-Aearial POV-

After my spar with Cyril and my humiliating loss, I felt frustrated thinking about it. I wasn’t frustrated towards losing or at Cyril, but towards my oversight.

During the match and even before it, I failed to noticed that I psyched myself out with nervousness. I didn’t realize that I was nervous from facing a hero that far exceeded my skill and age and it resulted in me on the ground from being winded.

When I faced Cyril, I thought I roughly figured out how he operated based on the previous spars with Lex and Halbert. I assumed that Cyril was more of a passive fighter that will do things with the least amount of effort and exploit kinks in his opponent’s armor and then rip that armor away leaving them open to the world.

During his spar with Halbert, he purposely provoked Halbert which made his attacks become more straightforward. All Cyril did during the spar was use Judo throws and grapples to bring down Halbert who is a large man. When he tested Lex’s defense, instead of using physical attacks, he used the young blonde girl named Mai who transformed into a gun just like in fictional stories to test him.

In both situations, Cyril didn’t attack aggressively and only used grapples and ranged attacks to spar with both guys so I assumed that he fought in a more passive style that took advantage of the opponents flaws to counter them at the right moment.

So, when it was my turn to spar I thought about this and decided to use one a special martial arts form that I personally created using key points of various defensive martial arts forms. I never named it anything in particular except for ‘Form Six’ and this form focused on pure defensive counters and grappling.

But Cyril did something different, instead of a gun, the girl named Mai turned into a combat knife. He also took a stance for the first time that I recognized was called the knife fighters stance used mainly by the military and soldiers. Seeing that he wasn’t using a gun anymore I switched my stance from ‘Form Six’ over to ‘Form Nine’ which is like what form six is meant for, except it has more focus on counters against blades and weaponry while standing still and less on moving from one spot in a moment’s notice.

After the spar began, it was over in only a minute with my complete loss, but what did I do wrong you may think, What I failed at was that I assumed. I thought that he was a passive fighter, but he fought me in a defensive battle that I lost in, I also failed when I assumed that since he said that him and Mai are partners, that he wouldn’t do one thing, let go of her to achieve victory.

It’s basic psychology for most people that if someone with a weapon is facing someone without a weapon, the armed fighter will by nature, attempt to hold on to their weapon and not lose it as it will place them on the same playing field as their unarmed opponent.

I assumed this would be the same with Cyril as well, but he didn’t think the same way that most people would which I realized while I was on the ground desperately trying to breathe.

I had nothing to complain about how I was treated because I was the one that made the mistake. The heavy feeling of frustration keep my thoughts from moving on from the past. Even though it would be smart to learn from my mistake and just move on with the day, I am unable to.

I can’t because of a haunting feeling that has already burrowed deep into my heart and left a deep scar after it violently dug its way in. This feeling was like a parasite that would constantly mock me and act as a reminder of my powerlessness and my failure to save someone.

Every time I feel that I can finally move past my failures and call myself strong enough, this parasite will resurface on my heart and then reality will tightly grasp onto my fantasy and rip it apart as if it was made of paper.

Before these negative thoughts could further grab ahold of my mind, the sound of Cyril’s voice refocused my mind on what’s in front of me and away from my inner thoughts.

“Alright Erline lets have you go next since I can see that you can’t wait any longer, but I should probably apologize to your father later when I see him again.” (Cyril)

“With pleasure, Mr. Cyril, but why the apology if I may ask.” (Erline)

“Don’t worry, you’ll know later” (Cyril)

Due to me being lost in my thoughts, I didn’t realize how long it’s been from when I was winded from my spar, but I can tell it’s been a few minutes since there isn’t any more noticeable pain. I realized that I once again allowed my mind to wander to deep once again and I decided to refocus my mind on what’s in front of me which is the next spar.

Looking at Erline with her striking bright red hair, she seemed to elude a feeling of grace, but at the same time anger from her eyes. As she stood with her feet slightly spread apart she finally began to unsheathe her weapon that was hanging down from her right side at her hip.

The weapon that she unsheathed was a sword that I honestly couldn’t name when I saw it. Overall it resembled a Katana but it lacked the wavy lines, that I never cared to remember what they were called, that are usually seen on katanas.

Looking at it, even though I have never been so much of a sword enthusiasts, even I could tell that the blade was a beautifully crafted weapon. The blade was simplistic except for a small engraving near the swords cross guard that must have been the blacksmiths signature, the guard was a bit more elaborate and looked like what you would see on other katanas for its guard I guess.

Moving my eyes from Erline over to Cyril and at that moment saw Cyril have Mai change back into Revolver again although the shape was slightly different with its larger barrel and overall size.

“Alright, shall we begin.” (Cyril)

After saying that, Erline smiled coldly while staring at him and readied her sword by holding it with the blades tip pointed backwards on her right side. She slowly lowered her stance and leaned forward ever so slightly until she vanished.

I say vanished instead of accelerated forwards because what Erline did was like what Cyril did previously against Halbert when he overwhelmed him. If I had to say how fast she was then Erline is a whole other level above in speed compared to Halbert but still slightly below Cyril’s speed.

Compared to Halbert who kicked up a large cloud of dust when he moved, the only indicator that showed she was previously there was an indication of her footprint that was left.

The moment that Erline vanished, Cyril turned his body to the side completely in a casual manner and then her onslaught began a second later.

After Cyril moved his whole body to the side, Erline reappeared behind him and following her was her blade that moved in an upward vertical slash towards the place that Cyril previously stood at.

Even though her blade only hit air, it seems that she predicted that outcome and followed up after the first missed strike. With a quick twist of the sword, Erline turned the direction of the edge of the blade that was pointing up and turned it so that it was facing down and then slashed down again while shifting her weight so that her right side was beginning the motion for a full spin around.

To some people, this movement would be difficult if not impossible due to the inertia that from the first upward slash would resisting the sudden change, but I could tell that Erline was extremely talented in swordsmanship.

Some may say that talent with swords doesn’t have any connection with ignoring inertia, but that wasn’t all that she had. From her previous conversations with Cyril, it’s clear that they are well acquainted with each other, which makes sense since Ms. Ambrosia even stated that he was summoned here before.

Going back to the first strike, the reason that she could turn the blade and slash backdown with little effort was because she expected it to miss most likely. When she slashed the first time, she didn’t put much strength and weight behind it that would cause excessive inertia to form and place only the minimum amount of strength needed to effortlessly change directions.

That is why I brought up her talent with swords and her knowing Cyril, because these two things are what allowed her to continue her offense.

The problem lies though with knowing Cyril, because it means that he also knows her habits as well most likely which explains why he could avoid the first slash as well as the downward slash that Erline just attacked with.

Cyril just causally avoided her slashes by turning his body once he turned around after the first strike. After Erline failed to land the second strike, he movement didn’t end with it as she was already beginning her third strike when she shifted her weight and used the momentum from the downward slash to spin around in tight, fast motion to prevent any excessive time between her view of Cyril and her turning around in a spin.

Once she completed he spin that was followed by a horizontal slash that was aimed at Cyril’s chest which once again met with air since Cyril bent his upper body back to avoid it. This exchange continued for a several minutes that consisted of Erline aggressive slashing at Cyril while he continued to avoid the blade.

Watching both was a sight to behold that made me completely forget about my previous frustration. Watching Erline fight was like watching a beautiful blade dancer preform, each slash was precisely done and he movements were smooth and well-practiced to the point that it became art that combined beauty and practical combat.

Watching Cyril continue avoiding the edge of the blade with efficient and casual movements was just as amazing to watch as well that he was like a leaf.

The way that both seemed to predict each other’s movements and their attempt to gain the upper hand showed the skill that both possessed. The continued onslaught of Erline’s attacks were done in rapid and nonstop motions, but she showed little evidence of being exhausted at all.

Both continued this exchange, but the whole time it was evident that even though Erline was attacking and Cyril was dodging, it was clear who was the instructor and who was the disciple.

Suddenly when Erline was in the middle of another diagonal slash that was aimed downward towards Cyril’s left shoulder, he made his first and last offensive move.

Cyril’s right hand that was holding Mai instantly moved towards Erline except not towards her body, but her blade. Before Erline’s blade could connect with Cyril, it was met with the end of the barrel from a revolver as Cyril pressed it against the side of her blade.

The sound of a silenced gun and the loud sound of metal violently breaking resounded. Instantly I grabbed Elena who was standing right next to me on by right and pushed her away just in time as a blade flew past right where Elena was standing and lodging itself in the ground behind us.

Looking at it after it landed in the ground it was obvious where it came from but it was missing something and that was the other half.

Elena who I had to push away looked at me before following my gaze and understood why I did that since if I hadn’t than she would be moving on to her next task right now.

“Thanks for that Aria, wow that was an unpleasant surprise I guess.” (Elena)

“Sorry about that Elena, since you currently have no weapons yet and since it seems that you don’t have much experience in hand to hand combat, I just wanted to at minimum test how you react for now until I get some training gear.” (Cyril)

Looking back where Erline and Cyril were sparring, I saw Cyril who was turned towards us while speaking and the sight of Erline standing motionless while continuing to blankly stare at her broken sword.

“Next time, please don’t do something that could potential turn me into something that a butcher will sell daily just to test me, please. I honestly prefer my body kept in one whole piece.” (Elena)

“No promises on that, well I guess that ends our spars for today as well as training. Tomorrow we will meet here again and then I will explain what each of you need to improve upon. For tonight, I just want you to think about how and why you either lost or could improve after your spar. Dismissed.” (Cyril)

After hearing what Cyril said, I guess that ends for today all the spars for today and after helping Elena back up from off the ground and along with Halbert and me, all three of us left along with Ms. Ambrosia so that we can get our room arrangements and discuss so small things such as uniforms and such.

-Cyril POV-

After I dismissed everyone and most of them left in different directions and that included Mai who changed back into her humanoid form and since I wasn’t planning on fighting anymore today allowed her to leave so she could go to the library. The only ones left at the training grounds was me and Erline who was still left in a daze.

Seeing that it may be my fault that she is like this, I decided to wait for when she finally recovers. It didn’t take long though because after around five minutes she finally fell to her knees and broke down while she began to laugh.

“Hahahaha– even though I have been training so hard for over five years, I still can’t even put a single god damn scratch on you. Even though I am not the strongest or smartest, I still had pride in my speed, I believed that with that alone, I could at least hold my own you know.” (Erline)

I stayed silent as I listened to Erline continue to ramble on while tears streamed down her face like a river and her eyes stared upward at the sky as if searching for some sort of answer.

“I trained day in and day out in pursuit of my goal, I never stopped training after you disappeared five years ago, because I hoped that one day I can reach that point where if you ever saw me again then you would comment on how strong you have become. I believed that desperately as that was all I had after you failed to keep your promise to me and disappeared without even saying goodbye once.” (Erline)

“You should know better than anyone that you shouldn’t make promises that you know others won’t keep.” (Cyril)

I am not the right person that you want to make promises with since I suck at keeping them at the most crucial of moments when I need. But I guess I should at least apologize to her as a basic curtsy at least so I started walking towards Erline who looked like she was waiting to break at any moment.

After I arrived in front of her I silently stood looking down at her as I saw Erline visibly tense up and my movement. I than silently extended my right arm and moved it towards Erline who grew tenser with each passing moment before he body completely relaxed once I placed my hand on top of her head and gently began to rub it.

“You know that during our spar today, I was somewhat surprised by how far you have come from the timid little princess that always clung to my leg since she was so shy to a grown-up princess that doesn’t shy away from fighting and fights with everything she has in her pursuit of her dreams. Seeing the clear growth that you have gone through over five years, I can confidently say to you that you have become strong.” (Cyril)

While listening to my words, I could see Erline’s eyes regain some light again, but I am not some gentle father that encourages his children, but an instructor that will mix scolding and encouragement together.

“But you are far from reaching the strength that you secretly desire for because it is an impossible goal to gain absolute strength even for me. As you are now, you are nothing more than a rock that was found near the river bed with part of the inner gemstone revealed from a small crack in the rock. That little crack is what shows your potential to grow, but you have yet to become polished to fully reveal all the gemstone that’s hidden inside. Even after you have been polished, you are still not done.” (Cyril)

“Wha– gemstones, polished?” (Erline)

Looking somewhat confused by the analogy, Erline stared up at me while she stopped crying.

“What I am trying to say is that you will never come to a point where you can call yourself strong enough, because by saying that, you are admitting that it’s okay to stop when you say it’s enough. If you desire to become like a hero than you must have the resolution to never stop fighting and always stand back up despite the pain you feel, because heroes are people that fight for good or righteousness, but they are the individuals that know when to stand back up when they need to.” (Cyril)

“But how do you know when you need to stand back up when you need to know, what if you never know when it’s right.” (Erline)

“One outcome is that you either regret your mistake and learn from it for the future. The other outcome is you learn to believe that every situation is one that you need to continue to stand back up because it lowers the chances of regretting that you didn’t stand back up when you need to.” (Cyril)

Honestly the answer should be simple to most people but as humans we love to make everything complicated and complex when it doesn’t need to be. I can’t make fun of people since I am also human and not perfect, but once you live for time that I have, you tend to lower the number of faults by one or two at least.

After hearing my words, Erline began to cry once again while looking up at me before she asked one final question.

“But will I be able to protect others when I truly need to if I’m not strong when I need to be.” (Erline)

“I’m going to be honest with you, people may see heroes as idealized and over glorified, but you need to remember that we are still mortals, we aren’t gods. There will be times that you will be able to save people when you need to, but there will also be times when you will fail to save others. I don’t consider myself as some sinner or saint either, I am only an old warrior that fights to protect the natural balance, that’s all.” (Cyril)

“So, your saying its hopeless to dream of saving people, I can’t accept that.” (Erline)

“I never said that, like I said I am only an old warrior that protects the balance, but you can walk down a different path than I do, you can be someone that works to destroy balance and tries to save more people than you lose. Don’t weigh yourself down by the ones you fail to lose and ignore the ones you save or else the weigh you continue to carry will make it harder to stand back up when you truly need to.” (Cyril)

After hearing, what I said, Erline once again broke down and began to act like she did when she was younger when she would cling to me. She began tightly wrapping her arms around my stomach while letting her eyes gates to finally break open and allow her tears to spill out completely.

She stayed like this for a while as she continued to cry, but I knew my words had an impact with inspiring her to learn to stand back up after failure. From past experiences, I understood that with this her growth will now truly begin to shine like a polished gemstone.

While letting my mind wander in thought again, I vaguely remembered an old proverb from some island country in my first life as I quietly whispered to only myself.

“Fall down seven, get up eight” (Cyril)