CHAPTER 55: BOUT AFTER BOUT

"Begin!"

Two men jumped into action.

At an area of crossroads with the crowd of spectators to one side and the mercenary group on the other, two swords flashed before clashing.

Kato’s advance was lighter, making it seem as if he just vanished into thin air only to gracefully appear right before his opponent.

His opponent’s approach was far more physical and straightforward. He opened up with a charge, only to suddenly stand his ground and set his shield to intercept Kato’s sword.

Crash!

The mercenary shot forth, deflecting Kato’s sword off his shield while stabbing right at his center of mass.

Before the strike could reach Kato’s side, though, he redirected his sword, dragging it up the shield to block the incoming counter.

Pang!

Two swords clashed.

Using the rebound, Kato jumped away, blinking to a spot a few meters away.

Neither of the two hurried back to fight. They circled each other in the limited bounds of the makeshift arena, processing the first bout.

By failing to solve the duel in this first bout, however, they were both forced to recognize the power of the other. After all, if either one would be dominant enough to finish it within the first clash, then the duel’s outcome was already decided.

And now, the two looked back upon the other with some degree of unwilling respect.

A greeting of the swords.

Then, Kato stabilized his breath and jumped forth.

Conquering the distance in a single leap, he dragged his sword down across the mercenary’s diagonal.

The moment Kato’s opponent raised his shield, though, Kato dropped his attack, allowing his sword to slide off the raised shield before using the momentum in his hips from the swing to smash his spiritually reinforced fist into the center of the mercenary’s shield.

Pang!

A new, much deeper sound filled the air.

And the mercenary was forced to take a step back.

It was as graceful of a technique as it was pure recklessness.

There was a reason why people used steel over sticks when picking a weapon. And the very same laws applied to their own flesh.

If Kato, even slightly, miscalculated the strength of his attack, he would be depriving himself of an arm there and then.

And yet, the mercenary backed out.

Kato didn’t press the attack. Instead, he swiftly retreated, giving his opponent the time to recover.

This wasn’t a duel to the death.

And now that he realized his opponent was on a considerable level, Kato... changed.

The look in his eyes sharpened, losing that look of a small-fry schemer.

And as his opponent recovered, the corners of his mouth twitched upwards.

Whoosh!

Once again, Kato advanced.

This time, however, the mercenary switched to an offense.

With a single, near-instantaneous strike, he threatened to slash Kato in half.

His blade got to Kato’s robe... only for the man to stop his blade and then dodge to the side, getting out of the way of Kato’s body.

And once again, the makeshift arena turned still as the duelists allowed each other to recover.

There was a fundamental difference in the fighting style between the two of them.

Kato’s moves were perfectly calculated and, to a degree, reckless. Yet, even Theo, not a master of the sword by any means, could recognize a massive problem with how his friend moved.

His attacks were all a result of training!

A considerable amount of it, in spite of what the man’s day-to-day attitude would suggest.

Compared to the mercenary, however, those attacks lacked a crucial element.

Kato’s opponent was an actual warrior, someone who properly spilled blood.

Someone who knew what goes not through theory but through brutal practice.

And despite the low stakes of the spar, Theo could recognize this difference.

Interestingly enough, judging by the look of slight frustration on Kato’s face, he noticed the difference too.

The moment both rushed to clash in yet another bout, the difference only grew more and more visible.

Rather than striking Kato down with an instantaneous strike, the mercenary would allow him to fully unleash his technique...

Only to calmly block it all and then counter at the end.

And once again, the two took a short break, recovering their stances before the next bout.

Again, again and again the two clashed, bearing their steel against the other.

The mercenary held a massive advantage from the get-go. But as the duel went on, Kato’s strikes grew more accurate, his responses many times faster, allowing each bout to both speed up but also last longer.

The intensity of the combat constantly grew, revealing Kato’s remarkable growth.

Despite lacking the same experience as his opponent, he pushed himself further and further, desperately clawing his way through the enlightenment necessary to contend with a worthy opponent.

Theo was not the only one who realized that.

The whole area was filled with nothing but the sounds of the ever-more intense clashing between the two warriors. Not a single person in the crowd dared to utter a word, too mesmerized by the beauty of this ’friendly’ spar.

Yet, as time went on...

The mercenary’s moves continued to grow faster, heavier, more precise.

If Kato was quickly catching up to the man, his opponent continued to use more and more of his strength, constantly challenging and provoking Kato’s growth.

At this point, the duel didn’t matter.

A swordsman of a considerable level, the mercenary could see what everyone saw, the remarkable growth of another swordsman.

His face lit up with the honor of participating in an event as rare as it was precious.

Rather than a rivalry, a professional sympathy.

As such, no matter how far Kato managed to catch up, the mercenary continued to reveal more and more.

Which made one thing very clear.

No matter how hard Kato would try, for his opponent to oblige so much, there was no way he could ever win.

Victory? Loss?

Those things hardly mattered, though.

What is pride from winning when compared to the real progress of explosively growing stronger?

And throughout all of this, Theo simply stood back, watching how his friend pushed himself further and further.

Which left Theo with one fundamentally important question.