A Trial. (Part 2)

*clang*

"Huff...huff..."

*clang*

"Argh!"

'Dammit! *beep beep*' Sabastian cursed in his mind.

*clang*

Deflecting the strike, Sabastian made a room for himself before leaping back to catch his breath.

They have been sparring for 10 minutes, Sabastian is feeling sluggish in his movements.

He is panting hard trying to catch his breath.

His speed has slowed down by a notch and he can't keep up with Kenobi anymore.

Looking at Kenobi, Sabastian saw that Kenobi's breathing was even.

His stamina didn't decrease as much as himself.

"You seem to have slowed down a lot, are you fine?" Kenobi asked.

"I'm good..."

"Analysing our spar, your start was very good but as we sparred you have slowly regressed? I can see that there's nothing wrong with your body since you can still guard against my attacks. Your mind is not cooperating with your body. Your body instinctively reacts and guards against my attacks just before they could connect. So there's nothing wrong with your body and speed, what's wrong is your focus and mentality!" Kenobi said thinking about their spar.

Sabastian stayed silent as he looked down at the Katana in his hands.

Kenobi is right!

It's not his body but his mentality that's affected by the bottleneck.

He was barely able to block Kenobi's attacks.

The hold on Sabastian's hand tightened as he narrowed his eyes in frustration.

'What is it! What is it that I'm still lacking!!!' Sabastian yelled in his mind.

"Sir Kenobi? If it's alright with you, can I take some moments to gather my thoughts?" Sabastian asked Kenobi.

"It's alright, take your time." Kenobi waved his hands smiling to Sabastian.

Sabastian bowed to Kenobi before he took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

He analyzed the spar but was not able to get any new information from it.

Kenobi watched Sabastian thinking to himself.

As he recalled the spar, the start was good. There's no denying that Sabastian has huge potential. As they sparred, Sabastian became predictable. He noticed an important aspect of Sabastian and his swordsmanship.

He believes that Sabastian knows about that factor that is hindering him from advancing to the next stage.

No, it's something everyone has been telling Sabastian since he started to practice his swordsmanship.

Sabastian is not compatible with his swordsmanship.

The swordsmanship of Sabastian is unique and interesting but it's not enough to make Sabastian a 'Saint'.

Kenobi sighed looking at Sabastian. The boy maybe is a stubborn fool trying to create something no one ever saw anything like it before or he is the type of fool rebelling against the authority of the Heilige family.

'He is hopeless, If he still wants to walk on the path that he created for himself. Such a waste of talent and potential, tsk!' Kenobi clicked his tongue before shaking his head.

Sabastian tried to recall everything in his current life.

From the moment of his birth to this moment, where he stands in this platform at the snow-covered mountainside.

He recalled everything.

As he went through his memories, he started to understand what's wrong with him.

As he finished recalling everything in his current life as Sabastian, he sighed looking up at the cloudy skies.

Sabastian suddenly burst out laughing.

"Haha hahaha!"

He figured out the reason why he is unable to improve himself.

"Is that it? I'm holding too much to myself?" He muttered softly.

Sabastian recalled a certain memory from his past life.

~~~

*Flashback*

A young man in all white clothes was practising swordsmanship.

"Why are you practising my sword, when you know it's useless to you?" A lazy voice called out to the young man.

The young man stopping his practise turned to the lazy woman who sat on top of a boulder.

"Artoria, you never know when I need it. So why not? Your swordsmanship is good!"

"Pfff hahaha! Idiot, it's not just incompatible with you but it's completely useless to you. I'm opposed to what you are Bastian. You are a sword that kills, a bloodthirsty sword that can only take lives. Where I'm a sword that protects lives. Taking lives is easy but protecting lives? It's hard, Bastian! My weapon is not a sword but a shield."

Looking at the beautiful woman caressing the sheath of the sword on her hand, Bastian commented rolling his eyes.

"To me, it looks like a sword than a shield."

Artoria only shrugged hearing her best friend.

"If you are not busy then let's fight, I'm bored." She said getting up from the boulder taking out her sword from the sheath.

"And you always call me a battle maniac..." Taking his stance, Bastian unleashed all of his killing intent towards Artoria.

"Am I wrong?" Artoria chucked before taking her stance.

There was not a single trace of intent on her sword.

She looked like a frail woman holding a sword trying to fight a demon.

From an outsider point of view, it looks like it will be a one-sided slaughter.

The woman doesn't have any aura surrounding her and there was no trace of intent or magic to her.

Where the man had a violent murderous intent and red aura surrounding him.

The pressure was so immense and intense coming from the man that even the boulders and the ground began to crack.

The two charged towards each other, their speed defied physics.

There was a loud bang as their swords collided causing a massive shockwave.

"A shield you said?" Bastian smirked.

"I can play around but it is a shield, not a sword."

Hearing Artoria's words that don't make sense, Bastian rolled his eyes as he tried to gain an upper hand.

~~~

Opening his eyes, Sabastian saw someone in front of him.

It was not Kenobi but a tall man with pale skin and deep ocean blue eyes with light blue pupils. He has white hair which is pulled back in a long ponytail reaching his waist. He had a silver crown on his head with blue gems embedded on it.

He wears a long white coat with silver shoulder pads, tassels, and gloves. Underneath the coat a formal dark blue shirt, black pants and black leather shoes.

His clothes are decorated with sword symbols that can be found on the cuff of his jacket, belt, pants, and the buttons on his waistcoat and outer coat.

The man in from of Sabastian is his past self.

Bastian Roseno'Grayback.

Bastian opened his mouth.

"Are you going to kill me?"

Sabastian took a deep breath before exhaling.

He replied to his 'shadow' that he has been holding onto for 18 years.

"Yes and no."

Bastian chuckled hearing Sabastian before he inquired about the answer given to him.

"What kind of answer is that?"

"I can't kill myself can I?" Sabastian answered his 'shadow' with a question.

"Hahaha! Yes, you can't." The figure of Bastian slowly faded.

Now in front of him was only Kenobi who had his eyes closed and arms crossed holding his Katana.

"Sir Kenobi!" Sabastian called out to Kenobi.

Opening his eyes, he saw Sabastian took a stance prompting him to start their spar.

"Have you figured out what's wrong with you?" Kenobi asked.

"Sort of, but I can manage with what I gained from this enlightenment I guess. It's still not enough for a breakthrough though." Sabastian replied shrugging.

"I see, then let's start!"

Kenobi didn't waste any more time, he charged towards Sabastian like hunter hunting for its prey.

*clang*

Sabastian took the strike head-on and blocked it.

Unlike before, Sabastian didn't stumble back.

Deflecting the strike, Sabastian countered.

*clang*

*clang x5*

~~~

The two of them were sparring for quite a while. Neither of them was backing down.

Unlike before, Sabastian's stamina didn't deplete as quickly as before.

Kenobi was surprised by Sabastian's improvement!

It felt like he was fighting a completely different person from before.

This time Sabastian is unpredictable. His movements didn't have any intent.

It was hard to guess where his next attack will strike.

What happened in that 15 minutes of a break?

How can someone improve this much in a short time?

As they sparred, Kenobi's fighting spirit ignited.

He had a grin on his face, as he sparred with Sabastian.

"Well then, shall we fight for real now? It looks to me that you are ready to take the trial. What do you say?"

"Sure, why not."

As Sabastian replied.

A violent murderous intent was focussed on him.

Seeing that Sabastian didn't flinch or there was no hesitation in his movements, Kenobi smiled.

His attacks became faster, more powerful and violent. This time it was not a spar but a real fight with the intent to kill.

Sabastian too raised his speed.

He can't match Kenobi's power but his techniques and speed are enough.

~~~

They have been fighting for 15 minutes.

Sabastian was now defending against Kenobi.

'I need to be faster!' Sabastian said on his mind as he raised his speed once more.

He can feel it.

The bottleneck!

He is close to breaking through the bottleneck but there was still something holding him off.

As his speed improved, Kenobi's attacks became fierce and faster.

'Faster!'

*clang x5*

'Faster!!!'

Suddenly, time slowed down for Sabastian.

He entered into a state where everything slowed down.

'Ahh! So beautiful!' Sabastian said in his mind.

He surpassed his limits once more and this time he figured out how to tap into this state whenever he wished.

As everything became normal to him, Sabastian was distracted.

Kenobi taking advantage of him being distracted slashed at him.

Sabastian deflected the strike but it still managed to cut him.

Blood dyed Sabastian's clothes.

The cut wasn't that bad but because he was wearing white clothes, he looked like a bloody mess.

"Oof!" Sabastian muttered.

He didn't feel much pain but this sloppy mistake made him cringe.

He felt awkward and embarrassed.

'I think I should end it now.' Sabastian thought in his mind.

As he focussed himself on the fight, his speed was climbing.

His attacks were getting faster and faster every strike.

Kenobi suddenly realised a great disparity between him and Sabastian.

He can't keep up with Sabastian's speed.

Kenobi belatedly realised that there were many cuts in his body made by Sabastian.

Suddenly, the pain from the cuts hit him.

"!!!"

'How fast is he that the pain from the cuts was delayed?'

*sshhling*

The Katana broke! The glinting silver blade flew across the platform and landed in the snow.

It was so fast that Kenobi was amazed by Sabastian's speed.

Sabastian was now holding the blade of his sword against Kenobi's neck.

"You-You are incredible! Your sword art, I thought it was a shame for you to practise such sword art but you changed! You from before and the current you are two different people! What did you comprehend in that short amount of time for you to make such a drastic change in yourself?" Kenobi asked.

"There was no intent in your sword unlike before where your sword only craved for blood!"

Sabastian was silent for a few moments before he opened his mouth.

"I died."

"Huh?"

"Then I was reborn."

"..."

"I'm not the person I was before anymore. I'm Sabastian, though I'm still that idiot who fools around."

"..." Kenobi couldn't understand Sabastian but he figured that Sabastian somehow recreated himself.

"I see."

"Congratulations on passing the trial. Your speed is almost as fast as 'Susanoo' your sister's disciple, the one ranked third in our mercenary organisation. I hope to see you fight against him, Weiss."

"Thank you, Sir Kenobi." Sabastian said withdrawing the blade.

The two then walked towards the cottage to freshen up.