The Duel

"Are you sure about that? I have heard of your doings, Dagger Everblade, but a fight against me is nothing compared to any fight you ever had before", he claimed before the fight, but that was more than proof that he hasn't heard of all my doings, nor fights. He definitively isn't stronger than the Water goddess.

"I am sure of what I am doing", I assured him, but he only started to laugh with my answer.

"Well, it's a waste though. I am Jacob Minsteed, one important person of a criminal organization... And I can see a lot of potential in your skills, if all I heard about you is true. We criminals should help each other, don't you think?", he asked and smiled just slightly.

"I am not interested", I simply answered and he sighed, very disappointed with my answer, apparently.

"I understand. You're a person of principles, but this world often teaches us that they matter nothing... You will realize that sooner or later", he said and then we fell quiet while staring at each other right in the eyes, the silence anticipating the battle that was about to take place at that giant forest.

He was the first to make a move, taking his sword out of the sheath and coming with it to cut me vertically. I raised my sword quickly and used my left hand to hold it on the dull side, giving more strength in defending against the attack. His strength was, however, still strong enough to push me back a few steps.

I could notice by the attack that his sword was more of a balanced one rather than a heavy sword made for dealing damage... The strength he added to his attack, however, made it seriously dangerous. If I wanted to win this fight, prevent him from attacking was a good way to start.

After his attack, I started my own with a series of quick strikes with my sword, aiming to hit his arm and incapacitate him from fighting. Unfortunately, he also had the speed to defend against each of the attacks I made... The only good thing of this is that I have pushed him back, and he was almost with his back on a tree, with nowhere to run.

A little bit angry, he wasn't ready to give up just yet. He boldly charged against me, apparently aiming to tackle me back with his upper arm. I put my sword in front of myself, but it was all too quick, I only managed to get the flat side of it to defend, not causing any wounds to him while I was pushed back, against a tree.

My back was hurting now, from hitting the tree, but worse was the pain in my stomach... That Jacob guy had just stabbed me, apparently with a small pocket dagger that was hidden on his sleeve.

The wound wasn't really severe, although it had cut me deeply... With a hand covering my stomach in an attempt to take care of the blood loss, I raised my sword to him and made some swings... I was relatively close to him that it seemed like I could hit him, but in the fear of the moment, he would step back, retreating and keeping his distance from me.

"Why, are you desperate?" he asked and laughed at my face. Until I showed to him a little smile and started to strike a little bit faster every second, forcing him to stay on the defensive while he was driven back again. When we were closer to a tree, I did something different, raising my leg and kicking him into a nearby bush.

The fall was a little bit softened by the bushes, but their branches didn't make it a better fall than falling on flat ground. The pain he is feeling, however, was probably no even a little close to what I was feeling after the stab.

Quickly, he surged forward and attempted a slash with the sword, but I deflected it just in time. He continued to strike, it seemed like he was using a tactic similar to mine, using the sword mainly to distract just for then strike with something unexpected. Or I thought so, until he put extra strength on one of the attacks, making me lose the grip on my sword while he got his dagger close to my neck.

"It's over now... Give up Dagger, I may think about sparing you until we get our bounty on your head..." he said, smiling a little.

"I don't need you to spare my life, because it won't even be yours after I win", I said confidently.

With slight anger, he came with the knife to my throat, but I quickly crouched down just in time to dodge... Taking the chance, I sweep kicked him and made him fall, the dagger slipping from his hands to mine. After that, I ran for my sword and got the dagger stuck on the floor... No more tricks with it were going to be played against me.

"Smart and fair. It's hard to find people who have good values like you, Dagger", he said and stood up with his own sword in his hands and waited in a defensive position.

Without commenting anything, I surged forward and attacked him, the sounds of our swords clashing countless times echoing through the forest... Until this long battle seemed to be coming to an end...

"Argh..." I said, stepping back after the hit I took on my right upper arm. He too had taken hits, but I was already feeling a little dizzy... The blood loss... It was probably getting me by now, I needed to act quickly with the last of my strengths, even if it's unrealistic to have any strength by now.

"My offer for you to give up is still standing, if you still wish to accept", he said and walked towards me. With the sword raised... I coughed a little bit of blood and smiled slightly.

"I won't accept, even if it's the last thing I do", I said to him.

I have realized by now he likes to end his series of attacks with strong ones, to attempt to disarm me, instead of coming with something unexpected... And he takes a few milliseconds more to attack like that, but it's enough for me to strike him... So I waited for him to come with that attack once more.

Confident of the victory, he did the same as the last times, attacking quickly multiple times and then with the strong attack. Given the chance, I attacked him quickly before his sword came to me and I managed to hit him in the arm, making him drop the sword... To finalize the duel, punched him once with all the remaining strength I had, sending him to the floor. Before he could stand up, I got my sword pointed to his neck.

"You're... I am sorry, you are even stronger than I gave you credit for... No one ever stood against me for so long... Much less managed to win against me... Come on, end it, at last", he said, eyes closed, ready for meeting with death. I stared at him for a few seconds, in silence... But then put my sword back on my sheath.

"No... It was a duel, not a battle to the death... Just do you part of the accord and I will do mine...", I told him while I opened the shoulder bag and picked a big part of the loaf of bread and ate to start regenerating from that tiresome and dangerous battle. He seemed surprised... Shocked...

"What? Even after what you saw me do, after what I did to you... After knowing that I am one of the leaders of a criminal organization?"

"Just... Go... You don't want to argue with me about that", I said. Because in the end, my desire was to kill him, it truly was... But it was against my values and principles that I still have ever since I planted the dream of becoming a knightess in my heart.

With a gesture of his hands, he then accepted his fate and walked away in silence... And after a few minutes after they were away, the prisoners... No, the people that were here walked to me, relieved, celebrating, and above all... Thanking me. It was... Somehow... Rewarding to see them happy to be alive and free from those criminals.