"You are, in fact... Someone with extreme potential in the future." Quickly saying this, he rushed back in, allowing not even a split second for Lillian to process what he said.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
As they fought, Lillian was growing more and more competent.
The reason why?
It was because she had now figured out his target in this entire match.
It was her sword.
Not in the sense of parrying or keeping a wary eye on its position. But more so the fact he was trying to knock it out of her hands.
And by knowing this, she was able to gauge that the young man was holding back from injuring her.
Unfortunately for him, he wasn't aware of her luck in play. Or... That was what she hoped to think.
'Something is wrong... Terribly wrong...'
Lillian stumbled back whilst simultaneously parrying Kuro's insistent strikes that were still full of vigour. Was he trying to tire her out? Had he devised this was going to be a battle of endurance?
Lillian suddenly felt as though the man's movements were much slower and even clearer to read. That was when she realised after hearing the man's next words:
"Prevent your arms from being in a stiff location."
CLANG!
The enemy was teaching her...
Lillian raised her jian horizontally, blocking the overhead strike with the flat side of her blade and shivering from the blow. She placed her free hand against the back of her blade, pushing back.
Kuro, watching as she did this, glanced at her sword arm before muttering:
"Bend your elbows slightly. It absorbs more of the impact."
CLANG!
Lifting his blade, he raised it over his head before delivering another shattering strike on her blade. However, this time, she listened to his advice.
CLANG!
"Not bad."
They continued on their spar, but it was a lot different compared to the beginning of the match. And it was obvious even to the audience.
The Sword Genius's movements had become a lot less forceful in trying to make her surrender. Instead, he seemed to be fully inclined to teach her the way of the sword.
But for what?
CLANG!
Was he impressed by her potential?
CLANG!
Did he... Was he curious to see how she would do in taking in his advice? Was he secretly gauging her talents?
As Lillian fended off and learnt from his occasional advice, she couldn't help but realise something...
Those who are strong and talented in this world tend to like giving out advice to make others around them even stronger.
Lillian's wry smile turned to one of gratitude.
She couldn't help but be baffled by the amount of people that were kind in this world, even if it was filled with dangers.
'I guess... That's one of the reasons why I fell in love with the game. The characters aren't always rude without a reason. It's so...'
CLANG!
'Believable!'
Lillian was knocked back again. This time, her back was truly pressed up against the wall. Literally.
And seeing this, Kuro didn't go in to deliver a hailstorm of slashes. Instead, he backed away, moving towards the centre before turning around and waiting for her like a gentleman.
'He's even giving me time for a breather...?'
Lillian breathed deeply before gulping.
She fixed her posture and pushed herself off the wall before slowly striding towards Kuro.
Her face was now dripping with sweat. Her breathing ragged, although she still had stamina. Her heart was racing.
If she had to be serious, she had only gone on this long due to the fact she had known Kuro's attack patterns since the very beginning, on top of her body's sudden progress in her Battle Art.
The thought of cheating had passed through her mind, especially using her Parasitic element to somehow eat away at the man's monstrous stamina or his sword's durability.
But... That thought had completely left her mind long ago.
She stopped in place and brushed aside the fringe that hovered over her face. Once doing that, she got back into her stance.
Kuro, seeing that Lillian had gotten back into position, slowly closed his eyes, nodding before opening them and moving in to attack.
CLANG!
Lillian didn't know how long their battle lasted.
Ten minutes? Eleven? Twelve? Twenty? Maybe even a couple dozen?
She internally knew that it couldn't have lasted that long. Well, not for the fact that she was being taught mid-way through the match.
While some may feel humiliated or even feel that Kuro was looking down on them, Lillian didn't care about such feelings.
Her pride? It didn't matter as long as she grew stronger. She wanted to grow stronger. Especially today.
She wanted to know everything she could from a person with the highest affinity with the sword.
Even more than either Marionette or Reph, which was surprising.
"Mind your step."
"Ah, thanks."
Lillian raised her sword, slashing to the side, parrying another one of his attacks before stabbing forward.
Kuro quickly drew back his sword, gently tapping Lillian's blade away with the flat side of his sword before counterattacking.
Lillian leaned far back with the agility of a dancer before moving onto a roll. Once getting back up, she blocked a swift stab from Kuro, who had followed up on his earlier attack.
This lasted for a while.
Until suddenly... She felt something was slightly off.
Upon blocking another one of Kuro's slashes, she suddenly stumbled back as though she had tripped over something.
She quickly regained her balance and glanced down, noticing there was nothing on the ground that could have been the cause.
Kuro noticed her stumble and chose to ignore it, knowing that Lillian knew it was a blunder from her end.
But... After a few more mistakes of the same kind, he couldn't help but speak up.
"You must watch your step. You'll lose even faster if you keep this up." He said with a voice filled with confusion.
Lillian chose to remain silent to his words. She was confused as well. Why was she tripping all of a sudden?
Kuro, seeing her trip once again, breathed a sigh.
"This match has gone on long enough. Apologies, but my academy might be getting a bit impatient now."
Raising his sword over his head and imbuing it with a tremendous amount of mana, Lillian couldn't help but widen her eyes.
This attack was going to decide the outcome of this match.
'But... This much mana... Is he thinking of cutting through my sword?!'
Lillian had to match his mana output. It would protect her sword. But she wasn't sure how her arm would feel afterwards.
'I just gotta block it. I'll be fine!'
Imbuing her jian with mana, enhancing its durability and sharpness, she raised it over her head whilst also taking a step back.
The world seemed to slow down as Kuro—
SWISH!
—Swung his blade down with immense strength and precision behind his swing.
Lillian's breathing slowed down, feeling the air around her, once warm from the sun's rays, become chilling as it breathed down the back of her neck.
The feeling was... Familiar.
A feeling she experienced several times.
Was she... About to die?
Even with the necklace's enchantment to help balance out her emotions, she couldn't help but feel this way.
And...
She knew why.
Right as Kuro's blade was about to make contact with hers... She suddenly stumbled backwards, tripping.
Shock and disbelief flashed across her face. It was so unexpected that it caused her focus on her mana to falter, leading her sword to be without protection.
And once her jian was split into two... An instant, sharp, and diagonal pain crossed over her chest... Followed by a warm and leaking feeling.