"Be careful, you two!" Said Suscila lightly as she glanced at Elif and Cordelia while standing in the distance.
"This is merely a light spar at best, Suscila; neither of us will get hurt." Remarked Cordelia softly as she glanced at Suscila while wielding her straight sword before shifting her focus to Elif, who stood opposite of her.
"Yes, so just stay back and enjoy our little performance." Said Elif with a smirk while winking at Suscila, causing her to faintly blush as she quietly nodded.
Focusing my attention back on Cordelia, I glided my hand across the blade of Hokori before slicing it through the wind as I prepared to spar with her while waiting for her to make the first move, which she finally did after a minute of observing me.
The moment she stepped forward, she suddenly flashed towards me, appearing before me in a mere moment while swinging downwards with her sword, causing me to faintly smirk as I raised Hokori, blocking her sword.
'Heh, seems she wasn't going all out when I first arrived. This… May actually be quite fun.' Mused Elif with a faint smirk as he observed Cordelia's serious expression before flexing his arm and pushing her back, causing her to graciously fly through the air.
I could tell Cordelia wasn't like any of my previous opponents from that one attack alone. She was strong, and if it weren't for me, I'm confident she would be hailed as the greatest swordsman of her generation; unfortunately or fortunately for her, she was born within my generation.
Lowering my sword, inviting her to attack once more, she accepted my invitation without any hesitation and lunged right back at me as she slashed toward my left, which I diverted using the dull side of my blade; though unlike previously, she swiftly reacted and retreated before slashing upwards, causing me to once again tilt my sword, using the tip of my blade to stop her.
"That was quite an attack, Cordelia; you don't have something against me, do you?" Asked Elif wryly as he glanced at Cordelia before looking at her sword, which was heading right for his crotch, prompting her to back away before attacking once more.
"Not at all." Replied Cordelia softly as she narrowed her eyes and relentlessly attacked Elif with a barrage of slashes, cuts, and thrusts from all angles.
Skeptically nodding at Cordelia, I went ahead and blocked or diverted her onslaught of sword attacks as she tried to find an opening, which she never succeeded in, prompting her to forcefully create her own; the only problem with that, while she was capable of doing so, she was never able to capitalize as I was always able to recover before she could take advantage.
This continued for some time, with her having accomplished next to nothing other than forcing me to take a few steps backward, which didn't mean much given our spar as this wasn't a battle of strength; this was a battle of sword skill, which meant we were both greatly restraining ourselves. However, as the spar continued, I noticed Cordelia began to create openings in her defense, and they only became more apparent the longer our battle persisted, causing me to raise an eyebrow at her blatant invitation, prompting me to finally attack for the first time.
'Well, if she so insists.' Mused Elif lightly as he blocked her sword before flicking his own and stabbing towards her, forcing her to quickly raise her sword.
Thanks to my absurd reach compared to her sword, she had little time to react, but she was still able to block my attack, which caused me to smirk a little.
"So, you finally decided to retaliate?" Remarked Cordelia lightly as she lowered her sword while glancing at Elif, who faintly chuckled.
"If you give me so many openings, how could I not attack?" Said Elif lightly with a faint smirk as he pointed at Cordelia using Hokori, only to suddenly walk forward, causing her to take on a defensive stance.
Once I reached Cordelia's spot, I raised Hokori into the air before slashing downwards, causing her to tilt her blade at an angle as my sword was diverted to her side, prompting me to immediately attack her side, though she, too, was also able to block that. Swiftly retracting Hokori, I attacked once more, slashing upwards as I threatened to hit her crotch, which she blocked while looking at me with a raised eyebrow, causing me to smirk as I began to seriously attack her. I attacked every angle of hers without restraint and gave her no time to recover, just like she had done against me, though unlike me, she was obviously having a much harder time defending against my barrage of attacks; however, I had to hand it to her, the fact she is able to even keep up with me is impressive.
'Hmm, let's turn it up a notch.' Thought Elif with a smirk as he suddenly stopped attacking, giving Cordelia a much-needed breather.
Lifting Hokori into the once more, yet unlike before, my sword was emitting a masterful intent, one that caused Cordelia to squint as her sword began to emit the same intent, though the only difference between ours was that hers wasn't as overbearing as mine, hers was much calmer, similar to the ocean.
With us both using Sword intent, we slashed at each other, our swords clashing as our intent did the same, fighting for superiority, but it was pointless; our sword intent was equal to each other, though that didn't stop as us as we both continued to attack, seemingly forsaking defense entirely as our swords constantly clashed with one another, speaking to each other in a language only experienced swordsman would understand.
As our spar continued, the two of us had unknowingly lost focus on the outside; we were so absorbed in our conversation that everything else might not exist. The longer the battle persisted, the more joy I began to feel; I was by no means someone who lived for the pleasure of fighting, but even I loved a good fight every now and then, and while this wasn't a traditional fight, it was the first time I've ever fought against such a talented swordsman; Idoena was talented, but not to this level.
While I was so absorbed, I hadn't even noticed Cordelia's sword was coated in a bluish aura, which forced me a few steps back when our swords clashed, causing me to faintly frown.
'Ahh, I see, Sword Aura.' Mused Elif with a faint smile as he eyed Cordelia while coating Hokori in a purplish, ethereal aura.
Now that I was using sword aura, I lunged back towards her, our aura fighting for supremacy just like our intent, but similarly, ours were near equal with each other, with mine having just a small edge, one that hardly even mattered, though she definitely noticed it. Just like previously, we fought for a long time, using this chance to better understand each other's sword aura, and while I had the advantage, it wasn't completely one-sided. She was still able to easily retaliate. However, I got a little too caught up in the fun that I happened to use sword will, something she has yet to achieve.
Backing away, I pointed Hokori at Cordelia while it surged forth with sword will, causing several ethereal versions of Hokori to float in the air beside me; with a flick of my sword, the ethereal swords lunged towards her, all of them attacking her, which was simply too much for her to deal with as it was essentially several of me's attacking at once. It didn't take long for her to be completely overwhelmed, and by the time I realized, I quickly dispelled my sword will, leaving her covered in various shallow cuts while her skin was tained in her blood.
"Eh! S-Sister, a-are you okay!? Exclaimed Suscila worriedly as she appeared beside Cordelia, who, just like Elif, had been smiling.
"Yes, I'm fine, Susclia; they're merely shallow cuts, nothing a pill won't heal." Said Cordelia with a satisfied smile as she summoned a pill before swallowing it, causing her numerous wounds to visibly heal slowly.
"Sorry about that, Cordelia; I had gotten a little ahead of myself; I hadn't engaged in such a wonderful spar before. Most of the time, it is either me easily winning or me simply trying to survive as Illumia releases her frustration onto me." Remarked Elif lightly as he approached Cordelia while glancing at Illumia with hidden annoyance.
"There is no need to apologize, Elif; getting to experience sword will so intimately has allowed me to more clearly see the path towards achieving my own sword will. I hate to just leave after such a battle, but I need to meditate; hopefully, next time we meet, I'll have achieved sword will, and we can continue where he had left that." Stated Cordelia softly, shaking her head as she sheathed her sword while looking at Elif with an apologetic expression, causing him to wave his hand dismissively.
"By all means, go ahead; I had stayed longer than I planned to anyways; I have somethings I must do anyways. Though, whenever you wish to spar once again, just visit me. I'll be more than happy to oblige unless I'm bathing." Said Elif with a smile, glancing at Cordelia while gesturing to Illumia, who suddenly appeared standing right behind him as they floated into the air.
Quickly leaving before I was left alone with Suscila, I waved at the two women before quickly flying away with Illumia right beside me, who, for some reason, didn't look exactly pleased.
'Hmm, wonder what's wrong with Illumia?' Mused Elif lightly as he gazed at Illumia in slight confusion.