Rather than feeling anxious about Alaric's chances in the fight, Old Tian found himself brimming with anticipation for the young girl's future. Through his intricate art of divination, he discerned a wealth of talent and untapped potential within her, yet the specifics of what that potential might manifest as remained a mystery to him.
He was acutely aware that the consequences could be dire if he conducted a deeper divination, placing him in perilous circumstances he was keen to avoid.
Resonance represents a profound state of heightened awareness and understanding regarding a particular law or concept, significantly enhancing one's grasp of that idea. Such laws are typically accessible only to those engaged in the core nurturing phase of cultivation; thus, for mortals, the realm of these laws is beyond their reach, making contact, let alone comprehension, a distant possibility.
The remarkable occurrence of a mere child of six manifesting resonance with a law, specifically a sword law, is nothing short of extraordinary. This event indicates that the very essence of swords has deemed her a chosen candidate, one who is worthy of grasping the foundational principles imbued within the concept of swords themselves.
The implications of this resonance are vast and profound, yielding numerous advantages. Foremost among these is an accelerated understanding of swordsmanship and all phenomena associated with its concepts.
Depending on the individual's disposition and potential, they may even unlock techniques that transcend mere physical practice, techniques rooted in the very philosophy of swords.
This allowance temporarily opens the door to wielding these concepts, granting them the ability to engage with the idea of swords in ways that defy their current state of existence.
Throughout the annals of history, this was the first instance of a mortal engaging with something as profound as resonance—an intangible force that even those who had dedicated millennia to the mastery of the sword could scarcely fathom.
Old Tian felt a surge of elation at the potential this young mortal held. The possibilities unfurled before him like a blossoming flower, and he yearned to guide and support her on whichever path she chose to tread. Yet, a twinge of sorrow lingered in his heart; he had never possessed the talent for the sword, his destiny lay down a different road.
"You have a remarkably gifted student, Oli," he said, directing his words toward his former lover.
The simple compliment only served to inflate her already burgeoning ego. Oli had always sought his acknowledgement, even in the midst of the heartbreak he had wrought upon her. She understood that Old Tian was not the type to inflict pain intentionally, unless, of course, one found themselves on the opposite side of his fierce spirit. Yet, he had left her with unanswered questions, and that silence had hurt more than any blow.
She has already come to terms with their abrupt breakup, but she would find out why she wasn't strong enough to force an answer out of the old man.
Seeing her proud expression, Tian understood what she was thinking immediately. Since she wasn't strong enough to beat the ever-living crap out of him, her disciple would do it to his disciple. 'This woman...'
He could still remember the day he ended things with her. He had to fight for dear life at that time. Thankfully, no one was hurt. He knew she had a lot of questions, questions he himself had no answers to yet.
"Too bad, she is going to lose," he mused silently, a determination igniting within him to erase the smugness from her beautiful face. It clashed with her natural elegance, thus stoking his resolve. The satisfied gleam in her eyes faded swiftly, morphing into a scowl as she wisely chose to abandon any thought of engaging him in a fruitless argument.
"we'll see." she muttered softly, her focus drifting back to the two combatants.
"You two can fight without worrying about inflicting severe injury on each other. We are prepared to stop the battle if any of you are in a position to receive fatal wounds." Old Tian said, dispelling any reservations the combatants once had.
----
Alaric couldn't believe what he was feeling right now. At first, when he was told about the combat, he was sceptical, but when he was about to protest, Old Tian's voice stopped him, forcing him to accept without much question.
The older man had used a communication technique that practitioners commonly use to communicate privately to tell him to accept the challenge.
Old Tian knew how powerful he was, so telling him to accept a fight against a 6-year-old child would be plain bullying, but during the past month he spent with the man, he believed he had somewhat of a grasp of the old man's personality.
He wasn't the type to bully the weak; that would only mean this young girl was not ordinary, and he was proven right by the sudden change in the atmosphere around her. It made his enhanced intuition scream violently at him. She was very different from the bandits he had faced before.
Knowing it would be a formidable confrontation, he approached the challenge with utmost seriousness, drawing upon all the wisdom he had gleaned from the old man during their month of arduous travel.
Eva was the first to make her move. Initially hesitant about launching an attack, her uncertainty was swiftly dissipated by old Tian's encouraging words. In an instant, she sprang forward with astonishing grace and precision, closing the gap between them faster than the blink of an eye. With the force of a tempest packed into her small frame, she brought her wooden sword crashing down in a powerful arc.
Alaric's eyes observed every fraction of her movement, from the wavering of her initial hesitance to the fluidity of her high-speed assault, which unfolded before him as if in slow motion. Yet, in that very instant, his own body felt sluggish and unresponsive; instinctively, he thought to evade to the side, but it was already too late. He could feel the edge of her sword slicing through the air toward his forehead, cloaked in a menacing aura that somehow rendered its wooden surface sharper than any steel. In a desperate move, he raised his staff to intercept the incoming blow.
The impact reverberated through him, almost buckling his child-sized knees at the shock of contact.
'What incredible strength,' Alaric mused solemnly. Just moments ago, he had been convinced that no human from the previous world he called home could rival him in strength. Yet here he found himself, almost sent staggering backwards by a mere six-year-old girl. This world was teeming with mysteries waiting to be unravelled.
In that fleeting moment, an unexpected wave of admiration washed over him.
Before he could even begin to formulate a counterattack, Eva retreated a step, only to launch herself forward again, executing a diagonal sweep with a ferocity that was startling for such a youthful figure.
This time, Alaric was ready. He adeptly stepped back just in time, narrowly evading the cut by mere centimetres, his footwork honed to a razor's edge.
Instead of waiting, he attacked by swinging his longer-reaching staff at the white haired girl in swift motion. He could clearly see that she wasn't expecting such an attack. She was still young and inexperienced. Alaric saw that and decided to take advantage of it.
Surprisingly, she deflected it upwards, but Alaric, predicting such action, let his hand freely slide to the centre of the poll, allowing it to pivot effortlessly without needing to add extra force as the bottom half of the staff came at Eva from below with the same force she used in deflecting it.
'This should do it...'
However, his thoughts came to a sudden halt as he watched the dark-skinned elf clumsily evade the oncoming blow.
'How?' he pondered, bewildered, addressing no one in particular.
He had been certain he would land the hit, unless she possessed the uncanny ability to predict his movements before he executed them. From their brief exchange, he could already sense that the potency of her strikes belied an underlying simplicity, reminiscent of a novice in the art of combat.
The aura enveloping her wooden sword flared with intensity after narrowly avoiding the strike, signalling that she was prepared to escalate her efforts significantly.
'I've been eager to test out the technique I devised from the movement principles old Tian imparted to me. Now seems like the perfect opportunity,' he resolved calmly, setting aside the intimidation of her growing aura.