BXBX NOVEL Chapter 108: Sparring Match
Chapter 108: Sparring Match
It took him a short moment to get his scattered thoughts settled.
He moved his head slightly to the left, then slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes.
As he stood up to leave the living quarters to go straight to the training courtyard, as he had skipped quite many lessons now, he noticed the black ball on the floor.
Adam reached out his hand towards the black ball and said the magical words.
"Pull."
The black ball slowly rose into the air as if it were hanging from a thread. It slowly started to wiggle towards Adam, slowly weaving through the air.
It then landed on Adam\'s hand.
He opened the drawer, put the black ball inside, and closed the drawer with a satisfying click. Adam then checked out his timepiece and realized that the lesson must be ongoing.
Dressed in his casual training outfit made of breathable fabric, he left his living quarters and, outside, saw others facing each other in the center courtyard, dueling with wooden swords and shields.
"Oh, you\'ve returned." Dutch said as he approached him. "Here."
He tossed Adam a wooden shield and sword.
"Let\'s see if you have improved any."
"Who is my opponent?" Adam asked as he stepped onto the courtyard.
"Alan!" Dutch shouted towards the orange-haired young man standing at the other end of the courtyard.
He was talking to a short-haired brunette. They seemed intimate. She was his girlfriend, the one who died on the tenth floor.
After a few days, the ones who died returned to Dawnwatch.
It was very disheartening for most of them to lose nearly a year\'s worth of hard work, but none of them outright quit.
"Yes, teacher?" Alan walked over to them with a shield in one hand and a sword in the other.
"Have a sparring match with young Adam." Dutch said. "The first to land three hits on the opponent is the victor."
Alan looked at Adam and nodded briefly.
Before, for the past month, Adam was quite outsider to them, as he mostly spent his time practicing with Digby or alone, so they didn\'t have a lot of time to talk with each other.
However, during the raid, Adam became properly part of their raid squad.
They all valued his tanking skills, and honestly, most of them were relieved to have a proper Tank in their raid party who could protect their backs.
Their previous Tank was mediocre, at best.
"I am not going to hold back." Alan said and moved to his attacking stance.
With the shield in front and the sword at the ready, it was Crimson Hound\'s attacking form that focused on counter-attacks.
"Good." Adam lowered his own shield to the side and put the sword in attacking form.
Dutch put his whistle between his lips and blew a sharp note to signal the start of the sparring match.
Alan didn\'t move an inch.
Adam, on the other hand, took a quick stride forward and thrust his wooden sword forward.
The sword grazed at Alan\'s shield, and then Alan swiftly swung his shield up, pushing the sword out of the way.
Without a moment of hesitation, Alan took a stride forward and stabbed his own sword forward.
This was the counter-attack he was waiting for!
Adam placed the shield in front of the sword\'s tip and stopped the blow right in its tracks.
The wooden blade\'s tip was the only part of the sword that was touching the shield.
Alan\'s momentum was quickly halted.
\'A perfect defense.\' Dutch thought with shaky eyes. \'Adam managed to completely nullify the power behind Alan\'s strike by focusing his defense on the tip of the blade.\'
Adam swung his sword from over his shoulder and hacked it down like a whip.
Alan quickly blocked it with his shield, but he staggered a few steps back from the force of the blow, his eyes widening in surprise.
Adam pressed forward and lunged his sword forward, using the entirety of his arm\'s length to drive the blade towards Alan\'s chest.
Alan realized he couldn\'t block it in time and took a step backward instead, but the tip of the blade barely scratched his chest.
Whistle-
Dutch blew on the whistle. "First point, Adam!"
"Damn..." Alan softly cursed under his breath and moved back to his fighting stance.
"You can do it, Alan!" The short-haired girl shouted from the sidelines.
It made Alan\'s cheeks blush, but it also made his heart race. He had even more pressure on
this fight now, as he didn\'t want to embarrass himself.
Knoxx sat on a bench after a long sparring session and looked over to the two\'s sparring
match.
\'Alan is very talented in swordsmanship, but he is still losing.\'
He took a long gulp from the water canteen and then closed it.
Knoxx was quite surprised, but after remembering the events of the tenth floor, it started to
make quite a bit of sense.
\'Adam is vastly better with the shield. It is like he has been training with it his whole life...\'
Whistle-
Dutch blew on the whistle again.
Adam was the first one to make the move again.
He lunged forward as if he wasn\'t one bit scared of being hit by the opponent\'s sword.
Alan\'s focus was on his sword, wondering from which direction the attack would come.
However, as soon as Adam\'s foot landed back on the ground after the lunge, he placed his shield in front of him and rammed straight through Alan\'s block.
"Agh!" Alan flew backwards for a short moment and then fell down to the grainy ground with
a soft thump.
And instantly after, Adam\'s wooden sword touched his neck.
"Ah..." Alan looked past the sword and straight at Adam\'s face.
Adam looked calm and collected, a few pants escaping his lips.
Whistle~
"Second point, Adam!" Dutch shouted and then thought. \'How come it is so one-sided? Are
their skill gaps just so big?\'
Adam backed off a couple of steps and moved back to his leisure stance-his shield on the side
and sword at the front.
Alan groaned, then kicked his legs up before flipping himself back to his feet.
\'I am so careless. I was so focused on the sword!\' Alan thought with a frustrated sigh.
He was frustrated at himself for making such a silly mistake.
On the sidelines, Knoxx shook his head.
\'You didn\'t fail because of the mistake. Adam saw where your focus was and used that to his advantage. You simply walked into his trap.\'
Dutch put the whistle between his lips and was about to blow into it, but then rapid footsteps
came from the direction of the hallways.
A guard, dressed in crimson armor, came to the courtyard and bowed to Dutch before locking
his gaze with Adam.
"Adam, you\'ve been summoned by the guild master. It is urgent!"
\'What\'s going on?\' Adam frowned and lowered his sword.
Dutch nodded with a serious gaze and took the weapons from Adam\'s hands.
"You should go. Do not let the guild master wait for you."
Adam nodded firmly and followed after the guard as they left the center courtyard.
"What\'s going on?" Knoxx came to ask. "It sounded serious."
"I am not sure." Dutch said, but then looked at his students, who had stopped training.
"What\'re you idlying about? Go back to training!"
"Y-yes, sir!"
Knoxx walked over to Alan and put his hand over his shoulder.
"Do not fret about your loss."
"I didn\'t lose yet!" Alan shouted with a scoff. "I\'ll continue his fight once he returns from the
guild master\'s chambers!"
"Sure~" Knoxx laughed. "By the way, do you want to know Adam\'s weakness?"
"Weakness?" Alan frowned. "He has one?"
"Everyone does." Knoxx said.
Alan thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"I don\'t need help. I\'ll defeat him alone!"
Knoxx chuckled, knowing that Alan would refuse.
"Very well."