The Arks - Chapter 418

Z placed the boy back onto the grass floor and gripped onto Bryan’s shoulders to turn the poor boy back to face Tomoe. Z gently pushed the boy forwards which prompted Bryan to continue going forwards and strike at Tomoe once more.

Baldwin continued too much on his cookies like nothing ever happened. Z slumped back down beside him and brought out some peanuts from his pockets. The two exchanged food and proceeded to watch the ongoing duel.

“Well, that was unexpected,” said Tomoe, still figuring out what had happened.

“Don’t worry, I’m just as lost as you,” confessed Bryan, backing off.

When he moved away, Tomoe charged forwards to Bryan with a speeding thrust. But what made Bryan more confused is that Tomoe missed Bryan when he performed a horizontal slash. The next thing the Slayer knew, he was holding the left side of his torso.

Bryan looked at Tomoe, who was busy smirking at the wounded man. The Slayer clenched his fist while the other hand applied pressure to the wound. Tomoe was right, he can’t rely on his sight for close-combat battles. Especially against a fox being like Tomoe.

Bryan knew that he needed to come up with a move that will counter Tomoe’s next move. The Kitsune held his sword upright once more, preparing another strike at Bryan. Looks like he was going from the same strike as before, Bryan needed to act fast now.

Closing his eyes, Bryan began to figure out a way to counter that strike. Unable to come up with anything good, he let out a defeated sigh. Bryan was much too slow as Tomoe had already launched his attack. It was then when the Slayer realized that he could use another method.

Instead of blades clashing, Bryan could’ve just dodged the attack. Tomoe had a habit of striking Bryan at his left side, so before the blade gets too close, Bryan could just move away from the strike. To do so, he needed to change his footing within a fraction of a second.

“Alright, here goes nothing,” murmured Bryan, as the strike came.

Since his sight was useless for this attack, Bryan took a deep breath and focused on hearing the blade instead. With that familiar sound slicing through the wind, Bryan lifted his right leg and moved it to the six o’clock position of his body. Now it was Tomoe’s turn to be shocked.

The Kitsune was wide open as he tried to figure another follow-up attack. But it was too late, he was bound to get hit. Without missing a heartbeat and with the same breath as earlier, Bryan delivered the fastest thrust he had ever performed, directly at Tomoe’s neck, exhaling as he did so.

The Kitsune waited for the piercing stab but it never did come. Instead, when both parties opened their eyes, all they saw was a grown Valkyrie catching Bryan’s blade. Even Baldwin and Z were caught off guard at Mavislin’s sudden appearance.

“I’d said ‘train’ with him… Not kill him. If you want to continue being in the Pillars, please learn to have some self-control. Especially in training. If you can’t even control yourself in training, how am I supposed to trust you in the battlefield with your comrades?” asked Mavislin, sounding furious.

Bryan’s eyes filled with horror at what Mavislin said. Tomoe quickly tried to clear things up while prying apart the blade from Mavislin’s hands.

“It was my fault! I asked him to go all out! Besides, I landed a wound on him as well… Don’t be angry, Lady Roydon,” exclaimed Tomoe, holding Mavislin’s hands.

Mavislin remained silent, holding onto that same gaze at Bryan. The Slayer gulped as he gripped onto his sword. He couldn’t tell if Mavislin was ready to behead him, right there and then. Z and Baldwin went towards the trio.

“She’s not angry, she’s just concerned. And she’s right, Slayer Verna. You need to know when to control your moves. You were lucky for the previous opponents since most of them were real enemies. But now, in a controlled setting, you need to know when to hold back the fatal strike.”

“Z is right. I am by far impressed at your ability to come up with solutions on the fly against Tomoe. He is one of the fastest swordsman I’ve ever encountered. I dare say even I or Mavislin could bȧrėly win him in pure sword fighting,” praised Baldwin, looking at Bryan with a smile.

“You were great. I am most surprised that you could nearly take my head off. But I would’ve burned your lower half into cinders if I wasn’t playing fair. I guess the Founders are right; you have to control your strikes.. I merely grazed you twice and you were prepared to slit my throat.”