n

n

nShang nodded. He had waited for this examination for way too long.

nSoran answered with a nod of his own and turned towards Mervin. “Mervin, you’re the sword instructor. Could you get us a fitting opponent for Shang? You know how examinations work.”

nMervin nodded and wanted to stand up but stopped. “Shang? That’s his name?” he asked.

n“That’s at least what he wrote onto the form,” Soran said as he waved one of the forms around.

nMervin shot a weird glance at Shang.

n“Weird name, kid,” he said before leaving.

nViera only snorted, showing that she didn’t like what Mervin had just said.

nSoran only awkwardly looked at Shang. “You have to excuse Mervin. He’s an old but very capable teacher. As you might have noticed, he always speaks his mind.”

n“No, he’s right,” Shang said. “Shang is a weird name.”

nSoran’s face transformed into a representation of confusion.

nThat was not the answer he had expected.

n“Well, alright then. As long as you don’t take what Mervin said personally,” Soran said.

n“How is it not personal?” Shang asked. “He literally commented on my name. It doesn’t really get any more personal.”

nSoran moved his hands forward like he wanted to stop an expensive vase from falling to the ground. “That’s not what I meant.”

n“I know what you meant,” Shang said.

nSoran pulled back again as he looked at Shang with a slightly frustrated expression. “Then why didn’t you say so?” he asked with forced politeness.

n“Why didn’t you word it correctly?” Shang answered.

n“You,” Soran said as his hands very lightly indicated that he wanted to strangle Shang. Then, he took a deep breath to calm down. “Fine. It’s fine. The situation’s resolved,” he said.

nShang didn’t answer anymore.

nOn the side, Viera shot a strange look at Shang.

nThis kid wasn’t like most other kids.

nWas something wrong with him?

nAfter some time passed, Mervin returned with a young man.

nShang looked at the young man, or more precisely, boy.

nHe couldn’t be older than 16.

nWhen Shang saw the boy, he felt a slight feeling of threat.

nBy now, Shang was very good at judging his opponent. The slight feeling of threat he felt meant that the other side was capable of injuring him, but that was it.

nHe wasn’t a real threat.

nAfter all, even a Pest Cat had the capabilities to injure Shang.

nThe young man looked at Shang with burning eyes.

nTwo teachers and the Vice-Dean were here!

nHe had to prove his worth in front of them!

n“This will be an exhibition match,” Soran explained. “You two will fight each other. Shang, this match won’t decide if you can join our academy or not. It’s simply there so we can get a better look at your fighting style.”

n“Please, you can fight over there,” Soran said as he gestured to the empty half of the hall.

n‘So that’s why the table’s at the side,’ Shang thought.

nShang walked over to one end of the hall as he looked at his opponent.

nShang’s opponent took out his sword. It was a one-handed sword focused on a mixture of speed and power. It wasn’t as thin as a rapier, but it also wasn’t very broad.

nClk!

nThe silent sound of something metallic moving could be heard from Shang, but none of the present people could see what Shang was doing. His sword had been hidden beneath his cloak the entire time.

nThe teachers nodded when they saw that. Keeping one’s weapon hidden made it harder for the opponent to prepare themselves.

n“You can start whenever you want. This fight is not-”

nBANG!

nThe sound of Shang jumping forward with a lot of power reverberated throughout the hall, interrupting Soran’s words.

nShang’s opponent hadn’t been ready for Shang to suddenly attack, and he quickly lifted his sword to block.

nHowever, he didn’t know from which direction Shang would strike.

nShang’s sword was still hidden behind his cloak.

nAs Shang approached, his opponent quickly changed his block to a chop. In the academy, he had learned that the only option was to attack when one couldn’t find a proper defense.

nShang saw the sword swing towards him, but he had already known that would happen.

nShang wasn’t arrogant. He knew exactly that his opponent knew more about how to wield a sword than him. So, entering a sword battle with him would be stupid.

nShang saw the sword swing down. Shang put all his power into his sword arm and directly targeted the opponent’s sword.

nBANG!

nThe two swords hit each other, creating sparks as they bounced away.

nSHING!

nHowever, Shang’s sword immediately shot into the ground. Shang had blocked a chop coming from above, but instead of pulling his sword back into a combat-stance, Shang let go of his sword!

nThe opponent put all of his power into recovering his sword, leaving him open.

nMeanwhile, Shang wasn’t blown back since he had let go of the source of pushback.

nPulling off such a maneuver took a lot of practice, but Shang had had enough practice.

nAt the moment, Shang’s opponent was out of balance as he tried to pull his sword back.

nBANG!

nShang’s shoulder rammed into his opponent’s torso, taking the air out of his lungs.

nShang pushed his opponent over and fell on top of him. Then, Shang moved around his opponent’s body with practiced ease.

nCRK!

n“AAAHHH!”

nThe young man shouted in pain as Shang violently kicked the sword away, breaking at least one finger in the process.

nThen, Shang used the opening to get behind the opponent.

nLastly, Shang put his arms around his opponent’s neck and head in a sleeper hold, simultaneously pulling him away from his sword.

nThe young man’s mouth opened in pain and terror as he tried to resist.

nYet, as more time passed, he began to see stars until he only saw black.

nWhen Shang saw that his opponent had gone limp, he let go, making sure that the man wouldn’t hit his head on the ground.

nThen, Shang stood up and cracked his neck.

nAfter that, Shang looked at the teachers.

nThe teachers only looked with open mouths at Shang.

nSoran looked through the forms again to make sure that he hadn’t misread.

nCombat Style? Sword.

nNo, it definitely said sword there.

nSome seconds later, the young man on the ground groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. Right now, the young man’s mind was filled with nothing but confusion.

nWhat had happened?

nWhy was he here?

nAnd then, he looked with shock at his right hand and the two broken fingers on it.

nSuddenly, everything came back to him, and he looked at Shang, who stood in the middle of the hall right now.

n“I was told this would be a sword fight!” the young man shouted with a voice filled with a mixture of panic, pain, and anger.

nShang threw the young man a short glance.

n‘Interesting. He’s more concerned with how I fought than his broken fingers. I guess injuries are pretty normal in the academy.’

nMeanwhile, the teachers only looked at each other with uncertainty.

nThis wasn’t what they had expected.

nSoran looked at the forms again and then at Shang.

n“Sword, yes?” he asked.

nShang nodded.

n