Peace Maker - Chapter 223

Boris gave a quint nod before standing up from his seat. “I’ll try my best teacher,” he smiled, “when is the next test?”

Kalmin turned to him, tilting his head slightly, “Tomorrow, why?”

“So I can study well for it,” Boris replied, nodding towards the door.

“Hm…” Kalmin muttered lightly as he pushed in his chair and stood up, following Boris to the door, “may I ask my own question then?”

“Of course,” Boris replied, “unless it’s another test question then in that case maybe save it for to-”

“When are you…” Kalmin began, pulling open the door to the room and stepping aside for Boris to pass. He looked up at him and they locked gazes, “…actually going to complete all the questions correctly?”

Boris’ head tilted slightly as he smiled, “What?”

Kalmin waited for him to walk out of the room before continuing. “I’m sick and tired of your test results, I’m tired of seeing the erase marks too,” Kalmin muttered, muddy brown eyes staring into gold, “spare me the headache and just complete the questions as you know they are meant to be.”

They maintained eye contact for a moment as Boris stood in silence. He shifted his stance.

“What, did you expect me not to not-”

“Do you think that’ll make it easier for you?” Boris replied, a smirk sliding onto his face, “to answer with the same intelligence that I have, that it would make it easier for you to judge me as a person fit for the throne? Or is that what you want me to believe?”

Kalmin’s eyes flicked in confusion and anger for a moment before settling. “What?”

“Am I supposed to trust in the fact that perfect scores will give you peace of mind and be oblivious to the fact that you’ll only distrust me more?” Boris chuckled, “There’s a reason why those scores will never reach 100, a reason why I make sure to leave erase marks and a reason behind every word that I chose to say.”

Boris moved forward one step towards Kalmin and smiled when he looked down at Kalmin, making eye contact with him. His eyes glowed, “There’s even a reason for this action right now and I’m sure you know why,” he chuckled, “the more unsettled you get, the more distance we get and the more power I gain.”

Kalmin stood up straight, peering into Boris’ eyes with just as much confidence.

Boris leaned into Kalmin’s ear, “I’m not foolish, Kalmin and neither am I blind,” he whispered. He pulled away and gave a bright smile. “But then again there’s no need for me to be saying this.”

He turned around and began walking down the hallway. “I’m sure you know.” He raised up his hand and waved Kalmin goodbye as he walked forward, “I’m off to fencing and martial arts classes,” his hand lowered and the cheerfulness leaked out of his voice. “I’ll see you later.”

Kalmin stayed behind and watched as Boris’ figure disappeared behind a corner. He turned back and walked down the opposite side of the hallway. “He’s angry,” Kalmin muttered to himself, “I guess he heard the conversation earlier.”

He turned back to glance down the hallway one more time before continuing his walk, a smirk on his face. “That guy always has the most interesting and mind-jogging ways to display anger.”

*

Physical practices were something Boris had no problem with. It needed no large mental efforts, and mostly physical powers involving strength and physical build. Criterias he had no issue with, it was easy. It was also the reason why he felt no need to hold back tremendously in practice. Just enough to knock them out if needed, never more to kill them.

“Something on your mind?” someone asked, calling his attention back to practice. Adia thrust her sword playfully in his face to call for his presence, “you’re not supposed to think too much when in a fight, don’t be surprised when I knock you out.”

Boris turned back to Adia and smirked. “With those arms of yours? Spare me your jokes.”

“You always say that, yet I still manage to win sometimes,” Adia shrugged, “it seems like these twig arms are stronger than steel muscles.”

“It’s been a year,” Boris grinned, “we’ll see.”

They lounged at each other, their swords clashing against each other with a loud bang, dragging the attention from other battling soldiers to them.

Adia was the same as Boris. “Just enough to knock them out, never more to kill them” a motto created by her to instill control in Boris. She was strong, at some point even being Boris’ mentor that specialized in agility-

She ducked down, dodging one of Boris’ brash swings, and swiped her leg under his feet.

…brute strength

She pressed down on her hands and feet, jumping up into the air, dodging another one of Boris’ hits, and then raising her sword, brought it down heavily against his. Sparks flew.

…and quick regeneration.

She landed softly and sucked in a deep breath, settling her heart. A smirk slid onto her face.

“Still fast aren’t you?” Boris asked.

“And still one second behind aren’t you?” she retorted.

Boris chortled as he lunged forward again, this time pressing his body weight against Adia’s sword as he attacked. “Speed isn’t everything you need on the battlefield.”

Adia grinned, her leg moving back slightly as she held back Boris’ sword, her stance changing to distribute the weight equally. “But being one second behind won’t get you anywhere either.”

She pushed off his sword and kicked him in the stomach, her kick quick but heavy, carrying twice the weight of a normal, strong male. She locked eyes with Boris as her grip on her sword’s hilt tightened, “One second could be the difference between victory and loss…” she began and Boris brought down another heafty blow on her, this time heavier than the last, using at least ⅔ of his strength.

Adia smirked as she held him back again, her smile fading as she heard a sound.

CRACK

She pushed forward with all her strength and then let go of her hilt, ducking as she fell to the ground and rolled aside.

CLANG, CLang, clang

The sound echoed into the air for a few seconds until… Silence.

She stayed still for a moment before standing up from her position on the ground and looked back at Boris. Her gaze followed his to the object on the ground, her broken blade, laying on the ground in two pieces and then back up to Boris, a little huff of air leaving her lips as they met eyes.

“…and the difference between breathing and death,” Boris muttered, completing her sentence. They stayed in eye contact for a moment before a smile broke onto their faces.

“Hahahaha!” Adia laughed as she walked over to the broken pieces on the ground, picking them up and examining them, “who wins this one then?” she asked.

A chuckle leaves Boris’ lips and she felt a light breeze in the air. Dropping the blade part, she turned around and held up the other piece, one hand on each side. Then shifting her legs back again as she braced the hit, her eyes wide open as she saw the glint of metal hurl towards her.

The blade pressed into the hilt of the broken sword with a ‘snap’ sound and Adia locked eyes with Boris. A slight shudder ran down her back when she saw the excitement in his eyes, the golden rays were gleaming.

“I don’t know…” Boris replied, his voice low and calm, “let’s call it-”

“-a tie…” a voice interrupted. The two broke from their positions and turned to the voice. “..And a broken sword,” Falls smiled as he approached the duo. He glanced at Boris and gave him a slight disapproving smile, “your 5th this year, your highness. Mind taking it easy on the people you face? I had a feeling this would happen so I brought a spare sword from the inventory on my way here.”

Adia giggled as Falls tossed her a new sword. She glared at Boris, “You’ve been bullying others, your highness?”

Boris shook his head immediately with a sly smile. “Of course not.”

Adia chuckled, punching Boris in the arm again. They exchanged laughter when he pretended to be hurt from it, “Good, because I better be the only one his highness truly fights.”

“An epic battle indeed,” Falls nodded, “I could hear the clanging of swords all the way from inside the palace. Did you two practice a lot?”

Boris and Adia exchanged gazes before smiling at Falls. “Of course.. A lot of practice.”