May thy knife break

"Keep your eyes peeled!" Mr.Kael exclaimed while bending to the right and dodging the knife as he blocked another attack from the right, "predict your target's next move if you anticipate his movements, you will cut off his means of escape! "

Ayaan and Kayan back off, huffing, they look at each other and nod. Kayan rushed at Mr.Kael followed by Ayaan, he attacks Mr.Kael from the front as Ayaan finds an opening from the left, and he jumps on Mr.Kael. He ducks but the knife scratches his shirt. He smirks.

"Good," Mr.Kael said while gesturing for them to stop, "you two did great."

They both smiled at each other, as they pass the other seven students sitting and waiting for their turns.

It has been exactly one hour and forty minutes since the special training with Mr.Kael started, and Lue wasn't called even once. She sat there analyzing everyone.

The identical twins, Ayaan and Kayan, there was no other way you can differentiate except Kayan having long hair which he tied in a chignon, his hairs were long and shaggy, due to which there were left out hairs. As for Ayaan, he had textured angular fringe. They were dressed in short-sleeved white tops and black shorts. The sweat fell on the shoulder, framing a practically glowing with irreverence and there was an unholy gleam in their eyes that proclaimed they would laugh in your face while cutting out your heart. Or laugh in your face while you cut out their heart.

Lue suddenly realizes she has been staring at them for too long, well, how can she not? it was a face that females consider a sensual feast.

Ayaan and Kayan. They are a combination who get along well and have excellent reflexes. These two alone have increased the number of successful knife hits against Mr.Kael.

Then, Beric Calliope. At first glance, he comes across as being the lazy sort, but there's a strong sense of mischief in his eyes. In some respects, he believes that dealing with a decisive blow against Mr.Kael will bring him down, but does he truly think it will be that easy?

As for the girls, there's Ella. She has excellent balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and endurance. She catches Mr.Kael off guard with her movements. And Rika possesses both momentum and constitutional equality to a boy. Both are beyond good as close-range attackers.

The bratty trio of Waylen, Gael, and Rowan. They don't even have enthusiasm when it comes to training. Still, since all three have good builds...If they took this seriously, they could become good fighters.

Looking at these peeps now, he can feel they all are improving slowly as they face Mr.Kael in the next round.

"Line up, all of you!" Mr.Kael ordered. "That's all for today's training session, now we will have a few sparring then wrap up!"

"Hold up sir! My turn never came, this is unfair" Lue said while making herself stand up somehow.

Mr.Kael looked her up and down, "You think you can even use your reflex in that state?"

Lue couldn't say anything, he wasn't wrong in any way, it was really hard to move with these injuries and cramps.

"Take rest, and heal properly then we will have training together," Mr.Kael said while patting her head.

Lue nodded.

"Uh...sir? I got a doubt" Rika said in a nervous voice, diverting her eyes "will we be using real knives?"

"What if we get hurt?" Kayan said at once.

"Calm down you all, we will give you plastic knives, how do you guys even think we would let you use this thing against each other?" Mr.Kael said, not listening to their mumbles started walking towards the sparring area.

The students followed him, and as they reached the spot, they can see other students have already started sparring with each other. All of them joined the crowd while Lorek was sparring with some other boy.

The ringing of the knives quickened to a rattle, and Lorek's arm flew up, as he stumbled over, the other boy took his chance and did an overhand cut, and Lorek fell on the ground.

"Checkmate," said the boy as he showed his knife in front of Lorek's face.

Lorek stood up, shaking off the dust and wiping out his sweat, "That was a nice fight, I learned a lot."

They shook hands and disappeared into the crowd.

"Next, any two who want to spar?" the staff called.

"Beric!"Mr.Kael called out, "You go!"

"M-me?" Beric stammered, with a shock in his eyes, he selected one of the plastic knives kept there and started moving towards the sparring area.

Seeing him striding like a zombie, some other student thought he can have his moment and stood in front of him for sparring.

"May thy knife break" the boy said with a smile.

The knife will break then, Lue thought.

Beric sighed as he took his stance while he stretched his body. His whole attitude changed, and the aura around him changed. Everyone could just feel it.

"Double double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble," Beric said while swinging his knife as he rotates his wrists.

The boy cautioned himself that Beric is of the same age as him, he may be a little trained but how bad could it be?

Beric stared across the area at the boy. The boy's body looked like knotted whipcord on a dried skeleton. His knife shone milky yellow in the light of the Sun.

Fear coursed through Beric. He felt suddenly alone and naked standing in bright light within this ring of people. Prescience had fed his knowledge with a few experiences, hinted at the strongest currents of the future and the strings of decision that guided them, but this was the real now. This was dignity hanging on an infinite number of minuscule mischances.

Anything could tip the future here, he realized. Someone coughing in the students is a distraction. A variation in the sky, clouds coming, a deceptive shadow.

I’m afraid, Beric told himself. He might be a little trained, but he never took his opponent as weak or felt overconfident about any fight.

And he circled warily opposite of that boy, repeating silently to himself. “Fear is the mind-killer …” It was a cool bath washing over him. He felt muscles untie themselves, become poised and ready.

“I’ll sheath my knife in your blood,” The boy snarled. And in the middle of the last word, he pounced.

Eve saw the motion and stifled an outcry.

Where the boy struck there was only empty air and Beric stood now behind the boy with a clear shot at the exposed back.

Now, Beric! Now! Eve screamed it in her mind.

Beric's motion was slowly timed, beautifully fluid, but so slow it gave the boy the margin to twist away, backing and turning to the right.

Beric withdrew, crouching low. “First, you must find my blood,” he said.

Aren't they being dramatic? Lue thought.

Again, the boy attacked, ink-dark eyes glaring, his body a yellow blur under the Daylight.

And again, Beric slipped away to return too slowly on the attack. And again. And again.

Each time, Beric’s counterblow came an instant late.

And Lue saw a thing she hoped the other boy did not see. Beric’s defensive reactions were blindingly fast, but they moved each time at the precisely correct angle they would take if a shield were helping deflect part of the boy's blow.

Now the two figures on the ground circled each other; the boy with knife handheld far forward and tipped up slightly; Beric crouched with a knife held low.

Again, the boy pounced, and this time he twisted to the right where Beric had been dodging.

Beric saw this coming he quickly faked back and out and fled away from the point of his plastic blade.

Beric crept farther into the ring, relying on his edge in speed.

The boy backed now that the realization swept over him–that this was just easy prey for a boy like him.

Eve saw the shadow of desperation on the boy’s face. Now is when he’s most dangerous, she thought. Now he’s desperate and can do anything.

Beric pressed the fight now, circling but not attacking. He had seen the fear in his opponent. The memory of his dad training voice flowed through Beric’s awareness:

“When your opponent fears you, Then’s the moment when you give the fear its rein, give it the time to work on him. Let it become a terror. The terrified man fights himself. Eventually, he attacks in desperation. That is the most dangerous moment, but the terrified man can be trusted usually to make a fatal mistake. You are being trained here to detect these mistakes and use them. “

The crowd began to mutter.

The boy leaped high, feinting and striking down with his right hand, but the hand was empty. The knife had been shifted to his left hand.

Lue gasped.

He saw this coming and fighting with him for a while made him realize he might try doing some tricks.

Beric had seen the boy's first mistake: bad footwork so that it took the boy a heartbeat longer to recover from his leap, which had been intended to confuse Beric and hide the knife shift.

With the low yellow light of the sunlight and the inky eyes of the staring students, Beric shifted his knife in a blurred motion, slipped sideways, and stopped right where the boy’s chest was descending.

The boy gasped, and slowly whispered, "Don't thrust it in," his voice shake and squeaked.

Beric smiled, "obviously, I won't." and started walking away but then suddenly stopped, "Oh! The last trick was nice but not enough to beat me."