A Nascent Kaleidoscope.

Chapter 39: Chapter 38

It was obvious that we were both looking for a fight here, nothing malicious, but I think we could both tell what the other wanted almost immediately.

A heroic spirit, even a fake one, wasn't something to be trifled with. The man who 'encompassed' the legend of Sasaki Kojiro enough to be summoned as a wraith. He was donned in samurai garb and had a long sword in his hand. Actually, I don't think 'long' does it justice, it was longer than even my Mirage by a good amount.

It looked deceptively brittle, like all it would take was a simple swing to shatter the thing piece of metal, yet I knew without even relying on any past knowledge that the blade was more the enough to slice through steel without issue.

I flipped my hand over, bringing out my own blade, its light humming softly under the moon's glow.

"Nice sword." He complimented, taking a step forward.

"Thanks, I put some work into getting the materials for it to be crafted." I smiled, mimicking his movement.

"Well, lets test it, shall we?" He smirked, practically disappearing from his spot only to appear overhead, bringing his sword down.

My eyes dilated as I instinctively cast [Reinforcement] and [Ebony Flesh] a much higher tier version of [Oak Flesh].

I brought up Mirage to meet the choreographed attack, it was nothing more than a greeting yet the stones beneath my feet cracked and my arms shuddered. I was a half-devil in strength with a dragon's heart and multiple strengthening spells on me, yet he was overwhelming me in strength.

As expected of a Servant.

I couldn't help but smile brightly as the desire for battle grew.

His feet touched the ground briefly as his hands readjusted on the grip of his sword, pushing mine down as sparks flew, maneuvering enough to try and stab me over the edge of Mirage.

I quickly pushed it off, narrowly dodging the tip if his blade from piercing through me. I took a step forward to make use of his overextension, but I found the tip of his blade infront of my eyes once again. I was forced to abandon my attack, bringing up Mirage to block, the force knocking me back a step.

He casually withdrew the sword to his side, lightly holding it in one hand, practically goading me into attacking.

"Well done, you have a good danger sense....but what if I do this?" As the words left his mouth, his blade was already next to my head.

My eyes widened in surprise as I frantically brought up my sword to block, even using my other hand to push against the flat of my own weapon to hold against the attack.

I was able to hold and this time for sure I had an opening. I pushed my sword down the edge of his, keeping it away from me, only to find no resistance and his sword once again right between my eyes.

My hands moved faster than my thoughts, Mirage deflecting the narrow tip.

He didn't follow up the attack this time. "Oho, you do have a little bit of skill, I thought you would get too confidant after blocking my first attack and miss my follow up."

He gave no indication of an attack, merely his arm moving and his blade sweeping towards me. So fast that I barely kept up with each successive parry or block. How many moves did he initiate? I couldn't give it even a moments worth of thought or else I would miss the gleaming edge that seemed to snake its way into any opening I made.

I couldn't help but furrow my brow as I looked for openings, regardless of how nonchalantly he stood there, I couldn't predict an avenue of attack. I suppose I would need to make my own.

Maybe I can disrupting his foo--

No, I just now realized, he hadn't moved from the spot he started in.

I see, so this is the difference in realms we are in. I would need to do something to change up the pace if I wanted any hope.

With a step forward, the ground shattered as I exploded forward. His weapon had longer reach, that meant I would have the advantage closer up....or so I thought. As I made a slash upwards, he slammed the hilt of his sword down, knocking my blade into the stone and stomping on it, following up with a quick cut towards my neck.

I had no choice but to jump back, letting go of my weapon.

"Hooh, you decided to abandon your sword so quickly~" He slowly knelt down picking up my sword.

I tensed as someone else grabbed my weapon for the first time.

"What a good sword." He swung it around watching the effects of the light in the air. "It's a shame that its owner can't do it justice." He smirked, tossing it back to me.

His words caused me to frown, I took in a deep breath, catching my sword from the air. "Three birds." I swung out, the sword-phantoms manifested.

He looked slightly surprised as his sword practically burred to intercept them, a testament to his true speed, but I was already upon him. My horizontal swing met his blade, he blocked pushing my sword to the side.

This continued, my stab was caught by the tip of his blade and deflected. My overhead slash was sidestepped and knocked away. Every attack I made was countered with the most minimal effort or to utterly keep me off balance. I at no point could grab and hold onto any momentum in this spar, he controlled me completely from start to finish.

He just smirked at me when I grabbed some distance again, taunting me to enter his range once more.

I centered myself, I was....angry, but I don't think it was at him. I was dissatisfied with myself as all my flaws were becoming more and more apparent each times our swords met. Call me petty, but even when I knew that I had no chance of winning this duel of blades, I wanted to at least see him bleed.

I took a stance, my sword held by both hands infront of me.

He seemed to notice a change his own eyes narrowed, and his grip tightened.

"Swallow Returns." I attacked.

It happened so quickly, a stab both from the front and back, an attack that should be nearly undefeatable yet...

"I lost." I said quietly as the tip of my sword fought against the flat of his blade, he held the sword over his shoulder, stopping me from piercing him from behind.

He stopped them both.

He killed the 'me' that stabbed from the front, making the 'me' from behind the 'real' one and only had to block one attack. Doing that in the split second that was required, what a monster.

"What a scary kid, attacking me from the front and back at the same time." He laughed, pulling his sword away as I let up.

"Really, you of all people are going to say that?" I raised an eyebrow. "You played around with me like I was a child." I just shook my head.

"Mmm, your attacks could be described as nearly textbook." He looked at me intently. "I could tell right away you don't have much actual experience fighting with or against a sword. You probably rely mostly on your magecraft or superior physical abilities."

"Yeah.....I realized that myself." I just sighed, being seen through so easily. I usually could just overwhelm most opponents I've met in the past.

"That last attack of yours was pretty good though." He praised with a smile. "Good name too!" He laughed.

"Yeah yeah, I named it after yours since it inspired me. An attack that replicates Magic, so I did the opposite and used Magic to replicate a sword."

"Interesting." He tapped his finger against his chin. "It was flawed though, I saw several openings in the attack that I could make use of, I just went with the most direct method of countering it. I couldn't comment on any magical aspects, but it looked very immature."

"It is a relatively new development." I said evenly, giving him another once over. "Actually....I was looking for a teacher.."

"oh?" He looked surprised. "And you thought of me?"

"The thought crossed my mind, I don't know if you would be open to the idea...."

"Well, that depends, how keen are you on spending your life trying to cut a bird in the mountains?" He smiled. "I had no formal teacher myself, I don't think I could pass on anything of worth. Besides, it seems like the blade isn't your 'true' path, you are clearly adept enough in magic, why do you care about swordsmanship?"

"I don't have a reason in particular.....I just like using a sword." I shrugged.

He laughed again, sheathing his blade. "That isn't the worst reason I've ever heard. Well, it seems like you need to find someone who has both martial might and magical knowledge that can guide you."

Martial arts and adept at magecraft, who the hell had that in this era—" It hit me like a tidal wave as I realized just who I could seek out.

"Thank you." I bowed in respect.

"Alright." He waved me off. "It was a good time waster, you don't need to thank me."

"How about a drink then?" I offered.

"Well if you insist!" He accepted happily as I took out a crate of mead I had kept from Skyrim. There was much more where that came from as well, if there was anything in abundance it was mead and wine there.

"Western alcohol, is it?" He admired one of the bottles before flicking the top open and taking a drink. "What an interesting flavor, very light and a nice honey taste mixed in." He nodded in appreciation.

"Can I bribe you with more spars in the future then?" I opened my own bottle to take a sip.

"Bring me enough Sake in the future and I would even teach you my greatest technique." He replied without hesitation. "Seriously, it gets really boring here and the witch won't buy me any more."