The Wild Dance

"I told you this would happen. If you had pressed the attack, he wouldn't have devised a strategy against you," Master Taishu said.

Though his master berated him for not following his instructions, from where Ryuma was standing, it wasn't that Kosha wouldn't press the attack, it's that he couldn't.

He had no doubt that this kid was skilled enough to fell many a swordsman who didn't know the trick. Hell, he'd no doubt this kid would've wrecked Toga if it came to a one-on-one. Ryuma however found his weakness.

When it came to swordsman like these two, the three things most lethal in their combat are perception, reaction, and swing speed.

Movement speed and physical strength were more like back-up tools with this sort of weapon.

Kosha had perception down easy. Ryuma could tell that the world Kosha saw when they exchanged swords moved far slower than the world he saw himself. So whatever Ryuma would do, Kosha had already seen it.

His reaction speed was also out of this world. It's one thing to see an attack coming. The ability to make the right judgement at a moment's notice. That too was a talent.

However, what he had in strides with those two, he lacked the crucial element to help solidify his swordsmanship.

His swing speed was poor in comparison to his other two skills. To Ryuma, it didn't matter if he could see the attack coming or react to it. So long as his swing speed can't keep up with what's going on, all he had to do was limit his options.

Ryuma smirked at his deduction. He was spot on and confident now. Unbeknownst to them, he had the perfect tool in his kit to fight him with. Ryuma rushed him again. This time he was less afraid but was well aware that one measly mistake could cost him his life. Despite his earlier confidence, Kosha still had better overall sword stats than he did. But Ryuma excelled in the part that Kosha really needed to drive his swordsmanship to a new level.

{The speed of my swings outpaces his.}

Ryuma swung his katana as he closed the distance. There was a gleam in Kosha's eyes and he reacted instantly, blocking the strike.

Just as his katana rebounded off Ryuma's, his second blade came bearing towards him at mach-speed. Kosha couldn't counter. He had to defend against the other blade.

The second he rebounded that one, Ryuma's first blade came back on him. Not only was Ryuma a faster swinger, but his duel wielding was also a major advantage this match. Even the knockback from the two swords clashing caused Kosha's blade to rebound just that bit further.

Though Ryuma's stats were more averaged out. He used every advantage he had over Kosha.

Ryuma's swings were so overbearing, Kosha had to back up. Ryuma followed forward. The young priest was gaining momentum because of it.

Kosha gritted his teeth and narrowed his vision. Ryuma was leaving no opening and his frustration was showing. It was only a split second within Ryuma's onslaught that Kosha finally swung his katana.

Ryuma dodged it and backed up. He felt the wind from Kosha's katana near his temple. Despite all of that, Kosha was still able to find a sliver of an opening and took advantage of it to break his momentum.

Both boys were breathing hard

Ryuma's eyes shifted towards Taishu. The master leaned against a tree with his eyes closed paying little care what was going on with it. No matter how aloof he looked, Ryuma couldn't quiet relax his guard around him. If Kosha right here was the student, how strong was he?

He shifted his eyes back towards Kosha. If these two really wanted him dead, they would have jumped him by now. It's likely he won't attack, but still…

Ryuma thought back towards that last counter. {Was that a fluke?}

No… it's better to assume that nothing in this fight was a fluke. Kosha deliberately aimed at that moment. Even though he missed, he managed to find an opening. Ryuma held his swords up to his face. He was going to have to step his speed up a notch if he wanted to make sure that didn't happen again.

He jumped in again, swinging his swords like he previously did. The speed increased about a millisecond faster. An increase that made an enormous difference when swinging at speeds such as this. Kosha had just as tough a time blocking those hits as he was having last time. Whenever his weapon clashed against Ryuma's it would cause a minor knockback giving Ryuma time to slice with his other katana.

This kept going until another opening revealed itself for Kosha to counter. He missed again, but that cut was so close Ryuma swore he felt the wind of the blade on his skin. He knew it! That first time wasn't a fluke. Even with him going slightly faster, Kosha was able find an opening and counter with slightly better results than he did last time.

{This is bad!}

Even with him knocking back his sword to prevent him from attacking, there's still an interval Kosha can hit him from if he doesn't time his following sword strike perfectly. It was the juggling act of death that neither of them could escape from.

On the second hand, the more they exchanged clashes, the more Ryuma began to feel like this was no longer a tightrope they were both on, but a cage that he was now trapped in despite him being the one attacking so viciously.

No matter how many slashes or slices he threw, Kosha blocks all of them. In the off chance that there was a loose interval, he counters. At first, they were easy dodges. Then they became minor tears on his clothes. After that, there were cuts on his skin with streaks of red. He could swear a few of the later ones started leaking blood.

Looking at Kosha, he realized that this boy had a talent for swordsmanship he hadn't considered to be the factor to victory or defeat.

It was his mental fortitude.

Not once did he fall into despair. On the contrary, he's calm and is willing to give him death by a thousand papercuts if that's what it took all while knowing that one mistake could mean instant death. To even fight under that kind of pressure…

Even if the span of a few moments were passing, the two have been sword-crossing on a battlefield that felt like years, both fighting their own fatigue and sweating profusely.

Ryuma wondered if Kosha's mind was on a similar breaking point his was on, or if it was just him. Fear and doubt started creeping into him. He realized he was no longer in a cage, but now in the jaws of a tiger. The only thing keeping the tiger from biting down being the dagger sticking straight up. Once that flattens…

Ryuma strained his eyes. He didn't want to use that one, but this was a dire and desperate situation.

Unbeknownst to their surroundings, Kosha had backed into a sturdy tree. Despite that, he never took his eyes off Ryuma's blades and kept blocking. With nowhere to retreat, Ryuma saw this as his chance to keep swinging.

Against all odds, Kosha still managed to block all Ryuma's slices. It became apparent that the tree behind him didn't hinder Kosha at all. As a matter of fact, it helped him to stabilize better and decrease against the knockbacks.

Both realized that there were now more openings for the counter. All Kosha needed was a clear and concise one to finish it.

Ryuma's palms became sweaty from the intense pressure. His hands trembled slightly. That was enough for Kosha to read a mistake coming and throw out the perfect counter. Kosha's katana came blazing down ready to tear into his neck. This was it… the death counter.

{Sword Technique: WILD DANCE} There was no time to say it. He could only think about it.

While Kosha's body and sword were moving in slow motion, Ryuma began moving in real-time showing how much faster he was now going than his opponent.

Ryuma broke past his limit and began descending upon him strikes so fast, it felt like they were coming from all directions, at once.

Kosha began blocking all of them, but just barely before he began blocking the next ones. He was back at square one with an even worse position than before. He couldn't even see Ryuma's arm movements, nor was there even a moment of counter time no matter how slowly things moved to him. His swing speed just jumped to a level Kosha's perception and reaction couldn't touch.

Kosha didn't even have room to take a hit to give a fatal blow. Though it looked like Ryuma was just wildly swinging his sword, each angle aimed at a vital part of his body. If he were to exchange, then it would only be a double suicide. Kosha could never fight with this sort of reckless abandonment. Ryuma however, did it on a whim.

Amongst all of that, there was a swing that came towards his own neck. In a reversal, Kosha was now the one that was going to get his head lobbed off before he even knew it.

Right before the moment of impact, a fourth unforeseen katana had blocked the death blow.

The force of the clash was so much, the force blew Ryuma back several feet. He barely landed on his feet, skidding on the dirt as he came to a grinding halt.

"Ok… I think I've seen enough," Taishu said. He smirked looking at Ryuma's exhausted figure. "I got to admit, you're pretty talented kid. I didn't expect you to actually win,"