One moment she was calmly standing a dozen meters away from me, the next she was already there, her sword moving in a blur as her blade neared my temple.
Yes, Trish moved fast… but not nearly fast enough. Compared to Leo and Nero, she was a turtle.
My eyes were easily able to track her as she delivered her downward cut. Not only had I expected such a display of speed, but I was also prepared for this attack.
Quickly sidestepping, I raised my tang dao to intercept Trish’s blade.
Our blades clashed and bit into each other, connected into a bind as both of us refused to back down… or so I thought.
Apparently, Trish had led me into a trap – something that was hard for me to believe.
Instead of trying to push her way through my blade with brute force, Trish twirled her sword and delivered a slash over my blade!
Swoosh—!!
“Fuck!” I cursed as I hopped a step back to safety, barely avoiding Trish’s slash that was about to cut down my eye.
But I didn’t just play on the defensive.
Thwack—!!
While jumping back, I shot my leg forward and thrashed my foot into Trish’s abdomen with force, causing her to stagger back in sudden pain. 𝞸𝓋𝓵xt.𝚌𝑜𝑀
And with this, the momentum of this spar was now on my side. I rushed forward and rammed her with my shoulder.
Trish was thrown back before her back from the impact before she crashed on the hard wooden floor and rolled a couple of times, finally coming to a stop.
Without wasting any time at all, she pulled herself to her knees and raised her sword in an attempt to block whatever attack I was going to throw at her.
However, my blade never came for her… at least, not from the direction she was looking in.
I had used the moment while she was off balance to swiftly circle around her, positioning myself to her side.
“….?!” Trish finally turned her head to look at me as she noticed my presence, but now it was far too late.
My victory was already secured!
From her side, I stomped my foot on the ground to acquire proper footing and then threw my blade forward in an arc, aiming for her throat.
“…Heh!”
But right at that moment, the startled expression that had been on her face from earlier dissipated into a triumphant grin, giving off a snug sense of victory. It was almost as if she felt that she had already won.
And it was only then that I realized I had been led into yet another trap.
Before my blade could make contact with her throat, Trish, who was still on her knees, rolled forward in my direction.
Like a bowling ball striking a pin, she collided with me, sweeping me off my feet.
My loss of balance sent me sprawling face-first onto the unforgiving wooden floor, while Trish effortlessly rolled to her knees behind me.
It was a bad position. She was already on her knees, whereas I was lying on the floor, belly-down. Even if I somehow managed to get up quickly, my back would be turned to her, leaving me wide open.
No matter how I looked at it, it was indeed a checkmate for me… or was it?
Trish swiftly rose to her feet and charged forward as I was in the middle of pulling myself up onto my knees.
Before I could even spin around to face her or do anything against her follow-up attacks, Trish brought down the cold, metallic edge of her sword to my neck.
Usually, in a sparring match with real swords, placing the blade’s edge against your opponent’s vital organ would result in a technical victory.
That was why, with her sword’s edge resting at my throat, it was clear she had won. Both of us stopped our movements, awaiting the official declaration of the outcome.
As if awaiting that cue, the old man loudly cleared his throat as if wanting to gain our attention and proclaimed, “The match has ended in… a draw!”
suddenly furrowed her brows in shock and cast a questioning gaze toward her great-grandfather.
Trish, who had a bright smile on her pretty face up until now, suddenly furrowed her brows in shock and cast a questioning gaze toward her great-grandfather.
“…Huh?” She exclaimed. “No, it’s clearly my victory!”
The old man stayed silent and only gestured for his great-granddaughter to glance downward.
Perplexed, Trish followed his gaze and looked down to see a sight that made her widen her eyes.
I knelt on the ground, my back turned to her, with her sword resting at my throat. But at the same time, I held my sword in a reverse grip as it was thrust backward.
Right now, my blade was mere inches away from piercing her liver. Trish took in this scene with her mouth agape, her dull silver eyes quivering with astonishment.
“But… when?” She asked through trembling lips.
I withdrew my blade and rose to my feet as she did the same. “Right before you were about to end the match. The best moment to play a final gambit is when your opponent is sure of their victory.”
Trish listened to me attentively, her eyes wide. As I turned to face her, she took a deep breath and composed herself.
“I don’t like gambling,” she said in a soft tone, returning to her reserved and timid self.
I shrugged. I wanted to mention that a gambit wasn’t only used in gambling. It was also a strategic tactic used in logical games like chess to secure positional advantage, but in the end, I chose to remain silent instead.
“Alright, let’s continue this discussion outside, where we can also go over what both of you could have done differently,” said the old man.
Trish nodded and took the lead, exiting the training hall first, leaving the old man and me to follow behind her.
However, before the old man could even take a single step, I reached out and grabbed his arm, causing him to turn toward me and give me an inquiring look.
“What’s on your mind, little one?” He asked with a smile.
Taking a deep breath, I posed my question, “Tell me the true reason you agreed to teach me, and I don’t want any of that nonsense about doing it for my master.”