Chereads / The Soul Slotter / Chapter 23 - The Gauntlet pt. 1

Chapter 23 - The Gauntlet pt. 1

The brother sister duo circled Damien he turned with them making sure neither could get his back. He made sure he kept them both in his peripherals. *Boom* they both launched at him simultaneously one swung high the other swung low. He jumped in the air and twisted himself horizontally his foot one blade passing right below him as he angled the sword vertically from his body to parry with the sword above. The force of the blow spun him back the other way allowing him to plant his foot back on the ground using the rest of the momentum to kick her in the chest as he leaned forward and stabbed the other in the chest.

He looked up to see they had both barely managed to block his counter attacks with the flat of their swords, they still had to take a couple steps back to recuperate. He didn't give them time as he immediately pushed towards the brother who took more force than her. He was on him quickly, he swung low catching him in the leg as he tried to back pedal. As his leg was lifted and he started to tumble his sister came from the rear slashing towards the middle of Damiens back. He use the falling young man as leverage to kick off of and flip up and over her slashing in the process and hitting her between the shoulder blades. He let out a deep breath his hair getting a little bit in his face.

"Winner Damien" Sera announced.

"Can I get a hair tie?" Damien asked "I don't want this to be a problem." He pointed at his mop of red and black.

"You will not have the time for such niceties in war." Next group step forward.

Two young men and a young woman stepped forward this time. Well the two young women stepped forward the young man sprinted forward hoping to catch Damien off guard. Damien had his sword between his knees as he had torn piece of cloth from his sleeve to tie his hair up. His eyes widened as he let the sword drop from between his knees and balanced the flat on the top of his foot. The man had halved the distance at this point. "Shit just two more seconds." Damiens hands were moving furiously as he tied his hair. He flicked his foot causing the blade to point in the air and then he front kicked forwards catching the hilt with the sole of his foot and pushing on it full force. The dip in his foot caused the sword to point towards his attacker and launched it at him at breakneck speed.

"Puhhhghh" the man caught the practice blade right in the stomach and he collapsed in on it. Damien brought his hands down and into a boxers like stance. Eyeing the two young women.

Damien had one lapse in his gaze when he looked down at the sword the young man dropped. This is when the women moved one of them ran towards the other and the second one braced her legs in a sumo like stance and brought one hand off her sword. The first woman used the seconds knee as a buoy before landing her second foot in the palm of the second lady. Her first foot ended up resting on the second as she bent her legs, muscles bulging. The second lady bent her arm and propped her elbow with her hip before using all her bodyweight to twist and help push the first woman up and at Damien. She used her legs to give her a massive boost before she left her friends hand. *Fwoosh* the wind whistled quietly as she was sent careening in Damiens direction. He ducked down as she started to spin creating a horizontal blade tornado.

"Fuck" he kicked in the direction she was spinning and punched the flat of her sword causing he to change her spin as she flipped forward. She improvised and used her forward momentum to kick Damien in the back of the head before landing on her feet. Damien stumbled forward and rolled using the momentum from the head kick to reach the sword the young man had dropped. He grabbed the sword and jumped up to his feet to see a slash heading for his eyes. He dropped immediately into a slide seeing that the second woman used a solid wide legged stance. As he slid between her legs he grabbed her ankle with his free hand and pulled hard as he flipped onto his stomach. This pulled her backwards and helped him mount her back, he switched his grip on the sword lifting her chin then "slitting" her throat.

"Dammit" the first girl swore as she had turned around to see him already pulling her partner down, but she was too far to help even though she was already moving. He rolled over the "dead" woman and brought his sword up swinging down at the sword that was slashing at him again. *Thwak Thwak* their swords connected twice as he managed to get back to his feet and catch another attack from her.

They circled each other as their fight got more intense, both their strikes fierce and fast, neither gaining the upper hand or so it seemed. Slowly but surely Damien was overpowering his final opponent. Finally he got past her guard with a sword thrust. It jabbed her in the shoulder and he used the momentum to lunge inside her guard and grab her by the throat. Before looking at his trainer.

"Well done Damien" Sera applauded. "Although you won't have any time to rest. Are you ready for the final group? Because they're ready for you."

Damien turned in a circle to see he was already surrounded. "Dammit, I should've paid more attention." He cracked his neck and got himself ready. "I guess it's all or nothin then."