I stood in the ring across from Denn. I couldn't remember fighting him, but I would never forget the Koi Stream Style. All of the maids in our sect's bar used it to entertain their patrons. I wondered if Denn's rendition would come anywhere near theirs.
"Unarmed, or with wooden swords?" The teacher asked, obviously looking at Denn for his answer. His held more weight- and money- after all. I wondered how I had been so ignorant of how wrong the Academy's way of functioning was before.
"With swords," Denn stated with a toothy grin. I practically wanted to thank him on my hands and knees. I would've revered him as a Martial God if it allowed me to get a sword back in my hand. I was more than happy to oblige. "Do you have any arguments to that, Yuron?"
"Then let's use swords," I agreed. The teacher handed each of us a practice sword, though mines had been eaten through by insects at some point whilst Denn's had been maintained flawlessly. No matter. "Now, dance for me, piggy."
"What did you just say?" Denn asked, grinding his teeth together as he clasped his sword far too tightly. "I'm going to kill you, peasant bastard. You're worthless!"
"Begin!" The teacher yelled, chopping his hand down swiftly before backing away from the two of us. We were in the centre of the hall whilst our classmates stood against the walls on either side. Denn made the first move, holding his sword above his head and wobbling it side to side as he quickly approached.
He brought his sword down swiftly, with just enough strength to cut a grape, and I swivelled to stand parallel to his slice. I thwacked him in the nose with the flat of my sword's blade and smiled. The Koi Stream Style was not a martial arts style. It was an advanced belly-dance technique, but this bumbling buffoon's father had likely told him it was deadly if he used a sword.
"H-How did you dodge that?!" Denn yelled, blood trickling from his nose as his eyes watered. I simply shrugged and watched as he stood up to prepare to use another technique. This was the issue with kids who had no Sect. They thought techniques were unbeatable moves and completely disregarded the basics. "You won't be so lucky this time!"
Denn brought his sword down in a wave motion, aimed to strike my shoulder, then my hip, then my shin. In reality it was just the point in the routine that the belly dancer would bend over and enamour the patrons, but with a sword in his hands. I tapped the sword off course before elbowing him in the back of the head. He hit the ground with a decent amount of force, definitely breaking his nose in the process.
"D-Denn! Are you okay?" The teacher asked, rushing to his aid. Denn pushed him away, trying to maintain a slither of pride as he stood up. "Your face is a mess," the teacher warned, not wanting Denn to continue.
"Y-You bastard!" Denn yelled, stabbing his sword directly at my left eye. That was a rather dangerous move for something as simple as a spar. I moved my head half an inch to the right to avoid the blow and used his own momentum against him by imbuing my fist with a slight bit of qi and punching him in his temple.
A spar with a sword did not mean only the sword may be used.
Denn was out cold against the wall between two of his goons. It was obvious who the winner was, but the teacher was too preoccupied with whether or not his pay pig would continue to fill his wallet or not to announce it.
"I am the winner. Anyone else want a round?" I asked, looking around the hall. Nobody moved, or blinked. "I guessed not," I sighed, tossing the sword to the floor. "You can fight me armed and I will fight with only my fists. I'm on the brink of collapsing from that training. Someone step up."
I knew there would be something in the poor students' minds, as well as the rich kids; 'if I beat him, then i'm stronger than Denn, right?' My thought was correct as one of the rich kids stepped up to the challenge. He was still cocky even though I had just made a mockery of his leader.
"I accept the challenge. Teacher, begin it," he ordered, and the teacher did as he was told. What a load of bullshit. I quite hated the current power balance in the school.
"B-Begin!" The teacher yelled, his attention still on Denn as he chopped his hand down. My opponent took up a defensive stance, holding his sword in front of him with one hand whilst the other was clenched at his side to deal with unexpected strikes. A decent technique except for one flaw. He was awful at it.
I charged at him, getting within range of his sword in an instant. He tried to swing for my neck but he aimed too high and sent his weapon above my head, leaving himself defenseless. Imitating a technique instead of mastering it was one of the biggest issues begginer martial artists had. Imitation did not account for the experience of the original user. I clobbered him in his side, hitting his kidney, then continued my combination by punching his nose then kicking his knee to drive him to a kneeling position and kneeing him in his face to finish the round.
"I win again," I stated. "Next?" I asked, looking around the hall. Perhaps I had crushed their ambition too soon, but I was in a bad mood. "I'll take on two of you at once. Come up," I ordered.
"Is he in his right mind? Has he eaten a Last Stand Pill?" One of my classmates asked the boy next to him.
"Wasn't he slacking off with us on Friday? It was him that came up with the outhouse idea," another boy butted in. the whole class was in an uproar about my skill. I didn't really care what they thought. It would be too taxing to try and hide my prowess, so why not just start my ascent right now?
"I'll take on two of you, three of you, four of you- hell, i'll take on every last one of you at once," I yelled, staring each classmate in the eye one by one. "You are Class Five. You are nothing. I am also in Class Five, therefore I am also nothing. Yet this nothing boy is standing here willing to break every last one of you despite not being able to take a proper breath. I may be nothing, but i'm not worthless."
"W-Where did you learn to speak like that? You think I will stand here and watch as you bully your classmates? This is unacceptable! The Headmaster will be hearing about this! These students are this Academy's pride and j-"
"Teacher. Shut up," I sighed. I forgot for a brief while just how annoying some people were. "These same students that I am bullying- your words, not mine- have been casting out demeaning remarks and threats to every last one of their classmates. Each rich prick here believes his wealth and status outweighs the next half-baked student using their mother and father's hard earned money on meaningless things." I took a few steps towards the teacher, towering over the crouching man.
"You are the worst among them, sir," I stated bluntly, my time spent practicing reprimands in the mirror finally paying off. "I hope tomorrow's lesson may be more fruitful than today's, for all of our sakes."
I took my leave, despite the class time being nowhere near finished. I headed out of the gate, and saw Class Two-Three practicing swings. They were being lead by what seemed to be their class head. His swings were sharp, his arms flexible yet hard, and his feet firmly planted. He was leading his class in downward swings. He seemed promising with a little more work.
'What are the classes above ours like? Will I be able to see? I only ever got to Class Four-Three in my last year at the Academy. Perhaps some of these students are worth saving from the Academy's enlistment,' I pondered, heading towards the woods to continue my own training.
(A/N: Classes are named as such: Class Class Number-Year. Class Five-Two is the fifth class of second years. The Academy only looks after students until they turn twelve when students in Classes Three and above are able to enlist in the Lord's army as Yuron mentions. :) )