"What the hell?" Frederick dodged the blade that was aimed at his throat and spun narrowly to the side, narrowly avoiding the other blade aiming for his arm.
Frederick was a battle-hardened veteran; his combat instincts had been honed through numerous battles and skirmishes. Previously, if anyone had told him that a child not even half his age could put him against the ropes in a one-on-one fight, he'd have laughed in their faces.
When Luke asked him to spar with a child, he'd initially scoffed at the idea. It was simply ridiculous, but as it turned out, he had been wrong, so very wrong.
And that bastard Luke was smiling at the side.
"Shit. This is no child, it's a demon in human skin."
A few minutes earlier, Luke had told Morgan that he would finally fight a human opponent.
" Fighting against a human being is different from fighting a non-living dummy."
"When you fight a human being, you put your life on the line. I want you to take this seriously."
A spacious training hall within the dojo had been cleared out for the sparring match.
Morgan's opponent was a tall, muscular man with a military crew cut. He was dressed stylishly in a dark suit that all the other guards wore.
The man's eyes had a cold feel to them that sharply contrasted the easy-going smile he had on his face.
" Morgan, this is Frederick. Frederick, this is young master Morgan. You will be sparring partners for a time." Luke said.
" I want both of you to learn from each other's weaknesses and get better. Frederick, don't hold back."
A slight smirk formed on the man's face, and a hint of amusement flickered through his cold, dark eyes. He slowly took off his coat and rolled up his sleeves.
Morgan bounced lightly from side to side as he focused on his opponent before taking a stance.
"Begin.'
Frederick stood still, waiting for Morgan to make the first move.
Morgan darted forward, flipping his blades into the air mid-stride, then fluidly catching them in a reverse grip.
Frederick instead sheathed his blades, lowered his body into a loose stance, and raised his hands in front of him. He grinned darkly as he watched Morgan's approach.
" This should be fun."
Morgan ducked low, aiming for the torso where Frederick's heart should have been. The blade hissed through the air with blistering speed, but the man simply shifted slightly and smoothly knocked Morgan's blade hand to the side.
Morgan spun with the momentum of the parry and flipped into the air, following up with two rapid kicks that Frederick shrugged off with a grin.
Morgan landed and rolled to his feet, calmly assessing the older man.
" Nice solid hits. You're quite quick on your feet. But your attacks are too predictable."
" Why aren't you using your blades?" Morgan asked with a frown.
" There's no need to use them at this point." Frederick's grin grew wider.
" I guess it's now my turn to attack."
Luke smiled in amusement as the fight resumed. A split second later, Frederick was upon him. His fist swung through the air with devastating force as he launched a counterattack. He probed Morgan with a series of lightning-fast jabs that he aimed at the boy's face.
Morgan dodged rapidly from side to side, weaving and bobbing from side to side. Morgan changed up his footwork and quickly closed the distance, slashing fiercely with the dual blades in an irregular tempo to mess up his opponent's rhythm.
Frederick quickly adjusted his stance, expertly batting away at the incoming blades with his own, which had suddenly appeared in his hands. Morgan grinned.
"Finally decided to use your blades, eh?"
"Don't get cocky, brat, this isn't even a warm-up?" Frederick growled. His speed increased to an even more incredulous level. His blades flashed through he air with frenetic speed, leaving after images in their wake.
Morgan struggled to keep up as the speed picked up. A small cut appeared on his cheek as he narrowly dodged a slash from the side. Frederick suddenly switched up his tempo, throwing Morgan off balance.
He violently slashed downward before abruptly changing the trajectory of the blade, intercepting one of Morgan's blades at an awkward angle.
Morgan's blade abruptly flew from his grasp, skidding across the floor. Frederick quickly closed the gap. He feigned a swipe at Morgan's torso. He grinned in amusement as Morgan took the bait. Frederick hacked away at the other blade.
Morgan gasped as his remaining blade flew through the air. Frederick discarded the blades, leaping through the air.
Morgan tried to leap back, but Frederick's arm shot out, pulling him forward while simultaneously throwing a punch towards his solar plexus. Morgan's eyes bulged out of their sockets as the blow knocked all the air out of his lungs.
Absorbing the blow, he jabbed his fingers at Frederick's eyes in a gauging grip.
Frederick quickly disengaged and moved back a few steps.
Morgan took the opportunity to try and recover some of his strength while slowly circling his opponent. His eyes darted frantically towards where his blades had fallen before glancing back at his opponent.
"Hey Luke, is this why you wanted me to go all out? He's still a runt. I was winning wars before he was born." Frederick roared.
Luke silently shook his head, a thin smile playing on his lips.
"Assassin born or not, he's a few years too early to even think about going toe to toe with me."
Morgan wheezed, his legs trembled slightly, and he got into an offensive stance. He winced slightly.
"That last hit really hurt."
Frederick noted the tremors and smiled in amusement.
Morgan darted forward again, feinting to the right, then lunging from the left to catch Frederick by surprise. He leaned back, narrowly avoiding the jab that was aimed at his face, then delivered an overhead kick that Frederick grabbed.
Morgan pivoted on his other foot and leapt into the air to deliver another kick, but the room suddenly spun around him. He yelled in surprise as he lost his sense of direction.
Frederick had grabbed both of his feet and proceeded to spin him around a few times before throwing him to the floor. Morgan felt nauseous as he tried to regain his sense of balance.
A sudden kick to his ribs rolled him over.
" Damn, I'm not strong enough. All that training and I still can't protect myself. I'm still a weakling."
" I forgot to mention, this sparring session goes on until one of you yields or is unconscious. Like I told you, every fight will be for your life." Luke said coldly.
As an assassin, every mistake you make might cost you your life."
Morgan's eyes widened as Frederick grabbed him by the hair. The man slightly strained his hand, muscles rippling visibly before hurling him across the length of the room. Something snapped as he slammed into the wall.
His vision blurred as he frantically tried to regain his bearings. He desperately staggered around in confusion. A split second later, he barely managed to raise his arms to block a monstrous blow to the solar plexus.
Another jab broke through his guard, landing solidly on his ribs, lifting him slightly into the air.
"Ah, this hurts a lot," he thought through the haze.
A solid punch landed on his face, spinning him around. He felt something solid drop into his mouth.
His eyes widened when he spat what turned out to be a tooth. He weakly raised his arms once more to guard against a flurry of jabs.
Frederick pushed him with a flurry of consecutive punches before a massive uppercut hurled him across the hall again. He screamed as his injured side hit the floor, or tumoring a few times before rolling to a stop. His blades had long slipped from his grasp.
" At this rate, I won't be able to even fight back." A red sticky haze covered his eyes. His palm came away with blood as he tried to wipe away the sticky substance. His mind was muddled with thick fog as he struggled to breathe.
As he fought through the fog, he noticed another punch barreling towards him.
The punch moved through the air with blistering speed. He slowly raised his hands to guard it while watching its approach.
" I'm too slow, I won't be able to guard it in time." Something seemed to shift and cliçk within him. He gasped in shock as a sharp pain pierced through his head and chest simultaneously.
" Then don't. Move." A voice resounded in his mind. His eyes widened in surprise.
A golden light briefly flickered through his eyes, his brown irises turning golden for a brief moment.
Luke's eyes narrowed as he registered the anomaly.
At the last moment, Morgan lowered his guard, slightly shifted his head to the side, narrowly avoiding a blow, and ducked under the next, spinning away from his opponent.
Frederick felt a slight chill sweep through his body. He warily circled the boy, observing his movements.
" Something has changed about him. There's something different about his movements now. But what is it?"
Luke smirked, then grinned gleefully.
" He's finally awake."