Arthur walked back to his class to continue melee training and help everyone get to level ten. When he opened the door, he was sure to accept command back from Asura so the system would give everyone the bonus. He stood at the front of the class and brought them all to attention.
"Class, I want to talk about a few things so everyone has an idea of what's going on" said Arthur as he prepared to tell the class of the events that had transpired. "Some of you may know, but the purpose of this basic training and the roughly year of hell we endure is to take us up to level ten in our systems. I was out yesterday because I hit level 10 already which should have put me in the next class ahead of you guys. With the war in Boros not going as planned, instructors have elected to keep me here training you so you can also progress as fast as possible. I have a system ability that gives each cadet under my command bonus experience which has led to your rapid leveling over the past few weeks. I've been told that the average cadet hits level ten roughly a year after being here. You guys instead should hit level ten by the end of the tournament"
"I will not be participating in the tournament due to my unfair advantage. Everyone under level ten will be participating, and its my hope that with the experience gained from defeating your opponents in the ring, it will push everyone over that last hurdle by the end of the tournament netting us the reward and pushing us up another year in the academy."
"Does anyone have any questions?" Asked Arthur as he looked at every cadet standing there mulling over what he said.
"Did the instructors say anything definite about Boros?" Asked cadet Sandler, usually the class clown and comedian.
"No, only that the war was not going as planned. I was not privy to any additional information" replied Arthur.
"Any more questions?" Asked Arthur
With everyone shaking their head "no", Arthur decided to use this time to have some friendly competition in the ranks.
"Ok everyone, now that we have that all settled, lets do a small sparring competition. Strong, you will be the referee. Who's up first?" Asked Arthur as he glanced around the room.
Asura and Mackenzie stepped forward. They were probably the second highest level other than Strong and would make quit the exhibition matchup.
"Very well, Strong, you have the ring. Lets get this fight started" said Arthur.
"Ok cadets. Anything goes, but remember we aren't trying to cause permanent bodily harm. If the opponent forfeits, you are to immediately step back and lower your weapons. killing shots will be stopped before making contact with your opponent. Are we clear?" Asked Strong to both Asura and Mackenzie.
"Clear!" Replied both Asura and Mackenzie as they stepped forward to begin the match.
Mackenzie had the advantage of reach in this fight, but Asura had a better set up for close range fighting. Once she got in close enough, the the short sword/dagger combo would reek havoc on Mackenzie if she wasn't skilled enough.
The round started with Mackenzie making a few thrusts with her naginata. The sword on a stick was an effective tool for keeping opponents at length. She followed up by spinning it over her head and attacking at various angles, expertly changing her hand positions to attack from the left to right, up and down.
Asura was being pushed back, and before she knew it, she was right at the edge of the circle. One more step would lose her the match. She decided to make a stand and once Mackenzie started spinning the naginata over her head again, she rushed in leading with her gladius. Parrying the naginata blade with her small dagger, it opened Mackenzie up to an attack to the front.
Mackenzie, seeing the clear attack aimed at her midsection, quickly collapsed the grip and turned her naginata into a short sword, slightly off balance, she barely parried the gladius and threw herself to the left, rolled on the floor and quickly bounced back up ready to face Asura once again.
Expanding her naginata handle again, making it into a halberd type weapon, Mackenzie thrust it forward keeping Asura at bay to give her seconds to formulate a new attack strategy. Asura was completely confused and unprepared for the staff retracting and Mackenzie had saw it had caught her off guard.
Asura ran forward once again, parrying and deflecting the naginata attacks. She finally saw another opening, and after deflecting the blade to the left of her body and using that momentum for her to spin right, she quickly swung her gladius in for a killing blow as she came out of her spin. The match was called and Asura was ecstatic until she realized it was a draw. Apparently Mackenzie had quickly retracted the handle and using the momentum from the parry, she also spun right and aimed for her own killing shot effectively crippling both of the opponents had it been a real world combat scenario.
"Amazing work guys!" yelled Arthur from his spot across the room. "That technique you learned by retracting the naginata got you out of trouble fast, good work using the weapons ability to transform its size to your advantage. it was never meant to work that way."
"Asura, you used your two blades masterfully. Going up against a naginata wielder with a fixed pole and blade, you would have won 9 times out of 10. This particular match up, your opponent was a little clever using a function of the weapon only meant for easier storing. However, let this be a lesson to you to never underestimate your opponent. There are always surprises to be had on the battlefield, you both should be proud it was a draw. In real life you'd be dead, but here, we have plenty of time to train more to prevent that scenario in the future."
Both cadets bowed to each other and exited off the makeshift ring. Feeling good about not winning or losing, they both turned around to watch the next exhibition match between the next two cadets that volunteered to enter the ring.