Dueling

Questioning what he'd just seen, Koku was left in awe. "What's this?" he asked as he saw random purple mist-like lines in the air. Not knowing what to do and feeling like he should've pulled his sword out, he did just that.

Koku created a weaker aura sword and slashed at the mist-like lines. He did the same with another line and another after that. Koku soon found himself slashing at them faster and faster. "Do I get something if I manage to slash them all before they can reappear?" he wondered as he slashed through them, increasing the speed slowly but surely.

After a while, Koku found himself breathing heavily. He had been pretty tired before starting to slash that mist, and afterwards he was completely exhausted. Although he was tired, he made lots of progress with this seemingly useless action.

Going back to the place where he and the rest of the students were staying, Koku went to eat at the feast. Not long after he arrived, he slipped out of the place and went to the rooms. Once he reached the rooms, Koku lay down on the bed and fell asleep fairly quickly.

Sound asleep, Koku found himself within a place full of visions. "Is this…" Koku reached out to whatever he was seeing, and it could be described as a horrible sight. Fire, blood, screaming, and a dark sky. Seeing all of this, Koku reached out to something amidst all this chaos, and as he did, he woke up.

Noticing his hand was reaching for something, Koku placed his hand over his face and smiled. This smile quickly faded and was replaced by a blank expression. Koku did a basic workout as a warm-up and left the room to go to the dining hall.

Upon arriving, he found that lots of students had already arrived and that he was one of the last three students to arrive. Two irrelevant students came in running after Koku entered the hall. The instructor, seeing this, began speaking out loud, "Alright! Now that you are all here, we'll announce the match pairings, and then you'll be put to duel another."

After stating this, he went on to announce the match pairings, and of course, Koku was matched with Yuusha. Aron was placed with a random opponent, and the rest were placed against each other.

Thing is, Koku and Yuusha's match was to be the very last one, and most people who had been watching from the farthest corners of Paladonia were hyped for this match, as they had seen how well Koku could fight and the fabled hero Yuusha.

After nearly the full day passed, Aron was up, and he, of course, beat his opponent with the fastest time of this year's test. Up next was finally Koku and Yuusha's match.

Koku made his way to this arena that looked more like a gladiator's colosseum. "This place is big," Koku thought, seeing if he could use his terrain to his advantage. Unfortunately, it wasn't to his standards, so he still walked up to the middle of the arena where the boy named Yuusha was waiting with a big grin.

After stopping within 10 feet from Yuusha, a proctor using magic spoke up and declared the match in session. Immediately after doing so, Yuusha rushed Koku with a sword materializing out of nowhere.

Koku, seeing this unfold in front of himself, created an aura sword and blocked the attack and jumped back a few feet. As Koku did this, Yuusha yelled something that Koku couldn't comprehend since he was thinking of the better counter for Yuusha's next move. Doing this, Koku noticed Yuusha's speed get faster, and he was rushing to Koku again.

"Magic enhancements…" Koku muttered as he figured out what Yuusha did and was using to get faster. Koku, however, wasn't going to let this affect his performance. Koku stepped a little to the side and positioned the aura sword a little below Yuusha's downward strike, and once they connected, Yuusha's attack slid off Koku's sword completely.

The crowd gathered in the colosseum held its collective breath as Koku deftly parried Yuusha's rapid attacks. Yuusha's eyes narrowed on Koku, and he continued to press the offensive with his seemingly random attacks. Each clash of their swords sent sparks flying, illuminating the arena in bursts of light.

Koku was beginning to get a better feel for Yuusha's random fighting style. As Yuusha lunged forward with another lightning-fast strike, Koku sidestepped gracefully, allowing Yuusha's blade to slide harmlessly past him. In one fluid motion, Koku swung his aura sword toward Yuusha's exposed side.

But Yuusha wasn't letting this happen. With a burst of agility, he twisted his body mid-air, narrowly avoiding Koku's counterattack. He landed several feet away, his chest heaving with exertion.

As the battle raged on, Koku and Yuusha continued to duel for about 30 minutes. Koku's earlier practice with the mysterious purple mist-like lines seemed to have upped his reaction speed and slashing speed. He blocked, parried, and dodged Yuusha's strikes with increasing finesse and occasionally managed to land an attack on Yuusha.

The crowd watched in awe as the two fighters demonstrated their prowess. Cheers and gasps of excitement filled the air as the battle unfolded. To everyone, this battle seemed like the peak of the day and the academy tests. However, to Koku, this was child's play. "Should I lose on purpose to avoid getting the eyes of the wrong crowd?" Koku pondered as Yuusha kept his assault.

Koku, seeing an opportunity, slid his foot under Yuusha, completely making him lose balance and fall over. As this happened, Koku rushed Yuusha and kicked him in the nose and then the rib. "GAHH!" Yuusha grunted in pain as he jumped back onto his feet. "Oh? looks like you have a little bit of blood dripping down your nose," Koku said as he smiled at Yuusha.

The message was clear as day, and that was that Yuusha was weak. It wasn't said, but Yuusha knew that's what his smile meant. Seeing him smile and hearing his words, Yuusha's blood began to boil. "KOKU, I'LL K- Kindly ask you to focus on the battle," he said visibly furious. "So he does care about his reputation," Koku thought to himself as he sighed and jumped back about 10 feet.

Yuusha began to charge something up. It was magic. "Koku, you brought this upon yourself," the people watched as Yuusha charged up an attack. One that was visibly powerful too. "HERO'S WRATH!" Yuusha yelled out at the top of his lungs.

Right before his attack was completed, Koku smiled again, and this time he slowly began raising his hand up to the air. "I…" everyone watched in awe as to what Koku's counterattack was going to be. "I…surrender." Hearing him say this caused the proctors to step in, and Yuusha, who was left dumbfounded, had to stop his attack.

Everyone was shocked, and many were beginning to get angry at Koku. Many booed at him, and many called him weak. Regardless of this, Koku smiled again and looked at Yuusha. Deep, deep down, Yuusha knew that Koku had won, since he gave up just to mock him or to do something else.

"I'll beat daylights out of him," Yuusha told himself as he forced a smile and began waving at the audience. Koku, when walking out of the arena, was questioned as to why he surrendered. Of course, his response seemed to fool almost everyone, and that was, "I got scared and was tired."

Feeling content with leaving it at that, Koku went to the spot where he was slashing (Training) the purple mist the day before.

As Koku returned to the spot where he had practiced slashing the mysterious purple mist-like lines the day before, he couldn't help but remember Yuusha's expression on his decision to surrender during the duel with him. He knew he had made the right choice, not out of fear or fatigue, but because he didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to himself. He had seen the anger and frustration in Yuusha's eyes, and he knew that winning the duel would only make him a target.

As he resumed his training, slashing at the mist-like lines with renewed determination, Koku felt a strange sense of satisfaction. It was as if the mysterious visions he had experienced in his dreams were guiding him, helping him tap into a hidden potential he had yet to fully grasp.

Hours passed as Koku continued his training, his strikes becoming more precise and powerful with each repetition. The purple mist-like lines seemed to react to his every movement, disappearing and reappearing in more intricate patterns. It was almost as if they were challenging him, urging him to push his limits.

As the day turned into evening, Koku finally decided to take a break. He wiped the sweat from his brow and looked around, realizing that he had lost track of time. The sun was setting, casting a warm glow over the academy grounds.

Feeling satisfied with his progress, Koku headed back to the rooms to rest. He knew that his decision to surrender might have disappointed some, but he was confident that it was the right choice for now. He had a long journey ahead of him, and he needed to keep his true abilities hidden until the time was right.

As he lay down on his bed, Koku's mind drifted back to the visions he had seen in his dream—the fire, blood, and chaos. He couldn't shake the feeling that those visions held a deeper meaning, a connection to his past or something else. But for now, he would focus on upping his skills and waiting patiently for the right moment to reveal how strong he really was; be it 10 or more from now.

When Koku finally fell asleep, that dream showed up again. It replayed itself, but this time it revealed more information or something more interesting, and that was...