112 Chapter 40 - Swordsmaster, draw your blade! (1/2)
”Come on Swan, give me everything you have!” heaved Kenji, nearly out of energy as he rose Honour again to meet Arwen's wicked fast blade. Again Kenji was defeated, Honour slipped from his hands, Kenji growled with black anger in his heart.
”I've been battling every damn hour of every day, literally haven't slept at all, and you still throw me around like a drunk kindergardener” Kenji muttered and raised his hand to summon Honour flying back into his grip. The hilt hummed in pleasure, the will of the blade silky smooth against his own. So why was it taking so damn long to get better?
”You're strong, ”Arwen muttered, and cracked her neck, ”but you've clearly not been training for long. I was on the front lines of war at your age, not fighting goblins, but men. You can't overcome that so quickly, Grand Guildmaster.”
Kenji could move faster than her if he used [Overdrive], but with the possibility of fighting the enemy like a distant thundercloud, Kenji couldn't risk damaging this body without the time to repair it. So he had to just grit his teeth, and raise Honour again.
Honour hummed, the magical steel too thirsting for victory over that flaunting mithril sabre.
”We can get you a better sword you know, something made of finer stuff than common steel,” Arwen said and pulled up her visor just far enough to reveal a broad grin. Pulling it up completely her blue eyes ringed with silver became visible, and the disappointment swelling within them all too clear.
”Pathetic,” she muttered and threw the helmet aside as if Kenji posed no threat. Her hair was golden and short, short enough it didn't get in her eyes, so short that the scars along her brow and ear were like white lightning down her face.
”I'll show you Pathetic- damn it - you get what I mean!” Kenji shouted, and threw himself forward. The thing was he was only pretending to be annoyed, letting her underestimate his wild attack, and at the last moment, he swivelled and launched a sudden blow past her guard-
Kenji's blade flew through the air with a single sweeping movement, the masterstroke of the swordswoman's response having utterly annihilated Kenji's assault. It was one-sided, total defeat, and yet...
”Again,” Kenji muttered, Honour zooming back into his grip.
”No,” Arwen sighed, and returned her sabre to its sheath. ”Fight someone your own level, this is just a waste of time for both of us.”
”I need to get stronger,” Kenji insisted, ”and I will. You'll see, when we bout next I'll beat you three ways to Christmas!”
Amused, Arwen put her helmet back on and strolled to the door, ”I'll look forward to that. But if I win you owe me a 100 gold coins...and an explanation of what 'Christmas' is. Until then I have an appointment with the Lord of this city. Hopefully, I can find these gangsters you're looking for.”
”Why do you care?” Kenji sighed, ”No offence meant, but why are you here? Your father cannot care about me as much as this.”
Arwen looked to Kenji's blade, then back to him.
”You are a man who gets things done. But I didn't come for you, but this,” Raising a little white crystal that flared with wind magic, she then returned it to a pouch filled with the things. ”Wind crystals are rare, but the Fae have them by the careful. Problem is they never traded with humans before now, and despite your 'tariffs' the chance to buy them was not one to be lost. Then there is the ability to get weapons enchanted, and then there's what you did to Honour...”
”You know my blade's name?”
”I tend to remember the names of weapons much more often than their owners...uh, remind me what yours is?” Arwen inclined her head to one side, Kenji feeling rather worthless as he opened his mouth to respond.
”Actually, don't worry about it,” she said with a raised hand. ”Until your someone worth sparing with, I don't see the point. Not a deal we can make, because while trading with the Fae has been fruitful, and an inspection of Oldeth overdue, to stay in your company requires you to give something in return.”
”What...your a mercenary now?”
”You could call it that. But you would like my help, right? My sway with the elite here could prove useful to you, I could gather information, I could even help you free the friend of yours you speak of so often. At the very least I can tell you for a fact I would be the single most powerful entity on your side.”
Kenji hated the fact she knew exactly what he wanted, without even knowing his name. It made him feel much smaller than he had for some time.