limit his movement
"Ugh.."Coy cried while clenching his teeth.
"It's your fault for falling for such an obvious trick, brother."
'I can't go on much longer with this state. I need to end this as fast as possible,' Coy thought.
He brought the sword closer to his left hand than to his right for maximum strength. He then tensed his legs like before, preparing for a big move.
When Luna saw what he was doing, she too got ready. But unlike Coy, she relaxed her legs rather than tensing them. Her breath even.
*thump*
Coy sprang forward like a Tiger. His sword, trailing behind him.
As she saw him approaching with such ferocity, Luna smiled and bent her body. Making the same motion as Coy, but she leaped like an Owl, her rapier advancing like an arrow that only saw its target.
Both met in the center of the practice field. Coy's sword was already raised above his head, ready to strike. While Luna was not in a position to thrust.
'Heh. I got you this time, sister!' Coy thought with a grin
As he was striking down the sword at Luna's head, his neck felt cold all of a sudden, halting his progress.
…
"What… Just happened?" Said Coy. His sword frozen above his head.
"My win happened, Coy," Luna said while she took the rapier from his throat.
Coy was shocked.
He gently brought the sword from his head and touched his neck. 'How?'
"How did you do that, Luna?" Coy said, looking at his sister with narrowed eyes.
"It's easy. I simply asked the wind for help," Luna said while she placed her rapier on her waist strap.
"I thought we weren't supposed to use magic.."
"I didn't use magic, though. I really just asked the wind for help. You know how I have the wind element as one of my affinities, right? By talking to the wind, I asked for my thrust to be swift and it helped me achieve that," said Luna.
Coy asked with his face tilted to the side, "How do you ask the wind for help?"
"Through wind spirits, doofus," Luna said as she stuck out her tongue cutely.
"How come I haven't heard of that?" Coy exclaimed with widened eyes.
"It's because you will only learn of the elemental spirits when you reach 7 years old. But at least you learned about it earlier I suppose. Win-win, right?" Luna said while flashing him a smile. There was no indication of her using mana, so it was not a foul play. Coy was aware of that so he didn't make a fuss over it.
"Win-win my arse! I lost…" Coy grumbled with his shoulders dropped.
"Hey, no need to be dejected. You would have won if I hadn't done that," Luna comforted him as she came closer, ruffling his hair.
"D-don't do that!" Coy said, while he knocked off her hand, embarrassed. But his cheeks told a different story as they were flushed pink.
"What are you going to do now?"
"Uhm, when will Liliy visit us?" Coy responded to her question with a question.
That caught Luna off guard, but a foolish grin soon appeared on her face.
"Why ask that?" Luna probingly asked as her degenerate grin widened even further.
Coy noticed his slip up and said with a poker expression, "Just because. Why do you want to know that?"
"Hehe, I won't tell you even if you give me a bottle full of a maiden's pure blood... Anyway, Lily might visit us next month. Lady Tanisha and mother are scheduled to have tea around that time, before sunrise, so she might tail her mother like the hamster she is." Luna said with her right thumb and index finger on her chin. Her left hand rested on her hip.
"Oh, I have to wait that long?" Coy questioned with his brows creased.
"Yes, you have to. "
"Now what are you going to do? For me, I'm going to visit my friends or practice my rapier skills."
"To be honest, I'm not so sure." Coy shrugged as he raised his arms.
"Why not ask father to teach you about elemental spirits?"
"Oh!" Recalling the mysterious wind spirit Luna used, Coy was thrilled to know more about it.
"That's truly an excellent idea, Luna!"
"Now you know what to do. Go and scurry off if you have nothing else to ask," Luna said as she waved her hand in a shooing manner.
"Woah, alright alright. I'm off then, bye Luna!" Coy laughed at his sister's funny gesture and bid her goodbye.
With bubbling enthusiasm, he rushed to his father's library where he usually sat.
***
There were numerous bookcases inside a spacious room. They formed a circular, maze pattern where the centre of it were two chairs, a desk, and a book and candle with its handler-stand on top of the desk.
Sitting on one of the chairs was a man.
He had black shoes and a gray suit. Behind his chair was a black coat that appeared to be made of heavy yet durable fur from a beast.
Across him sitting on the edge of one of the chair was a boy.
"You want to learn about elemental spirits?" Athan asked. His right leg supporting the left one, with his elbows on the chair's arms, hands interlocked.
"Yes father. "
Athan looked at his son and asked. "Why?"
'Huh…why?' Coy thought with furrowed brows. Prompting him to be silent and think deeply about the why.
'Father asked a superb question. Why do I want to learn about this? Is it to beat Luna, or just to satisfy my curiosity?'
Seeing his son deep in thought, Athan didn't disturb him. He picked up the book on top of his desk, which had the scent of vanilla, and started to read it.
5 minutes later. Athan closed his book as he noticed that Coy was done with his internal affairs.
Mustering up courage, Coy said with a low and steady voice. "I have thought about this deeply, but I couldn't come up with an answer. Yet, I still would like to know about the elemental spirits!"
Athan was not expecting such an answer, making him look at Coy dazedly.
"You don't have an answer, you say?" Athan asked.
"Yes. "
"Yet you still want to know about it?"
"Yes!"
Seeing this unfold, an amusing idea flashed through Athan's mind.
He unlocked his hands, and said in a cheeky tone. "What If I don't teach you about it?"
"I will tell mother about it. " Coy said in a heartbeat.
Athan's composure almost broke when he heard that. He just wanted to tease his son, but it backfired. 'Where did he learn to blackmail someone, rather, who did he learn it from?' Thought Athan as he shook his head.
'Well, It's not that big of a deal, might as well let him learn under my care. '
"Nice strategy you did there Coy, keep doing it. Anyway, I have decided to teach you about what you came here for. And for the previous question of 'why' I asked, don't trouble yourself with it that much. You will eventually stumble upon it in the near future. You are but a child now, so enjoy your childhood," Athan said with a smile.
Coy's eyes shined when he heard that, and with still posture, he focused his full attention at his father's next words.