The Art Of Sword

No Name: Then why was it me, that had to take the fall?

Violet: Because you have multiple opportunities, while he has none. This tournament is the only key to unlocking more opportunities for him.

No Name: Isn't that supposed to be my key? I earned it fair and square!

“You aren’t even going to help him clear the rest of the tournament. If he lost… that means you wasted my opportunity for nothing…”

Violet:… Since we already know who Sunz is going to fight. Do you think you can defeat him?

No Name: I believe I can!

Violet: You are confident. Even though you haven’t seen his weapon.

No Name: I know my skill and understand what my level is at.

Violet: Hmm… Will you still be this confident without your sword?

No Name:...

Violet: Do you think you can win against Grimm with your bare hands?

No Name: I-I don’t think I can win...

Violet: The thing with you two is the sword. It’s your main source of power. In the future, both of you will need an unbreakable sword.

No Name: An unbreakable sword will be impossible to find.

Violet: All you have to do is look for it… or just don’t break your own sword.

No Name: Violet, it seems you already know that I’ll lose this tournament. Then, what made you think Sunz has a better chance than me?

Violet: I don’t. He is not my problem. It’s up to him and his real teacher.

No Name: His real teacher?

Violet: There are some details that you and I don’t need to thoroughly discuss.

No Name: Ok…

Violet: That’s all, right? You don’t have any other questions about today?

No Name: No, I have nothing left to ask.

Violet: Good! Then I have some questions for you.

She held up No-Name’s sword and asked: How long has this sword been with you?

No Name: It has been with me for a while now.

Violet: Really? This sword was a hand-down, wasn’t it?

No Name: Yes…

Violet: I have nothing to say except, this is a great sword. But you haven’t used it to its full potential.

No Name:… Is it because of my lack of ‘Element’?

Violet: No! You don’t need ‘Element’ to unlock your full potential. While someone else needs ‘Elements’ to unlock their full potential.

No Name: You mean Sunz.

Violet: You and Sunz are equal in strength if you both started at the same time. You are great with sword techniques – He is great at utilizing ‘Elements’…

“But he can’t kill, and you're afraid to dull your blade.”

…

No Name: That makes no sense, afraid to dull my blade. I cut his sword with my own blade.

Violet: You did, but why couldn’t you do it again? You knew his weapon's durability was worse than yours.

“I was really entertained by your first half and impressed with the way you finished the match, but that was through my eyes.”

“When I was physically holding the sword and clashing against you. All I felt was hesitation from you, your hand couldn’t firmly grasp your weapon, which is the only thing that is preventing you from death.”

No Name:…

Violet: But maybe, I could be wrong. You were thrown into an unexpected event, against someone who is way above your level. So I only have one piece of advice for you. Even the dullest blade can flourish when in capable hands.

No Name: Thank you.

Violet *smiles*: Don’t thank me just yet. I still have one more thing for you.

She jammed the tip of No-Name’s sword into the floor, then suddenly the whole room shifted into the room where Sunz and Violet once battled.

Both Violet and No Name are standing on their sides of the room with their own weapons in hand.

No Name holding up the weapon just to ask herself: What just happened?

Violet: What you are seeing and feeling right now is all inside of your head. In simple terms, it’s an illusion.

No Name: How is that possible?

Violet: The answer will not help you at all because this skill isn’t learnable.

“Inside his brain, there are countless skills waiting for him to unlock. Some are good, some are bad, and some are situational, like the skill that allowed you and him to communicate telepathically.”

“This skill is quite helpful. I didn’t know it existed until today.”

No Name: Then what are we doing here?

Violet: Within this limited amount of time, I will sharpen you up.

…

*During Grimm’s match*

Grace’s appearance had returned to normal, but her face showed a sad emotion that looked like she was about to cry. Throughout the match, everyone didn’t say a word to each other, just keeping their thoughts to themselves.

Grace *panic* (Keep calm, keep calm... That was to win the match…)

Jihu *calm* (Let’s assess the situation…Grace returned to normal… Yama, Soju, and Jun don’t change much… It seems only the people who are close with the contestants are in shock… Which there are two.)

( First it was Sunz, who has the purple aura. Now No Name has it too... What the fuck is going on?)

Then everyone hears

“The Winner of This Round is Grimm! Keeping his weapon a secret until the final round.”

Jihu got close to Grace, tapped her on the shoulder, and then asked: Let’s go visit them.

Grace stood up and nodded but kept her head down.

Jihu: Yama, let’s go!

Yama quickly moves his feet, then all three run to the room where Sunz and No Name are resting at.

*Jun and Soju saw all three of them running away*

Jun: You want to see where this will go?

Soju: Nah! We are bystanders, so they aren’t our liability.

Jun: What will you do now?

Soju: Preparing the study material for my new student. You?

Jun: Getting back to work.

Soju: More work. Don’t you think you deserve a break?

Jun: I’m a lawyer, so my workload is a lot, and money doesn’t appear from thin air. Plus, our biological clock is fuck up, so night is day and day is night.

Soju: True… then why haven’t you started dating? You’re at the beautiful age of...25…

Jun glares at Soju:…

Soju: Sorry about that, I’ll be going now.

Jun: STOP!

Soju: yes…

Jun: You knew I could easily end your happy life, right?

Soju: Yes… Pls don’t.

Jun: I won't, but you should remember, your relationship started because a girl almost dragged you to hell.

Soju: I remember, and it’s such an amazing memory.

Jun: Well then, see you when this thing is all over.

Soju: See you then.

…

*Inside the infirmary room*

Sunz and No Name returned to reality.

Sunz observes his surroundings before speaking up: Where are we? Why am I holding your sword? Why are we both so sweaty?

No Name: You don’t remember what happened.

Sunz sheath No-Name’s sword: All I remember is that I lost. You really pushed me to the edge, so congratulate on moving forward.

No Name: Wow…so you really don’t know what happened.

Sunz: yeah… what happened?

No Name: You are the one moving forward, not me.

Sunz: No, I lost. I literally feel my soul leaving my body, which means I can’t move.

No Name: Or another soul pushes you out of your own body...

Sunz: huh? What do you mean?

No Name: Long story short, a woman named Violet took control of your body and won the match for you.

Sunz:… I cheated…

No Name: I won't say that, you just got help.

Sunz:… I cheated… I need to fix this…

Sunz immediately got off the chair and walked toward the door, but he was stopped by No Name grabbing his arm.

No Name: You don’t have to do this, I’m ok with this result.

Sunz: Ok then, but I’m not doing this for you, it’s for me. This is weighing down on my conscience.

Then they both heard footsteps from outside and a familiar voice.

Jihu: Hey, can we come in?

…

No Name: If I can’t convince you to stop, then someone else will.

She immediately released her grasp and threw the cup at the wall. The cup didn’t shatter when hit the wall, it just evaporated, and then the door swung open.

The first one to walk through the door was Grace. When she sees Sunz, something inside her just snaps. She starts tearing up, then slaps Sunz in the face.

Grace: W-Wh-Why, why did you do it?!

Sunz just stood there, dumbfounded. No Name immediately jumps out of the bed after seeing what happened. She lends Grace a shoulder to cry on while also directing Jihu to drag Sunz out of the room.

Jihu quickly follows, then slams the door shut.

Outside of the room couldn’t hear anything inside, except the crying that was slowly turning into sniffle.

Jihu is standing, leaning against the wall, while looking at Sunz, who is slouching on the floor and burying his face in his knees. The silence between the two lasted for a few minutes before one of them spoke up.

Sunz: I don’t remember anything. Tell me what happened after my sword was broken.

Jihu *deep breath*:… When your sword was broken, you seemed to have turned into someone else. Everything about you was different, your posture and the way you handled your sword were almost perfect. Which allowed you to dominate over No Name with a broken weapon.

“You then stabbed her in the abdomen, swiped her weapon, and then decapitated her hand. After that, she surrenders, and you are the winner.”

Sunz:… That was someone else, it wasn’t me.

Jihu: You’re saying someone else helped you win. (Interesting.)

Sunz: Which means I cheated. I don’t deserve to move forward, so tell the person in charge to disqualify me.

Jihu:… Don’t you think you are being too harsh on yourself? I know you don’t like to be untruthful,… unless you have to. You said you cheated, just take a moment and compare it to cheating on a test. You've done it before, and it didn’t bother you.

Sunz: The difference with the test is. If I fail, I’m dragging myself down alone, not switching someone else's success with my failure.

Jihu: Fair point... Let’s say, she knew that she couldn’t win this tournament, so she accepted that you cheated but believes that you have more potential than her and trusts that you will win this tournament for her.

Sunz: That is a bad let’s say. Didn’t you say this is a very important tournament, once in a lifetime chance………… Also, it sounds like you just said "Pls win this tournament for me, then you will rank up from Friend to Lover.”

Jihu: Finally returned to your moronic self.

He lends out his hand and pulls Sunz up.

Sunz: You charismatic bastard... So what now?

Jihu: Fight till the end while also asking your Purple Monster to not interfere.

Sunz: Yeah, got it.

Jihu: Also, did that slap hurt? Geez!

Sunz: That’s what I get for decapitating someone's hand.

…

Grace walks out of the door and sees that Sunz is talking with Jihu and Yama. She then slowly approaches Sunz while Jihu drags Yama away. Her face isn’t weeping like before, but she is purposely avoiding eye contact with him.

Grace: I’m sorry for hitting you… Today, having to wonder who to cheer on, then witnessing both endings, really took a toll on my fragile emotions.

“It looks like I’m not the same ice cold and confident Grace you first met.”

Sunz: I… don’t think so. You’re still as intimidating as the first time I met you, maybe more. The only difference is that you now have more people that you really care about.

Grace: Aww, thank you! Now go back in there because No Name has something to ask you. Also, walk in my blind spot, I don’t want you to look at my face.

Sunz: Lound and clear.

Sunz enters the room and sees that No Name is ready to get out.

No Name: Wow, you recovered fast. I thought it would take longer to lift up your guilt.

Sunz: When you have friend that know you, those situations are quick to resolve. By the way, how did you help her calm down so fast?

No Name:… Once you two got out, the first thing she asked was “Why is your face so sweaty? Like you went swimming in that outfit without drying off.” What is wrong with you two? Sometimes you two just return to your neutral state because of the most random detail.

Sunz: I have no answer for that.

No Name: Ignore that then. So I told her about why you were acting like a maniac, “A Purple lady named Violet was controlling his body.”

Sunz: Ok then, on to another topic. Grace said you want to ask me something.

No Name reaches behind her back and pulls out a letter.

No Name: I was tasked with delivering this to Jihu’s Grandpa after winning this tournament. Now I want you to complete my task, and you can’t say no because you decapitated my hand.

Sunz takes the letter from No-Name’s hand: I wasn’t going to say no, but...

“How did you store a letter in that outfit? Not to mention, it's not even wet either.”

No Name: See see this is the random detail I was talking about!

Sunz: Note taken, but will not fix.

No Name*sigh*: Let’s just get out of here.

Sunz put the letter in one of the pockets inside his 'Windbreaker', then followed No Name out of the room.

Outside of the room, they see the rest of the group talking with Grimm, and he is carrying a sword on his hip.

Sunz: Hey Mr.Grimm. It's been quite a while.

Grimm: Ah Sunz, I was looking for you. First, congratulations on moving forward, I’ll be your next opponent.

Sunz: Thank you sir. I look forward to our match. Is that the weapon you used today?

Grimm: Nah kid. My weapon hasn’t been revealed yet. But your weapon was destroyed. How will you fight now?

Sunz looks at his group.

Everyone: No!

Sunz: Guess I’ll check out the armory at the training facility. It’s going to be hard to find the same weapon.

Grimm “I think you deserve an upgrade!” threw the sword on his hip at Sunz, and he easily caught it.

“I forged this sword just for you, I made it lighter while increasing its durability. This is ten times better than your old one.”

“That will be all. See you till then and practice hard.”

Grimm walks away.

Sunz: Thank you, Mr.Grimm.

Grace: Are you going to check it out now?

Sunz: Nah! I want to rest. Today was such a mess.

Grace: Agree.

Jihu: So dinner meet up like usual?

No Name: Sure. I can finally rest.

….

Grimm (I hope you use the sword well kid, because you can only use it once.)