Five in a Row
Master Geifong strolled in, hands hidden together in the long sleeves of his hanfu, with Princess Dinan to his back, who was carrying a tray of food. The master glanced at the automaton nearby, noting its distance from Fate and its empty hands.
His eyes shone with undiluted pride, before quickly being replaced by a detached indifference. He turned to Fate.
"So, you've bested it already. How many does this make?"
"One, Master Geifong. And only against the sword."
Geifong nodded imperiously, deciding not to tell Fate that even his best students took a full year to best the automaton's dual-wielded swords, as opposed to Fate's two months.
"Well, put your weapons away for now. We've brought your lunch." The automaton stopped in its tracks in the middle of the room at the command, standing straight until its services were required again.
Dinan handed Fate his meal, receiving thanks in return, and she and Geifong watched as Fate plopped onto his bed, devouring the mashed potatoes, corn, apple, and grapes in large bites. In less than two minutes, the entire tray was clean, and Fate handed it back to Dinan along with the tray from that morning.
Geifong looked his student up and down. "When was the last time you showered, young man?" Fate's shirt was soaked through, and his hair was greasier than a paleontologist named Ross. In other words, he looked horrible.
"This morning, Master, but I haven't taken a break since breakfast. I was going to hop in the shower before lunch, but lost track of time." Fate used the bottom of his shirt to wipe some sweat off of his face, the shirt hiding Princess Dinan's blush from his view.
"Well, then. We'll step outside for a second. When we come back, I expect you to be presentable. No student of mine should ever be in such a sorry state when in the presence of company," Geifong scolded.
Fate bowed. "Of course, Master."
When Dinan and Geifong stepped back inside, Fate had changed into a fresh set of clothes left by a servant that morning, although there was still a slight sheen of sweat on his brow as he had decided to resume sparring with the automaton while he waited.
The two patiently waited to the side for him to wrap up, which he did with another victory, ducking under the automaton's swing and pivoting around to its back, lopping off its right arm in the process, then cutting off the left arm, all in one flowing motion. Fate kicked the machine in its back, casting it onto the ground, then placed his sword's tip against the back of its throat.
"Impressive, I must say. Two victories in the same day, all within the first three months," Master Geifong said.
"Three, Master," Fate corrected, removing his sword from the robot's neck. Its arms wiggled around on the floor, inching toward the body they were freed from. "I bested the bot again while I was waiting for you to return."
"Really?" Geifong pulled his hand out of his sleeve, stroking his half-beard. "One more won't hurt, then, will it? Show me."
Fate bowed, then moved away from the training dummy and readied himself. The arms reattached themselves, and the thing's head rotated around, standing up like a puppet being pulled into the position as the knees bent a way they weren't supposed to in an average human. Its torso swiveled around so it faced the same direction as the head, and it entered a ready stance.
The two stared at each other, one with a dark gaze broken by piercing blue, the other with a smooth metal faceplate.
Then the bot charged, jumping ten feet into the air when it was a few feet away from Fate and swinging downward with the momentum of the fall.
Fate pirouetted, effortlessly redirecting the two blades with the flat of his own, and twisting around to slash at the bot's back as it landed. The bot's torso swiveled, its head moving with it, and it started slashing and hacking at Fate, torso swiveling in circles as it struck from up, down, left, right, left, up and right, right, down and right, left, every strike flowing into the next.
Fate was moving similarly, spinning, parrying, deflecting, his hands gliding along the hilt of his Miao Dao to adjust for the needed reach and torque. Every deflection of the bot's blade was met with a slash, every chop with a spin of his sword, every hack with a sidestep.
The two threw dozens of attacks at each other in under a minute, each attack from one perfectly countered by the other.
Until finally, the bot made a mistake.
When Fate smacked away a strike aimed at his right foot, the bot let its blade carry itself, spinning its entire body and placing its two swords parallel to each other, before twisting around into a sharp thrust aimed straight at Fate's abdomen.
The worst thing you could do against a wielder of a Miao Dao.
Fate twisted, letting the points pass his stomach, and struck the flat of his blade against the bot's own, smacking one into the other. He slid his blade up the length of the bot's sword as it struggled against him, closing the distance with two quick steps and gliding his Miao Dao straight into the bot's fingers, shearing them off.
It dropped the sword it was holding with that hand, swinging the other straight for Fate's neck. Fate ducked under it and slashed with his blade, lodging it partly into the automaton's torso. A move that would've bisected a human.
The training dummy, recognizing its defeat, immediately stood down, its arms dropping and dangling at its sides. When Fate stepped away, yanking his blade out, the robot bent down and pressed its fingerless hand against the floor, allowing the squirming fingers on the ground to reattach themselves, then grabbed its fallen sword and waited.
"Well, what do you know," Geifong exclaimed. "Five in a row, and you've only been studying for three months. That's a new record."
Fate bowed deeply. "Thank you, Master."
"Sorry to spoil the good news like this, young one, but the timetable has changed. The Fractured have attacked. They've completely taken Gratnora, and are marching to Frendnann as we speak. You're requested on the front lines.
"You have two more weeks in here, five minutes outside, before you need to get ready for battle."