Chapter Four: Potential to be a Wizard
Both Morgan and the Kendo club president stood a fair distance from each other.
Five meters.
Both of them analyzed each other.
While five meters was basically no distance for people wielding supernatural abilities,
for humans, crossing five meters in the blink of an eye was still a hurdle.
Of course…
Most well-trained people like Haruka and Morgan could quite cross that gap.
While it might not be at the speed, inhumane people would cross it.
Fairly, they could bridge that gap in far less time than an average Joe would.
Hence,
"..." "..."
Both stared at each other without blinking as they leveled their shinai against the other.
'His grip is sloppy, but his guard is up.'
Haruka scrutinized him.
She could go for his weak grip, but then, for a grip that sloppy, his entire guard was up.
Was he baiting her?
A frown creased her face, then it was replaced instantly with a smile.
'I see. So he's not a swordsman, but a martial arts practitioner?'
She was curious now.
Why was he here?
Regardless, that didn't matter to her.
If he wanted to pursue the way of the sword, she would welcome him with open arms.
• "President isn't moving first?"
• "That's strange."
Quips from behind flooded, and even those from the other parts of the auditorium paused.
She was quite infamous, after all.
Who was she fighting, and that was the question they asked as they watched.
"Haah. If we continue like this, then it'll get us nowhere."
Morgan started, lowering the shinai, pointing it downwards with his hands still holding its handle.
"I agree."
On the other hand, Haruka raised the shinai as though ready for attack.
And then.
"Here I come."
Squeak–!
A skidding sound was made against the polished floor as both dashed at each other.
Five meters were crossed in what seemed to be an instant.
While Haruka came with a vigorous upward to downward slash with her shinai, Morgan did the opposite.
Of course, opposite in a slant line.
Twack–!
Sounds of bamboo clashing echoed, and they pressed in after their clash sent their arms in a wide arc due to recoil.
Haruka was first.
Tightening her grip on the bamboo sword with clenched teeth and an expression that seemed to say,
...this will be interesting,
With vigor, she swung her arm from that position as the shinai cut across the air, hurling towards Morgan.
However,
Thuck!
Morgan caught it, barely, however. His own shinai reversed, the flat of it braced against his side as he absorbed the blow.
"Kuh!"
He winced.
The blow was stronger than he expected, but he could handle that amount of pain.
Instantly, he bent his body sideways, as though he were going to fall.
Morgan's shinai slipped out of its lock as Haruka slowly widened her eyes.
"...this is..."
A move, or rather a deception tactic Morgan learned on how to counter struggles like this, by taking advantage of a clash.
Instead of waiting for the other ,
take the initiative to slip out and counter before the opponent can break it.
By doing so, one can gain the upper hand for a split moment.
However, that also depended on the user if they could get through with it right.
As the bamboo freed itself from the clash, Morgan immediately followed with the flex of his wrist.
Still holding it in reverse, he swept the bamboo for her midsection, and to be specific, her stomach.
But—
"Hou? That's what you were sneakily aiming for?"
Haruka jumped away, landing with her right foot on the floor, and her left kneeled as she slowly stood up.
"Besides, what's with that sloppy way of handling the sword? A sword's not a toy to be twisted around like that, you fool!"
As though angry, she shouted that, pointing the sword at him.
Nevermind her, he was onto something else entirely.
For someone with that figure, she moves ridiculously fast, Morgan thought.
If he were using something other than a sword, perhaps unarmed, then he could brute-force a win using Mūtō.
Mūtō - Unarmed Style of fighting: "Disarming an opponent with a sword while you are unarmed."
But,
… complaining like a sore loser wouldn't get him anywhere.
This time, Morgan adjusted his footing to that of an iai stance, both legs crouched slightly.
However, the shinai's grip was odd.
Both hands holding the shinai, pointed to the left by his left side.
Furthermore, it was held in a slanted motion facing the ground.
Morgan learned techniques that had to do with using his torso as the epicenter of his movement.
That way, it adds springiness to his speed and allows him to cover a short distance really quickly.
"—Huh?"
Haruka stopped talking, as she stared at him. That long drawn gaze of his now had a different expression to it.
"Motivated now, are we? Fine then."
Haruka and Morgan once again moved close in… And then it began.
Thack-! Thack-! Thack-!
Clashes.
A flurry of them.
Bamboo collided in a rapid staccato rhythm.
Each strike met another in perfect counter, each parry answered before the sound of the last impact even faded.
While they weren't moving faster than the eye could see. No.
… but, their rhythm was simply perfect, and precise, like they were like actors performing a live movie scene.
An unedited scene with adrenaline filled scene.
Haruka's shinai came down from above, Morgan's swept up from below.
Thwack!
Each strike met in the middle, exploding into recoil that jarred their hands apart.
Again.
And again.
With every clash, each impact echoed off the hall as their feet slid and adjusted, leaving faint scuff marks behind.
At that point, both had pretty much made lines across the floors due to their dance.
… a dance which both parties aimed for the other's weak spot.
Shii—
Haruka was sent skidding against the floor when Morgan was already in front, with his shinai leveled.
Its direction?
Her throat.
But she wasn't the kendo president for nothing. With a flick of her wrist, she deflected it.
Having done that, she made a full circle with the sword before following with a thrust.
And as it approached, Morgan tilted his head just enough for the tip to graze past his ear.
Suddenly, they were close.
Barely three feet apart.
In that compressed space, both twisted their wrists simultaneously—
Thwack-!
More than the other clashes, this impact stung her wrist, sending a jolt through their arms.
Still, a mere sting wasn't enough to hold her down.
Haruka's feet planted hard on the floor, and she slid just an inch forward.
Just an inch closer.
But that inch of movement was everything.
'My space…!'
Morgan winced.
Her sudden lunge robbed Morgan of the distance he needed. Plus… if he struck now, his strike would lose half its power—
and she was already inside his guard.
"Got you!" "... not yet!"
In that position, both held their shinai in their dominant hand, the right, and thus, the deciding move.
Haruka swung down,
But then, Morgan made a flexible twist to the left, with the shinai missing him by an inch.
In actuality, such maneuvers would have been impossible due to the position.
However, it was precisely because of scenarios like this that he built his body this way.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch—damn it, my waist…"
Morgan hissed under his breath as he straightened, hand pressed to his side.
In the end, he twisted his waist even like so.
Those who were watching were lost in that short exchange of blows.
Really, both could continue it if they wished.
Despite the complaint, Morgan looked more than ready, already taking a stance after creating space.
Other than his slightly wincing expression,
"Would you look at that, he's raring to go,"
Haruka thought.
Mhm. She was already liking this transfer male student.
In a way, she could tell that if they went on like this, a winner would not be decided so easily.
As such, she must get him.
By any means necessary.
Lowering her shinai, hitting its tip against the ground,
"Transfer student, I hereby proclaim you the vice-president. Since we never had one. Starting today, you are one."
She grinned, proclaiming that with a sadistic grin on her face. Or rather, mischief.
Oh, here we go.
Morgan thought.
His luck.
Sure, he looked unmotivated most of the time, but truthfully, he worked harder than most people realized.
Maybe living in this surreal, unpredictable world had something to do with that.
But what he hated more than anything was losing his personal space.
Haruka was invading that space now.
"I reject."
He tossed the shinai down with a dull clack, rubbing his waist as he gave her a flat, incredulous look.
"Come on, don't be like that. I want to keep on fighting with you!"
"I came here to learn, not to get my waist twisted,"
Morgan quipped back.
However, one thing both weren't aware of were the people watching this exchange.
Certainly, they didn't expect this.
Not to mention, Haruka was fought to a draw by a newcomer, no less. It was more than just surreal.
• "He fought the president to a draw."
• "Did... I see that...?"
• "Mhm, I could barely follow."
The background noise drowned him. There was no glory in over-glorifying a stronger weakling like him.
Yet, regardless, he wasn't one to think about matters like that.
Instead, his focus was on Haruka.
… Right.
She was most suited to be a Wizard.
If he thought about it from another angle, Tsuan was strong enough to be a playmate for Kurumi.
Even pushing against her.
If one factored in that Haruka, who was Tsuan's master, was stronger, while though far from spirits,
She should be capable of dealing with AST members fairly easily.
… maybe he gave the Quasi-Spirits more credit than they deserve.
Regardless, he had an inkling that if Haruka became a member, she'd be quite strong,
Not to mention, she has potential.
…to be a wizard, that is.
Well, at least that's what he thinks. He might be wrong, but he couldn't help but think about it from that angle.
'An interesting thought, but given her role, I very much now doubt that.'