Saberfes!

Chapter 89

Chapter 89

"Shirou, show me what you are capable of."

Saber stood opposite him, clasping the shinai loosely in one hand, waiting for him to make the first move.

It had been Caster's suggestion to him that he train with Saber, and during their little chat this morning, Caster had also brought up the topic with Saber. After a short discussion between Saber and Shirou, they had asked for permission to use the dojo, bringing us to the present.

While it was true that Shirou would absolutely not be participating in any battles between Servants, considering their power, he could still be targeted by enemy Masters. Thus, Saber considered it necessary to at the very least ascertain what he could do, and then do her best to improve his chances of surviving if he ever came to blows with an enemy magus. She would teach him physical combat, and Caster would be in charge of the magical side of things.

Judging by her Master's physique, he at least had decent strength and stamina among his peers, though it was far from enough to confront a magus just with that. He had mentioned training daily as well, so she supposed at the very least she didn't have to build his discipline from the ground up.

Shirou had trained in kendo before, so he settled into the orthodox stance that most kendo users used, his right foot forward, with his left foot behind, the heel off the ground. His right hand grasped the tsuka (hilt) near the circular tsuba (crossguard) of the shinai, the left hand holding near the tsukagashira (pommel). The fingers were relaxed, with no open spaces between them. Aligning the shinai with the center of his body at waist level, he adopted a chudan, the middle posture.

In his youth, he had crossed swords with his father before, but they were both amateurs, with no consideration to form. In the end, the only thing he took away from those 'lessons' was how to deal with an opponent with a long weapon. Later on, he had served as the practice dummy of Taiga for a while, beaten blue and black until he could barely stand. He had managed to pick up the proper starting stance back then by observing Taiga's starting form, but not much else.

"Are you going to fight in those clothes?"

It wasn't a problem per se, he was just surprised she was wearing a skirt to fight with him. She looked down at her clothes, blinking in surprise.

"Ah, what I meant was that I thought you'd wear armor."

"I see. Indeed, it would be disrespectful to you if I fought like this. Very well, allow me to change."

Before she could do so, Shirou stopped her.

"It's fine really, it's just a misunderstanding from me. If I could choose, I'd rather fight you in that dress."

He'd only ever seen Saber fighting in armor, but if she could practice with him in her dress then that was fine too. After all, she did look much better in a dress, at least to him. Saber didn't seem to understand him though.

"It would be impractical to fight with this clothing though."

"No, I mean you look good in them."

Saber widened her eyes, putting her hands on her hip.

"Is that so? I don't think they suit me very well though."

Shaking her head, she focused back on what they were supposed to do.

"Enough chit-chat. Let's start training."

Lifting her shinai into her usual stance, two hands gripped tightly around the hilt.