Chapter 8

“Kiomi, I need to talk to Reaper just for a short time.” Black told Kiomi in a tense tone.

“Giving your brother last tips before the battle? I see, I see.” She jokingly said and went outside.

“Oi buddy. It's really kind of you, but I don't need any tips.” Reaper lectured Black.

“I don't want to give you tips. I just want to say.. I know you can get carried away in battle, I have seen it.. I just want you to know she is important to me. If I see you loose yourself in battle I will go between you two.” Black informed Reaper with a even more serious tone then usual.

“Naw... my brother actually found his love.. after how many years? 500 something? Oh well. Better now then never right?” Reaper joked around.

Black turned red and took his head into a botherly headlock and were walking outside with him.

“Ahh! stop that!! How old are you? 5?” Reaper complained, trying to get free from the headlock.

When they got outside he managed to get free from his brother.

“I won't say that again, okay okay.” Reaper said. Black smiled and looked for Kiomi.

She stand a few meters away from the tavern in a empty field. The location looked like it was made to fight there.

Black could see how Kiomi was doing a warm up. She was streching her arms, legs and her back. She noticed Black was watching her and tried to look away like nothing happened, but she couldn't hide a little grin. Black got flustered, looked away too and noticed how he was observing her warm up.

“So Kiomi.. Do you have a weapon with you for the first round?”, Reaper asked. “Well.. no but I could make one with a spell. Of course a weapon that only deals non-magic damage.”

Black thought about it for a second and said: “Go ahead.”. Black seemed completely relaxed but actually he was very excited to see which weapon Kiomi would choose. Reaper already carried his sword. He used a sword with a special design which the reason of it remained a secret. But of course it was red. Kiomi sat down, closed her eyes and whispered in a unknown language. After that she opened her hands and looked concentrated while a glowing stick got formed. The stick got longer and longer and stopped glowing. She smiled slightly and it turned out it was some sort of katana. It looked beautifully majestic and shimmered in white, pink and light blue. The blade almost seemed like a sharpen crystal. She stood up and made an proud expression.

“This is a really pretty sword.. I wonder if you live up to it.” reaper said challenging. “Oh you will see.. ReApeR” She answered him slightly mocking his name.

“What do you have against the name Reaper?!” He asked confused and lost in the conversation again. “Who calls their kid Reaper??” She asked Reaper judgingly.

“My parents did?..” He answered confused again. Black layed his hand on his face frustrated and said “J-Just start you two..”

Kiomi And Reaper went into position with their weapon with about 20m distance from each other.

Black was the one who counted from 3 down. So he started..

3..

2..

1..

Fight!

And Right after the fight both of them ran up to each other. Kiomi managed to attack Reaper first, and striked her sword 3 time before Reaper even had the chance to give a attack back. On his facial expression you could see he was surprised by the movement of her. He had a lot of experience in fights, he could tell she knew what she was doing.. Reaper's amazing fighting skills wasn't the only reason he was so popular. It was his ability to scan his opponent and counter them.

Reaper learned that with Black.

Reaper had a idea about what was going on, but to proof that, he needed to defend a bit more and let her attack. So he dodged 2 attacks flawlessly but the third one not as well and got a tiny cut on his cheek. Kiomi was after the third attack in a unlucky and easy attackable position. But reaper wanted to stick to his plan and let Kiomi attack so he knew If his assumptions were right. So he didn't attacked her and she made a confused look. Never the less she tried to strike again but this time she fall on the ground and swang her leg with a lot of energy to Reapers joint, so he would fall. Before this would happen Reaper jumped and he knew he was right. So he knew what to do. He did what was the least expected of him and attacked back at her legs so she would fall down again and Reaper would put his sword close to her neck. So Round one was over.

Kiomi looked shocked laying in the dirt. Both were out of breath but Kiomi started to yell: “Why did you do that?? That doesn't make any sense! You should have attacked my upper body, that would have been the most logical thing to do! That you would attack my legs is very laborious and I could have dogded it easily like oyu did early on.” Kiomi got embarrassed.

Reaper gave Kiomi a hand to get up and explained.. “You know you have perfect movement? And your attacks are flawless just how the best fighting books describe you to stand and fight. That was exactly your problem. You lack in experience. I know you studied every move in these books until you could do them perfectly. But sadly these books don't show you a real fight. Fights or duels aren't just textbook exams. Every opponent is different in their attack and defense. So scan your opponent and be what they don't expect you to be.” Reaper ended his lesson.

Kiomi was almost speechless about how Reaper precisely explained exactly what just happened.

“Thank you for the lesson. I will remember that.” Kiomi said.

“You won't be able to give me lessons anymore after the second sound.. “ Kiomi thought while walking back to her position.

Black heared what Reaper told Kiomi and was proud that Reaper remembered a lot from the lessons he gave him. But also concerned about what would happen next when Kiomi got upset and will use her magic. He knew he had to stop them if it gets too serious.. but it's just a training. Or is it