Get The Upper Hand!

"Never thought you had that in you. Such a small girl could push me back just from a single step. I can guarantee it won't happen again!" yelled Bryan.

I replied with silence as my eyes narrowed at my opponent. I don't particularly appreciate chatting during fights. I find it troublesome to talk to someone that would be at my blade's mercy.

"Still want more? Alright then, I won't play nice anymore," warned Bryan, propelling himself towards me.

He was fast, extraordinarily elegant for a Mage using a human body. But there wasn't any impact on my blade. Our weapons felt no clash. No, he dodged my blade on purpose. He was trying to attack my blindside. But I wasn't having any of it as I used one arm to block his attack.

He was striking downwards, and my blade managed to shift his weapon away before it could touch my skin. I changed my footing by slamming one foot into the ground, and the other was to rotate and face my enemy, who was at the back of me.

Using both hands this time, I tried to destroy the Slayer's face by swinging my sword downwards. But Bryan managed to dodge the attack in the blink of an eye and flipped up into the sky. So now he was back facing me while upside down in the air.

Seizing the opportunity, he did a 180-degree turn to strike at me one more. However, I was prepared for the attack and had my blade out to block it. When we clashed for a moment, I lessened the grip of my sword for a bit to give him a false sense of victory.

He took the bait and tried to push through the attack entirely. His strike gradually lost its strength, and I used both hands to swing my blade again. As I did the powerful slash, Bryan got flung to the left of the arena. The swing was powerful enough to leave marks on the ground.

I then leaped towards Bryan without giving him any space to recover. Continuously clashing with the Slayer, I started getting used to his fighting patterns. He was primarily airborne during the match since I had heavy swings of my weapon.

I have to find a way to turn that advantage into a hurdle for him. With another swing of my blade, Bryan jumped upwards and into the air once more. This time, he used my blade as a platform to stand on for a brief second.

HE QUICKLY STOMPED ON MY BLADE before I could process my next move, forcing my entire body to go downwards. I could hear my wrists and fingers being broken. I cursed while he jumped from my blade to a nearby tree and into the air again.

"I've got you now... And I'm going to win!" he yelled, leaping off from the tree.

He tried to gain the upper hand on me again by striking me above as I tried to recover from the earlier stomp. The incoming attack looked familiar to me, and I couldn't remember where I saw it from. However, if I'd placed, I could find the counterattack for it.

Man, that hurt... If I'd been an average human, I would have lost my arms right about now. At least, I could still feel something from my fingertips, but I still didn't have enough to block the incoming attack. I hate getting hurt. I'm not too fond of this feeling of pain...

But then, a sudden wave of anger overwhelmed me, and I could no longer feel the pain.

I took a step forward as Bryan plummeted towards me. My hands felt no pain as I switched the sword's position, with its pommel facing upwards and the blade pointed to the ground. I mustered up whatever strength I had in my dominant arm.

And delivered a solid blow to Bryan's abdomen when he got into close range. He managed to cough out saliva but not blood. I didn't give him any space as I let go of my blade to kick him right at the side of his head. I placed everything into that kick, and the Slayer flew once more.

The sound of his jaw slightly cracking rang throughout the area. But my mind didn't care as I raced off to find him. With a broken jaw, Bryan continued to block my assaults of the blade. He was bleeding from the side of his head while battling me.

After missing a stab, I quickly switched to my fist and tried punching his abdomen. But he rolled out of harm's way, making me hit the tree instead. The giant oak tree's trunk was smashed instantly from the strength of my fist. With a falling tree coming down at him, Bryan needed to act.