The blond girl was fast and strong for her age, but Billy didn't see her using any of the fighting styles that the other members of her tribe showed until now. She only tried to overwhelm Billy with pure speed and raw strength. Unfortunately for her, that made her attacks easy to block or parry.
At first, Billy thought that it would be good training when he begins to fight violent individuals, but he changed his mind when his hands began to hurt. Staying on the defensive wasn't good… Billy didn't want to make the girl become the mockery of her tribe for losing against a smaller kid, so when she used her trust attack again, Billy changed his he made his pivot leg step back, and he turned his body to the left side and dodged the strike. At the same time, he moved his staff and pointed toward her stomach.
The momentum of her attack had been powerful enough to hit her belly and make her gasp for air in the next moment, but she didn't lose consciousness. If Billy had put power behind the attack, she certainly would have fainted, but she just dropped his sword and began to cough.
"You can't attack so recklessly…" Billy said. "It is easier to counterattack that way."
"Don't get the wrong idea just because of a lucky attack…" the girl said while she was picking up her sword.
"All right then," Billy said.
Billy waited for the girl to attack again, he tried to protect her dignity, but it seemed that wouldn't be enough. His tribe didn't seem that hotblooded, so it was weird, but Billy couldn't care less about that right now. Despite her hot bloodedness, the girl now was wary of counterattacks.
The girl charged again, but she spun around in the next moment to gain extra power while aiming at Billy's neck, but the attack had been too obvious again. Billy's staff was already there to block the attack. It was heavier than before, but only that… However, the girl had a surprise in store. Before she could lose the momentum, she used her spinning body to kick Billy's in the stomach. In the end, Billy was forced to retreat for the first time.
"Not bad, but if you weren't so angry, I wouldn't have noticed your kick," Billy said.
The girl ignored that and tried to attack again… Billy wondered what the heck her parents were teaching her. She was too impulsive… nevertheless, even if he was smaller, Billy wouldn't let another kid hit him. By focusing on blocking and parrying, he avoided all their attacks, and when she let her frustration get the better of her again, he made his staff hit her stomach. Every time that happened, she lost some of her speed and power, so in the end, she couldn't do much to stop him.
"That was fun…" Billy said while looking at his bruised hands. "Thank you, I hope you have learned as much as I."
In the end, Billy left without even hearing her name, but that was fine. He got a lot more than that. The battle experience was rare for a five-year-old kid.
When Billy returned, he saw one of five instructors looking at him. He apologized since he sneaked out without telling anyone. Despite that, he was praised for defeating the wild girl… was that something really worthy of praise? Nevertheless, he found Alexander sitting in the corner with his head down. He seemed depressed, but it didn't look like he had suffered a beating.
"What happened?" Billy asked while wondering if he would have to deal with difficult children for a long time.
"I discovered who Lily's father is…" Alexander replied.
"Who is Lily? That girl that gets scolded a lot?" Billy frowned.
"Yes… her father is the man who wanted to punish me before," Alexander replied.
That kid sure lived a complicated life… he got interested in the daughter of the man who almost beat him in front of others because of a mistake. It was just a child's first love, so it was pretty innocent. Still, that didn't make things simpler.
In the end, that training day ended, and they went home. Billy decided to keep himself away from troublesome matters because he wanted to focus on the future. So, Alexander's first crush was something completely useless to him. He only wished him luck. Regardless, nothing changed on his home that day, but on the next day, the blond girl approached Billy with her arms crossed and with her chin raised.
"Let's spar again," the girl said.
"Sorry, but you will have to find someone else," Billy replied.
"Why?" The girl asked, visibly annoyed.
"Because you will repeat the same mistakes…" Billy said and then sighed.
"I won't!" The girl said.
Billy wondered how he should tell her something so obvious… Still, he realized that her hands were more bruised than before, and she had some bags under her eyes. It seemed that she spent the ninth training. Still, knowing her, she would want to defeat Billy with speed and power again, but she couldn't do that with the strength she obtained in one night…
"... What is your name?" Billy asked.
"What does that have to do with anything... It is Natalie," the blonde girl said.
"Okay… Let's see if you are right," Billy said while looking to one of the instructors.
The instructor looked at Billy and nodded. Come to think of it, the instructors of her tribe… no one came with her, and none of the other kids were sparring, so it wasn't like they were busy. It seemed that a lot was going on with Natalie as well… Billy also realized that he apparently was a magnet to troublesome kids.