Lukas stood opposite Bene, roughly 5 metres apart. The early light of dawn illuminated the waterfall with a radiant light. Lukas held the training sword still in his grip, which he learned from Bene was called a tachi.
He stood in a defensive stance, with his sword raised to point at Bene. Bene was standing in a neutral stance, with his arms crossed and no weapon on him. As Lukas nervously stood, Bene inhaled deeply.
"To make this even for you, I will not use a weapon, nor will I use my dominant hand. However, if your weapon hits either of my arms, it will not count."
Lukas was worried he would cut Bene by accident. But he assured Lukas that the blade was too dull, and was only meant for practice.
Yet he was still nervous. He knew he wouldn't hurt Bene. But now that he was holding the sword in his hands, he didn't know how to feel.
Bene stood there, waiting for Lukas to strike. His right hand was behind his back, and his left hovered close to his stomach, waiting to act.
Lukas stepped forward. Then, he lunged his body forward. He landed on his right foot and swung the blade forward to try and hit Bene's right shoulder.
Bene saw through this attack and easily deflected it away. Lukas stepped back and tried to be more aggressive. He tried to hit Bene as many times as he could. But no matter how many times he tried, Bene always deflected it. He even knocked Lukas off his balance and onto the ground with just his finger.
As he hit the ground, a wave of powerlessness washed over Lukas. He understood a little better what he would have to become if he truly wanted to follow this path. If this was the standard, then he was outmatched. But he would just have to try again, and again, and again.
That he did. He never gave up and continuously tried his hardest to hit Bene even once. But as the minutes grew to hours, and as evening swiftly came. Lukas had still not succeeded. He had failed to land even a single hit on Bene.
Still, Lukas had grown. For every day of training he had last week, he learned the same amount in a single battle. He understood more of Bene's words. He began to understand himself and Bene more, the relationship between them, and how they react to each other.
However, despite his understanding and growth. Those could not fix one thing; Lukas still underestimated himself. His knowledge had deepened, but he lacked confidence. He was timid and doubtful.
Maybe that's why Bene was so impressed that Lukas lasted a whole minute against him on their final battle of the day. That, despite these flaws in Lukas' understanding of himself and his abilities, he was still skilled. He was still a fast learner, and even faster at putting his knowledge into practice.
But perhaps, it was simply that Lukas was resilient.
***
A few days later, during another sparring match, Lukas rushed in to strike. He knew Bene would deflect the attack. He also knew that Bene would attempt to hit him in the chest right after. He was planning on it.
As the sword approached Bene's right shoulder, Bene deflected it and shifted the blade's momentum to the side. He then shifted his balance with his left leg and aimed to hit Lukas' chest.
Lukas, however, knew this was coming. He stepped back and redirected the sword to Bene's right side.
With Bene's left arm now extended, he could not reach the sword in time to deflect it. At least Lukas hoped so as he desperately waited in those half-seconds before the sword connected. He wasn't sure if Bene could react in time, but he was confident the attack would land if he didn't.
Bene saw the attack but had underestimated Lukas for once. He didn't expect Lukas to come up with this. He had overextended himself to try and hit Lukas, and could not stop the sword from connecting with him.
Maybe if he had tried to avoid the attack, or perhaps made a reckless attack towards Lukas in a vain attempt to hit him first. Maybe he wouldn't have been hit.
For Bene, he underestimated Lukas and made a mistake. Something that hadn't happened to him in a long time. It was somewhat refreshing to him, if a bit embarrassing. For once, he was the one to lose.
Lukas on the other hand, was overjoyed. He had successfully hit Bene! He did it and the week wasn't even over yet, there was still a day or two left. Bene, seeing Lukas' overjoyous celebration, sighed.
"Good work. However, calm yourself, you are not done. From now on, I will not hold back."
For the rest of the week after this moment, Lukas never hit Bene. Nor did he last longer than half a minute.
Still, he learned something. Although he wasn't sure what that was, or at least how to put it into words. Bene was a wall, an obstacle that Lukas could not overcome.
When Bene stopped holding back, it was as if that wall came crumbling down on top of him. But the threat of being crushed didn't stop him, and he learned to withstand that calamity.
This learning did take its toll on Lukas. He was exhausted and wanted nothing but to escape and stop all of this training. Yet on his way back to the cabin, something snapped him out of his exhaustion.
It was snowing...