Fated Meeting Pt. II

 *SLAP*

 "Damn, you know how to slap, should I take this as a duel invite?"

 "Yes, let's go right now."

 "Fine, let's go to the yard, then we…" As he was still sprawled out on the bed, he wanted to get up, but as he saw the fast-moving purple light aimed at his forehead, he had to jump to the side. "What the..."

 The light stopped short of the bed, and he could see the shape of a translucent sword levitating next to the girl's hand.

 "Holy, you have a spirit?!"

"Shut up and fight, you bastard!" As she said that, a strike aimed at his neck flowed from her sword, the weapon moved before her own hand, like it was reacting directly to her mind without having to go through the body, which also made it impossible to predict.

 He jumped back, hitting his head against the slanted roof.

 "Wait, wait, I'm unarmed, this is not a fair fight!"

 Her face darkened.

 "Did I say something wrong?"

 Another strike, meant to cut him in two, was launched, he jumped to the side, propping himself against a bed as he launched himself forward, charging at the girl, and with a tackle they were both sent tumbling to the ground.

 Avis ended up on top and pinned her arms, she was struggling, but he was ultimately stronger.

 "I wi…' He felt something sharp on his neck. "It's my loss." He raised his hands.

 *PUNCH* 

 As the fist reached his chin he was sent flying off of her, unconscious before hitting the ground...

…

 Sometime later, he woke up, the dizziness he was feeling almost made him fall back down, but he endured.

 Looking at his former bed, the girl was sitting with a book in her hand, his book. He shuffled to the side of the bed and yanked the book out of her hand.

She didn't react, only glancing at him with the tail of her eyes.

 "You don't touch other people's stuff, it's a rule."

 "I'm just impressed such a dumb peasant even knows how to read. And technical stories of adventures, with monster butchering and fighting techniques? Odd… And what's with all these fairytale books, you know these aren't real, right? And even if they are, those things are long dead."

 "And what if others appear, we don't know how they were made."

 "That doesn't concern you, does it? What can you even do?"

 "That doesn't concern you, does it?" He repeated her words.

 She simply looked at him, amused almost.

 "Anyway, did you perhaps steal these?"

 "No, I earn my fair share by doing work, and that doesn't even matter, if you want to stay here you follow the rules. You already broke enough during the so-called duel you initiated."

 "Hmph, I don't care for your stupid rules."

 "Then they won't care for you either… Hey! Everyone, this girl is a spirit user! She has a real strong sword spirit!" He said in an overly awestruck voice, uncharacteristic of him.

 Every face that wasn't already watching the altercation was now fixated, a spirit user at the orphanage was unheard of, and one strong enough to defeat Avis -even if he was unarmed- just made it all the better. Soon, her bed was surrounded by all the children in the room, questions flying left and right.

 "Can you show us?" "How did you get it?" "Are you a noble?" "Do you have a lover?" Even.

 She panicked, they weren't even letting her speak, as she was backed into the wall, tears started streaming down her face, and she curled up into a ball, but Avis took his sweet time gathering his belongings through the swarm of goblins. His clothes, his boots, his sword, and his books, it wasn't much, really, but he wanted to teach her a lesson.

As he sat there, the group didn't stop thoroughly questioning the girl, so he had to intervene.

 "Scram!" He shouted, and in no time the only one left was the girl, sobbing. 'Ah… I might have gone too far…'

 He turned to look at the crowd and opened his mouth. "Listen, future crooks and drunks, as of now this girl is under my protection, any disrespect towards her will also be directed at me, and I won't tolerate disrespect. Treat her as you would treat me when I'm angry."

 The braver ones nodded, accepting the fact that they won't speak to her again.

 "Now…" He turned back towards her. "My name is Avis, fourteen winters old, I assume we are the same age?"

 "Don't speak to me, commoner."

 "I feel that you have some personal problems, are you perhaps 'spoiled rotten'?"

 She didn't look at him as she turned away.

 "Fine, you just got here, I'll let you calm down."

 He moves to the next bed over, the boy that stood there packed and left before he even said a word, not that the outcome would have been any different.

…

 A few days later, seeing that the girl hadn't made any friends -or even talked to anyone, really- Avis decided to introduce himself again during sword practice.

 The training wasn't mandatory, but since unschooled orphans had very few choices for a career, there wasn't much deliberation needed. The local adventurer's guild provided them with sword training once a week, and would even recruit them at adult age if they wanted to pursue further studies.

'It's not long until I'm recruited myself, I can defeat this instructor two out of five times, that's if he doesn't use his spirit, otherwise, he could kill me in an instant.'

 "Alright, everyone, find a partner to spar with. Avis, wanna have a go with me?"

 "Sorry, instructor, but I had another partner in mind."

 "Hmm…" The instructor raised an eyebrow and scanned the grounds until he saw a new face. "Heh, you rascal, you're at that age, huh?"

 "She defeated me."

 If the instructor had a drink, he would spit it in his face.

 Avis brushed him off and walked to the girl.

 "I'm Avis, remember? What's your name?" He extended his hand with a warm smile on his face.

 She was still wary of him, but if she didn't want to fight, she wouldn't have come to the lesson.

 "Hmph, my name is Maizy, Maizy Leokadia."

 "Beautiful name, it's northern, I think? And you even have a family name? That's rare, so, Mis. Maizy, would you be willing to honor me with a duel?"

 "Hmm… If you insist, but we do it my way."

 "That being?"

 "All out!"