Duel ( Part 1 )

Reiji went to see the owner's daughter. He had seen her before and was very amazed by her knife skills.

He saw her practicing every early morning since there were few customers during that time.

She uses this weapon as it can be hidden in her sleeves and uses it to surprise her opponent.

"Do you know her name?"

"Well, I remember that the old lady called her Yasmin..."

"Alright... Work on it..."

Reiji let his student find an opponent he wanted to try his skills.

The kid was looking for the young lady but he soon noticed that she was serving food to the patrons at their inn.

There was a small restaurant that serves cheap foods and drinks at the ground floor of the inn making it lively around midday.

"What will you do?"

"I will ask her now... I mean, I will ask her what time she'll be available..."

"Very well, good luck..."

Diether steps inside and noticed that the young lady returned to the kitchen where her father was probably cooking food.

On the other hand, her mother was at the counter managing orders and serving ale for a customer.

"I think I should order as well... That way, I can speak to her..."

Reiji was just silent so Diether did what he said.

"Oh! What happened to your morning practice?"

The lady owner said as she saw him arrive at the counter.

"I just completed my routine and I need to change my training method today..."

"Is that so? Good luck with that! Just make sure you won't be full of injuries again. You're still too young..."

"Yes, lady owner..."

"Haha... Just call me Aunt Jaz. So, what would you like to eat this time?"

"Yes, Aunt Jaz... I want another milk and garlic bread."

Diether said as he fished out 12 copper coins in his pocket. He went to an empty table as he waited for his order.

A few seconds only passed and Yasmin came with a tray bringing his food.

As soon as she came to his table, Diether asked the young lady.

"Uhmm... Sister Yasmin, May I ask if you're available later in the afternoon?"

Yasmin has long black hair and brown eyes. She has pale skin just like her mother and at the age of 14 or probably 15, she was maturing very fast.

The young lady was confused as she stared at the young kid. This young man had been staying at their inn for more than a week already and he had been so diligent in his training and they always saw him with several bruises.

Whenever he was asked about this injury, he always laughs it off saying that it was part of his training.

"I'm available after four o'clock... What's going on?"

"Oh, that's great! I want you to fight me using your knife skills, I will be using this sword..."

Diether said while pointing at his shinai.

Seeing that it was just a bamboo sword and not meant for harm, Yasmin realized that it was just a practice so she might have to bring a wooden knife as well for this.

She didn't really mind it as she was even quite happy that she can practice her techniques with someone other than her father.

"Alright... Where should we practice?"

"Oh... It might trouble you if we practice in the backyard... How about my training place?"

"Fine... Wait for me here at four..."

Yasmin announced and left the table.

"Hey... What did the two of you talk about?"

Her curious mother asked after seeing that this cold and aloof daughter of her strikes a conversation with the young man.

"Oh... He just invited me later this afternoon..."

"That kid?"

Jaz was surprised to hear her daughter's words. But she only grinned at this and let her be.

***

In the afternoon, Diether waited for Yasmin outside their inn to bring her to his practice area.

"Thank you for taking me seriously!"

Diether said seeing that Yasmin wasn't just in her casual clothes but wearing leather armor, arm guard, and shin guard.

"Mhmm... That's natural... I also wanted to try some of my techniques... Well, it has been a long time since someone tried to assault me so I haven't tried them in person yet..."

Yasmin grinned which made Diether nervous for a bit. That felt scary for a moment.

That's right, he had only seen her during her practice but not in combat.

This lady might be tougher than he expected her to be.

Diether brought him under the tree near where he arranged his "hanging woods".

"What's this for?"

"Err.. It is to train my reflexes..."

"Is it effective?"

"I believe so... I think that it can help a lot but it can cause some bruises..."

"Really? Can I try it for a warm-up before we fight?"

"Sure... But these woods can be hurtful, be careful..."

Diether kindly reminded her since he didn't want her to be injured before they fight.

"Are you ready?"

Diether asked seeing that Yasmin was already at the center of the hanging woods.

"Mhmm... Any time..."

"Alright..."

Diether then controlled the woods using the shinai and copied his master's rhythm to the best of his ability.

After about 10 swings of hanging woods, the lady wasn't even grazed for a bit. Even her long flowing hair wasn't hit at all!

'This...'

'Maybe I'm not doing it correctly.'

Seeing that Yasmin wasn't getting hit and seems to be enjoying it, Diether quickly hastens the swinging pieces of woods by hitting harder and harder until...

Pah! Pah! Pah!

Diether almost shouted joyfully hearing that familiar sound. Although it took more than five minutes for her to get hit by hitting the woods strongly, she was still hit...

Unfortunately, as soon as he focused on her, she was already using her knife to parry the woods coming at her...

Diether only sighed and has to admit that she was better at him with regard to this training method.

"That was fun!"

Yasmin said after Diether stopped hitting the woods. The latter smiled at her as if to tell that he knows it very well.

"It is good that you enjoyed it... That is a good warm-up, isn't it?"

"Yeah... I want to try something like this every morning too..."

"Great! We can train together... Oh, how about our duel? Can we start now?"

Yasmin was still sweating and breathing heavily and Diether realized that it was a good chance to start the battle.

After all, she was older by 4 or 5 years, she must give him this advantage.

"All right! Let's begin..."

Yasmin accepted the challenge!