The battle remained ferocious as the two rivals fought with evenly matched strength.
"Alright, enough fooling around; let's get serious."
William suggested, acknowledging that his rival was strong.
"So you admit you were holding back the entire time." Yu Ming responded, getting into his fairly unique stance. "Here goes."
They both dashed towards each other once again. Yu Ming was quicker, grabbing the opportunity to slash at him several times, but William evaded them swiftly and retaliated with precision. The battle displayed great expertise in swordsmanship. 'Clank's could be every now and then, as they parried and struck back with more resolve, neither yielding ground. Instead, the attacks got fiercer after each wave, escalating the intensity of their duel.
After some time, their attacks actually managed to connect. "Yu Ming, you're slowing down." William managed to land a few hits on his rival, but he too got hit. "You're not doing too well yourself."
The fatigue of the battle finally caught up with them, as they were panting moderately. "Let's see how long you can last." William taunted his opponent.
A few more clashes occurred, and Yu Ming landed a blow with the flat of his sword. William retreated a few steps and decided to counterattack. However, he failed to land a hit on his rival, as Yu Ming seemed to effortlessly evade the attacks and hit William with a decisive blow.
William fell to the ground and attempted to continue the fight.
"It's over, William. I won."
"But—"
"No 'but's; you're too injured to keep going on."
When did he become so strong?
A moment of silence followed, but upon noticing something amiss about William, Yu Ming cheered his friend up.
"Was my disappointment really that obvious?"
"Yeah."
"Shall we head over there to rest?"
"Yeah."
Yu Ming helped William stand up, and then both placed their arms over each other's shoulders for support while walking to the shed to take a breather.
After half an hour of resting, they became restless.
"Hey, Yu Ming, now that I think about it, we haven't really explored the forest, have we?"
Yu Ming nodded, knowing exactly what William implied.
"We could barely defeat the salamander last time, though; you sure that's a good idea?"
"Perhaps we can do that later down the road, when we become stronger."
Yu Ming seemed a little shocked at how much thought William put in instead of immediately wanting to explore the forest right there and then.
"What? Did I say something unusual?"
Yu Ming shook his head.
"I thought you would—never mind; let's head back then."
"You thought I would?"
Yu Ming heard his query but decided to leave it unanswered and began heading home instead.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
William caught up with Yu Ming, and they walked home.
"Wait a minute, I did win the battle. Now, what shall I have you do?"
"Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that."
"I might just have something in mind." A slight mischievous smirk emerged on Yu Ming's face.
"Again, what's that supposed to mean?"