CH 113

Episode 113 – Deciding Blow

I was facing Porta with the wooden sword that I’d bought from Iron Will yesterday in hand. He stood at the ready with the other wooden sword I had brought, but… the air of intimidation he gave off was nothing compared to Kirty’s. However, he seemed to have at least some knowledge of swordsmanship, since his posture and movements were solid.

“Ummm… so you said you were learning swordsmanship from a teacher, right Lewin?” (Porta)

“Yeah. As I said earlier, it’s been about a month since I started receiving guidance in swordsmanship.” (Lewin)

“Your stance doesn’t really give off the vibe that you’ve only started learning since last month, though… For the time being, I’ll do my best to not get defeated instantly.” (Porta)

“Ah, no! It really has only been a month since I started learning, so I think it’ll be a fair match.” (Lewin)

“Okay! That’s enough with the boring talk! The rules are as follows: the first to land 3 blows or render the opponent unable to fight wins. Are you two ready?” (Lyra)

Disregarding Porta’s pessimistic words, Lyra intervened and started explaining the rules to start the match. Land 3 hits or render the opponent unable to fight, huh? It seemed pretty impossible to achieve the latter with only a wooden sword, so I decided to aim for landing 3 hits in this match for now.

“I’m ready whenever.” (Lewin)

I had an offensive jōdan stance1 while Porta had a defensive gedan stance2. Defensive as it was, his stance probably wouldn’t be able to retaliate against any moves on Kirty’s level of power. On that note, I felt that it might be good to start with an overhead slash to catch Porta off guard right away. Having decided on my first move in my mind, I carefully watched Porta as he closed the gap bit by bit, waiting for the right timing to strike.

(TL: The author is using kendo posture terms to describe their sword stances. There are 5 basic stances in kendo, and the one Lewin is using is called ‘jōdan’, which is one of the most basic aggressive style stances. The one Porta is using is a defensive posture called ‘gedan’, which is good for deflecting blows and creating opportunities to attack. For now, I’ll just translate the kendo names for the stances directly since it seems this seems to be what the author wants to model the swordplay after, and I’ll introduce them accordingly whenever there’s a new one. It’s easier to get an idea of what their stances look like from the pictures in the links.)

…The moment before the first strike in a match was always the most nerve-racking. Unlike my mock battle with Kirty yesterday, since Porta was the one initiating the attack, it gave me the time to think about how to deal with the incoming attack, and I could also choose the timing of my own strike. Since there were a lot of things to think about, I felt that the decision to go with my signature overhead slash was a good one.

…….Two more steps, one more step.

Measuring the distance internally, the instant Porta stepped into my range, I let loose an overhead slash without a moment’s delay.

―The step in was perfect. The swing was perfect too.

I caught sight of Porta trying to put up a defensive block in a panic as he reacted to the sudden timing of my overhead slash.

Arehh, this… could it be that his guard won’t be ready in time…?

I assumed that his guard would be ready in time, so my swing had my full power behind it. I realized that, at this rate, my overhead swing would connect directly with his head so I tried to lighten the power behind it mid-swing, but the movement was so deeply ingrained in my body that I was unable to change it in time. The overhead slash infused with my entire strength sailed through the air and collided with Porta’s head with an absurdly loud crack. Feeling the blow connect so cleanly, I started panicking, but… Nina immediately sent a [Heal] orb flying over.

“Okaaay~! It’s Porta’s loss!” (Lyra)

After my blow struck directly, Lyra called the match in a lighthearted manner to Porta, who was sprawled out on the ground on his back. For a moment, I was spaced out in shock, but I quickly shook myself out of it and ran up to Porta.

“Porta!! Are you okay?!” (Lewin)

“Y-yeah. The moment your sword hit me, I really thought I was going to die. But Nina casted [Heal] right at that moment, so I think I’m okay somehow,” Porta said with a ghostly pale expression. Phew… as long as he was okay, then it was all good. For a second there, I totally thought I had killed him.

“Lewin! You don’t have to be so worried! The weapons are made of wood, and Nina’s here after all!” (Lyra)

“N-no, no! Even though it’s wood, that strike was dangerous! It was faster than an Anchor Bear’s strike!” (Porta)

“You’re exaggerating. Anyway, it’s Porta’s loss. The next match is me versus Nina. Nina, I’m going to be the one to win today.” (Byrne)

“…Byrne, I’m not going to lose.” (Nina)

Ignoring Porta’s complaints, sparks were already beginning to fly between Byrne and Nina. From what Byrne said, it seemed that Nina was also strong in close quarters combat. I thought for sure that her specialty was long range though…

“Porta, does Nina know how to use a sword?” (Lewin)

“…Eh? Yeah, among the members of [Iron Gear], Nina is the best sword user.” (Porta)

“Then let’s start with the Byrne versus Nina match! Take your positions!” (Lyra)

The two had sparks flying between their gazes as they faced each other with their wooden swords at the ready. Both of them were in their sword stances, but, while Nina’s exemplary posture was still and clean, Byrne’s stance was fluctuating and in constant movement. However, while there seemed to be gaps in Byrne’s stance at times, he seemed to be moving in a set rhythm which made it seem like there were actually no gaps at all from an onlooker’s perspective.

“Then here we go! Battle start!!” (Lyra)

At Lyra’s signal, the one who flew forward first was Byrne. As if saying, ‘victory goes to the one who moves first’, Byrne dashed forward, but Nina simply observed Byrne’s movements without showing any signs of panic.

The moment the gap between the two shortened, Byrne opened with an overhead slash. Nina calmly evaded it with a defensive sidestep and immediately drove a counter towards Byrne’s forearm. Without wasting any time, Byrne flicked his wrist and threw up a perfect guard, blocking Nina’s counterattack. After that series of back-and-forth attacks, the two looked at each other and grinned. Unlike the match between me and Porta, I could tell that this was going to be a high-level fight. I was getting hyped up as I watched from afar, enjoying the fight in high spirits.

This was the first time I was watching a one-on-one human battle, and I could tell that there was a lot to be learned just from observing. I could feel that watching these matches from a third-person view would undoubtedly help me grow a lot.