Chapter 45 - Practice Battle

The Commander fixed his gaze on Suna.

She reciprocated back with the same ferocious stare.

Without any single word or sound uttered at all, every single one of them knew that it was Suna's turn to show the Commander how much she has improved over the months.

"I am going to be using two hands now in combat now, Suna. I hope you are ready."

Luken said as he assumed a fighting stance.

He let go of his sword and implanted it on the ground.

"This exercise is going to be much like the one that I did with Zach boy over there, but you are going to have to land a hit on me before I do the same to you. Got it?"

"Yep, I got it, sir!"

Suna's eyes were that of a tiger studying the patterns of its prey.

Readying to strike and making use of whatever was around it just to land a clean swipe or bite at its prey.

This was going to be a match up of pure physical prowess, nothing more, nothing less.

Suna began stretching.

She cracked her knuckles as well as her neck.

Zachary sat next to Gavin and Yin in the green grasslands.

"Where are her weapons or grimoire? Do not tell me she is not going to use any of those."

Zachary asked both the Serpent Summoner and Yin.

"It would truly be better if you see it for yourself, Zach. Yin is not the only outlier in the Six Blades. We have quite a fair share of quirky yet unorthodox and unique members."

Gavin responded.

"If you think you are already physically strong and built well, this will make you think twice."

Yin smiled as he said that towards the curious Zachary.

The latter focused all his sights on both Suna and the Commander, eager to see what kind of battle will commence.

"Oh, by the way Gavin, the Commander never uses his hands against Suna normally in practice, right?"

Yin looked at the Serpent Summoner.

"Yes, now that you mentioned it, I remember that now. An astute observation, Yin. I truly do wonder what made him take her much more seriously this time around. This should really be exciting."

Suna began by picking up three medium sized rocks from the ground.

"Don't bore me this time, Suna."

After Luken finished his sentence, Suna immediately started her approach.

She threw the three rocks all at the same time at the Commander's right side direction.

While the rocks were still flying straight at the Commander, Suna did not wait a single moment and began sprinting to the opposite direction of the rocks.

"S-She's fast!"

Zach exclaimed.

Suna swung her fist in a jab-like manner aimed straight at Luken's face.

Followed by another jab, then another, and another.

She unleashed a full barrage of punches at his direction with such pure strength that even the three of them watching could hear the sound waves of each punch.

The Commander was forced to be on the defensive, although he dodged everything that was thrown at him in Suna's barrage from earlier.

"You're still slow, Suna."

Luken mocked her while he was smiling devilishly.

Her barrage of punches became even faster and stronger this time.

"I am pretty sure I would die if I got hit by even a single one of those."

Yin said while his face now turned incredibly white from the fear of coming into contact with Suna's death punches.

"Yeah, no kidding."

Zachary said.

"But what is her game plan? She already has Luken on the defensive, if this were a battle of stamina, she would clearly lose as Luken's only dodging with no effort whatsoever."

Gavin stated.

"Suna is analyzing the landscape and area, thinking about what environmental factor could come into play which would give her the upper hand. But I am still worried about her kicks, she has not been using them for quite some time now..."

Luken thought to himself all the while dodging her flurry of punches.

The Commander was still on the defensive in this battle, he was busy dodging, too busy in fact, to notice that he was only a meter away from a large oak tree.

"Commander, look ou-"

Yin was about to warn Luken.

Gavin quickly intervened.

"Shush, Yin. Let the battle play by itself, this is only for Suna's sake as well."

"M-My bad, sir..."

"No way, Commander Luken is about to get cornered against that tree behind him! He does not even notice it! Was this her tactic all along? Once he is cornered, it would be the perfect opportunity to use her Anima skills and affinity."

Zachary contemplated.

Luken felt something hard against his back, it was distinctly rough as well.

He turned around for a split second only to notice it - a tree.

"Crap."

He said.

Suna changed her stance and assumed a fighting position that would allow her to use her feet and kick much more freely.

While Luken was still adjusting from being too used to her punches, Suna did a round house kick aimed at the Commander.

"I will not be able to dodge it on time!"

Luken's mind was racing.

"She's got him!"

Zachary said.

"Excellent strategy, if I say so myself, Suna."

Gavin clapped.

Luken was finally forced to use his hands to shield his face from being pummeled by her kick.

"Tough kick, Suna. You almost got me!"

Luken was holding his heart with his palms indicating that he was nervous as well.

"Damn! I thought she had him already!"

Zachary exclaimed.

"I thought so too."

Yin said.

But Suna recovered fairly quickly and threw another kick at him.

Luken ducked just in time to not get hit, her legs struck the tree with such force that a hundred leaves began to fall down opposite to the birds that flew away from the impact.

"Too slow!"

The Commander chuckled.

He flicked Suna's forehead.

"I win."

Luken smiled.

"Agh! I was so close to hitting you, for real!"

Suna was disappointed in herself.

She looked down in anger.

"Hey now, look at the bright side, you made me use my hands, didn't you?"

Luken responded.