Chapter 86: This will be fun. (1/2)

”How?” Arimane asked Moria, a bit anxious.

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

Arimane looked at what was in his hand, confused. It was just a dummy knife of which the edge had been smeared with red paint. He looked up at Moria with a look full of questions.

”You will first spar with your seniors, then we'll give you a small 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 mused. He wasn't that surprised since it was a military facility. He looked at the other people for a moment then sighed. ”(Can I win…? They probably are more trained than everyone else on the orphanage. But… if I rely a bit on my body, maybe I stand a chance.)”

He wasn't being conceited. He was just 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 had no Nanomachines.

While pondering, Arimane started playing with his knife. He made it spin and revolve around his hand, then he changed his grip in less than a second without staining his clothes or hands with the paint that was on it. He did all of that in one go, without fail.

The squad and Moria looked at him in surprise. It wasn't that difficult to do tricks like that with their knives but a lot of familiarity and practice was required.

”High reaction speed and high dexterity, huh?” Moria muttered and smiled. ”This kid is suited to be an assassin,” He remarked 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. He took a regular stance with the knife pointed at his opponent.

Arimane bitterly smiled as he looked at him. He tried to imitate the stance at first but discarded the idea when he felt that it was too uncomfortable. He eyed his knife and changed the grip to a reverse one. The squad watched him with a jeering 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 left 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. Many were those who liked to use a reverse grip. But at the moment, the blade in his right hand covered his throat, his left hand was ready to counter or protect, and his balance was good as well. Of course, there were some places to arrange. But for a first try, it was very impressive.

”Kile Walker,” The member of the squad opened his mouth.

”Arimane.”

Moria looked at the two and clapped his hands. That sound was explicit enough to announce the start. Kile moved first, he was swift and his footwork steady. Arimane was instantly shaken, he didn't even know people could move like that.

But, when Kile's blade was about to reach him, Arimane instinctively moved and wielded his knife to counter the opposite side's. Within a second, the two opponents had entangled their knives.

Kile was taken off guard by the accuracy Arimane showed in that clash. It wasn't an easy matter to parry a knife coming at you at high speed without prior training.

Kile tried to step back to take a bit of distance. He predicted that Arimane wasn't really experienced and would definitely show openings if he were to retreat slightly before attacking from a dead angle.

But as he thought that, a hand abruptly grasped his shoulder. His eyes narrowed and he slightly panicked. Arimane pulled him back and managed to press his knife against his throat before he could react.

Kile's movements froze. He couldn't believe it. His opponent's strength was a lot higher than he thought. In the end, his defeat was partially due to him underestimating his opponent and also because he simply never imagined a ten-year-old could possibly overpower him through raw strength.

The other members of the squad were very surprised by this rapid result. Moria snickered. ”It's Arimane's win,” He announced. Actually, even he didn't expect Kile to lose. But considering the next test, it was the perfect situation.

Arimane sighed. On the outside, he seemed to be relatively 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 this is not over,” He added and glanced at Erin. The latter walked to the center of the dojo after picking a knife.

He arrived in front of Arimane and faintly nodded. ”Erin Walker.”

Most of the orphans here had 'Walker' as their family name since it was the name of the facility. There were only cases like Arimane, where they would refuse to inherit the name.

Arimane nodded at Erin 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. He not only couldn't find any sort of evident openings the glare he was receiving and the unbreakable concentration he sensed made him feel extremely small. He was sure that Erin was completely different from Kile. He felt like he may lose without even knowing how. In the end, even before Moria could give the signal, Arima loosened his grip.

”I concede defeat,” He said and Erin's eyes widened in surprise. ”I'm not rash enough to try fighting someone stronger than me.”

Moria laughed and Erin smiled wryly before shrugging. He put his knife down and approached Arima. He then extended his hand toward him. 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,” Erin said with a smile.

”Huh? Wasn't there the last test?” Arimane tilted his head.

”The second fight was the test. Anyone can be a sore loser but it takes talent to be able to say 'I give up'. You passed the second test. Well, it's not like you needed to concede before even starting to spar, but let's say you got a full mark,” Moria answered.

Arimane felt enlightened and grinned as he shook Erin's hand. ”I'm in your care from now on I guess.”