86 It Will Be Fun (1/2)

”How?” Arimane asked Moria a bit stressed.

”Well, obviously” Moria walked to a closet in the dojo and took out a something before quickly throwing it at Arimane. The latter reacted quickly and caught it swiftly. That simple action got the attention of the entire squad, that kind of reaction speed wasn't something you could get easily.

Arimane looked at what was in his hand, confused. It was just a dummy knife. He looked up at Moria with a look full of questions.

”First, you'll spar a bit with your seniors, then we'll give you a little test. If you do well in those two, you can join the squad with no problem” Moria explained to him what he was going to do.

Arimane hummed a bit, he wasn't that surprised since it was a military facility. He looked at the other people for a moment then sighed ”(Am I really supposed to spar with them? But, if I rely a bit on my body, maybe I can win)” He thought.

He wasn't being conceited, he just was aware that there really was a difference in physical ability. Although he was only ten, he could muster the strength of a fully trained grown man who has no Nanomachines.

While pondering, Arimane started playing with the knife, making it spin and revolve around his hand, then change his grip on it in less than a second. He did all of that in one go, without fail.

The squad and Moria looked at him with a strange expression. It wasn't an impossible thing to do things like that with their knives. But a lot of familiarity and practice with your weapon was needed.

”High reaction speed and high dexterity, huh?” Moria muttered and smiled ”This kid is suited to be an a.s.sa.s.sin” He commented without letting the person in question hear it.

When Arimane was ready, he went to the middle of the dojo and a 16 years old guy went with him. The latter took a regular stance with the knife pointed at his opponent.

Arimane looked at him awkwardly, he tried to imitate the stance at first but discarded the idea when he felt that it was really uncomfortable for him. He looked at his knife and changed the grip to a reverse one. The squad looked at him with a mocking smile when he did this but what happened after closed their mouths.

Arima brought the knife higher and pointed the edge of the blade toward his opponent. His left hand was placed just in front of his chest and his felt foot placed a bit behind.

Moria raised an eyebrow when he saw this ”(Did he take that stance on instinct alone?)” Arimane's stance seemed to be fancy at first. But the blade in his right hand protected his throat, his left hand was ready to counter or protect and his balance was almost perfect, of course, there were some places to arrange. But for a first try, it was very impressive.

”I'm Kile Walker, enchanted” The member of the squad presented himself.

Arimane nodded ”I'm Arimane, it's an honor”

Moria looked at the two and snapped his fingers, that sound was enough to announce the start. Kile moved first, he was swift and his footwork steady. Arimane was shocked, he didn't even think people could move like that.

But, when Kile's blade was not that far from him, Arimane instinctively acted and brought his blade to counter the opposite side's. In the laps of a second, the two opponents were blocked with their knives entangled.

Kile was a taken off guard by the precision Arimane showed in that clash. He tried to step back at the same time to take a bit of distance. He determined that Arimane wasn't experienced in fights, and if he was to make the attacking motion, he would have a lot of openings.

But when he thought that, a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. His eyes narrowed and his mind was a bit panicked. Arimane had grabbed him to pull him back and he also managed to take back his knife before pressing his blade on Kile's throat.

The latter's movements froze, he couldn't believe it, his opponent's strength was also a lot higher than he thought. The other members were also very surprised. Moria snickered ”It's over, Arimane won” He declared.

Arimane sighed. On the outside, he seemed to be calm, but in his head, he was so stressed that he thought he was going to collapse on the ground.

”You're a natural it seems” Moria praised and Arimane smiled wryly ”But we can't let you become conceited because of that” He added and glanced at Erin, he pointed Arima with his chin. Erin nodded and walked toward the center of the dojo after taking a knife.

He arrived in front of Arimane and nodded ”I'm Erin Walker” He said. Most of the orphans here had the name 'Walker' since it was the family name of the founder. There were only cases like Arimane, where they would refuse to take the name.

Arimane nodded and repeated his name, by politesse. After that, Erin took his own stance. He was facing his opponent sideways, he positioned his hand holding the knife just in front of his chest and covered his throat with his other arm.

At that moment, Arimane felt extremely pressured, not only he couldn't find any sort of obvious openings. The glare he was receiving and the absolute focus he felt made him feel extremely small. At the end, when Moria was about to declare the start of the fight.

”I concede defeat” When Arimane said that and turned to no stance, Erin's eyes widened in surprise and Moria grinned ”I'm not prideful enough to try fighting someone stronger than me”

Moria laughed and Erin smiled wryly before shrugging. He put his knife down and headed toward Arima when he was just in front of him, he extended his hand. Arimane blinked with a blank expression and looked at the hand that seemed to be asking for a handshake.

”I recognize your abilities and talent, you're welcome” Erin said with a smile.

”Huh? Wasn't there the last test?” Arimane t.i.tled his head and asked.

”The second fight was the test. An idiot blinded by arrogance and pride wouldn't be able to make the right choice before an opponent stronger than him. You pa.s.sed the second test. Well, it's not like you needed to concede for that, but let's say you got a full mark” Moria answered.

Arimane looked at the latter with widened eyes and the smiled wryly and shook hands with Erin ”I'm in your care from now on”