Guardians Academy

"What? No…"

"How dare you! That's a direct insult to my honor! I challenge you to a duel, sand arena, right now!"

"Wha…?" Cody stared. "What are you talking about?"

"Melee or unarmed combat?" Kalen asked.

"Huh?" Cody blinked.

"Do you want to fight with weapons or just fists?" Kalen prodded.

"No! No weapons!" Cody began hurriedly. "Actually, I hadn't even agreed to a fight…"

"Two hundred and fifty credits!" Kalen cut in. "The full price of the Ring of Light! Those will be my stakes to match your Ring! Winner takes all!"

"Wait, what are you talking about?!" Cody blurted.

"He's going to fight you for your Ring." Laila told Cody then. "Whoever wins gets both your ring and his 250 credits."

Cody grimaced. "Can't I just refuse?"

"You can try. I don't think he'll just leave you alone, though." Laila said, doubtfully. "Can you win?"

"How should I know?" Cody shook his head.

"Have you learned any unarmed martial arts?" Laila questioned.

"What? No."

"Then you're about to get beaten to a pulp. I've seen Kalen fight unarmed before. He's definitely got some martial arts training."

"Then…" Cody paused. "I guess I better call for a sword duel. At least I learned a bit about the Mina Sword Style. That's pretty much all I've got."

"And what if he turns out to be a better swordsman?" Laila asked. "I think he's got some training there too."

Cody thought about that for a minute. Then, he yelled, "Kalen! I'm NOT FIGHTING!"

And then he ran away.

***

Intending to buy items from the sale event, Cyril appeared in Initial Village in time to see Cody run.

Kalen gave chase. "Cody! Fight me! FIGHT ME!!!"

"Nooo!" Cody dashed toward the Personal Space entrance and darted in.

Kalen ran right in after him, but Cyril shook his head. Following someone into the Personal Space entrance without an invite would just end you up at your own Personal Space. Kalen obviously found that out immediately and exited looking rather dark in a moment.

"Cody! Come out and fight! I'm going to hound you until you fight me!!" Kalen yelled.

But there was no answer.

On a hunch, Cyril logged off.

Sure enough, Cody was there in their family comms room, in the process of exiting his own Sphere.

"Cody? What was that all about? That boy chasing you for a fight?" Cyril asked.

Cody heaved a sigh and explained. It took a while.

Then, Cyril nudged him. "So, what are you going to do? He's going to be on the lookout for you every time you log in from now on, you know?"

"I'll just have to avoid him, I guess." Cody g.r.o.a.n.e.d.

"I don't think that's going to last very long. Sooner or later he'll catch up to you and attack whether or not you're in the arena, or whether or not you've agreed. Running away like this… aren't you basically asking to be bullied from now on?"

"Well, what else am I supposed to do? I barely learned anything about sword fighting, much less unarmed combat!" Cody protested.

"Really? Try to hit me." Cyril invited.

Cody, out of frustration more than anything else, threw a punch at Cyril.

In an instant, the whole room turned upside down, and a heavy impact knocked all the breath out of him. Cody blinked in a daze before slowly coming to his senses and realizing that he'd been thrown onto the floor and way currently lying on his back looking up at the ceiling…

"How did you do that? Where did you learn that?! Can you teach me?!" Cody jumped up.

"You can learn that sort of thing yourself at the Academy." Cyril snorted. "I'm actually not supposed to teach you unless you pay for a formal class. Actually, I haven't taken the qualifications to teach unarmed combat, so never mind."

"Then…" Cody had another idea. "What about sword arts? Can you teach me the Mina Style?"

"That, I can teach." Cyril nodded. "I have the certification for it."

"Great! I've only started learning the First Form, Uta…" Cody said.

Cyril thought for a bit. "I'll open a private room in our family network. Meet me in the Sphere."

***

In a virtual arena, practice swords clashed.

"Oompfh!" Cody reeled under the weight of Cyril's blade. "Hey! No fair! Uta doesn't use strokes like that! We're supposed to jab and poke!"

"And what would you do if Kalen did what I just did?" Cyril asked.

"Uh… block it?"

"Like you just tried?"

"Uh… yeah?"

"Aren't you supposed to dodge? That's how you defend in Uta, right? Evade and withdraw?"

"Oops." Cody grimaced.

"Uta's defenses should work no matter what attack your opponent uses. It doesn't matter if he's using a stab or a slash, a sword or an axe or even a spear. The response is the same; evade." Cyril explained.

"I thought the way to defend in Uta was to step back." Cody frowned. "But that wouldn't work very well against a spear."

"Exactly. Stepping back is just one direction you can move to evade. Stepping aside could be a better option."

"But… I thought the focus of Uta is the straight line… just forward and back…?"

"Ah, but you can turn the line. Your focus should always be forward, so if you side-step… the line shifts accordingly." Cyril said. "There's such a thing as flanking your opponent. Also, there's parries, but that only works on lighter attacks. If you want to try blocking the way you did just now, I strongly suggest you shift to the Second Form, Iwa."

"Slow down! I haven't even gotten the hang of the First Form yet! It's too early to try the Second!"

"Then GET it, quick! Don't you have classes on Monday? You've got one weekend to prepare yourself and then you're going to have to go back to school and face Kalen."

"How did you know I have class on Monday?"

Cyril lunged. Cody dodged to one side, stumbling.

"Don't get distracted. Focus." Cyril told him. "Now, try to attack me."

Cody stabbed at Cyril, stepping forward and carefully aiming the point of his practice sword at Cyril's center.

"Too slow!" Cyril parried it with the flick of his wrist.

"Ow!" Cody felt the sting in his hand.

"You have to fix that grip of yours." Cyril observed. "Also, you need to attack much, much more quickly. Forget about the correct posture or the correct footwork; I'm trying to train you to win a fight, not to pass an exam! The point, the whole point to the attack, is to hit your target. You have to do it as quick as a thought! Don't bother thinking about where to place your feet or how to posture your body! Just get the tip of your blade as fast toward me as you can!"

Cody jabbed out again.

"Better! But this time, extend farther. Full lunge, and stretch for reach! Show me your maximum range strike!"

Cody charged.

Cyril sidestepped and whacked him over the back as he passed. "Not like that! A single step is all you get! Always maintain your balance, and be prepared for a counter-attack!"

"How?!" Cody spluttered. "You just told me to go all-out and now you're telling me to maintain balance and all?!"

"Attack like a spring! Strike- and recover!" Cyril demonstrated, darting forward and then back again in a flash.

"Oof!" Cody felt the impact against the c.h.e.s.t piece of his practice armor.

"Now, you try it!" Cyril instructed.

Cody tried. He really did. Over and over again until his arms were sore and his feet turned to wood, he tried, until at last, his hands were shaking, his feet couldn't even move and he was on the verge of collapse.

An alarm beeped. Cyril frowned. "I have to go. Warm down, take a break for lunch then come back and keep practicing. I'll put a practice dummy here for you. You can access this training room any time."

"Okay." Cody grimaced. "Thanks, Cyril."

Cyril waved, and vanished from the training room.