"Master, you told me that when I encountered an opponent who used a katana and at the same time gave me that feeling, I should bring him to you", with this sentence the previously calm atmosphere became heavy, and the old man's gaze sharpened towards Kayden.
The boy felt as if thousands of hands ran over every inch of his body, it was as if he could not hide anything from the old man's view. Invaded. Kayden felt violated.
As soon as it came, the feeling passed and the old man's gentle and calm look returned.
"Nobody training, just physical exertion, impressive," the elder muttered to himself as he shook his head. "Very well, position yourself", with his order the two boys headed towards the center.
Kayden walked slowly without rushing. He was thinking about what had just happened, it was the first time in his life that he felt someone's "spiritual sense". Now he understood why it was considered rude to use it in public places.
The two faced each other in the center of the room, Kayden with his katana and Astolfo with his immense spear. The boy had faced opponents who used this weapon before, but it was usually an easy match.
Most did not have a good command of the weapon, the spear was a difficult weapon to master, out of every 100 who knew how to use it, only 1 would be a true master.
"I will suppress the use of mana and put pressure on you to only use your bodies and techniques," the elder's voice resonated in Kayden's ear, and at the same time, he felt as if he had dived into a pool.
His movements became a little slower than normal and he wasn't even able to circulate mana through his body. This... was power, absolute power, the mere will of man could dictate reality.
Kayden smiled to himself devilishly. For now, it would be suppressed...for now.
"The rules are simple, don't die or ruin my dojo, the first is optional", Kayden felt a vein on his forehead pop, and the man seemed to be serious about not ruining his space.
'Stingy', both boys thought at the same time.
"Begin", as soon as the order came out of the elder Astolfo's mouth he began to twirl his spear in his hand, Kayden had to admit that the boy looked imposing while doing that. But...
Unfortunately for him, the boy had no desire to see this show, advancing at high speed he struck a side blow with his katana, catching Astolfo by surprise and forcing him to defend with the smooth part of the spear.
"Hey, that was dishonest", Astolfo complained as he took a few steps back, his sentence was ignored by Kayden who advanced again, the problem was that this time his opponent was ready and maintained a sequence of thrusts to keep him at a distance.
Astolfo's technique seemed to be polished to the maximum, his movements were fluid and connected. Kayden began to smell a small fragrance of cherry blossoms and observed Astolfo's spear taking on a certain pink hue.
' Murim ', Kayden remembered this style from one of the thousands of manga he read about cultivation in the mum world, he didn't expect to see something like this in this life. Leaving these thoughts aside, the boy resumed his constant attacks.
His blows were heavy, even with the spear keeping him away he still delivered strong attacks to his opponent's weapon. It was obvious what he wanted to do, he intended to force Astolfo's hand to slip so he could take advantage of an opening.
Astolfo began to make circular blows in an attempt to gain space, Kayden's attacks continued to rain on him uninterruptedly, and his hand began to feel the impact of dozens of blows.
With a feint, Kayden found an opening on the right side. His katana came down at high speed, threatening to cut the spearman in two diagonally, but Astolfo also saw this opportunity to strike Kayden's left arm.
The two were expected to retreat, but neither of them was normal. Kayden's blade entered his opponent's back, opening a reasonably sized cut, and at the same time, Astolfo drew his spear against Kayden.
There was nothing he could do, his last effort was to duck to receive less damage. Instead of his arm, his shoulder was hit and blood began to spurt. His wound was deep and would probably take him out if he were normal.
But he wasn't, right?
"I think this is over," Astolfo said, but he had a bad feeling when he saw a smile on his opponent's face. And his fear came true, the boy rushed towards him with even heavier blows.
His katana looked like a violent snake, every space she found was transformed into an attack with lethal intent. But the spear was like a wall, no matter how many blows were landed, it did not swing.
TRIIIINNN! TRIIIINNN! TRIIIINNN!
Only the sound of metal hitting metal could be heard in the room. The minutes dragged on, it seemed to be an even fight for both sides.
"Astolfo, you can use the family art", the old man said calmly, taking them both by surprise. A small smile was opened by the spear user.
His posture underwent small changes, the shade of pink and the smell of cherries increased exponentially. A barrage of blows was thrown at Kayden, forcing him to go on the defensive for the first time in the fight.
The blows came at high speed from every possible angle. Kayden was defending well for a while, but the speed kept increasing. The previously spaced blows now seemed to be connected.
As soon as he defended himself from one blow, another was already hitting his defenses. The boy started to keep his distance, but the spear had an insanely long reach. He didn't know what to do.
A small groan of pain left Kayden's lips as his waist received a slight cut. His groan was in surprise, he hadn't seen that cut coming, and he hadn't even felt the blade cutting into his skin.
Over the next few minutes, Kayden began to receive dozens of small cuts on his skin. He began to notice that Astolfo's spear was at different points in space at the same time, but how was that possible? He had no idea.
Every time he parried the spear, a small cut would appear on his body.
'From where?' This question was in your head being repeated incessantly. The boy was too focused to notice the old man's smile.
"Even with dozens of cuts and in a horrible situation, he is still calm and thinking about how to turn this battle around," the elder muttered to himself.
Kayden decided to create an opening and go on the offensive. When the spear came towards him from the side, he followed its movement until his blade met the spear.
As Astolfo had to travel a greater distance, the spear no longer had as much strength as at the beginning of the half-moon. His gun was thrown back and Kayden closed the distance between them even further.
His opponent's chest was open, this was his opportunity. Putting all his strength into his arms, the boy was about to deliver a decisive blow, but...
Metal. A cold metal was felt on his shoulders stopping his movements, but it didn't make sense. The spear shouldn't have the speed to come back so quickly to perform this attack.
'What the fuck?'