"Are you sure about this, Eon?"
Jericho asked with trepidation and large amounts of doubt in his voice. The knight held his sword in front of him and positioned himself in a fighting stance ready to confront the man before him.
"Of course, don't worry, my skin is tougher than your average human, so don't sweat it."
Eon responded nonchalantly, he was also taking a stance but unlike Jericho he was unarmed, his left knee was raised just slightly so that the tip of his toe touched the ground, while his arms were near his head with forearms pointing forward and fists only half formed.
"You don't understand, this sword is a runic sword, it's made specially to cut through the tough hide of a salamander, it's not a high-grade sword but human bone might as well be soft butter when met with this weapon".
Jericho cautioned as he held up his blade, Runic blades were special grade weapons gifted to skilled warriors or knights, they were specifically made to deal with monsters and demons with tough hides and bones, when Jericho was tasked with coming to this village he was given a low tier runic sword just so he could be able to defend himself should he meet with monsters or bandits but despite his warnings Eon stayed true to his request.
"Even better"
"Miss Reniris, talk to him, please. If he truly insists on this, I might just cut his arm off."
Jericho pleaded to Reniris who sat at a tree stump and with a book on hand, it was fairy tale book to be precise, the three of them were in a makeshift training ground.
A place where there used be houses but the residents died so Eon cleared them and made platform for training.
Hearing Jericho, she simply looked at him and shrugged her shoulders, indicating that he might as well go ahead and accept it. In this past month, she found that Eon was quite insistent on things.
"Fine if you won't come to me, then…"
Eon moved. In a burst of speed, he closed the 5-meter distance between him and Jericho and arrived before him, aiming for his ribs that were hidden beneath the armor he threw a right hook.
The punch connected and sent Jericho sliding across the ground and slightly dented the amour, although Eon held back so the damage was minimal.
"By Hes'ia!!!"
Jericho exclaimed as he knelt on one knee, he had suffered no damage however he felt the weight of the punch and realized that he may have been underestimating Eon.
He had thought that Eon was closer to a mage than a warrior or martial artist, he had never joined the two of them whenever they went to train, this was because he was practically in charge of the whole village and had to watch over all the work they were doing and be on the watch for any sudden deaths.
"See, still think your metal stick is dangerous?"
Eon asked in a sarcastic tone as he took a boxing stance this time. While helping the village was good and all, his main objective for staying longer in this village was to develop his own fighting style.
At first he wanted to develop his own martial arts something like karate or something similar however he realized that that would take too long, not only that but he was not as creative as he would have liked so instead he decided to find a way to fight that suites him.
Eon was no fool, while it was true that he was very strong that didn't automatically translate to him being able to fight or have the necessary reflexes and instincts for combat as such it was important to build that up and develop a way of fighting that will be best for him.
Of course this would take years but he simply needed the very basics before going out in to the world so that he doesn't embarrass himself.
Reniris was his training partner for the past few weeks but she's more suited for long range attacks or rather while her strength is monstrous it seems she prefers fighting like a magician, from a distance, which he found odd because she can easily do both close range and long range.
Sparring with her was fun for a bit and both of them were learning how to deal with a cqc( close Quarters combat) fighter and long range fighter, Eon was the type of guy who likes bare knuckles brawls more than any strategy game so he needed to fight someone like him, who specialized in Short range fighting to properly find a way of fighting that suits him.
He also didn't plan to learn any magic spells and instead planned to focus on CQC while Reniris will do the opposite that way they can cover each other in team battles.
Though he may learn a spell or two in the future if he can, he was always the type of guy who like characters like Guy that mainly fought in close quarters combat, so he didn't see the appeal of being a magic caster.
"Alright you have made your point, but don't blame me if your arm gets sliced off".
"Ooo! I'm so scared that tiny little metal stick is dangerous, but you're welcome to try."
Eon responded, his tone sounding far more arrogant than he would have liked.
Jericho got on his feet and took a stance; he positioned the sword at his waist with the blade to the side, pointing behind him and pommel in front with his left shoulder exposed.
Eon could not help but smile as he settled into a typical boxing stance and waited for Jericho to make a move. However, the knight seemed to be waiting for him to move first.
From what he could see, Eon deducted that the stance Jerry had taken was meant to counter rather than attack, and with that in mind, he moved first.
In a flash of speed he charged towards Jericho, appeared before the knight as he aimed his fist at the exposed left flank, an expected attack, this caused Jericho to quickly dodge the attack by sliding his shoulder back, narrowly avoiding the attack while also having an opening to strike.
*swoosh*
He pulled his blade from behind as he swung the sword aiming for Eon's waist that was exposed, Eon could see the blade separate the air as it moved towards his body however disappointment marred his face when the blade was flipped and the dull flat side moved towards his body instead of the sharp edge.
*clank*
The iron of the blade collided with his hand as he blocked the attack from landing by grabbing the blade with his free hand.
Jericho was momentarily stunned as suddenly everything became still, and Eon held his sword tightly in his grip. He opened his mouth to speak but couldn't get a word out.
*Bam*
"Ughh"
A fist collided with his torso and forced a groan out his mouth, His eyes opened wide as he felt the pain of the punch register before the force of the punch threw him to the ground and had him tumbling and rolling on the dirt like a ragdoll before momentarily sliding and coming to a stop
*cough* cough * cough*
He coughed up volumes of saliva and gasped for air as he stood on all fours trying to catch his breath and let some air in to his lungs, the punch had knocked the wind out of him and caused his vision to go blurry and the pain from the punch made it even more difficult to stand.
"I'm disappointed Jerry, I thought I told you, your pointy stick wasn't going to hurt me."
Eon said coldly which caused Reniris on the side line to raise her brow, in the past month she has gotten to know him he has never acted so cold before, even during their own sparring match, she had a hint he might be a battle junkie but she didn't think he'd react like this to being underestimated.
"I… can… see… that... Hiihh"
Jerry struggled to speak as he once against made an attempt to stand up this time using his sword as a way to support himself.
This was the first time in a long time that he felt such a punch, he remembered his days as a squire where his mentor would teach him how to take a liver punch and still be able to fight, the punch from Eon was ten times worse not to mention he was wearing armour and that armour now had Eon's fist indented on its side.
"Good I don't want you to be holding back when you're clearly weaker, I asked for this spar because I wanted to learn a few things and find out if I could farewell against opponents with weapons, I can't do that if you're holding back"
"Cough* alright, noted."
The man said as he finally stood on his legs and caught his breath, he realized that while he was no match for Eon, this was a perfect chance to test himself out as well, set a benchmark for himself, as a knight he needs to make sure his blade is as sharp as ever.
"Good, now come at me"
'Alright then, let's aim to at least get a cut off his cheek'
He thought as he took a sharp inhale and let out a deep exhale before focusing his eyes at his opponent. He gripped the sword tightly and spoke.
"Sword arts: Piercing tail shot"
With those words Jericho shot forward in a burst of speed, that left a trail of dust in his wake, his sword and body glowed a nice and clear white hue that both Eon and Reniris found curious.
He arrived before his opponent and thrusts his blade forward at impeccable speed, the thrust was swift, with enough force behind it to pierce through iron, with determination Jericho's blade collided with Eon's body however Eon used his arm to parry to blade, he let the blade glide on his forearm as he pushed it to the side before delivering a devastating blow to his opponent's stomach.
*bam*
Once again, Jericho found himself on the floor struggling to breathe, and his armor gained a second indent of a fist on its front.
"Now we're talking, Jerry, come on let's go"
....
A/N: hope you enjoyed, leave a comment or a like.