The Art Of Sword

During the break.

Soju talk with Narae: These kids are more impressive than I thought.

Narae: How so? Is it their skill or the amount of damage they did to the arena?

Soju: Well, none of that is impressive. ‘Skill’ is based on the amount of time you spent on training or you were born with the talent for that skill. But ‘Skill’ still has a gap that can be reached by anyone.

“ And about their destructiveness… All of that is just ‘Eye Candy’. A performance we all perform once just to put fear in the eyes of weaker foes.”

Narae: So what did they do that impressed you?

Soju: Their ‘Identity’!

Narae: ‘Identity’? (He spent too much time on diplomatic missions resulting in his brain being rewired.)

“Can you explain it in more detail?”

Soju: Hmm… What is the routine that every student in the clan usually does?

Narae: Well, we wake up eat train then sleep.

Soju: And how long did you do that same routine for?

Narae: Me? I ‘wake up eat train sleep’ for a couple of years until I was chosen to be specially trained by one of the Clan ‘Special’. And then I repeat that same routine, but this time feeling a burden on my shoulder.

“Are you saying that the source of our strength is ‘Self-worth’?

Soju: Yes! Before we got chosen by one of the ‘Special’, we have nothing to our name, every student was just as replaceable as the next one. When one of us got chosen, we don’t even know the reason why.

“But after that, there is one thing that we all know is, we have to live up to the expectations of the ‘Special’ as their successor.”

Narae: Does that mean we all just puppets waiting to be bought?

Soju: We got our ‘Identity’ because we both got bought. But for someone like Jun, established her own ‘Identity’ very early on. Develop her own battle skill and own a weapon that improves her style of fighting.

Narae: What you’re trying to say is the two from the round before is like Jun?

Soju: One of them is ‘The Ice Girl’, she knows how to use her element to her advantage, combine with the weapon that supports her fighting style of fast pace and carrying the burden of her family. She figures out her ‘Identity’.

Narae: What about the boy? He is the winner after all.

Soju: That boy is different from everyone here. His ‘Identity’ isn’t set in stone, it constantly changing with time. He is like a combination of ‘Explorer’ and ‘Mercenary’, don’t know where they are going or what situation they are in but they know their objective.

Narae: Any thoughts about his weapon and skill?

Soju: His weapon is perfect but not perfect enough. His skill in ‘Elements’ is definitely outstanding. But his sword skill doesn’t have a natural flow, it looks like he is being direct to how he should swing it.

Narae: That doesn’t mean he is a bad fighter right? What is your thought on his winning chance?

Soju: He isn’t a bad fighter but his performance in that round makes him feel like he was. If he keeps doing what he has been in these final rounds then his winning chance is pretty high. But the next round will be a lot more difficult if he handicaps himself.

Narae: Are you saying he is going to disable his ‘Elements’?

Soju: Precisely! The only reason why he made it this far was because of his ‘Elements’. So he would probably want to rely on his sword skill to win the next round.

“But that's just speculation. He wouldn’t do that kind of stuff if the tournament isn’t that important.”

Narae: What if he going to do what you said?

Soju: Then he probably going to lose… But I could be wrong.

Minutes before the next round start.

Sogae had already left the room to get ready for the announcement of the second fight of the day. Sunz returned to where Grace was resting a minute after Sogae.

Right after Sunz comes in Grace cheerfully waves him to join her on the bed. Sunz politely declines and pulls one of the chairs close to her bed to sit on.

Grace: Soo… Are you feeling ok?

Sunz: Oh yeah, I’m fine. You worry about me?

Grace: A bit. Your voice sounds like you’re worrying about something. You won against me, I thought you must be happy to progress further.

Sunz laugh: I wouldn’t say I won against you. More like you were toying with me and receive a loss.

Grace: But didn’t you nearly throw at the end there? Was it arrogant or blind confidence?

Sunz: It feels more like stupidity. I could have dodged that attack by moving to a safer place. But that moment I feel like I should repay your kindness and stop running away. I didn’t know what you planning to do but I take the gamble as a way to improve myself.

Sunz glance at Grace and see that her eyes are a bit watery “Are you crying?”

Grace smack Sunz on the head and said: You know how much I worried about you when you pull that stunt!

Sunz: Does that mean you planned to give me the win from the start?

Grace: I would never! I just don’t want you to risk your win.

“Also I’m sorry for decapitating your ‘Windbreaker’.”

Sunz suddenly realise (Fuck I left it on the battlefield).

Grace: I knew that you forgot to pick it up. Sogae told me that she had already picked it up when you turn the whole place into a sauna. It’s currently being fixed right now and she said you can pick it up when today end.

Sunz: Well, that's a relief. What about your weapon then, aren’t you gonna be mad at me?

Grace: Oh don’t worry too much, weapon meant to break during combat so I just gonna buy a new one or repair it. I’m not that attached to it like you are to your ‘Windbreaker’ anyway.

A moment of silence comes between them as they sit and wait for the following round announcement.

Grace then asks Sunz: Sooo… now that you are a bit more chirpy. Can you tell me why you were so down before?

Sunz: Do you really want to know?

Grace: As a couple, we need to communicate with each other in order to solve any problem the other person has. So I am here to help whenever you feel sad or worried.

Sunz: So we are really following through with "being a couple"?

Grace “Of course” then shaking Sunz while asking “Please tell me! Don’t make have to beg.”

Sunz: Ok then, you win. What I worried about was I might not be able to win the next round.

Grace: Why? You put on a great fight today, didn’t you?

Sunz: I know that I won, but compare to you my sword skill is very rusty and I use ‘Elements’ to compensate for that weakness. So in the next match, I plan to only fight with my sword skill only.

“Because I know who I will face in round 3.”