Chapter 5 - My loss?

In the end, Wu Zhangkong only sent Xie Xie flying by smacking him in the shoulder. After rolling over the floor twice, Xie Xie slowly got up. He clutched his shoulder and grimaced in pain.

I was starting to feel bad for him.

"You have one minute to rest. After that, the finals will begin." Wu Zhangkong shook his wrist once again, wrapping the belt around his waist before walking off to the side.

I was making fun of the whole scenario, but watching Wu Zhangkong using that belt as a sword, I was quite amazed.

During that thrust, no matter how Xie Xie dodged, his attempts were futile. Wu Zhangkong's sword seemed to lock on to his body. I had to admit, Wu Zhangkong's skills with the sword were really good.

At this moment, I couldn't properly see through his skills. This was to be expected though. If I could see through Wu Zhangkong's skills so quickly, he might as well quit being a teacher.

A minute went by quickly. Xie Xie got up still holding his shoulder before summoning his martial spirit, the Light Dragon Dagger.

Facing me, his face was calm, a stark contrast from his anger earlier. He got into his stance, ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

I summoned my sharp blade once more. I was in the same stance as before. I wanted to try out Wu Zhangkong's sword style, but I bȧrėly understood anything about it.

The tension was high as we looked at each other in the eye. I relaxed my grip on my sword, taking long and deep breaths. Soon, Wu Zhangkong's voice sounded for the last battle today.

"Begin!"

Both of us instantly disappeared from our spots, appearing with our blades clashing at the centre of the ring. We exchange tens of blows in seconds, causing sparks to fly out.

These exchanges were quite close, slightly favouring Xie Xie. It couldn't be helped. He was slightly faster than me and although I was stronger, his skill in the blade was greater than mine.

Rich kids like him have masters since a young age after all.

Nicks and tiny cuts were left on my body as the battle went on. The damage wasn't serious, but it accumulated over the course of those strikes.

Keeping my breathing steady, I dodge a stab from his dagger. Though I was at a disadvantage, I was beginning to understand his way of fighting. It was a strange feeling, but somehow, I could begin to tell which moves he would use and how he would use them. This comprehension served as a form of precognition as it became easier and easier to dodge his moves.

Not only that, from seeing his movements, I started to mimic them. It wasn't exactly the same, but I could get the basic gist of his fighting style.

My fighting patterns changed as I learnt from his blade style. My dodges became parries. My wide blade swings became more precise. I was beginning a better swordsman overall.

Eventually, I got the advantage in the fight. Xie Xie seemed to realise that as well as he instantly tried to retreat.

I couldn't stop his retreat but I could punish him for it. Swinging downwards, I left a small cut on his wrist.

The cut was quite small, not even being large enough to inconvenience him. However, that cut was exactly what I wanted.

Having managed to retreat from me successfully, a yellow spirit ring appeared behind Xie Xie indicating the use of his 100+ year old spirit ring.

[Light Dragon Blade]

A loud dragon roar reached my ears as a blade of light flew at me. It was fast, but I was faster. Jumping to the left, I dodge the blade of light only to be met by Xie Xie with his striking at me.

I parried his dagger. The force from my parry was great as it sent the dagger flying from Xie Xie's hand. He revealed a surprised look at his disarmament.

He was under the effects of my spirit ring. That cut on his hand had sent a weak paralytic poison into his bloodstream. The poison would numb him, weakening the strength he could exert with that limb.

It wasn't much but in a close quarters fight like this between similarly skilled opponents, it was a massive edge.

I prepared to end the fight with a kick, but before I could, I felt cold metal on my throat.

"Stop! It is Xie Xie's win"

I could only grimace as I heard Wu Zhangkong's voice.

This sneaky guy, he had another dagger. I couldn't see it, but he definitely had one. I could only grimace as I saw Xie Xie sigh in relief. I went into this battle trying not to use Taekwondo. My strikes with it were deadly. I didn't want to take the risk using it against Xie Xie.

You might think that blades would be more deadly, and you would be correct. But in that fight, I had over 7 chances to end that fight instantly if I used Taekwondo in conjunction with my blade.

Xie Xie was breathing very heavily. His back was slouched and his uniform was drenched with sweat. It seems that this battle took a lot out of him.

Looking at me, he gasped out with a smile, "So luck was with me huh."

Xie Xie seemed rather irked when he noticed me ignoring his words. He opened his mouth but was cut off when our teacher started talking.

Wu Zhangkong gave a really long lecture to all the students, including me. To cut it short, he insulted the class a bunch then talked about the importance of training our body and what the current curriculum would entail.

Finishing, he called out, "Xie Xie, Huang Yu, Tang Wulin, follow me." Shortly after, he headed for the Academic Building.

I raised an eyebrow. Were we going to get gifts?

No. If we were, Tang Wulin wouldn't be here. So what was it that he wanted?

The three of us followed Wu Zhangkong into his office. The office, in all honesty, was pretty sad. It was only ten square metres in size. The room was bȧrė except for a desk, a cupboard and a chair.

"The trash I referred to in my speech included the three of you as well!" Wow that was rude. You didn't have to bring us here just to tell us that you know.

He complimented Tang Wulin before asking him about his hammers. Tang Wulin admitted that he practised forging.

He rebuked Tang Wulin for taking up forging and not focusing on being a Spirit Master. He barred Wulin from forging but I could tell that his words went through one ear and went out the other.

At the end of it, Xie Xie's face was red with embarrassment and was speechless.

Finally, he turned to me. "As for you Huang Yu, you let your guard down during your fight against Xie Xie. You rushed in thinking you won and was punished for it." I gave a wry smile in response but he wasn't done.

"Not only that, but why did you hold back? Don't say that you didn't. I can tell. If you had fought as you did previously, you would have easily beaten Xie Xie." Xie Xie's face changed into an expression of shock before turning into one of disbelief.

Sighing, I replied, "I was afraid I would injure him badly by accident."

Wu Zhangkong sneered, "So you're looking down on him?"

"No, but-"

"Then don't hold back. Spirit Masters aren't so fragile that they would die from your hits."

I kept silent. Peeking at Xie Xie, I could see his crestfallen expression as he stood there.

"Enough about that. Let's get down to business."

"Every new academic year, the academy has a grand tournament. There's one for both the intermediate division and the advanced division. Our intermediate division has a total of six grades, and all of them will be participating. This tournament is known as the Class Promotion Tournament."

Oh boy. It's time for the Tournament Arc.