The young man stood up. "You have done well with doing all the harsh training Master gives all this time, now I'll teach you something important."
"What is it, Senior?"
"Attack me," the young man answered with a smile on his face.
Kanae stood before the young man solemnly. She took the nearby wooden sword before she sprinted towards the young man, reaching his side in split second. Her sword was aimed at his neck, threatening to wound him.
CLACK!
Kanae's eyes widened. She could clearly feel the sword connected, but at the same time, she could sense that it didn't connect. She quickly turned her body around and attacked using her sword again. Her wooden sword made its way straight to the young man's neck.
PAK!
"Your sense is quite terrifying," the young man laughed. His own sword was blocking Kanae's sword from reaching him.
Kanae frowned. "That's parrying, right?"
"Yep, but it's different than the usual parrying."
"I feel that I managed to connect and at the same time, not," Kanae frowned. It was a weird feeling that she had when the man parried her attack. Normal parry wouldn't make her feel like this.
The young man nodded. "The parry that I do is quite extreme because it's pretty near with the point of contact. This will make it seem like you're reaching me while the truth is, you did not. Normal people wouldn't be able to sense that their attack didn't reach me."
Kanae had to agree with the young man on that point. When parrying at the extreme degree like that, most people would think that they had killed the other party. At that moment, they might lower their guard.
It would make them prone to attack because their enemies could use this chance to attack them. Of if their enemies were far weaker, they could use this chance to run away farther.
"It's pretty dangerous."
The young man swung his sword. "You're correct. A single misstep at this point is enough to send me straight to the death door."
Kanae nodded her head. She believed it very much because when the attack was already too near, it would be harder to contend. Trying to parry it near the point of contact might make it a life and death situation.
"Do you think you can parry an attack when it's already too near?" the young man asked.
"I can't," Kanae answered. "I'll parry it when it's still further than me."
"You have to learn it. If someone far stronger and faster than you appear, this might be the lifesaving method," the young man smiled.
"I understand, Senior," Kanae nodded her head solemnly as she clenched the sword tighter. If it was the case, she would need to sharpen her sense much more.
"Good."
"Senior, do you learn this method because you have to run away?"
The young man stunned when he heard Kanae's question. He hurriedly shook his head. "How can that be? I just learn this because it's useful if I want to fight against someone far stronger than me."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Seeing that Kanae was unconvinced, the young man smiled bitterly. He learned this method because he was always getting beaten up by Master Rudy's direct disciple. Who told them to be monsters?
They were all extremely strong that he didn't pose any chance to beat them.
Even Kanae was stronger than him.
As the result, he knew that he had to learn some techniques to cover his weak point. This extreme parry that he learned was only one of them. He took a long time to master this move, so he knew that it was not going to be an easy journey for the young girl too.
Master Rudy looked at the two of them. His sword made a loud sound as he attacked the ground. "You two seem rather energetic after training."
Both Kanae and the young man tensed up. They were extremely familiar with Master Rudy's way.
"No, Master, I'm already tired," the young man flashed a smile.
Kanae nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, we have just finished the training, Master."
Master Rudy looked at their appearance for a few seconds before smiling brightly. "Prepare for a battle."
In that moment, the two of them immediately jumped to the side. They could feel the sudden terrifying murderous aura directed at them so suddenly. Master Rudy was still standing on his place far away from them, but there was a pressure directed at them.
Kanae felt someone was reaching for her, her hand raised her sword immediately to block the attack.
PRACK!
The wooden sword broke with one clash. The swift cut from the clash made her realized that the opponent must have used real sword. Kanae quickly switched her body stance and took out her sword from her bracelet in a swift movement.
CLANG!
The crisp sound of metal clashing rang near her ear.
Forcefully held her own against the sudden attack, she managed to stop the attack. Her eyes widened as she realized that she was dragged back several centimeters on the ground. The strength behind one single attack was enough to send her quite far like this.
"Tch, you're stronger than before, Rei."
This voice…. Kanae raised her head to look towards the man in front of him. Dressed in brown cloak with messy shirts, long hair fluttering along the wind, added with a grin full of mockery, there was no way she could forget about this man.
"Brother Dean, you're active again!"