Elegant Skirmish

Several more periods passed, and soon, the end of the day was near. Dell found himself staring out the window turning his attention to the beaming sky, which was painting the sky a beautiful orange as it set. Consumed by it's brilliance, he felt relaxed. But this was not the calmness he wanted. Gritting his teeth, he refocused himself and continued his assigned work. 

As his final period ended he watched everyone rushing to leave, flocking through the exit like crazed animals. But it was not the end of the day for Dell. Students could attend non-compulsory courses that would help train them, whether that be physically or mentally. Dell opened his locker, took out his gym wear, and walked in the opposite direction of the hoard.

In the changing rooms, he changed out of his school clothes into a slim, black tracksuit with the school logo printed on his chest, and entered the huge hall. It's floors and walls were shiny and made of some reinforced sleek material. In the hall, he found four other students and the instructor waiting for Dell. 

" Ah, welcome Dell! Today, we have someone new joining us, they'll be here shortly. " 

' Someone new? Huh, that's odd. ' 

In this club, people practiced battles and sparred with weapons to gain a feel for combat, putting them ahead of those their age. Unsurprisingly, it was never very popular. Dell had come here because other than learning new things, he discovered that he also enjoyed sparring quite a lot. But more than that, he needed to become proficient in a style of combat, he would eventually have to anyway.

' Why not start now? '

His thoughts were interrupted by the new member of the club walking into the hall. A girl, with beautiful white hair, ran into the hall and bowed her head. 

" Sorry for being late, sir. I got lost... "

The instructor laughed and waved his hand, dismissing her apology. 

Dell raised his eyebrow and spoke with confusion in his voice.

" Vessa? Are you joining the club? "

A faint smile appeared on her face when she saw Dell. 

" Yes, though I am also surprised to see you here, too. I didn't expect you to be someone who enjoyed combat. "

His eye twitched as the corners of his mouth tried to frown, but he resisted.

' What's that supposed to mean?. ' 

Before he could respond, the other members approached her and began their conversations. All the commotion was brought to a halt when the instructor blew his whistle and started the lesson. He explained a few things about swinging and offensive combat, before sending them off to spar against each other. 

Dell was choosing who to spar with but was tapped on the shoulder by Vessa. 

" Can we spar? " 

" Alright, why not? "

Holding a fake sword made of safe yet sturdy material, he assumed a battle stance, and so did she. She was broadly smiling as she said: 

" May the one chosen by fate win this battle. "

" Uh... right. " And with the blow of a whistle, their fight began.

Instantly, Vessa lunged forward with shocking speed. Dell barely reacted to the strike, grasping his weapon's hilt with 2 hands and tilting it to the side, blocking the incoming attack. Shortly after, she raised her weapon and swung again. This time, he dodged to the side and countered with his attack, but missed as she rolled to the side. 

' So agile! '

Keeping up the pressure, he leaped forward slashing downwards, putting all his weight into it, however, she simply rolled again. As he was recovering from the swing, he stepped back and entered the same beginning stance, and so did she. The fight had reset, but before long, it continued. This time, he lunged first and was about to swing at her stomach. However, he instead feinted and used the pommel of his blade in his right hand to knock her arm away from him, utilizing his left to deliver a strong punch to her gut.

To his dismay, she had managed to lean to the side and dodge the punch barely thanks to her fast reaction speed. In his shock, he failed to notice her slide beneath him, realizing what she was about to do. As he tried to react, her blade scaled up his body and plunged itself into his stomach, knocking him back and making him grasp where it hit him. 

' Her reaction speed is way too fast... ' 

But, he brought himself back together and refused to let the battle end.

As he readied his stance, she smiled and immediately began her offense, delivering a flurry of slashes and stabs, truly showcasing a mastery of her blade. 

' This style of hers is unusual. It's so swift and elegant.. and annoying. '

Dell did not back down, he kept blocking and dodging each swipe, until he saw an opening. She eventually slowed down, trying to slash one more time - but he dashed forward readying his blade to slash her as she was beginning to swing.

She feinted her swing and hopped backward to exit the range of his attack. But he dashed forward and swung his blade forward. She barely ducked and dodged it, going in for her attack, which was blocked. Over and over, the pair clashed and blocked, and dodged. Their battle seemed like an ultimate stalemate. 

But not for much longer.

Despite their long battle, Vessa never slowed down. She kept up the assault most of the time, using feints between her swift cuts and stabs, and backing off just in time to be safe from his assault. 

Dellin couldn't say the same for himself, though. He was not used to this long battle, and it was evident by his short breaths and slowed movements. But, he still believed he had a chance. 

He unleashed 3 slashes forth, each she dodged before coming closer to him, and letting out her flurry of rapid slashes. Dell blocked most, but his hand suddenly weakened and Vessa's blade swung into his rib, making him stagger. But he did not falter, he let the final attack hit him and braced himself for that blow.

He leaned in and swung his blade with all the strength he had left... only for it to miss, grazing her as she ducked, striking the same rib she had before. He fell to his knees and held his side, gasping for air. 

She was panting, before dropping her blade on the floor and sitting down.

" Dellin, you're impressive.. really impressive.. "

As much as he wanted to respond rudely.. he stopped himself, it was a compliment after all. 

" Right.. thanks... I guess. "

The other pairs were in awe of their battle - it had been the best fight they had ever seen and were seriously excited over the result. Even the instructor was surprised at the display of his skill he had seen, commending them both.

Dell got up and left the hall, it was getting late anyway and he didn't want to spar after that fight. His sides hurt and his lungs felt deprived of air. 

' Man I'm starving... maybe I'll get something to eat on the way home. ' 

-

After eating a small burger to satisfy his hunger, he walked through the twisting streets in an overbearing darkness. The moon shone in the center of the sky, but it wasn't bright enough. The main streets were usually illuminated perfectly, his district however was in a darker, less wealthy area. So he did not have the privilege of seeing where he was going in the darkness. But he wasn't really scared, after all, nothing had happened to him before, and there were Government soldiers stationed around most corners. 

' I should start getting home sooner from now on huh... ' 

As he was walking, he noticed that the normal street he would walk through was blocked off. He scratched his head and inspected closer, seeing the tile of the road shattered.

' Well, now I'll have to go all around the other way... or I could cut through the alleyway. ' 

Dell was talking about a small gap between 2 accommodations in the street. The alleyways were like mazes and were mostly used by the most poor members of society. 

' Ah, oh well. If I don't take this route, it'll take me longer to get home. '

He dove into the darkness of the alleyway and walked deeper and deeper. Eventually, he couldn't see where he came from, the inky darkness covered everything. With each step he took, he felt more tense. Eventually, it was a bit brighter in the alleyway, there were more lights on his path, but not enough for him to confidently walk through. 

Along the walls, he began to notice huge claw marks and rubble along the floor.

As he kept looking around, he noticed a strange liquid sprayed along the walls ahead of him, dripping down to the floor - his heart grew cold.

' Is that blood?! N-no way right... '

Suddenly, he stopped. He heard something further away from him. It sounded like... breathing. An aroma of corpses encased Dell, it sickened him. As he took a step back, he noticed something in the jet-black alleyway. 

A pair of soulless scarlet eyes with no pupils contrasted the darkness, followed by the sound of something being dragged along the floor. His heart raced and his eyes widened as that 'thing' came into a bit of light. 

The outline of a grand beast, at least double the size of a human, stood with gargantuan claws and a muscular, scaly body. Its elongated maw was lined with rows of teeth, tinted red and dripping with slimy saliva. Those same 2 red eyes, glowing bright matching its peach skin coated in blood as a tail lined in spikes appeared from behind it. Its right hand had its claws dug deep into a mangled and bloodied corpse, a trail of blood following behind.

' Sh*t... no, no, no... ' 

He stepped back again, but it was too late. That same breathing from before was much louder, and that.. thing.. was coming closer. Yeah, it was definitely after Dellin. He was thinking of what he could do.. but obviously, his human instinct told him to run. Run away, and never look back.

Maybe he could survive if he did.