Gregory collected a practice naginata, thinking about how best to beat another physical enhancement mage. He found it a little odd that most physical magi and mages used large weapons, while Jenn favored her much shorter sword. Then again, most of them are large and muscled, and Jenn isn’t large at all, he thought.
“Make it a good fight,” Hayworth said.
“I’ll do my best,” Gregory said.
“I doubt this one will impale himself for you,” Parks snorted.
“I wouldn’t expect him to,” Gregory shrugged.
“We’ll be waiting,” Yukiko said, with Jenn nodding her agreement.
Meeting their eyes for a second, Gregory exhaled. “I’ll be back shortly.”
Egil gave him a slight nod when Gregory went past him. His lips twitched, as he knew the older man was eager to see him fight again.
When he left the waiting area, the crowd roared. It was a mixed reaction— there were cheers to encourage him, but also boos, as some people clearly took offense that he hadn’t lost. Gregory raised his left hand to acknowledge the crowd briefly, but he lowered it when the other waiting area opened.
Ivan Armstrong walked purposefully out of the waiting area, a single hand raised to acknowledge the raucous cheering. Ivan’s zweihander was balanced on his shoulder like Gregory’s naginata was on his. Gregory wondered if the other man felt the hope of the crowd on his shoulders.
Ivan gave Gregory a nod of his head, a smile coming to his lips. “Been looking forward to this fight.”
“I have not,” Gregory admitted.
“The rules remain the same,” the announcer said before backing up. “Bow.”
Ivan did as he had with most of his fights, planting the massive sword in the ground to bow before reclaiming it and taking up an attack posture. Gregory leaned the naginata against him as he bowed formally to Ivan. With that done, he swept the naginata up and spun it into the classic first stance.
Gregory exhaled when he met Ivan’s eyes. He’ll come in, but slowly… he doesn’t want to impale himself like Stallo did. I can’t block that massive sword, either. I’ll have to guide it past if I engage it, he thought. Pushing his aether into foresight, he watched the first few seconds of the fight before dialing it back to only show him two seconds. He had picked his path, and now, he would do his best to win.
“Fight!” The single word filled the air.
The same instant the announcer spoke, Gregory launched himself forward, weapon spinning. Ivan backed away even though Gregory wasn’t in range to strike him. Gregory had rarely attacked at the start— he’d normally chosen to avoid and then attack. The only deviation from that had been Claudia, when he’d had to throw his naginata right at the beginning.
Gregory saw the moment Ivan decided on his own plan of attack. The mage rushed forward with two unenhanced steps before lashing out with his massive sword. If Gregory blocked, his naginata would shatter. If he tried to dodge left or right, Ivan would close farther, putting them inside both weapons’ reach.
Gregory leaned back, pulling his naginata with him for just a moment. He was just in time, as the blade of the massive wooden sword just missed his weapon. In the next heartbeat, Gregory lunged forward.
Ivan hadn’t expected the lunge— he’d gone to reverse the momentum of his attack, but had to release the hilt with one hand to slap Gregory’s naginata aside. With his left hand holding his weapon and his right out of alignment, he wasn’t prepared for Gregory to again do the unpredictable. He staggered backward when the kick caught him in the gut.
Gregory kept moving, following his foresight. As Ivan staggered, the naginata spun up and around. Most would go for a decisive blow at that moment. Ivan expected it, which is why he managed to bring the zweihander up, his hand gripping it under the cross-guard— the section of metal between the cross-guard and parrying hooks wasn’t sharp on a normal zweihander, so it didn’t bite into his hand. Instead of attacking hard, the way Ivan expected, Gregory skipped back, using his naginata to clip the mage’s knee.
Ivan cursed as he leaned into his other leg. Even with reinforcing his body, that attack with a real weapon would have gashed him badly. He did his best to keep up, but he felt slow and clumsy compared to Gregory, a feeling he was unaccustomed to.
Gregory flowed smoothly around the other man, making him pivot on his bad leg. Ivan tried to buy time, gambling by spinning the other way, his zweihander coming around with all he could give it. That took his eyes off Gregory for an instant.
Gregory dropped to his knees and thrust upward, his timing perfect. As Ivan came around with his sword horizontal to try giving him room, he missed seeing Gregory. His eyes shot open when he caught the flash of yellow from Gregory’s robe on the ground. The next instant, he let the zweihander go flying as he grabbed at his neck.
“Stop!” Sasha, the Buldoun referee, called out.
Gregory got back to his feet as Ivan gasped. “Good fight.”
Ivan coughed for a few seconds— Gregory’s hit had caught him in his unprotected throat. It hadn’t crushed anything, but it had choked him up. “No… it… wasn’t,” he wheezed as he tried to breathe.
“It was,” Gregory insisted. “If you’d brought a shorter weapon, you might’ve won. Getting in close would have favored you more.”
“It was like you were two steps ahead of me the entire fight,” Ivan exhaled, finally getting his breathing back under control.
“Two seconds,” Gregory said. “I was two seconds ahead of you.”
Ivan shook his head, then bowed deeply at the waist. “Thank you.”
Gregory planted the naginata, then bowed as magi did. “Thank you. I had no idea your weapon was designed for that odd grip.”
“I can fight up close with it by gripping it there and using the right angles,” Ivan sighed. “Damn… I’d really hoped to do more. I’ve really worked on my skill with my weapon, too.”
“We did finish the fight quickly… Excuse me, ma’am?” Gregory asked, addressing Sasha. “Can we have a few minutes for an informal spar?”
“What?” Sasha asked, blindsided.
“We finished way faster than the normal time limit,” Gregory started.
“Yes, but you seem to make a habit of that,” Sasha replied, cutting him off.
“Can we announce an informal, weapons-only match?” Gregory asked.
“Really?” Ivan asked, his shock clear.
“It’ll be like sparring with my wife,” Gregory said. “As long as no aether is being used, it’ll be fine.”
Willof came their way with Ivan’s sword in hand. “What’s going on?”
“Your magi is saying he’ll do a weapons-only spar with Armstrong,” Sasha said.
Willof snorted. “Pettit, did you bother telling him that you fight armsmasters to a standstill?”
“He what?” Sasha asked.
“Umm…” Ivan said slowly, clearly not as eager.
“Egil Magi-killer, the armsmaster we have with us. He’s feared for his skill with, as funny as it is, the naginata.” He handed Ivan the large sword. “He’s fought Gregory with that same weapon and, from what I’ve heard, they’re an equal match.”
“Buldoun declines,” Sasha said quickly.
“I wouldn’t hurt Ivan,” Gregory said.
“It would embarrass my country more…” Ivan said somberly.
“Oh. Right… sorry. I just like to train with friends.”
Ivan stared at Gregory for a second, then barked a laugh. “Fair. I have to decline, though.”
“Very well,” Gregory said, bowing again.
“How about that?” the announcer asked, coming out of Buldoun’s waiting area. “Undefeated after nine fights. Yet again, he makes it look nearly effortless as he dispatches another mage. We’ll be looking forward to the group battles in the coming days.”
Taking that as their cue, the two young aether users bowed once more before heading to their respective waiting areas.
“Well done. What was the conversation?” Hayworth asked when Gregory entered the room.
“We discussed another fight without aether,” Gregory said. “Their referee quashed the idea.”
“Too bad. Maybe he’d have had better luck then,” Jason muttered.
“Greg would have won that fight, too,” Jenn snorted at Jason. “Outside of Egil, he’s the most proficient with just weapon skill.”
“Of course, you’d say that,” Parks sneered.
“I think she’s right,” Kang said. “I’ve seen him fight without aether.”
“When?!” Jason snapped.
“When we’ve trained for the last fight,” Hayworth said. “Some of us think to work together.”
“Our next fight is one to get excited for,” the announcer said. “Wallace Hayworth of the Swift Wind clan, user of spatial magic, represents the empire. His opposite is from Eagle House, Pavil Cutter, a wind mage. Let’s cheer for these two men. Fighters, it is time. Come forth.”
Hayworth went and took his weapon and shield off the racks. “I’ll make it two and one.”
“Two and oh, you mean?” Parks snorted.
“No, I mean two and one. Did you forget that Nick’s fights are all forfeited? That counts as a loss for us,” Hayworth said with a smug smile on his lips. “Some of us can remember important details.”
Jason seethed, but just glared at Hayworth.
