I lifted the long blade off my shoulder and rested the tip on the ground, feeling its intimidating weight in my hands.

'Demonstrate… Well, I guess my technique is actually pretty well refined if you ignore my lacking strength… Maybe she really does want to use me as an example. Did Lu mess up, is that why she's so mad?'

I tightened my grip, loosening it slightly as I remembered her words. 'So the first stance… facebreaker.' I took a deep breath and raised my sword over my right shoulder with my left foot forward. The blade was supposed to be tilted back and ready to strike at an opponent's face with the hilt.

I wasn't sure if I could actually hold it properly, so I started with the explanation as I held the blade pointed straight up. "The stance was developed by a man who fought against human enemies, he was the hero of the first great war. The style is designed to handle smaller foes, with quick strikes from the sword's pommel to knock them off balance and broad slashes to make sure they can't dodge."

Her eyes narrowed. "Show me."

'Show you?' Without thinking too much, I tilted it as far back as I could, but its weight was far too much to hold in the right position.

"Siya, tilt the sword back more."

I gritted my teeth and tensed my whole body, tilting it as far back as I could.

"More," she said again.

My arms began shaking.

"More."

'You know what's going to happen if I do that…' I looked at her eyes and they glared at me coldly as my whole body began to shake. My arms were unable to hold the weight of the sword, and it crashed to the ground.

As the tip of the blade bounced off the stone tile, it rattled and vibrated through the pommel, hurting my hands.

I grunted, squeezing the blade tighter, knowing if I let go it wouldn't result in anything good… Even if she had thrown it on the ground herself earlier… Still, I couldn't help but shake out my injured left arm. 'I'm starting to think it's more than just a bruise…'

I looked over to Lu who was holding an exaggerated version of the stance with the sword nearly parallel to the ground, leaning forward, ready to strike. It seemed silly to me that you would ever want to hold a position in which the tip of your blade was as far away from your opponent as possible, but true to its name, the stance was designed to put you in position to bring the full weight of the blades hilt down onto someone's face, breaking their nose. 'Well, it was named well at least…'

"Raise your sword." Mara was still glaring at me, not even glancing at my sister. 'If she's so perfect you don't even have to look at her, why is she even here… Why am I here… What's the point?'

I lifted my sword into the air again, glancing at Lu who was still holding her stance perfectly. She was like a sculpture. I mimicked her, holding my sword as far back as I could, tightening every muscle in my body, managing to achieve it for a couple of seconds before the sword fell crashing to the ground again.

I expected her to let out a disappointed sigh, but instead, she just groaned, scrunching up her nose. "Mammoth stomp," she growled. She had stopped looking me in the eyes though and her words cut short, not so much giving directions as much as simply telling me the name of the next stance.

"Sorry to disappoint," I mumbled… 'I'm not the example here am I…'

I let out another sigh, resting my sword on the ground again and trying to buy myself time.. "Mammoth stomp was developed by the second hero, who fought the monsters and trapped them within the labyrinth. It's defined by its powerful crushing stomps and kicks that generate momentum for the blade while rooting you to the ground."

"Demonstrate…" She growled.

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The stance itself was actually fairly easy to hold. The blade stuck out straight behind me while I held it close to my waist. The problem came with the ability to actually move from the stance.

"Use the first art form."

'I was afraid she'd say that… Well… I have done it before right…' I took a deep breath and focused. 'Lift your front leg and stomp the ground.' My foot struck the stone as I threw my whole weight into a swing, looping the sword around my head and following up with another strike, my sword cutting through the air and causing a rush of wind to follow after it.

'If I start slowing down the blade early, maybe I can do it…' Even with that thought in my mind, the momentum threw me completely off balance and the sword crashed into the ground. Just as it did, Mara struck me in the ribs with a fist. My arms suddenly spiked with pain from the vibration of the blade striking the stone, and the punch to my gut sent me stumbling backward.

"You're slow."

I struggled to breathe, but I managed to stay on my feet. 'Yup… That… This is what it's supposed to be like when you hit someone…'

She turned to Lu and nodded.

My sister executed the move perfectly, blocking the same strike that had just sent me stumbling… Though to be fair… She obviously knew it was coming…

When she was done, Mara turned back to me and uttered the three words I was beginning to hate more than anything. "Pick it up."

'One left…'

I walked forward and lifted my sword, immediately entering the final stance. I rested the sword across my shoulder and back, readying to brace for any attack, parry, and counterattack.

"Sovus, along with Ku-sovus, was created by the third hero of the sword. It's designed to fight opponents that are inhumanly strong, but still smaller than monsters. Sovus means sea, and Ku means inner. Together they symbolize how he flowed like water, flowing in tandem with his sword's weight instead of fighting against it."

"Demonstrate."

My jaw clenched. 'Come at me then…'

She looked completely relaxed, and her face was cold and emotionless, like she was ready to kill me. My only comfort was that she left her scabbard tied on to her blade as she pulled it from the rack. Even that was fleeting. I wouldn't get skewered, but the extra weight would only make her strikes break ribs instead if she actually hit me…

In the blink of an eye, she went from completely relaxed to lunging at me with full speed. She was fast, but my reflexes were just as sharp, and I managed to move just in time to block her thrust with the center of my wide blade.

'YES!'

I spun and swung as hard as I could, trying my hardest to crush her into dust.

Just before my blade hit I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, and then suddenly she was behind me, striking at my neck.

My whole body went limp as I crashed to the ground and lost all feeling for a couple of seconds, unable to move at all.

I replayed the scene in my mind, 'She was just too fast… No, I'm too slow.'

I gasped for air as I began to be able to move again. Within moments I regained feeling everywhere else, just in time to figure out where it hurt....

My arms ached, my left one especially hurt. I had scraped my knee on the stone tiles when I fell, and I could already feel sick from the repeated strikes to the stomach. Luckily, she was holding back, otherwise, I would have probably shattered a few ribs, or died… Yeah I would have died…

I had to stop myself from vomiting as I rolled over with a groan, clutching my side. 'What's even the point of this! Just to show me how weak I am! I already know that! I won't let it end like this! Not without getting a single hit in.'

It only took those several moments of lying on the ground in pain for all the anger inside me to vanish. 'Maybe if I stay down it'll be over…' I looked over at Lu who didn't even spare me a glance. 'I guess I really am nothing to her. But it's not like I didn't already know that too…'

"Lu," Mara called out, walking over to her. I didn't even have to look, I knew what was going to happen. Still, as much as I wanted to turn away, I couldn't stop myself from staring.

Mara struck out at her and Lu deflected the blow before attempting to retaliate just like I did. In an instant, a violent slash came from her blade, nearly crushing Mara under its weight and speed.

With no other options, Mara was forced to jump backward and to the side, dodging. As soon as the blade passed her she launched forward again, but Lu was just as fast. Mara's thrust was blocked just in time, and before she could jump back, Mara's face had a meeting with Lu's cross guard.

After connecting one hit, she continued, striking again with full force. It looked like she had put Mara on her heels as she just narrowly dodged another attack before backing off.

"Well done," Mara said softly, grabbing her nose and shaking her head in an attempt to reorient herself.

'Did she lose? No, she never even tried to block any of Lu's attacks, she was holding back again…'

I crawled to my feet, staring at them all the while. It was impossible to not notice their giant smiles. It seemed like Mara was genuinely happy, smiling ear to ear, despite just taking a hit to the face.

'What's wrong with all of you…' I walked back over to my sword. 'That was three… So what's next?'

My heart ached as Mara's smile turned to a scowl almost immediately after turning back to face me.

"Pick up your sword. We're not done."

"I was already doing that anyway…" I growled. 'Rinse and repeat then…' It no longer felt good in my hands, it certainly didn't feel like an honor to hold. If anything, it felt like they were mocking me.

I felt the color drain from my face as I separated myself from the situation. 'One way or another, this too will end. Either she will get tired of it, or I will lose the ability to stand. Either way, it won't last…'

Without so much as a word, she lunged at me again. My eyes widened and my whole body tensed as I reflexively blocked one strike after another until she overwhelmed me and struck me several times, sending me back to the ground.

"Get up, pick up your sword."

I gasped for air, unable to speak, so much as come up with a witty response.

I picked up the sword again, and again… and again… By the end of it, I was coughing up blood and covered in bruises. During one of the fights, I ended up biting into my tongue. I was beginning to feel dizzy too as I continuously staggered back to my feet.

I said nothing, but again and again, I picked up my sword. Somewhere along the way, Mara stopped hitting me so hard, but even her weaker strikes were enough to make me recoil as they hit old wounds from previous rounds.

She was starting to breathe heavily too as I took one strike after another. 'Come on. Just once. I just have to hit her one time… That's all Lu managed to do…'

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