I stood firmly on the cold stone floor of the basement arena holding my weapon tightly. Chalreth stood directly opposite my position, holding her own sword with a steady grip. The wide room was completely silent for a couple of seconds as we looked at each other across the open space. The torches on the walls threw a dim light over the floor. Suddenly, the quiet atmosphere of the training area disappeared completely. She started attacking me without any warning at all, shifting her weight forward and lifting her blade into the cool air. Her physical frame moved with a sudden burst of energy that caught my attention immediately. She took a fast step forward with her right foot, planting her boot firmly on the hard stones, and brought her sharp metal weapon down toward my upper body. The metal blade cut through the empty space of the basement, making a loud whistling sound as it traveled straight toward my chest today.
As her metal blade came closer to my chest, I quickly moved my right leg back and twisted my torso to the side. The sharp edge of her weapon passed through the empty air where my body had been standing before. She did not stop her movement after that first strike at all. She immediately turned her wrists and swung her sword toward my neck. I had to react with speed, so I bent my knees and dropped my head toward the stone floor. I'm dodging her extremely fast attacks as she continues to step forward and launch more hits against my position on the floor. I slid my boots across the flat stones, moving my frame to get away from another quick chop. Her blade hit the empty air again, but she shifted her weight and threw a fast strike toward my legs. I'm dodging her extremely fast attacks by using space on the wide floor, leaning my body backward and sliding my feet away every time her weapon comes close to my frame.
The training match became more difficult as we moved across the large room under the mansion. Chalreth saw that I was able to avoid her initial strikes, so she instantly attacked faster and faster to increase the pressure on my defense. Her arms and legs began to move with a level of speed that was amazing to watch. She did not take any breaks between her swings; instead, she connected one blow to the next blow without any separation. She moved her metal weapon so rapidly that my eyes could no longer see the clear shape of her blade. She instantly attacked faster and faster to the point that she looked like 2 people standing in the middle of the wide stone floor. It truly looked like there were two identical versions of her fighting against me at the exact same time from different angles. One shape appeared to be striking at my shoulder while another shape threw a low hit at my side. Her physical form became a complete blur of action on the arena floor.
With so many fast blows coming toward my frame from different sides, I could not use my regular thoughts to plan my movements anymore. There was no time to think about where to place my boots or how to turn my hands on the handle of my sword. I had to let go of my thoughts and let my physical reactions take over to stay safe from the blurry weapons. I felt my body and instinct working to the max as I struggled to stay standing on the hard floor of the arena. My eyes stayed open wide, catching the tiny movements of the air and the moving shadows of her blades. My body and instinct working to the max allowed me to twist my upper torso away from a sudden thrust that came from the left blur. Every part of my physical frame was operating at its highest limit, reacting to the speed of the match. My body and instinct working to the max kept me moving constantly on the stones.
Even though my body and instinct were working to the max to keep me safe, Chalreth was still able to find a tiny gap in my movements. She threw a quick horizontal swing with her weapon to make me lift my sword high for a block. As soon as my blade moved up to guard my upper body, she shifted her weight and used her other leg with speed. She was able to kicked me up right in the middle of our fast exchange on the stone floor. Her boot made solid contact with my frame, delivering physical force directly into my body. The impact was sudden and strong, lifting my weight completely off the surface of the floor. I lost my footing as my boots were pushed into the empty air of the room. The force of her kick sent my body flying upward toward the high ceiling of the training area. I felt myself traveling through the air, leaving the ground below me as I rose higher today.
While my body was suspended high in the air, I knew I had to act quickly to stop my movement and prevent a hard crash on the stones. I turned my frame around while falling, keeping both hands firmly attached to the handle of my weapon. As I started to drop back down toward the ground, I pointed the sharp metal tip of my blade straight down beneath my body. I caught myself with my sword by driving the point of the blade directly into the solid stone floor as I reached the bottom of my fall. The metal tip hit the hard surface with a sharp sound that echoed through the room. The sword stuck into the stone, absorbing the impact of my falling body. I held onto the handle tightly, using the weapon to steady my frame so my boots could touch the floor. I caught myself with my sword perfectly, avoiding a dangerous fall on the stones.
I did not waste a single moment after catching myself on the floor of the room. I pulled my metal weapon out of the stone floor with a quick pull of my arms and stood up straight on my feet. I looked across the short distance and saw Chalreth standing in her place, watching me with a ready stance. I bent my knees to get a strong push and I dashed forward across the flat stones with all the speed I could create. My boots pushed off the ground with force, sending my body toward her position like an arrow. I covered the open space, getting close to her frame. I started attacking her right away with my sword, swinging the blade in a downward line toward her shoulder. I used the speed of my forward dash to make the strike powerful. I started attacking with focus, moving my arms rapidly to launch a line of hits against her defense on the stones today.
Our two metal weapons met in the middle of the air with a loud and continuous clanking sound that filled the basement. Chalreth blocked my strike with her blade, but she immediately returned the movement by throwing a quick hit toward my right arm. I moved my sword down quickly to stop her blade from touching my frame, and then I launched another fast horizontal swing toward her waist today now. We are exchanging attacks in the center of the wide training floor, moving our bodies back and forth in a fast and steady rhythm. The metal of our swords hit each other over and over again, making sharp ringing noises that stayed in the quiet room. I would strike with my blade, she would block and strike back instantly, and then I would move my weapon to block her hit and launch my own counter-attack right away. We are exchanging attacks without either of us stepping back or slowing our movements down at all. Our boots made a regular sound on the hard floor as we shifted our stances and turned our bodies to find an opening. We kept exchanging attacks with intensity, testing our strength and speed on the flat stones today now.
I stepped to the left side very quickly and swung my sword toward her ribs. Chalreth dropped her metal blade down fast to stop my weapon from hitting her body. The metal objects clanked together loudly again. She immediately twisted her wrists and pushed her weapon forward in a straight line toward my chest. I pulled my upper body back in a hurry to let her sharp blade pass through the empty air. My boots slid across the flat stone floor as I maintained my balance. I did not stop my movement for a single second. I brought my weapon around in a wide circle and tried to strike her shoulder from the right side. Chalreth shifted her feet back cleanly and blocked my attack with the center of her blade. We kept moving our hands at a very high speed under the dim lights of the basement arena. She launched three quick strikes one after another toward my front frame. I moved my weapon up and down rapidly to deflect every single hit she threw at me. The sound of our swords hitting each other filled the wide training room continuously as we kept exchanging blows on the floor.