The Art Of Sword

Sunz (Your hair…what happened to it?)

No Name (…)

Sunz (What are you hiding? Is this a cover for your true identity?)

Both tighten the grip on their swords… then clash with each other again and again. Trade after trade, the arena is being painted with Sunz blood slowly. No major hit was received by both, but small grazes did happen with a ratio of 1:10.

Wanting to end the fight quickly, No Name trapped Sunz’s sword with her own, then moved acrobatically and delivered a powerful direct kick at Sunz’s face.

Knocking him far back into the wall of the viewing area.

Sunz didn’t stand up for the first few seconds. Feeling the pain in his head, his right hand instinctively moves to check the spot. Before looking at his hand, he already knew what had happened.

Sunz (It’s ok. Just finish this, and then you’ll get a checkup.)

As he stood up, blood was dripping down from his chin and his right arm. His movement is sluggish for a moment before getting better.

No Name gripped tightly on her sword, but lowered it a bit (Your eyes can only see the sword movement. Anything else, you must learn to get faster.)

Sunz (Understand… The match was decided from the start. Shouldn’t you end the match already?)

No Name (I’m letting you have your last breath. You aren’t in great condition. Plus, you don’t have the guts to kill me.)

Sunz (Of course. It's coming back to bite me sooner or later... You were intentionally being careless. My eyes saw you change your stance to take my hit.)

Sunz was only able to take a few steps before his body forced him to kneel down on one knee: hahaha…

(It’s great to communicate without the need to speak. Cost less energy.)

No Name (Those hits were for me to figure out the limit of my ability. My arms and legs won’t reveal much information. You should aim for my head. Hair and eyes are your clue to finding me in the future.)

Sunz stand up (I do want this group to regroup in the future, but I know it won’t be through me. For now, we are friends, but in the future, we might not. Even now, our friendship could just be fake.)

No Name (Everything is fake until proven not to be.)

Sunz (Damn right!)

No Name set up her stance (For your last attack, I’ll tell you this. I will not move, the outcome you see can’t be changed. Ready!)

After recovering the last of his energy, Sunz dashes at No Name to deliver his final attack.

A clean, loud clash between the two weapons.

No dust, no follow-up hit, and block. Only No Name and Sunz two meters away from each other. One is standing with their sword sheathed, and the other is kneeling with a hilt and half of the blade.

…

Jihu *panic*: His aura it-it gone. I can’t see anything. Is he dead?

Grace, after hearing what Jihu said, was about to jump out of her seat but was restrained by Sogae.

Sogae *whisper*: Stay calm, lady. Can’t let that happen again.

Soju: Don’t worry, if his aura doesn’t return in one minute. That's when I’ll take care of it. Usually, for broken weapon, it only takes ten seconds at most for the aura to return. Watch closely.

*The first few seconds pass*

Jihu: His aura, it returned.

Sunz stands up, then turns to No Name while gripping his sword.

No Name turns around and sees that the person standing in front of her is not Sunz. The posture is better, better gripping onto the sword, but the most different detail is that both his eyes color turn into violet.

Then she hears a female voice talking to her (Your victory is well earned. Even with ‘Elements' I don’t think he can beat you.)

A huge blast of aura radiated from Sunz for a few seconds and immediately disappeared. Everyone in the arena has never felt such a powerful aura before.

Jihu: His aura has returned to normal, but this time its color is purple.

Sogae said to Soju: Should I interrupt the match?

Soju: No, let's see where this will go.

On the field, the match continues with No Name as the aggressor. Despite the fact that she has the upper hand throughout the whole match. This time, all of her attacks couldn’t push him back, instead she is the one that has to step back.

No Name now suddenly stands no chance against Sunz. All of her attacks were blocked or dodged. When the role switched, she was able to block Sunz’s attacks, but those attacks sent shockwaves that made her want to drop her sword.

Finally, in a quick chain of action, Sunz stabbed No Name in the abdomen, then swiped the sword off her hand and leapt back.

No Name kneels down on leg (I-I lost. I can’t believe it.)

Sunz (You are the winner of this match, but I can’t allow that outcome.)

No Name (And who are you stripping me of my victory?)

Sunz (My name is Violet. I am currently overseeing this body as a teacher…)

Violet-S (This useless body with a moronic brain.)

No-Name’s hand suddenly acts on its own, trying to grip onto something that is not there.

(Then why are you doing this? I need to win this!)

Violet-S (You don’t need to. Just like this Fool’s tactic, winning the tournament will give you little to no experience or what you are seeking.)

No-Name (What are you talking about, you don’t know what I’m seeking!) With fear and anger in her mind, her hand suddenly felt like it was gripping onto something.

Violet knows what is going on, so she cuts that hand cleanly off No-Name’s arm.

(I don’t need you to increase your bounty price. Your journey ends now, just surrender… we have a lot to discuss.)

No Name ( Ok… I’ll surrender.) raises her other hand, then shouts: I SURRENDER!

…

Sogae then appears in the middle of the arena and declares: The winner of this match is Sunz.

Then she guided Violet-S and No Name to the infirmary.

In the infirmary, both Sunz and No-Name's bodies were stabbed by Sogae's sword in order to recover.

Then Violet asked Sogae: Can you not let anyone in here before the second match is over?

To Sogae, the voice that was asking her was Sunz, but the aura was very different, which scared her into complying.

Before leaving the room, Sogae gave No Name a glass cup and told them: Once you’re done, just break this cup then visitors are allowed.

…

Violet gets out of bed and pulls one of the chairs near No-Name’s bed to sit on.

Violet-S: You ready to talk?

No Name: I’m, but I want to talk to you, not his body.

Violet-S: Very well.

Sunz’s appearance turned into Violet’s appearance. A mature woman dressed in blacksmith attire with purple as the main color.

Violet: Better? This is me.

No Name: Where did his body go?

Violet: It's still here, only the appearance is different. Like hitbox…

No Name: Ok… One thing I would like to know. Will you continue to save him if he loses the next round?

Violet: No! If he lost it all on him. This match is the only exception.