DEATHWISH

Utu closed his eyes. He could feel the weight of each speck of snow coming to contact to him. He ignored it, and focussed on his training.

Gradually, a shadow the shape of a person formed in front of him. When the image is sturdy enough, Utu took a step forward. His left hand tightly gripping the kopis. His spine bent forward, coiled ready for the first sword draw.

And so is his 'opponent'.

When he opened his eyes, time seemed to have stopped. Even his heartbeat skipped its constant beating. Utu's hazel eyes could discern ever snow flake down to every minute detail.

The pause from the moment he opened his eyes to his next action felt like forever, yet it didn't even take one breath.

Utu drew his kopis. A sword with the sharp edge curved inward. One usually use it like a sickle. The shape is designed that way so that when a cavalry soldier drew their sword on their mount, the blunt edge won't hurt their wolves.

Sparks flew the moment the steel blade slashed against the colliding snowflakes. As the first heartbeat rang in his ear, Utu lunged forward. And his 'opponent' did the same.

Utu collided with the snowflake, hanging in the air. The kopis in his hand moved upward. Utu executed his first move. The vertical upward slash. A seasoned Blaze Wolf soldier could shatter the opponent's weapon.

Utu's shadow opponent though, successfully blocked his move.

Utu was not surprised. It was just an opening move. He changed his grip, making the sharp concave blade to face the enemy. He spun around and performed a horizontal slash.

Again, it was blocked.

"I need to be faster! Stronger!"

And he did just that. Utu stepped from side to side. Sometimes forward, sometimes a step or two back. His sword never stopped moving. To the point where it began to emit a hum. His sword became faster that it slash the air.

Unfortunately, Utu have yet to activate his Fire energy core. Those with Fire core can be in battles for hours. Days even. Yet Utu could only lasted about a quarter of an hour. Which is pretry impressive as far as normal human stamina goes.

Utu finally collapsed on the cold ground.

"Hah! Hah! Fuck! Three years of training, and I can only last for fifteen minutes?"

Utu was frustrated. Yet there's nothing he could do. He could only rest to catch his breath. And hope that the second round would last longer than the first.

As Utu was getting ready to start his shadow sparring, a pair of concerned eyes was watching him.