Clang! Bang! Clash!
Hakurou and Pluvia's blades met over and over again. The two were engaged in a sword dance along the southern edge of the training grounds. On the far side, a group of soldiers and Pluvia's co-trainees sat, giving the duo a wide berth to go all out in their swordsmanship.
The two exchanged blow for blow, going back and forth, with neither being able to break through the other's defenses. Then the tide shifted as Hakurou got more serious and fully activated Haze, disappearing from all Pluvia's senses, with even her mana perception unable to track him.
Pluvia took a deep breath as she relied on her own instincts and her knowledge of how Hakurou fought to defend herself.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Pluvia's bastard sword moved from side to side as she protected her vitals.
' Plum Blossom - Five Petal Thrust huh... '
Pluvia quickly identified Hakurou's technique and stepped back as she too slipped into Haze.
' Pomegranate - Six Petals Slash '
Pluvia struck back immediately, her blade cutting through the air as she released a torrent of high-speed slashes, aiming to disable Hakurou's movements.
Hakurou's katana flowed like water as it parried her strikes easily and efficiently. His blade swung forward as hers was knocked to the side, he was aiming right for the jugular. His voice reached Pluvia's ears a second later,
" Flowing Water Slash "
Pluvia acted quickly as she smiled softly. Her blade parried his with seemingly gentle force as she dispersed his technique. Mockingly, she spoke out the name of the move she had used right back at him,
" Willow - Six Petals Calm... and Purple Electricity Thrust. "
Pluvia's voice was calm and smooth as she took advantage of Hakurou's awkward position after her parry to try to finish the fight in a speedy thrust. The tip of her blade caught barely on his kimono as he shot back with insane speed. Pluvia let out a shaky breath as she held her handle in both hands. She and Hakurou circled each other slowly, his jump backwards having granted a momentary pause in their combat.
The first one to strike again was Pluvia as she rocketed forward. The hard training ground cracked beneath her boot, and she sent herself at her opponent with deadly force. Her attack was perhaps the simplest one yet, but quite effective
' Thunder of Heaven and Earth '
While Hakurou easily sidestepped her upwards slash, her blade came right back down faster than he had anticipated and caught his shoulder as he tried to avoid the strike. Pluvia smirked as Hakurou recreated the distance between them. While the upwards strike of Thunder of Heaven and Earth was usually longer and carried more weight, she had fully expected the first move to fail, and so had put little force behind it and used it as a bait for Hakurou. The kijn had found the first strike pathetic and so hadn't tried to parry it and had simply sidestepped, allowing Pluvia to use the momentary loss of focus as he moved to her advantage.
However, Pluvia's smirk did not last as she realized there was no blood on her blade.
' Only caught his kimono even with that... '
Hakurou didn't give Pluvia more time to ponder as he shot forward. Pluvia's eyes widened at his sudden burst of immense speed. Hakurou's katana rained down from every angle as targeted her eyes, throat, heart, kidneys, lungs, and groin with eight near instant slashes. In the next instant, Pluvia operated on pure instinct as she used his own move against him.
' Flowing Water Slash '
Pluvia's arms ached as she maneuvered her sword through the air like a knife through butter.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Her blade parried Hakurou's katana like a swift current before swishing forward to cleave his head off. Hakurou leaned back slightly as the tip of her blade nicked his throat. He pushed against the ground as he made distance between them. Pluvia panted as she spat out,
" That Double Cherry Blossoms - Eight Petals Flash was a bit slow, old man~. Your bones aching too much to win~? "
" Oh ho ho~, It seems our princess is eager for a beating. "
Hakurou shot forward once more, reclosing the distance he had just made as the two reengaged in sword combat.
Bang! Boom! Clang!
The ground shook, and the air ripped as the two of them battled fiercely. Despite it being a simple spar, both had been aiming to kill or maim for the entire fight. It was clear that if Pluvia won, this would be their final confrontation. Sonic booms rang out, and the steel of blades groaned as the two combatants duked it out.
' Damn it... '
Things were not turning out great for Pluvia. Neither two of them was getting through the other's defense, and Pluvia was running out of steam. While both were incredible swordsmen, Hakurou, in his experience, was much better at using his stamina more efficiently. While as a dragonoid, Pluvia did naturally have a greater amount of stamina, she wasn't nearly as good at using it.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration sparked in Pluvia's mind. A technique that might be able to get through Hakurou's defenses.
' Damn... but can I do it? '
The move she had thought of was one that her father had shown her. However, this attack was focused on using his natural slime flexibility and the toughness he had as a True Dragon. While her own toughness as a dragonoid could potentially handle the attack, she knew she didn't have the flexibility for this.
" Whatever... "
Pluvia growled softly as she unleashed the move anyway. To compensate for her lack of flexibility, Pluvia dislocated her arm and allowed her body to rip at itself as she unleashed her own version of her father's Myriad Variety Petals. Her blade smashed into Hakurou from all directions hundreds of times. The attack caught Hakurou off guard, and yet he attempted to stop it all the same. He unleashed his Flowing Water Slash in an effort to defend against the incomprehensible rain of blows, but soon found his efforts futile as Pluvia's blade broke through his defenses and peppered him with cuts.
The attack lasted for only a few seconds, but it was enough. As the two disengaged, Hakurou fell to one knee, his breath ragged and his body heaving. Pluvia took two steps forward as her intermediate regeneration stitched her body back together.
" I win. "
Pluvia stated confidently as she laid the edge of her sword against Hakurou's neck. The kijn only smiled up at her as the sound of cheering from their audience echoed around them.
Pluvia reached down and helped the old man to his feet, the two of them downing a full potion each as they recovered from their spar. Pluvia sat on a stump nearby, her hands resting on the handle of her bastard sword as the blade was stabbed down into the dirt.
Hakurou approached her calmly, a warm smile on his face.
" I must congratulate you, my lady. I am quite pleased to say you have proven yourself stronger than me. "
" Don't say such nonsense, teacher. Neither of us was using our skills; if we had, I have no doubt you would have won. "
Hakurou only shook his head softly
" Perhaps at this moment that may be true, but I'm sure, given even a few days to properly train with your skills, you would be able to win easily. "
Pluvia couldn't help but grin at his words.
" Nevertheless, I believe that our training has come to an end. You have proven yourself to have learned all that I can teach you, my lady. "
" H-huh? Come on, teacher, I only won once! We really don't need to stop here! "
Hakurou placed his hand gently on Pluvia's head, ruffling her hair.
" Princess, you are a truly incredible existence. Having won once, you can now undoubtedly win every time we exchange blades. The time has come for you to move on to something else. You have plenty of other fields to train in, plus, your family has missed spending time with you. "
" ...alright. "
Standing up slowly, Pluvia hesitated before hugging the old man quickly. As she pulled away, she bowed lightly.
" Thank you, teac- Lord Hakurou. Till next time. "
" Ho ho, do not speak like that, young Miss. Do we both not live here? We shall see each other plenty more times. "
Pluvia only smiled lightly as she drew her blade from the dirt and left the training grounds.