The students watched the sparring match, astonishment evident on their faces. Some watched silently, covering their mouths with their hands. Others let out gasps of surprise, while still others...
"Hehe..." Laughed, a girl with red-brown hair tied in a ponytail.
She glanced at the boy in the arena and skillfully copied his dance, move for move.
The two danced like light and shadow.
One stood higher in the arena and the other lower, parallel to him, repeating his movements identically.
This dance, set to a song playing only in their heads, continued under the warm sunlight and the silent gaze of onlookers.
Their ponytails shook energetically as they repeated each other's movements. The remaining strands of their hair bounced softly across their faces in time with the song, as if caught by the wind.
"..."
"Hee..."
One remained silent, closing his eyes and surrendering to the moment. The other laughed sincerely, a bright smile lighting up her face.
The crowd, having calmed down slightly from their admiration, began to talk to each other in surprise.
"Is that a dance?"
"Something like a waltz?"
"It looks like it..."
"Are they mocking the big guy?"
The big man did not hear them, though, and continued to fiercely attack the artistically gliding guy.
Another sweeping diagonal strike. The young man ducks under the sword and emerges with a smooth step and artistic swings of his arms, a moment before the collision. Then he moves behind his opponent with a soft touch, like a silk blanket—again and again.
He continued to circle around his opponent in a strange dance, constantly dodging and evading the sword as if it were liquid.
Indeed, he moved like a stream of water flowing around a rock in its path, lightly touching it and continuing onward.
"Ha... Fight like a man and stop dodging!" the breathless man shouted furiously. But it had no effect on the guy, who continued to move like water.
The big guy, who looked like a wardrobe, changed tactics. Instead of wide, sweeping blows, he began striking with sharp, precise, short swings.
Elion felt it, and the song changed.
The drawn-out violin motifs were replaced by sharp, fast ones. The light, airy palms turned into sharp, tightly clenched ones.
A rapid flurry of blows began.
"Ha! Wha! Ha!" the man shouted with each blow.
Elion stood up straight and faced the blows head on.
Below the left shoulder. Elion jerked his shoulder and lower body slightly, and the blow stopped inches away.
Continue to the head. He tilted his neck and head slightly to the right and up. At that moment, the sword flew past his left cheek, ruffling a few hairs.
Right shoulder. The man turned his body slightly, and the sword flew by, barely touching his tight-fitting clothes.
Further into the stomach. At that moment, Elion stood on his toes, stretched his arms upward, pulled in his stomach, and arched his back slightly forward.
*Swish!*
A horizontal sword strike flew past his stomach, leaving behind a sensation of sliced air.
Elion moved as if each part of his body could dodge and jump independently of the others.
Without moving much from his spot, he continued to dodge blows with certain parts of his body.
"What's wrong with you?! Attack at least once! Are you really a girl?!" The man shouted in frustration, having failed to land a single blow. He understood that Elion had the opportunity to strike, but that only made him more upset.
"Aaah!" the man shouted furiously, putting all his strength into his blows.
Head... Chest! Chest again, but a little lower. Left side... The rapid blows continued again and again.
Many probably did not understand why Elion continued to dodge instead of attacking. This is what he was thinking:
"Much better than a stick." For him, it was an improved version of stick training.
"Gaaah!" A strong horizontal blow to the lower back that he couldn't dodge because he had let his opponent get closer while standing in one place.
Realizing his limited options, Elion took a step to the right, toward the sword, to buy time for a second step.
"What..." His opponent stared at him silently and released the sword from his hands, allowing it to fly away.
With his second step, Elion pushed himself upward, spinning in the air with one foot and performing a strange trick: a side somersault while maintaining his spin like a barrel. He landed face-first in front of his opponent.
"..."
"..."
The man was so stunned that he forgot for a couple of seconds that the fight was still going on.
While he was distracted, Elion hid his hands behind his back, and the melody changed again, this time to a fast piano piece.
Thus began the hand-to-hand combat.