A Play - 616

Skymender made his way to the arena and grabbed one of the wooden swords. There were multiple types of wooden swords, as well as different lengths.

Skymender had always used the classic longsword, and he knew his ideal length.

He grabbed it without hesitation and stepped into the arena.

His opponent looked at him seriously from the other side.

Sword Master Deyr watched from the side and spoke. "Let the first battle commence."

Many in the room recognized the boy, as well as Skymender. Murmuring sounded out, speaking of what had happened. The few that had been unaware now learned of Skymender's violence against the noble boy.

The boy ran up to Skymender, nearly twice his age. He swung his sword down, while Skymender leisurely raised his up.

The tip of his sword cleanly brushed against the edge of his, and Skymender moved his wrist, flinging the sword down to the side, completely missing Skymender.

The boy still held the sword, but it was unnecessary to disarm him. Dragging his sword upward, the boy was uppercut by the sword, unable to defend.

He was lifted almost half a foot into the air before falling down, knocked out. Skymender did not show off, but ended the battle quickly.

Many were astonished, but even more found it natural. His sister was a potential Sword Master after all.

Skymender turned around, planning to leave, until he heard a voice. "I challenge Skymender."

Skymender turned around again, and saw a boy no older than twelve coming towards the arena.

Looking around, he saw many other children with bright eyes, looking directly at him. It seemed they had taken him as a target.

The other noble boy was awoken and taken off of the stage, while a new one climbed up.

As the battle began, he charged towards Skymender, letting out a horizontal slash.

Skymender let his sword hang vertically, blocking the attack, then in a similar motion to before, uppercut the boy, knocking him out.

Before he could hit the ground, multiple children spoke at the same time. "I challenge Skymender."

Another one, deemed to have been the first to speak, was sent up.

He slashed horizontally, and Skymender blocked it the same way. He sent an uppercutting attack, but the boy jumped back before he had even swung.

The boy then instantly leaped forward with his sword in a piercing position. Skymender took a step to the side and the boy, who had put too much forward thrust, was unable to smoothly stop himself.

Skymender kicked his leg, causing him to fall over, and pointed the sword at the back of his neck.

Once again, multiple voices sounded out at once.

A horizontal slash, a block, a leap back, a piercing attack, but more controlled. Skymender stepped to the side, but the sword stopped and turned, slashing at him from the side again.

Skymender's sword moved quickly, hitting the opponent's sword hard.

Slightly turning, he adjusted his body and swung his sword at his legs.

The opponent fell to the ground, and Skymender pointed the sword at his back.

Another multitude of voices. 

Horizontal slash, block, quick retreat, pierce, dodge, side slash, quick hit away, turning and attacking the leg, blocked by the opponent.

Skymender swung up and uppercutted his opponent with the wooden sword.

Once again, and again, and again.

Nobles watched as their children memorized attack patterns and walked up to the arena.

Finally, after so many battles, only one remained that shouted out.

Horizontal slash, block, quick retreat, pierce, dodge, side slash, quick hit, leg attack, blocked, uppercut attack, dodge, side slash, blocked, neck attack, ducked, leg attack, jumped, slash down, rolled over…

It was as if a play was taking place. Skymender could have switched up his attacks long ago, but he wanted to see how far this farce would go.

After around two minutes of attacking, the boy was knocked out.

Skymender had been challenged by nearly a hundred children older or as old as him.

Some had failed to follow the guidance of those before them, while some had done so and provided a path forward. Slowly, they managed to produce someone who could fight against him for almost two minutes.

Skymender felt as if he was looking at the human will directly in the face, saying that it would never give up.

It was admirable.

Those who had been defeated, instead of being upset, looked happy, as if they had contributed to something greater than themselves.

Most of the people in the room were smiling, even the Emperor had a less stern expression on his face.

Nobody else challenged him, and Skymender stepped down. A few people entered the arena and challenged others.

However, nothing as shocking as Skymender's performance took place.

Some people went up that even Skymender would have struggled to fight against, but they had no interest in what had been happening before.

The next few fights were between rivals or people who hated each other. He even saw some people from the same family fighting with great hatred.

The 1st event soon ended. Another hour long period of freedom began. Once again, a large number of nobles either congregated near the emperor and the kings, or went and spoke to them.

Meanwhile, Skymender was surrounded by children, ages ranging from 7 to 17, who were clearly admiring him. These people were not at the top of intelligence, skill, or strength within their families, but they were all nobles. It was surprising to see the looks of admiration.

From that point on, regardless of what he wanted, a group formed around Skymender.

When he went to eat, the tables were swept. When he sat down, many tables went without chairs, taken by the children.

They asked him questions, and he answered them. He told them about his sister, as well as about some of his other family, such as his eldest brother.

Everything he said seemed to have value in their eyes.

This continued on, nobody else even being able to get close, for an hour, until the second event started.