Chapter 9: 09: Examination Fight~

The next day, following the chat in which Dexter and the otherworlders became good friends, where Dexter swore he would go drinking with them sometime and where Josephine swore she would duel him sometime.

With the sun shining, a rare day without the overcast skies, plants seemed brighter, reaching towards the sun for warmth. Yet a bitter wind continued to blow, pushing the plants back to a bend, the wind blowing through each nook, each cranny.

Shivering in the wind, pulling a cloak around herself, Kaitlyn looked out at the practice ground with a thousand yard stare, "Why am I here, I just want to sleep... Did you really have to do this in the morning?"

"Rising early is the key to maintaining a high-functioning mind my friend!" Dexter laughed, flexing his muscles as he stretched a bit, wearing some tighter clothes that still allowed for some movement, "I'll be here to observe! Got to see how our new S-Ranked Adventurer's are after all!"

"Of course!" Dexter elaborated, letting out a hearty laugh, at an energy level that Kaitlyn could not comprehend at the current time in the morning, "I want to see how you've progressed as well! It's my duty to see how one of my highest ranked adventurer's skills are developing!"

"Mhm. I see." Kaitlyn grumbled, pulling the cloak a little tighter around her, leaning against the wall under the awning, "Where are they, anyway? How late did you keep talking to them? Did you talk for a very long time after I left early to hang out with Marie?"

"I don't think I held them for too long..."

"We're hereeeee!" Rachel exclaimed, waving her hand while calling out to them, running into the practice area dragging along her three sleepy friends with her, "Sorry, as former university students, we stayed up very late... just playing cards and making bad choices."

Having an arm slung over Rachel's neck to support herself, Josephine yawned, covering her mouth with a hand, "It's fine~ We're only late by a little bit, as long as we're not tardy by more than half the class we won't be marked absen..."

"Wrong place, we're in a whole different world," Damien retorted, stretching while basking under the sun's glow, doing some warm-ups to wake himself up in the cold weather, "I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm going to try to do better than Oliver at least..."

With a lethargic smile, Oliver checked over his equipment, brushing his hair out of his face while joining Damien in some pre-battle stretches, "I plan to fight my hardest as well, so don't count me out alright? I can whoop your ass so hard you won't be able to sit down until next week."

Yawning, staring off into the middle of the practice ground with a wistful expression, where her new friends were warming up, Kaitlyn listened, looked around, trying to stay awake as she heard the sounds of life picking up again. The bustle of guild workers began to pick up once more. Nearby, Dexter turned away, pausing his conversation with Kaitlyn, beginning to greet the nearby guild workers, waiting for Kaitlyn and the others to begin their spar.

Stretching for just a moment, Kaitlyn walked over, picking up two dull practice swords, a little bit of wistfulness fleeting across her face, remembering her younger days where she trained till she bled with these types of swords. Swinging them to test their weight, feeling the familiar training sword grip, Kaitlyn murmured, "Good morning... Good morning, are you all ready to spar? Do you have an order you want to go in?"

Pushing Josephine out in front, Rachel laughed, backing away seeing Jsephine's betrayed expression, "You first, Josephine! You were the one really excited to do this after all!"

With an aggrieved expression, Josephine nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line as she fell into her martial arts stance, raising her armored fists in preparation.

Waiting for Rachel, Oliver, and Damien to leave the field, letting them stand off to the side to spectate, Dexter pulled out a coin, declaring, "Classic spar! No magic techniques except body enhancement. When this coin hits the ground, the fight begins!"

One breath.

...

Two breaths.

...

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*Ting*

Josephine leapt forward in a flash, raising her speed with magic. Lashing out with her fists, testing out Kaitlyn's defence.

Minimal movements.

Lean. Parry. Block.

Kaitlyn dodged, over and over, letting Josephine let out a barrage of attacks, before putting a little more force into a block, forcing Josephine to take distance once more.

A moment of silence descended, a moment of stillness.

Inhale. Exhale.

"I'll be attacking now." Kaitlyn declared with a solemn expression.

With a slight lean forward, Kaitlyn seemed to disappear, her speed inhuman, appearing in front of Josephine already mid-swing.

Fast. Unbelievably fast.

That was all Josephine could think of, dodging left and right unable to do anything but try to survive.

Letting out an endless stream of slashes, stabs, feints, Kaitlyn chased Josephine, not letting her have a semblance of room, a semblance of rest.

Their figures chasing each other, sounds of the fight filling the area, a gust of wind marked the end. Coming to a close, Josephine stood there, her short hair fluttering in the wind, out of position, out of breath, letting out a sigh of resignation feeling Kaitlyn's sword against her neck.

"You did well." Kaitlyn turned away with a light nod, sheathing her swords as she walked back to the other side of the arena, staring off into the sky, reflecting on the fight that had just transpired.

Sitting down on the bench, still gasping for breath, Josephine slumped over, leaning against Oliver who was next to her, "That was so one-sided... she was so strong."

"Truly well fought! A splendid match, I look forward to fighting you even more!" Dexter nodded a wide smile on his face, walking over and patting Josephine on the back, "Don't mind Kaitlyn, in fighting mode she's colder than usual."

With a worried expression, Dexter added, "And recently a lot more sad than usual..."

Seeing Dexter's worried expression, Oliver, Rachel, Damien, and Josephine all seemed ready to pipe up before being interrupted by Dexter clapping, "Anyway, who's next? If nobody volunteers I'll be choosing someone!"

"I'll go," Damien stood up, pushing himself off the bench, "Might as well get the ass-whooping over with!"