"Is Ghislaine going? I think she'll win, she's one of the strongest among us."
As I was thinking this, I saw them arguing on the other side. When they seemed to have finished, a boy with black hair came out from among them and walked towards Ghislaine.
"He doesn't seem to have anything special, I hope Ghislaine doesn't lose."
"It's best not to be overconfident or I'll end up losing like Niko."
We both walked toward the center, exchanging glances. It seemed like he was also looking for something in me. I picked up the wooden sword from the floor, putting myself on guard, ready to begin.
He did the same, looking ready to begin. But I was surprised when he came so close, standing at a distance where our weapons could touch.
"What is he trying to do?" I wondered, focusing my attention on the sword in front of me. "Maybe he wants to surprise me with his speed. I have to be careful."
As soon as the old man blew his whistle, we began.
I lunged forward, aiming for his face, but he dodged it easily, stepping aside and moving even closer to attack my chest. It wasn't difficult to step back and dodge the attack. But with a surprise attack, he kneed me in the face, causing me to stagger backward.
"What was that?" I asked, holding my face after the blow.
He wasted no time and ran towards me, striking quickly with his sword in all directions. I barely managed to dodge them while focusing my attention on him. He swung his sword at my head, which I dodged, giving me access to his body, allowing me to deliver a solid blow to his side.
The blow made him retreat, and this time it was me who went after him, hitting his shoulder even though he blocked all my attacks. With a feint, I hit him in the face, tricking him with an attack that I stopped and then punched him hard in the face.
"That was personal," I said with a smile as I watched small red drops drip from his nose.
"You seem stronger than you look," he replied, wiping himself off as he looked at me.
I stupidly let my guard down while talking, which resulted in me receiving a blow to the face with his sword.
"What? Wasn't he further away?" I thought, touching the place where I had been hit.
I looked up and saw that he was now closer than before. So he's fast, I deduced, shaking my head and then approaching him to exchange several attacks.
"He's too fast, I have to find a moment to hit him."
Even though I'm taking several hits, I can't get away from him. If I lose sight of him, I'll lose. The marks on my body quickly increased and the pain grew stronger, but with this came the moment I had been waiting for.
Because he was too focused on me, he lost sight of my foot, so I was able to step on his, keeping him fixed in place. Without wasting any time, I dropped my sword and grabbed his clothes, pulling him closer and then kneeing him with all my strength.
He let out a groan of pain, but I didn't stop, punching him several times in the face. I only stopped when the old man put his hand in front of me, signaling the end of the fight.
When I saw Ghislaine hitting the guy who was still on the ground, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him, vowing never to mess with Ghislaine again. Luckily, they stopped him and he won.
"That's Ghislaine!"
"What a pity for him to have taken so many blows from Ghislaine."
"He knocked him out with brute force!"
I couldn't help but join the others in congratulating him. As soon as he got to our side, he threw himself on the ground, holding the places where he had been hit.
"Damn, this hurts," he said, grimacing in pain.
"Be glad you didn't lose like someone else," Anna replied, pointing behind him to Niko.
Like Ghislaine, I turned around, only to see Niko looking the other way, waving his hand in greeting. Out of curiosity, I looked the other way and saw the green-haired girl waving back at Niko.
"They hit each other and now they're waving at each other. Did they hit their heads or something?" Claire asked with an awkward smile.
Although I wanted to continue talking, I saw that someone was already in the center, so I ran so as not to lose my place.
When I got closer, I could see that the person waiting for me was a black-haired girl very similar to the previous boy.
"Maybe they're siblings."
I received the sword that the old man gave me, unlike the girl who refused it. Won't she use a sword? I thought she wouldn't use a weapon, but I was surprised when someone on the other side threw a wooden spear at her.
"It's the first time I've seen someone with a spear."
The girl seemed surprised by my words, putting herself on guard before saying to me,
"Then I'll win this without any problem."
"Oh yeah? We'll see about that." I smiled at her, encouraged by her words.
Even though inside I regretted having to fight her. I mean, the others had opponents with swords, so why did I have to face an opponent with a weapon I didn't know?
Lost in my thoughts, I didn't hear the starting whistle, so I took a full blow to the side of my chest that knocked the wind out of me.
"Pay attention, idiot!"
I turned around when I heard the shout, seeing that it was Claire who had yelled at me. Knowing it was true, I shook my head and stood up, ready to start.
I let out a sigh to ignore the pain. Throwing myself with all my strength toward the girl, I dodged the sweep she made with her spear. Confident that she wouldn't hit me with the spear, I moved within striking distance of her, making a long stroke at the spot where her leg was.
With a jump, she moved out of my range, grabbing her spear by a longer part and then hitting me in the face with the wooden shaft.
"There goes another blow," I thought, moving quickly with the aim of closing the distance.
This time I dodged the thrusts she threw at me and blocked them with my sword. Holding her spear, I pulled it toward me, turning around to kick her in the face, which she stopped with her hand.
"She blocked that!?" I thought, alarmed.
She wasted no time and instead of taking the spear away from me, she moved it against my hand, bending my wrist. I stifled a groan as I received another blow to the face with the spear shaft.
"Using a spear requires a lot of strength in your hand. If you hold it like that, I'll just bend it," the girl said with a smile.
"This is getting annoying," I replied.
Fed up with the situation, I threw my sword at her face, which took her by surprise and made her lose sight of me. I increased my own speed and approached her, hitting her with an open hand that pushed her back.
I lunged at her and instead of dodging or blocking the spear, I kicked it, breaking it in half. In an instant, I was in front of her and threw another slap at her. But I hit the broken stick she had pulled toward her, cutting my hand. Not caring, I jumped and kicked her squarely in the face, knocking her to the ground.
Instinctively, I lunged at her to knock her out completely, but I was blocked by the hand of the old man watching the fight.
I let out a sigh of relief and walked back to my side, pressing my bloody palm against my clothes.
"You did great. For a moment there, I thought you'd lost," Ellis said, patting me on the back.
I smiled tiredly at him and lay down on the floor next to Ghislaine.