R14

Tora's Pov

Sensing movement at the last second, I quickly jumped back to avoid the incoming attack. Not being able to avoid it completely I was able to reduce the damage by a reasonable amount. Not knowing what her intentions were, I still took a ready stance waiting to see her next move. She immediately gathered water from the atmosphere creating orbs that were floating around the entire room.

"What exactly is this supposed to be? Some kind of test to see if I'm worthy enough to be on your team or what?"

With a stern look, she replied to me

'You'll find out when I'm done.'

Some of the orbs in the air moved towards her direction and combined with the staff in her hand. Within the next minute, she held a spear made of crystal clear water in her hands. Anyone seeing it from afar would think the weapon was made entirely of glass. Spinning the weapon above her head a few times, she charged at me and I could sense the seriousness behind her actions.

We began a deadly dance where she was attacking with her all and I basically just evaded. At first, her attacks were an effort to land a bit, but the more I evaded her spear the more precise her movements became. She started aiming for my vitals as her attacks also gained some speed. She swing the spear in a low strike aimed at my ankles and when I jumped back to evade I felt something come in contact with my left shoulder before a searing pain registered itself in my brain.

One thing I realized while training was that while the enhanced senses helped me become more aware of the environment on a deeper level, it also came with a disadvantage. Being that I could feel things at a heightened rate, it also applied to pain. So unless I dulled my senses, I could feel the cut from a razor like that of a sword. And a ball hitting me could be the equivalent of being rammed by a truck.

Stopping in my tracks I looked at the wound I just sustained.

Feeling pissed that I took a stone from the ground and tossed it at one of the water bubbles in the air. Immediately it came in contact, the bubble started spinning and then gradually changed shape till it looked like a flat disc with sharp edges. After spinning for a while it returned to it's liquid form and dropped to the ground. The entire process had only taken a couple of seconds. Taking a deep breath, I watched her as she came at me again in a renewed flurry of attacks. Getting pissed off, I channeled power to my eyes and grabbed my sword. Inside my head, I heard Byakko's irritated voice

"Put this child in its place or I will."

For once I agreed with him because I was getting tired of being tested by anyone who approached me. The moment I touched my sword and looked forward, a visible shiver ran down her body as she quickly jumped back.

Ame's Pov

I was beyond frustrated at this point. It's like he knew how I was going to attack even before I did it. At first, I just wanted to land a solid strike seeing as he had softened the impact of my surprise attack. However, the more he evaded the more I had to get serious. Initially, I had allowed the water bubbles I created to hover in the air, but I gradually brought them closer while attacking him. It was obvious from his fight with the professor that just left that he was not taking me seriously.

Seeing as he had not attacked once and his eyes weren't glowing like when he battled previously. I aimed at his ankle with a thrust knowing he would jump back slightly and he did, right into one of the bubbles. The result was a look of shock that replaced his calm expression before blood started running down his shoulder. Feeling glad inside myself I watched him to know how he would respond. At times like this people either attacked with anger or lashed out. And that always led to mistakes. However, he simply picked up a stone from the ground and casually tossed it at a bubble. After watching the reaction from the bubble being touched by someone other than me, he looked at me and placed his hand on one of his swords, and immediately a shiver ran through me.

Instinctively I jumped a couple of paces back, every warning signal in my head going off telling me that I should turn around and run fast if I wanted to survive. However, the moment I looked into his eyes it was all over. His eyes had gone from their obsidian color to electric blue while having specks of gold dancing around. He then crouched so low one would not believe he was able to use sword techniques from such a low posture.

His dangerous eyes still locked on me as of asking me to try and defy his will by moving. It felt like a mountain stood before me in all it's glory. Time seemed to slow down as I watched him pull out his sword. A wave of electrical power filled the air as it became bright and then I saw a flash that just seemed to appear and disappear all in one moment.

Blinking to get myself back I looked at myself all over and didn't see a single mark. I thought to myself 'there's no way all that was just a bluff.'. Looking in front of me I could not find Tora. On looking behind me, I found him in the same crouched position gently sliding his sword back into it's sheath. He let out a deep breath I didn't know he held before he said something that brought back that initial feeling of dread.

"INFINITE BLADE"

The spear in my hand suddenly fell into several pieces and I just stared at it. Still trying to make heads or tails of what occurred, I suddenly felt a string in my mind snap as the power I wielded over the water bubbles in the air vanished.