The morning sun rises as birds chirp while the crowd can be heard from the Training Grounds of the Serfa village. Many people gather to see someone inside a carriage. The carriage travels inside the Training Grounds Jeff and Albert can be seen sitting on a bench as they watch the other participants practice.
"Don't be nervous Jeff," Albert said, touching Jeff's shoulder. "You're way better than them."
The person inside the Carriage steps out and a noble boy with blonde hair and green eyes, with a slim figure. His face shines with charisma as he waves towards the common folk.
Two girls walk by the training grounds and see the boy who steps out of the carriage.
"That's the rumored talent right?" one of the girls asks the girl next to her. "I think so… his name is Aldrich Lauriston, correct?" The other girl replies.
Jeff stares towards the noble boy "Some people have it easier than others…" Jeff mumbled to himself.
A few minutes they were passed and Jeff took a wooden sword from a barrel and got ready to face his first opponent, who was a boy older than him. The one refereeing the match was a knight who was in his full armor.
"Are you two ready?" the knight asked. "Yes sir!" Both children replied. "Ready…" the knight said, grabbing a cloth from a satchel strapped to his waist. "Set…" the knight said, about to drop the cloth. "GO!"
The knight dropped the cloth, as Jeff charged towards the boy, lunging towards him at full force. The two children clash swords, with Jeff's opponent struggling to keep up with Jeff's overwhelming strength. A few snapping sounds were heard, as Jeff continued to press on to his opponent's wooden sword, which was about to break.
"Stop!" The knight said, running towards the two children. As the knight was running, Jeff broke his opponent's sword and was about to hit his opponent's head, however, it was met by the knight's hand, as his reflexes were fast.
"That was close." Jeff sighed, looking towards the knight with a concerned expression.
The knight stares towards Jeff, "This kid… he's too strong…" the knight mumbled to himself.
Inside the woods, Jean watches his son, Aldrich, win his match with ease. "All the participants are out of Aldrich's league," Jean said, looking towards Jeff's match. "Except for that boy…" Jean stares at Jeff. "He'd be a wonderful addition to my collection."
Within those battles, a girl with short, jet-black hair, blue eyes, and a pale skin tone, slightly taller than Jeff and with a determined look on her face battles a cocky red-haired boy who was about the same height as the girl, with his red eyes burning with passion.
"Heh. I'll go easy on you, miss." The boy said with a smug look written on his face. "You don't want to go easy on me." The girl replied. "Go!" The referee said, dropping a piece of white cloth.
As the cloth fell on the ground, the girl charged towards the boy with full force, immediately putting her sword on the boy's neck.
"That concludes the match." The referee said as his eyes widened. A crowd formed around the girl, who was confident in her skills. "She resembles Duke Laconte of the Chevalier Dukedom.
Before the next round, 500 kids had frowns on their faces having lost against their opponents. They run to their parents, as they console them. Jeff stares at them and a thought piques his interest.
"Is that really what family is supposed to be?" He wonders, staring at the children who run to their parents, crying, as their parents give them a warm embrace. Jeff begins to tear up inside, gazing at the families that console the failed participants.
"I..." Jeff said to himself as his eyes slightly started to become more watery. "I've never seen something like this..."
Jeff shed a tear in his left eye. "It's..." As the tear fell near to his cheek, "It's beautiful." Is what he said under his breath, wiping off the tear on his cheek.
The second round of the competition begins as Jeff easily defeats his opponent. The same happened in the third round. Before the fourth round, a participant was disqualified for playing dirty against their opponent. After they were disqualified, one of the officials of the competition stood on a podium,
"The fourth round has begun, find your matches through the leaderboard." The official said as they walked off the podium.
Jeff walks towards the leaderboard and checks who is his match.
"Participant #14, Mary Catherina Louise Fitzwilliam... It seems like she is my opponent." Jeff said, staring at the leaderboard in the vicinity.
A young girl who was around the same height as Jeff, with her blonde hair, and radiant golden eyes that reflect confidence and composure, walks towards a focused Jeff, staring towards the leaderboard.
"Hey!" The girl said. "May I help you?" Jeff asked, looking towards the girl's direction.
"Are you participant #304?" The girl replied, as her arrogant gaze pierced Jeff.
"Yeah, I am." Jeff said, "Why are you asking?"
The girl then unsheathes her training sword. "Unfortunately, you're my opponent." The girl said as she scoffed, turning her head towards the side.
"Filthy commoner... trying to act nice to a noble like me." The girl mumbled to herself, "I know your true nature, commoner." The girl said, crossing her arms.
"You're all filthy brats who act nice when a noble is in front of them, but start acting bad with other commoners."
"What is this girl talking about?" Jeff mumbled to himself,
"So... are we gonna have the match now?" Jeff asked, unsheathing his training sword.
"Alright, filthy commoner." The girl replied as they walked towards one of the training grounds.
A competition official then walks towards the 2 children and gets ready to start the match.
"Before we start, I'll warn you just once." The girl said, holding her training sword with a fighting stance. "Surrender or you'll lose badly."
"I won't surrender," Jeff replied, as he shifted his stance to a fighting position.
"Go!" The official said, dropping a white cloth.
As the official drops the white cloth, Jeff blinks, but as he shuts his eyes, he sees a dark space with someone charging towards him at blinding speeds. Jeff opens his eyes, seeing the girl charging at him at a fast rate. The girl strikes Jeff to the left, but he parries her strike quickly.
"She's quick..." Jeff remarked while the girl was speechless, her eyes widening in shock.
"How did he..." The girl thought as Jeff pushed her sword to the side.
"Alright..." Jeff murmured, striking his sword toward the girl's exposed defense.
"My turn now," Jeff said as he started his offensive.
"W-what?!" the girl thought, "I've been exposed... I need to block his strike quickly!" the girl mumbled to herself, quickly pulling back her sword to defend herself.
Jeff launches a barrage of strikes toward the girl, ruthlessly pummeling her defense with strike after strike.
"I'm being overwhelmed!" the girl muttered as she gritted her teeth in frustration. The girl then breaks Jeff's offense by parrying his last attack and tries to stab him in the head, however, Jeff dodges her strike in time.
"That was close," Jeff mumbled as a bead of sweat trickled down his face. Jeff starts to dash unpredictably around the girl, moving around at a rapid speed, making afterimages as he goes faster and faster.
"T-this speed..." the girl said, looking at the afterimages of Jeff. "It's... so baffling..." The girl remarked, her eyes moving around. "I mustn't be distracted!" The girl gathered all her strength and decided to make a dangerous gamble by charging into one of the afterimages.
A white glow envelops the girl's training sword, as she swings it forward "Ha! Commoner. Beat this, the noble swordsmanship of aura." The girl smirks.
However, Jeff sees through her movement and uses the wind gathered around his training sword to slash at the girl, however, the girl notices it at the right time and blocks Jeff's attack. As the wind slash hits the wooden sword with the white glow, it disperses into the air together with the white light radiating from the sword dissolving into the air. Jeff stood in one place, looking down as he panted, whilst sweat dripped off his head.
"W-what?!" the girl's eyes widen, "M-my sword aura!"
The crowd nearby saw the spectacle unraveling within their eyes, within their sight, they saw an epic battle commencing between a noble from the island of the north and a commoner who is seen practicing every day within the village, known to be a prodigy.
"The white glow... It can withstand my wind slashes..." Jeff talks under his breath, his grip over his sword tensed. "I think I could replicate what she did."
As Jeff increases his grip over his sword, he gathers all his energy and tries to project it as a barrier to increase his sword strength.
"W-what? He's replicating the basics of noble swordsmanship as a commoner!" The girl remarked as she witnessed Jeff attempt to recreate what she did to protect herself.
Suddenly, a dark aura attempts to envelop Jeff's blade, as Jeff attempts to manifest an aura on his sword. The girl sees the dark aura and immediately attempts to charge towards Jeff to stop him from powering up.
"What is that dark aura? I've never seen it before." The girl mumbled to herself, her eyes tense as she witnessed something distorted. "Well anyway, this is my chance to beat him!"
Jeff sees the girl charging towards him. He prepares to defend but he finds it hard to move. Seeing the dark aura slowly enveloping his sword, he attempts to control it by strengthening his grip on his sword, however, Jeff sees that there isn't enough time for him to act, as the girl approaches him faster and faster. Jeff forces his body to quickly move as fast as he can, while the dark aura slowly reaches the hilt of his wooden sword. Jeff then runs as fast as he can, letting the darkness reach his hand.
"Something's not right..." Jeff remarked, feeling a chilling, yet burning sensation in his hand. "This doesn't look like the light that the girl used."
The girl's attack was dodged, and Jeff ran behind the girl, preparing to sneak up on her. "I feel it... It's... painful." Jeff mumbled, holding himself from screaming in pain.
Albert, who was doing his knight duties, saw what was happening from a distance. "Is that Jeff? What's with that weird color around his sword?" Albert said, with a raised eyebrow. "Well, I just hope he's safe," Albert muttered, walking away.
Jeff gathers all his strength to lunge at the girl, with the dark aura enveloping his sword. Jeff jumps high and prepares to strike, however the girl notices it in time to block Jeff's attack. The crowd is amazed to see a fantastic battle unravel in front of them, as the girl regains her composure to manifest her sword aura again, as the white glow reappears on her wooden sword.
"Commoner! I'll show you Fitzwilliam swordsmanship!" The girl said, with a determined look in her eyes, as they shone brightly with pride.
Like one fluid motion, the girl prepared for something and released multiple quick stabs towards Jeff, as if it were rain, her training sword caused the wind to pile up on it, making her stabs larger and larger, as the wind went with the flow. Jeff tries to dodge most of the girl's attacks, however, his efforts are futile, as he eventually gets hit by one of the girl's rapid strikes.
"Augh!" Jeff internally screams in agony, as he feels like tiny raindrop-shaped knives hit him in the abdomen, near the area of the liver. He felt like his blood dropped, however he wasn't bleeding. It felt as if his blood were dripping like rain.
"What is this?" Jeff silently murmured, trying to keep up his composure.
"Act! Quick! You need to dodge now!" Jeff said inside his mind, trying to force his body to move.
Jeff quickly moves away from the girl's strike, however he feels intense pain. "I need to end this now!"
As Jeff puts his hand at the area where the girl hit, he grits his teeth in pain, facially looking as if he got hit by a hard punch to the area near the liver, Jeff feels intense heat coming from his head while feeling like his surroundings are chillingly cold. He stared at the girl with a frustrated look, his eyebrows furrowed as he gritted his teeth in pain. As he stared at the girl, darkness slowly filled his vision as if he were about to black out.