V. Awe

Freya had gone and done it now. She had interfered with a public execution which is somewhat a good thing, but at the cost of attracting attention at herself. Not to mention, the only way for her to intervene with it was to do so in a flashy manner; by holding a weapon and challenging the menace. She preferred to settle that dispute like a civilised human-being but she could not do so, there were reasons for it and she would say that it was her fault for making such mistake. A silly and dumb mistake. If not, she could've talked it out.

'Who might you be?' The noble asked.

'Freya.' Was her only answer. All this time she had been gaining information. About Ori, herself, magic, the world, and much much more. However, in the end she was a human; and just like any human: she made a blunder. She had forgotten a piece of information which she could've easily gotten ahold of:

Her family name. . .

'A commoner eh.' He assumed. It was only right to assume so. Afterall, she was a lady who was wearing men's apparel at the time and she could not mention her family name. No matter how you look at it, from an outsider's perspective who never knew of Freya, she was just a commoner and of no nobility.

She had involved herself voluntarily into a troublesome matter. Freya couldn't exactly back down either as then the fact that she did not know her own family name would be revealed and if an investigation is conducted, perhaps people would find out that she was not exactly Freya. The only way for her was not backward, but forward all the way. No other choice now that she had stepped in. Might as well make full use of it.

xxx

At a later time, some people who happened to be in the crowd at morning were asked to recall the details of what had happened between the noble and Freya. When people were asked of that, they were unsure on how to answer as they had witnessed something quite incomprehensible and it could not be put into words. A battle which was so abstract that their knowledge of vocabulary was not enough to describe what they had seen. Fortunately for the reporters, someone who knew his way with words appeared and was more than glad to share with them what he had just seen. They talked it out at a certain table in a restaurant.

'After the lady didn't announce her family name,' the man started, 'the noble burst into laughter and slowly approached her. I think it was all part of the lady's plan to not announce her family name just so that she personally could beat some sense into the noble. If not, then it would make no sense would it? No matter, the noble laughed loudly as he had felt that his pride was ridiculed. While people in the crowd responded to that horrible laughter in terror; that their cheers stopped until silence took over, Freya stood there unwavering, she did not flinch and only blinked normally. I could not see the slightest trembling from her, no agitation, no discomfort, no fear. . . She just stood there watching him laugh.'

'And what happened then?'

'What happened then?' The man scratched his chin, buying himself some time for a short pause. He looked up, thinking of the most appropriate way to describe it. 'Everything else suddenly became a blur. In a moment which seemed like eternity, everything else except Freya became a blur. The laughter stopped and the noble swung his sword. For a normal person like me who never train my kinetic vision, the noble became a phantom. I know the attack happened, I know he swung his sword, but my eyes could pick up nothing. He struck fast.'

The man paused at that part of the story. Grabbing himself a drink and gulped it down with satisfaction. He then slammed the mug hard on the table.

'Freya's movement. . . was the opposite of that of the noble's, the very opposite of fast. It was slow, slow enough that I believe everyone thought that: that moment would last forever. While the noble's movement became a phantom, Freya's was perfectly clear to the eyes. I could see her slow movement, slowly twisting her body sideways to react with the upcoming sword. Whilst doing so, I could see her shift her weight slightly, lifting the wooden sword which she had held beside her leg to make a counter attack, aiming for the noble's head.'

'So, what you're saying is, Freya's movement was fast but somehow all of you see it as slow?'

'No, that is not it. What I'm trying to say is: her movement was slow, but it was fast. Not the opposite.'

'Pardon?'

'The way she moves, it was slow, even I can move at that speed. However, it was flawlessly efficient and she executed it perfectly. She didn't make any wasted movements, her motion was smooth; and that smooth-motion was fast. It's like looking a blacksmith at work you know? What makes them fast is not the speed at which they strike their hammer to shape a sword, what makes them fast is their efficiency and how they make less mistakes compared to slower workers. That was exactly the case for Freya's movement. There was no wasted motion and she took the most efficient way of moving. And it made her fast even though she was slow.'

'Within a hair's breadth, the lady had managed to dodge the opponent's blade. The wooden sword she swung hit a blur, I couldn't quite see how the noble got hit but I know that judging from the wooden sword's clear and slow movement, that it hit something, hard. Meaning: that her counter successfully worked and she had a chance. The crowd wanted to make another roar for that small achievement as they felt that the terror was eliminated. However, soon after that, everything became clear again and the noble just stood there unharmed, unfazed, he received no damage as he looked perfectly fine. Still, that would mean the lady stood a chance since her attack connected correct? The crowd wasn't stunned by the noble, rather, it was by a falling object which fell to the ground.'

'What was it you ask? The object spun at first so it was hard to figure out what it was. As it touched the ground, it sounded like wood, it then bounced like wood, and in the end it was wood. What was that wood? It was cylindrical in shape and had a dull point, it was none other than the upper half of Freya's wooden sword. Rejecting such thought, everyone looked at the sword Freya was holding. Fair enough, the weapon was broken in half. At that time, the victor was decided by everyone watching.' The man stared into blank air. 'No, it did not end yet. But the outcome was undisputable, everyone felt so. The lady had stepped in with a wooden sword against an iron sword. Then, that very wooden sword broke, of course people can tell who the winner would be.'

'After that exchange of offense, both of them stared at each other and I could see them grinning. They said the same word at the same time and it resonate through the air:

"fascinating".'