17 Just Skip the Part

On the training grounds, I have met with other children; they were already there waiting for Master William and me. The moment they noticed us their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Alexander, what has happened?" they all inquired me at the same time.

I didn't know how to answer their questions. Luckily, Master William grabbed their attention off me. He faked a cough and looked at them with a questioning look. They understood their mistake of neglecting to greet their master and bowed.

"Good morning, Master!"

"Morning, today we are going to do pretty the same thing, but just before that let us warm up."

After that, there was no time for them to discuss my changes and we all started performing some simple exercises to prepare our bodies for future training. Master William showed us how to do hops on the spot, chest expansions, and arm circles. They were basic warm-up exercises for children and elderly people.

"Ok, that's enough... Go for 5 minutes run and we will start sparring with swords."

"Yes, Master!"

While running I felt different than before, my body was lighter and more flexible, every step I did was in harmony with my breathing and heartbeat. It was really a wonderful feeling. Even magic elements were gathering around me. Firstborn bloodline is truly special, for them, cultivation and meditation should have been as easy as breathing.

I closed my eyes and didn't even notice how the 5 minutes run has ended.

"Well, take the swords and split yourself into pairs. Today I will explain to you what is the most crucial thing in swordplay. Does anyone know what it is?" William asked coolly.

Clearly, I knew the right answer, but it would be inappropriate for me to state it out loud.

"Noone? Maybe Alexander has something?"

That was unexpected but fine.

"I think my Dad talked about tempo, the distance and time thing."

Fiona looked at me angrily and snorted. Don't know what I have done wrong, it is not my fault for my Dad to be a military man.

"You are correct, tempo, this nebulous concept of distance and time is the most important and essential thing in swordplay, not even in swordplay but in all combat. In a condition when your and your opponent's weapons are the same and out of range you are both safe and sound. The moment one of you makes a move forward the second one moves back, again a statement... In order to win, you must break this tempo and create a new one with an advantage on your side. Did you get it?"

Children were confused, it is not a thing which can be understood in a matter of seconds.

"Well, I think its better for you to practice with each other and get the glimpse of it yourself," said Master William and jumped on the tree to observe us," you can start.

We all looked at each other, boys stood together leaving me out...

"Oh, Fiona is going to be alone, I think its best for her to match up with Alexander and others will take turns against each other."

He is doing it on purpose I know it... Why is it so hard to be outstanding.

My Adam's apple moved and my eyes got focused on Fiona. She smirked and stood in front of me confidently. I wanted to try out new abilities of my eyes and see the blood-flow, heartbeat and inner organs of the body. When I thought about that, Fiona's clothes started melting, of course, it wasn't really disappearing, I was just able to see through it. However, the problem was... Stop! It's disgusting, an old and renowned magician is doing something like that to a small girl, outrageous! Wait, I can just see the organs, not see through the skin and clothes so that I can skip the part when she is naked.

"Are you ready?" sounded a chilly voice.

"Yeah..."

Fiona dashed with a sword on her side, ready to cut me into two. However, from my perspective, her movements were that of a turtle. Every small contraction of muscles did escape my vision, that is undoubtedly a godly kinetic vision.

I easily evaded her attack by slightly rotating my upper body and kicked her with a knee. Fiona didn't see that coming and fell on the ground.

"Oh, Alexander, you are really cruel..." voiced out his opinion Master William.

I looked at him and thought that he would do exactly the same thing if he was in my shoes, maybe were even more merciless. There is no difference between a woman or a man in my eyes, life taught me a harsh lesson in the past.

Nevertheless, I really overdid it this time.

"Sorry, Fiona, it was a reflex... I didn't mean too."

I proposed my help, but she slapped off my hand while standing up and rubbing her lower abdomen.

"Once more, I want to have a match again."

"Sure."

We prepared again and this time she moved cautiously. The problem of tempo us that it is constantly changing, everything depends upon your opponent, if he follows you or breaks out... I remember one guy from the magic academy; he was an absolute genius. The master of tempo, every time you fought against him you would realize that you are inevitably under his control. For him combat was like a chess game, totally predictable and easy.

After ten moves Fiona was out of breath and decided to initiate her last attack. Obviously, her move was slow in my eyes. My sword changed the direction of her lunge and she missed.

"Take a break Fiona; you won't win against him like that," said Master William and jumped from the tree.

"Master..." sounded an exhausted soft voice.

"You were making the same mistake over and over again. Do you know what it is?"

Fiona looked at her hands then at William and shook her head.

"Well, did you notice how fast his eyes were moving? It is a common feature for those who have enhanced kinetic vision."

"Kinetic vision?"

"Yeah, the effect of capturing and analyzing the motion of objects in space. Usual kinetic vision can be obtained through hard training but a superior one is... It is still too early for you to know about that. Ok then, for you in order to break through Alexander's vision, you must blind him."

"Blind him... Thank you, Master!"

Fiona stood up and gripped her sword. Master William's words gave her an idea. Well, let me become your opponent.

"I will observe... Alexander, use your maximum power," told me William and sat on the ground.

Sure he doesn't know how strong I am but... Ok, I will just employ my superior physical strength.