The Nova Ranker - The Sword Almighty

Chapter 18. More Sword Practice

Maybe something I wasn't expecting about being on a mission was getting any down time. I half expected to be out and about all day, swinging my sword and throwing fireballs at bad people. The fact I had time to go out on a date with Franziska and learn that one of my favorite Colombian dishes of all time is of Hebrew origin was a very nice change of pace.

So, with my mind being blown and me enjoying Buñuelos with Franziska, the last thing I expected when we returned to Dawn Home was to see Avi and Carmen having a friendly staring contest, poised as if they were ready to attack each other. I was about to ask what this all was about, when Carmen noticed my presence.

"Hey, Elias! We were about to go training! Wanna join us?" She had a huge giddy smile on her face, and was waving at me, while holding one of her swords.

I shuffled uncomfortably, moving to hide behind Franziska, which must've looked funny considering the height difference. Sure, I would've wanted to join in but... Well, I wanted to spend time with Franziska. And I wasn't good with other people. And yes, I knew a lot about Carmen at this point but it wasn't enough for me to be that comfortable around her.

And it wasn't until I got to that line of thought that Franziska grabbed me by the hand, guided me to Carmen and said. "Sure, he'll be glad to. Just return him to me in one piece."

The kiss on the cheek Franny gave me when she said that was enough to distract my brain from realizing I had just been offered to Carmen and Avi like a sacrificial lamb. Or maybe Franziska wanted to have time away from me and my clingy tendencies. That sounds more likely.

Avi took us to a room that reminded me of an indoor gym like the ones you see in Anime. And after a bit of stretching in dead silence, we were standing in what seemed to be a volleyball court, which we were going to use as an Arena. Carmen was sitting around, looking smugly at me, ready to act as the referee.

I wanted to make Avi take back the whole 'fight you can't win' comment. Carmen whistled and said to begin, and I took action immediately, swinging my sword in the same motion of my Flame Ball spell. But the flame never came. Instead, a chain wrapped itself around the blade of my sword, and then my weapon got yanked out of my hands. I was reeling too much to notice Avi running at me, and by the time I did realize, a metal gauntlet found its way comfortably in my face and I was sent flying out of the arena.

"Round One is over. Avi wins." Carmen chirped from her spot, though she sounded more disappointed about the fight finishing quickly than, say, worried about her friend getting hurt.

"Did someone catch the number of the truck that hit me in the face?" I mumbled, reaching for my face and nodding to myself as I felt the blood running down my forehead.

"You can't go fumbling around when you get disarmed." I heard Avi walk up to me and once I wiped the blood out of my face, they were crouching in front of me to look me in the eyes. "If you disarm someone who can use magic to fight, they'll keep fighting ya. Do the same."

The embarrassment of getting lectured by someone shorter than my mom, combined with the grin on Carmen's face was motivating (?). After taking a moment to wipe the blood from my forehead, and feeling relieved my nose wasn't broken, I went back to my spot in the arena. This time, Avi's technique was different. They held their fire dagger in hand and rather than use their chains for combat, were throwing fireballs at me. Tiny balls of red flame flying from the end of their weapon, exploding on impact against the walls and floor.

I felt in my element, quite literally. Every time a fireball flew at me, I caught it on the strong of my sword, which gave me more and more room to get closer to Avi. Soon, I was close enough to actually clash with the Four Foot Wonder. And I swiftly regretted it. What they lacked in size, they had in technique and resourcefulness. If I had to compare our fight to something else, it was like two people dancing two completely different dances at the same time. Avi's mix of both fancy footwork and rhythmic movements reminded me of Samba while my own movements were slower and deliberate, circular in a way reminiscent of Cumbia. If they weren't able to block my sword strikes with their dagger, they would catch my blade with their armor, or fling chunks of it at me to distract me.