Damara took the lead in the duel. She didn't rely on brute force like Dris or nimbleness like Imla, but instead kept her eyes and senses open.
In terms of strength, the two were equal. Their swords clashed, slash and thrust constantly interrupting each other's movements.
A few light scratches appeared on their forearms.
Damara's opponent brought her sword around in a forward thrust, aiming to disarm her.
But Damara rolled forward, directly toward her opponent, seemingly passing under the girl's legs.
In a swift motion, Damara grabbed her opponent's long hair.
"Bitch! You dare!" the girl shouted in anger, trying to flail free.
Damara smirked lightly, unleashed a series of slashes on her exposed back, and successfully disarmed her.
"The duel is over! Team 7 wins! The next candidates from each team, come forward for the next duel!" the instructor declared.
Roderic turned to the next team member. "Ballio, you are next. Do your best."
Ballio took a deep breath and nodded in the direction of the other members.
"Grabbing her hair was a low move," Imla said, her brow furrowed.
Damara gave her a side glance and waved a dismissive hand.
"Well, no rules say we can't grab each other's hair. You punch your opponent, don't you?"
"True. It seems we can use any method to disarm our opponent," Imla conceded, approving of her reasoning.
"Start the duel!" The sixth duel between Team 7 and Team 13 began.
"Ashan, do you think Ballio can win?" Roderic asked in a perturbed tone.
Dris snickered. "I bet he'll get cold feet and run back here crying with his snot covering his face."
Roderic scowled. "Why are you being such a big, mean jerk?"
"Because I didn't get time to jerk off. I'm keeping my pent-up emotions bottled up too tightly," Dris replied shamelessly.
Neither Imla, Helma, nor Roderic understood what he meant. They wore confused expressions.
Damara had a weird look on her face and was staring at Dris with disgust in her eyes.
"What's with that look, huh? It's a basic human need," Dris grinned.
'That proves my point. It is an inherent sin in all males. I can hardly control my laughter. Dris has quite a quirky personality,' Ashan thought.
He sighed aloud.
Before Dris could continue his talk about 'jerking', Ashan said to Roderic in a calm voice, "Have faith in him."
The duel was still going on. Ballio's opponent was tricky, also applying the rolling maneuver.
'What should I do? We have already won five duels. Even if I lose this match, it doesn't matter.'
These thoughts entered Ballio's mind, tempting him to give up.
Clank! He countered an upper slash with a downward slash.
The opponent struck him with a kick.
Ballio caught the leg with his left hand and held it tightly.
'No! I can't give up. I can't become a burden. I know Ashan wants us to cooperate, but that's only possible if we all pull our weight.'
"Let go of my leg!" his opponent shouted, struggling to keep his balance on one foot.
He delivered a forward thrust aimed at Ballio's left hand.
Ballio parried it with a thrust of his own and followed through with a strike to the left side of his opponent's abdomen. He then shoved the leg he was holding, striking with more slashes until the boy fell to the ground, disarmed.
"The duel is over! Team 7 wins!"
Team 7 had won six duels in a row.
'I did it.' Ballio clenched his fist in victory.
"Way to go, Ballio!" Roderic cheered.
"Well, it was so-so," Dris grumbled.
"Helma, it's your turn. Are you ready?" Damara asked her.
Helma replied hesitantly, "Do I really have to? We've already won six duels. We can afford to forfeit this one. I don't want to fight and get battered."
"That... your reasoning is correct, but—" Imla began, but didn't get to finish.
Dris chimed in. "Hey, what are you talking about? Go and fight already." There was anger in his voice.
"Helma, listen to me, then decide," Ashan's calm voice rang out.
She looked toward his calm and confident face.
"Let's say you don't fight now. But what about in the future? When someone attacks you with the intent to kill, what will you do? The primary emotion you'll feel then is regret—regret that you didn't train your skills when you had the chance. It is better to fight and die than to wait to die. At least you won't die with the regret of not having tried."
Ashan didn't sugarcoat his words. His speech was direct.
The other team members listened closely and did not disapprove.
Helma was silent for a moment. She took a deep breath and nodded.
"I will heed your words, Ashan." She grabbed her sword tightly and went to face her opponent.
"Umm, Ballio, do you know anything about 'jerking off'?" Roderic asked hesitantly.
Ballio thought deeply and shook his head.
"No, I don't know. Was it mentioned in class?" he asked back innocently.
"Roderic, if you want to ask about it, why don't you ask me? Let's have a man-to-man talk," Dris said, joining their conversation.
"Hey, Ashan. Do you want to know about it too?" Dris grinned.
"I know everything I need to know, and nothing I don't," Ashan replied indifferently.
Dris's expression changed slightly. "Okay! Just say you know about it."
Damara shook her head dismissively. "Boys!"
"Do you know what they're talking about?" Imla questioned her.
"No, nothing I know about. Let's focus on Helma's duel," Damara chuckled dryly, changing the topic quickly.
Imla didn't ask further. 'Strange! Why was she so hesitant to talk about it?'
The final duel had started.
Helma was barely holding her own against her larger opponent.
He towered above her, using his big frame and long arms to reach her even when she kept her distance.
Helma tried attacking from his blind spots, but it wasn't working. She lacked the strength to defeat him in one strike.
'A weak spot! I have to find a weak spot. His face, head, and chest are out—I'm not fast enough. He'd disarm me easily if I got that close.'
Helma rolled sideways to dodge another powerful slash.
Let's test this! Helma threw her sword into the air, not too high.
"Bitch! You think I'll fall for that trick?" the boy shouted, and he also threw his sword into the air to intercept hers. He then ran forward, aiming to punch her.
But Helma pushed off hard with her legs, jumping high into the air and grabbing both swords. She landed rolling further away, now holding both blades.
A bewildered expression spread across the boy's face.
"What.... What happened?"
"The duel is over! Team 7 wins!" the head instructor's voice rang out, snapping the boy from his thoughts.
With that, Team 7 had won all seven duels.
"Here, catch your sword," Helma said, throwing the boy's sword back to him.
"How did you know he would throw his sword to intercept yours?" Damara asked in surprise.
"I took a gamble," Helma said sheepishly.
"A gamble? Really?" Both Damara and Imla wore surprised expressions.
Nearby, Roderic, Dris, and Ballio were in an intense discussion. They simply nodded in approval of her win.
"What are they discussing?" Helma asked in confusion.
"Best to let them be. No need to concern yourself," Damara said in an unperturbed tone.
Many more duels were conducted between the teams.
Inspired by Team 7, other candidates began trying any means necessary to disarm their opponents.
"Not good! You are all very weak!" the head instructor's angry voice echoed.
The candidates stood in line, their heads lowered.
"Your timetable will be the same as today for the next two weeks. After dinner, you have two hours to revise your notes, practice your stances, and fill your pitchers," the other instructor, Asrein Dharen, explained.
Gong! Gong! Gong! The bell rang, signaling dinner time.
"That's all for today," Ress, the head instructor, dismissed the class.
The candidates, exhausted from the intense physical and mental training, exited the combat building and walked toward the mess hall.
"Hey, Ashan, is what Dris said about... you know... true?" Roderic whispered.
"I can hear you," Dris mocked.
Roderic's ears turned slightly red.
"It is true," Ashan said matter-of-factly.
Ballio and Roderic exchanged glances, then looked at Dris, who was smirking. His expression said it all: Told you so!
'Please, let the food be good,' Ashan prayed silently.
The candidates entered the mess building, took banana leaves, and formed a line. At the counter, Baret was serving the food.
Ashan and his team took their usual spot and began eating. Dinner consisted of rice and curry.
Ashan took a bite with a wooden spoon.
'Not bad. But still a bit bland. A little salt would fix it. If I asked for salt, would they give it to me? Better not risk it.
What if they cut off my finger, sprinkle salt on it, and feed it to me?'
Ashan got goosebumps at the thought. He decided to quietly eat his dinner as it was.