One in a Million

As Kedra awakened from her sleep, the very first thing she wanted to do was crack open the books that she had found the night before and spend the whole day reading through them, but she contained herself; she had to maintain a certain routine after all.

After eating breakfast, she grabbed her new sword and instructed Lionel to do the same, meeting him in the garden for their very first training session.

"Alright, Kedra, first things first, I want to see where you are physically, so we'll start with a simple warmup."

"Very well."

Lionel's warmup was far from simple, consisting of high-intensity exercises with little to no breaks in between. Kedra went from two minutes of burpees to another two minutes of planking to another exercise, then another, then another once again. This went on for thirty minutes, ending with five minutes of jogging around the garden. 

To Lionel's surprise, Kedra did not falter or even complain once; she simply moved as she was told, keeping up with every unreasonable exercise he threw her way.

"You're in ridiculously good shape for a ten-year-old girl. Just what are those maids feeding you?"

"They don't feed me anything special; this is just the result of consistent training." Kedra replied in a light pant, barely even winded.

'In truth, those exercises weren't much compared to what I do every day. I guess being a training junkie is really paying off.'

"I guess I sorely underestimated you then. Well, enough rest. I want you to swing your sword fifty times now."

Without wasting a breath, Kedra unsheathed her sword and began swinging it in diagonal downward strokes, alternating between left and right. Not a single movement was off; despite her light fatigue, she did not make a single wasted move or awkward swipe; the edge of her blade was perfectly aligned with each movement. 

After the tenth swing, Kedra began speeding up; each motion cut through the air, producing a distinct whistling sound that grew in intensity as the exercise continued. After the fiftieth swing, the girl halted her blade, sheathing it and turning to her instructor.

Lionel was completely dumbfounded, his jaw wide open in bewilderment.

"Um, Kedra? Are you sure no one has taught you how to swing a sword before?"

"No, other than swinging a wooden stick around, this is the first time I've touched a sword."

'I can't exactly tell him that I have ten years of experience from another world after all, but I also can't be bothered to pretend that my skill level is lower than it really is.'

"What you've just shown me was control over the blade on par with me when I still had my right hand. Kedra, if this is actually your first time, you might very well be a genius! What the hell was your family doing keeping this kind of talent hidden away?"

Kedra felt guilty at the idea that she was only getting recognized after her reincarnation; in truth, she was not 'Kedra Deslandes' ; she felt that by taking over her body, she had robbed the girl of a chance to become something more than a simple bastard child.

'Then again, if I hadn't taken over her body, she probably would've starved to death.'

Lionel excitedly drew his arming sword and pointed at Kedra.

"I was gonna test you some more, but that's not necessary anymore! Come at me with all you've got Kedra; don't worry, I won't get hurt."

"Very well."

In an instant, Kedra drew her sabre and stepped into a narrow stance, the tip of her blade pointing towards her opponent. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, both trying to figure out an optimal approach, though it seemed that Lionel was going to let her have the first move.

'I'll gratefully accept then, old man!'

Kedra lunged forward, aiming her first blow at Lionel's legs. The man quickly managed to bring his blade downward, deflecting the blow. As he prepared to counterattack, he noticed that Kedra had already withdrawn her blade and entered a high guard. 

Attacking a shorter opponent left Lionel with more reach but a reduced scope of attack; all of his blows would be directed downwards after all. In an attempt to retain the advantage, Lionel planned on feinting a wide downward strike into a quick sideways cut towards Kedra's neck, taking advantage of her lack of experience.

As he went to execute his plan, lifting his sword high, Kedra immediately punished his overconfidence by bounding forward, forcing him to swing early.

As the girl moved her blade into a sideways guard, deflecting Lionel's strike, she leapt up and grabbed him by the shirt, propping herself up with her foot, and using her momentum to drive her sabre's pommel into his face, prompting him to stumble backwards as she fell back down onto her feet.

Holding his face in pain, Lionel sheathed his sword and chuckled.

"What the hell, Kedra? That was amazing! I can't believe I lost; actually, I can't believe I lost so damn fast."

"You simply underestimated me, Lionel; I'm sure if we dueled again, it would last longer."

"Yeah, those are just excuses; the fact is, I lost to an untrained ten-year-old in barely ten seconds. You might just be one in a million kid. But that style of fighting, it's a little rough around the edges; you're too reliant on your instincts; you've got proper movement and spacing, but the risks you take are too large."

'I heard that a lot back on Earth too; apparently, when I dueled, I made too many risky moves. I won every duel anyway, so what was my coach even complaining about?!'

Lionel noticed a slight frown grow on the girl's face as he lectured her.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up over it, kid; I'm thankful I still have things I can teach you."

"Since you've got the basics down but your style is still unrefined, I'll focus on teaching you a proper school of swordsmanship, though I'm not sure which one would suit you best."

Lionel rubbed his chin in reflection. He scoured his mind for the many different styles of swordsmanship he had seen and acquired over his long years, finally settling for the one best suited to Kedra's wild demeanor.

"Alright! I'll be teaching you Kas'vark, or 'sword of the lion' in the beastkin tongue."

"Beastkin? What are those?" Kedra was puzzled; she had an inkling of what they were, thinking back to the various depictions of demihumans that she had seen in popular media. But she wanted to confirm her thoughts before drawing a conclusion.

"Beastkin is a general term used to define those born with bestial traits, the particular individuals being defined as the animal they draw their traits from, followed by -kin at the end; as for why they have such traits, I don't really know; I haven't exactly immersed myself in their culture and history enough to tell you. Hell, the only reason I even know of Kas'vark is because I fought alongside a lionkin for a while during a military campaign."

"But if the style was made for a different race, won't I have trouble learning it since I'm human?"

"Well, there are a few clawing motions in the style that you won't be able to replicate, but globally, the movements closely resemble most styles of human swordsmanship, though Kas'vark tends to focus more on complex footwork and risky maneuvers, so I thought it would suit you well."

Kedra was ecstatic at the chance to learn another world's swordsmanship; even better, it was a style made for an entirely different race! Her mind was racing with all of the possible parallels and differences that she could draw between Kas'vark and the European martial arts she had learned.

"I'll go with your word, Lionel; I accept. Please teach me, Kas'vark."

"You got it, Kedra."