Shun is out for the third match, against the human called Neil. He has no affiliation, and heard about the tournament while on his travels to improve his skill with the sword.
I don’t know how he was in the qualifiers, but in his first match in the main tournament he killed… I mean, defeated his opponent with one strike of his sword.
“I heard he finished all his qualifier matches with one hit too.”
Siphon tells me. He was also in the qualifiers, so I guess he was watching out for any strong participants.
But a journey to improve his skill with the sword… There are people in this world who do that sort of thing too? I’ve read about people doing that a long time ago.
“First, we’ll see how Shun deals with the first strike.”
Says Naoto, but there’s not much worry in his voice.
Shun’s eyes are pretty good because they’re strengthened by his skill.
I’ve done a couple of mock battles with him, but between his dodging and blocking, I couldn’t get a good shot in.
But Neil is really fast. I doubt I would be able to keep up if I didn’t see Rurika’s Gale.
If I was facing him… I don’t think I could fight him with just a sword, but I think I could do it if I blocked with a shield.
“Oh, it’s starting.”
Says Siphon, and the venue goes quiet, almost like they heard him.
They all know how Neil fights, so they don’t want to miss that second after the duel starts.
And sure enough, right after the signal is given, Neil seems to disappear.
There is a metallic sound, and then Neil is behind Shun.
Shun’s body shakes… And then he turns and presses on Neil.
It feels like Neil knew his attack would be blocked, because he swings his sword at Shun’s after he quickly turns around.
The swords fiercely clash, their metallic noises echoing in the silent venue.
“Not bad. I didn’t know because he ended everything else in one hit, but he has the basics down.”
“Yes, no panic at all.”
Say Siphon and Jin.
He has to be good, to be fighting on equal footing with Shun. And he’s calm too, just watching Shun while their swords clash and looking for an opening.
“But his feet have stopped, and there’s no sign of moves like the first one.”
This continues restlessly for ten minutes. Even just the fact that they can keep this up is incredible. They have a lot of stamina.
If it was me, I would’ve wanted to take distance and rest.
“Neil? Yes, he’s fighting normally after that first strike. If he kept attacking that fast over and over, I wouldn’t be able to block it.”
Naoto is right. I don’t think it’s possible to continuously block attacks that are fast to the point where it feels like he disappears.
The fact that he’s not doing that means there must be conditions that must be met.
I’m thinking it might be a skill that uses SP, so he can only use it a finite number of times.
Then a particularly loud metallic sound echoes, and both combatants step away.
Both are still pointing their swords forward, and I can tell they’re composing their breathing.
Then a roar erupts and fills the venue, as the crowd cheers. Once it settles down, all eyes fall on those two again.
I think for a moment that Neil is about to make a move, but it’s Shun who moves first.
He quickly closes the distance and swings his sword. Neil doesn’t meet it with his, instead stepping back to avoid it.
Shun takes a step forward to follow it up with another attack, but this time, Neil makes a move.
He seems to disappear, and appears again behind Shun. But this time, when Shun turns around, Neil disappears again, and appears behind Shun again.
Shun can’t completely block this series of attacks, and his left arm is bleeding.
I’m sure it hurts, but Shun doesn’t shrink back, and chases Neil.
Neil frowns, but swings his sword to block Shun’s.
They clash, and then clash again. I thought that fierce sword fight would happen again, but the match ends abruptly.
Shun’s attacks get sharper, but Neil’s moves get worse. This means Neil is gradually falling behind, and in the end, an attack he can’t block rips through him, ending the match.
“That attack… Must put a lot of strain on his body.”
Says Naoto, thinking about how Neil was after using it twice in a row. Yes, it did feel like it took a lot out of him.
And yet he still did that, maybe because he felt he couldn’t win in a simple sword fight.
The crowd goes silent after the abrupt ending, but once the winner is declared, extremely loud clapping echoes.
Tomorrow will be the matches between the beast king and Geitz, and Argo and Shun… I feel like it’s all people I know… Is that how high those three’s levels are?
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Thanks for the treat.