In the abandoned warehouse dwelling deep within the fortress city, two figures were standing in front of each other with a cold glint in their eyes. One was a seemingly harmless old man while the other was a ruffled young lady.
From the aura emanating from their bodies, one would understand that a fight was about to unfold.
"You have trained greatly these past months, my disciple. You are finally ready to learn the finale of the Imperial Grim Art." The old man smirked and continued. "However, I hope that you won't die while learning it."
Hearing him, the young lady, who was the old man's disciple, simply grinned.
"It's hard for me to die, old man."
"Bring it on."
It was time to learn the last techniques of the Imperial Grim Art. The techniques of gouging and severing. While the young lady could do the two without that much of a problem, her techniques weren't as clean as the old man's.
"Get ready, Mercedes."
"Right back at you."
The old man prepared himself with a simple fighting stance that didn't seem special. But one couldn't understand the harmless-looking old man. He was the Paragon of War, Caesar. Those he had killed would have formed a mountain of corpses by now.
The young lady, who was Mercedes, also prepared herself with a brazen fighting stance. The Imperial Grim Art didn't have a designated fighting stance. It was entirely dependent on the user whether they'd like to have a fighting stance or not.
After all, for the Imperial Grim Art, it didn't matter.
Anyhow, one could tell that despite learning the same fighting art. The master and disciple were different from one another. The old man's body was relaxed and her hands were opened. Mercedes, on the other hand, was stiff and she tightly clenched her fist.
Silence enveloped the two as droplets trickled down from the soggy walls. Echoes from each water droplet could be heard, before a gust of wind rushed from the outside.
At that moment, the two disappeared from their locations and met in front of each other. The Mercedes threw a punch which the old man dodged with a calm expression. Not giving up the pressure, the Mercedes swung a kick to strike the old man's neck.
*Swush!*
But like a snake, the old man bent down and the Mercedes's attack missed. Her entire back was now open for the old man but like a dancer. She used her remaining leg as a sneak attack causing her to be entirely off the ground.
*Swish!*
The old man raised an eyebrow and dodged. He backed away while Mercedes took a short moment to recollect herself. After a few seconds, Mercedes glared at the old man. None of her attacks were hitting him and it was annoying.
"Are you already giving up, Mercedes? I didn't think that it would be that easy to defeat you." The old man slightly chuckled as he remembered his time as a soldier, dozens of decades ago.
Sigh... He really was an old man.
"I'll beat your ass!" Mercedes grunted before charging towards the old man. She began swinging punches left and right without leaving the old man room to breathe. Mercedes decided against high kicks for now, since the old man was fast at countering it.
She might be defeated if she threw high ones.
Under the cold breeze of air, the two figures continued their swift spar against one another. Mercedes was relentlessly attacking while the old man was calmly dodging each and every attack of hers.
One could notice that her stamina was waning and it hadn't been five minutes since the fight began.
*Swish!*
*Swush!*
*Pish!*
*Pash!*
During the fight, the old man was grinning the entire time, as if Mercedes was a fool. While dodging each of her relentless attacks, the old man started teasing her as a taunt.
"Is this all you can do, Mercedes?"
"You haven't given this old man a sweat yet. I hope that you won't easily give up."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk! You have been shackled by your emotions. How could you fight like this, Mercedes?" The old man shook his head with an expression of disappointment. However, Mercedes didn't pay him any heed and continued.
She was starting to become exhausted as the old man noticed her irregular breathing. The old man understood that it was about time for the spar to end. It was his victory, just like always. He gazes at the Mercedes while dodging and utters.
"Mercedes, it seems that I hav-"
*Bam!*
At that moment when he was about to announce his victory, the irregular breathing of Mercedes disappeared in an instant. What followed it was Mercedes swinging her leg in a hook kick. It was pointed towards the old man's chest, who couldn't avoid it in time.
The old man was thrown backward, though he kept his foot on the ground without even flinching. He took Mercedes's attack without that much of a problem. Looking at him, Mercedes sighed with a dissatisfied expression.
"It looks like I was wrong."
"You have been pretending to be emotionally distressed the whole time, weren't you?"
"Never did I think that my disciple would be this cunning."
Caesar was deeply surprised in his heart. Though, now that he had thought about it, Mercedes was a natural manipulator. She had the skills to manipulate everyone through communication. It shouldn't be surprising to have such a cunning ability.
"But it looks like you didn't hesitate in your kick. You were trying to kill me, weren't you?" Caesar remarked as the edges of his lips rose. He wasn't angry at all with Mercedes's intention of killing him. He was intrigued instead.
"While I was intending to kill you with my kick, old man. I knew that it wouldn't kill you. After all, you wouldn't have been the Paragon of War if you were so easily killed by your own disciple."
"Though, I didn't think that it wouldn't give you any injury. A boulder would have been shattered into pieces when met with my kick." Mercedes expressed displeasure in her tone.
The old man wasn't injured by her attack. This bastard really was a monster pretending to be a human.
"What can I say. It's just the way it is, my disciple." The old man was having a good time teasing Mercedes with his peculiar words. Anyhow, it was time to continue the training. He glances at Mercedes and softly utters.
"Mercedes, the Imperial Grim Art isn't a stiff and heavy fighting style. It is a melodic wave that can plunge anything it hits to the depths of death."
"So calm yourself and relax your body."
"There's a reason why the Imperial Grim Art doesn't have any fighting stance."
The old man then walked towards the edge of the warehouse and took out something from a crate. Mercedes had a curious expression while gazing at him from afar. She wondered what the old man was trying to do.
"Use this expensive training dummy I got from the lord of the fortress city. It is said that this dummy was amongst the best dummies created by a master craftsman. It was supposed to be his gift for the chieftain of the local garrison."
"Of course, it's mine now."
He wasn't afraid, to tell the truth of where he got the dummy from. What can they do about it? Imprison him? Kill him? Persecute him? It was one of the privileges' he got as the Paragon of War.
Mercedes stood in front of the dummy and took the old man's advice to heart. She calmed herself and relaxed her clenching fist. Her stiff muscles have become lax as she took a deep breath. Gazing softly at the dummy like it was her friend, Mercedes immediately attacked.
Instead of using her fist, Mercedes straightened her fingers and punctured directly at the dummy's head. It pierced the dummy's skull and without a hint of hesitation or delay, she clenched her fist. Taking hold of something, Mercedes took out her arms to see the dummy's brain.
Obviously, what she took out wasn't a real brain. It also appeared to be splattered all over her fingers under the pressure of her tightening grip. It would have been an interesting yet horrifying sight to see.
Caesar watched with enthusiasm in his eyes. It was as if she was a father or a mother who had seen his child take her first steps into the world. He was a bit proud of what his disciple had done. Especially with the amount of time she had gone to learn the Imperial Grim Art.
"It looks like you already got ahold of the final techniques. Though, it's not like they are separated from each other. Dislocating, Breaking, Gouging, and Severing. These four are nothing more but basic guidance."
"You can create your own techniques with these four, and it will still be an essence of the Imperial Grim Art."
The old man commented with a sentimental expression. For the first time in his life, he had seen someone who was about to graduate from being his disciple. He understood that things would move forward, so he stated to Mercedes.
"Looks like you are now ready for your graduation, Mercedes."
"Congratulatio-"
Without even a second passing by, the old man felt a tight hug from his waist. A soothing smile emerged from his face as he couldn't help but think about his path in life. Would it have been better if he had a family of his own?
"How about we talk about your mission, kid?"
"Che!"
Mercedes pouted in annoyance before walking back to the inn. Caesar looked at her and followed after his lovely disciple.
It was about time for her to graduate.
What kind of mission will he give her?