Capítulo 12: The Birth of a Hero (1)
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Despite them both being apprentice priestesses focused on blessings, enchantments and healing; Stella and Marie both had learned self-defence with their staves. The funny part was that neither of them exerted much strength with their blows as they both wanted to appear gentle and demure in front of the boys. Instead they focused on technique and tactical moves.
However, as they were both regular training and sparring partners, the exercise was more of a demonstration to the other children, as there was no outcome even after the full 10 minutes of sparring was up.
Next was Bob and Martins' bout - it ended within the first few exchanges.
Martin went all-out from the get-go, launching fierce stabs with his blunted wooden spear. Bob roughly knocked aside his spear, pushing it off-target. Then on Martin's 3rd thrust, Bob exerted a sudden burst of strength as he swung his practice sword; knocking Martin's spear hard to the side.
Then Bob rushed in to capitulate on the opening - only to face a swift rotational slash of the spear! Martin had predicted his move - and had laid an ambush, using the rotational force from Bob's defence to launch a counter-attack.
But despite the sharp tactics, ultimately Martin lacked the strength to close-off the fight. Instead of dodging, Bob switched his sword to his left hand and grabbed the incoming spear with his right. Using his sheer size and strength advantage, Bob yanked on the spear - leaving friction burns on the other boy's hands and leaving him defenceless to the heavy shoulder that slammed into him.
As the boy landed outside the white outline denoting the sparring area, Professor declared Bob as the winner of the spar. He commended Martin highly for his good strategy - stating that if this were a real battle with sharp weapons, the outcome might have been different. He also thanked Bob for holding back his brute strength.
After recording the result on his clipboard, Professor called forth several more pairs of students - Rat vs. Frank; with Rat narrowly winning as his strike aimed at the vitals landed a split second before Frank's. Tonn vs. Mabel; ending with an easy victory for Mabel who controlled the battle from the start with her spells.
And as the afternoon was nearly through; in the half-hour before dusk when the sun would set - the Professor called out the names of the most anticipated pairing of the day - Samuel, the new boy with ace stats but no talent for mana or divine power; against Reeve, said by even those in the city to be a once in a hundred years talent.
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"Remember, this is just a spar; refrain from injuring your opponent. You have 10 minutes from now, the first to land what I judge as a critical blow, or to knock your opponent out of the circle will be the winner. Alright! Start!" Professor didn't seem to get bored of repeating the same words 16 times now.
The two boys stood at opposite ends of the training circle; an area 50m in diameter, located on the grassy fields of the school grounds. Their heights were more or less even, with Reeve more heavily built; while Sam was more agile and refined.
Sam cracked her knuckles and stretched - she had dozed off halfway while waiting for her turn, saliva dripping down the sides of her mouth. She had at first been interested in the matches, but soon her short attention span got the better of her. Without being able to wander around due to the Professor's instructions to "watch and learn", she could not bear it anymore; and summarily fell asleep for the past hour and a half.
In contrast, the model student Reeve had been studying every match - subsequently he had given advice to every student who asked for guidance. Despite his young age, his advice proved to be astute and showed sharp insight; drawing high praises from both the recipients and Professor himself.
And now he stood, bare handed, despite his being trained in the sword as an apprentice knight.
As soon as he saw Sam finish her warm-ups, he took a stance and beckoned her to make the first move.
And so she did. From a casual standing position; she executed an unexpected burst of speed and closed the 25m distance between them in less than a second.
Instead of looking surprised at her speed, Reeve's normally serious expression cracked into a small smile.
Seeing that Reeve was unperturbed by her quick dash, she changed her mind - instead of dashing headlong to land a right hook, she forcefully kicked the ground just 1 step before they were in striking range.
Then she executed consecutive side-steps, constantly changing her direction of attack. Reeve responded with sharp changes in his defensive pose, closing off her angles of approach.
Then instead of attacking from the side or front; Sam defied her side-to-side inertia and forced herself 1 step forward to enter Reeve's striking range.
Reeve's response bordered on precognition, as he fired off a side kick at Sam's left knee. Then he gasped as the step forward changed into a front-flip; leaving him to kick the empty air. Before he knew it, she launched an overhead heel kick at Reeve, anchoring her hands on the ground.
Surprised by the change of flow, Reeve hurriedly raised a block, but as he was already off-balance, he lost balance and he sank to one knee under the weight of the blow.
Sam attempted to capitalise on the weakness shown, then she felt a sense of danger and she hurriedly attempted to "walk" backwards using her hands - but she was a tick too slow.
With a smooth movement, Reeve tried to grab her ankle even as she backpedaled. He missed - but he still caught hold of her pants leg and pulled hard, slamming her back against the ground.
He stepped forward without hesitation, and aimed a crushing left palm blow at her waist; then was forced to twist his body and dodge as he felt her boot scrape past his left cheek.
The girl had launched an impossible counterattack. Even as she hit the ground, she ignored the impact and twisted her hips to send her right leg soaring towards his chin - forcing him to forgo his palm strike.
Knowing that his chest, waist and lower body were now large targets for her vicious kicks, Reeve jumped backwards to open a distance.
Sam similarly crawled backwards, looking like a lizard crawling on its back on the ground, before she twisted her body and landed in a ready position on all fours.
They were both panting - and smiling. Despite it being a short exchange, it was intense and exhilarating to the two who had no challengers in the town - until now.
Reeve was excited, happy and full of adrenaline. He had never before felt so... Alive! He was brimming with talent, and had trained under the best masters his parents could secure, whether in education, military strategy and tactics, or combat.
Yet he had quickly surpassed even his teachers in his techniques and combat multiplier - losing out to them only in his physical, mana and divine stats.
Now he had found someone who could get his blood pumping, his often cold and stoic gaze turned passionate and sharp - he had found a worth rival!
"Samuel..." Reeve locked gazes with Sam and began to speak - then the hairs on his entire body rose, and his heart nearly stopped beating; as he saw the boy smiling back at him with a passionate gaze and... Looking to be blushing.
Then he realised.
The way his blood was pumping, his shortness of breath, his feelings of passion towards his adversary... Reeve was horrified. The last time he had felt this was when he had first seen the princess, when she had ridden by in a carriage behind curtains. He had caught a glimpse of her beauty when the curtain happened to flutter in the wind - and was smitten.
Reeve was horrified. How... How could he be feeling this towards Samuel...?
Then he saw Samuel's soft, slightly parted lips, his smoldering gaze...
And he roared in self-loathing, disgust and anger.
"Ahhhh!!!" Reeve broke the "magic" of the moment and rushed forward, no longer holding back - he triggered his innate talent, Sword of Truth and grasped his summoned sword in a two-handed grip; desperate to erase his burning shame by knocking Samuel far, far away - out of the ring and out of his eyes.
And out of his heart.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
Ierrech
Ierrech 4/5 (Looking for a kindly editor - currently self edited)
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