The Last Primal

Chapter 196 - 196 - Rank Up Test (Part 4)

In the face of the man's accusations and taunts, Cole gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. But, even though he felt indignant and wanted nothing more than to refute his words, Cole knew that the man was right. 

Even though his words were harsh, what he said was the complete and absolute truth. What he did was a very naive and pathetic attempt at an attack that showed no skills whatsoever. He was just like a child flailing his hands in desperation, only to be pushed aside. If this would be the extent of his skills, it would be more than justified to fail him and kick him out of the test, there would be no point in continuing this farce any further.

So, at most he could just accept the taunting words and grit his teeth, as he slowly relaxed his tense shoulders and gripped the hilt of his weapon even tighter. His eyes raged with a burning fiery passion, he scanned his opponent who stood still just a dozen steps away from him in the same casual, leisure, seemingly nonchalant manner as before. He held his weapon in his right hand, as it hung upside down at his side, not bothering to put up any meaningful stance. 

It was a humiliating sight for Cole as it was clear what or actually how little the opponent thought of him. The worst thing was it wasn't even just blind arrogance from the opponent's part, it was an obvious examination from his first attack and how he wielded the sword. It shows nervousness, uncertainty, and most important of all, inexperience. 

Wiping his bloodied lips with his weapon holding arm, Cole slowly walked a few steps forward, closing the gap just a tiny bit, as he responded to the accusations. His voice carried a mocking tone as he spoke amidst spitting a few bloody balls of saliva. 

"Yes, you are right…" He answered, as his facial expressions slowly began to twist into a cruel grin, sizing up his opponent once more. "...I am shaming everything I want to stand for if I continue to act in that manner…" 

The cruel grin and calculating, cold look in Cole's eyes surprised not just his opponent, but Aiden as well who kept his eyes close on his friend from the start. His earlier nervousness, and bubbling, emerging reassurance, and determination, that felt weak and frail at the start, seemed to finally settle inside him, changing his demeanor completely. Whilst this did not give him any sort of magical increase in how skillfully he wielded the blade, nor did it give him any supernatural might, it did change his mindset, by abolishing the doubt from his mind. 

Clenching his sword-wielding hand, Cole raised his weapon diagonally in front of his chest once more, as he slowly strolled forward, closing the distance between him and his opponent with each step. His eyes were focused on the man, ready to react to even the tiniest movements instantly. 

Seeing the change in the boy, the examiner had a small smug smile stretching his scruffy, unkempt face. He slightly raised his mace lifting it only that it was no longer upside down but going parallel with the ground, perpendicular to his body. The spiky metal ball head of the weapon stretching out as if a guard dog were ready to pounce at his prey upon the first command of his master.

With each step, Cole got closer and closer, slowly closing in, getting increasingly closer to the critical distance, the melee range. As he closed on, Cole slowly began to cock his weapon-holding hand slightly backward, giving off the motion of a similar swipe that he attempted just as before. 

Seeing the frown being revealed on his opponent at the sight of his action, caused Cole to grin inwardly, as his bait seemed to work perfectly. Keeping the same expression, careful not to reveal any of his plans on the surface, he stepped forward, entering melee range and putting an end to the tense, tight silence that engulfed the duelists for the last several seconds.

As soon as he made that last step and entered into his attacking range, the silence and standstill exploded, as the black leather armor-wearing warrior immediately thrust his spiked ball-headed mace forward, aiming at Cole's abdomen. Even though the thrust looked casual, Aiden noticed it carried a tremendous force, and if it would hit it would cause severe blunt-force trauma to the much weaker, and mostly defenseless youth.

Even then, he did not even flinch and continued to watch his friend with great interest, keen to inspect how he would react to such an obvious attack.

Against the incoming attack, Cole did not stutter, nor did he freeze out of fright. His new, and battle-focused mindset immediately gave the command to his body, as he agilely slid to the right and, at the same time, he swung his blade towards the left, aiming at the warrior's hip, albeit in a much wider arc, he initially intended.

Seeing how his attack missed the target and how he was the subject of an immediate, but slightly amateurish counterattack did not cause much surprise to the seasoned veteran. With his padded and protected, open gloved left palm, he struck against the incoming blade whilst pulling his weapon back. At the same time, as his palm collided and deflected the blade, putting a stop to the attempt, he was already mid-motion in a body-spin with his mace approaching Cole's side with a rapid pace.

With no time to properly reach, Cole could only thrust his instincts as he threw himself backward, falling on his back once again. This time, however, there were no bloodied stains or any signs of damage to the boy. Although the opportunity would have been prime to strike, and claim victory, and even though his senses were screaming at him to do it, the warrior gripped the base of his weapon and took a step back, giving time for the boy to stand back up and collect himself for a third round.

"Now, that was much better than before! Still, a bit naive to think that such a wide arc, could possibly hit the target, but at least you did show some skill this time. Still, you need to show more if you wish to convince us!" Although his tone was slightly mocking, taunting, there were some reassuring words mixed in as well.

Albeit the whole encounter took only the span of a few seconds, the rapid back and forth exchange was a refreshing sight to everyone in the room, especially compared to the first, pathetic excuse of an attack.

Under the shadowy cover of her hood, Sarah gave a small unseen smirk, alternating her gaze between the brown-haired boy and the nonchalant-looking Aiden at the side. To her right, the bald, unarmed man could only watch the boy with a contemptuous look, unable to give any command to his men, afraid of the wrath of his demonic leader. Still, from the tightly almost ghastly white clenched fists, it was obvious how annoyed he was about being restricted and threatened to such a degree. He glanced at the long, black-haired boy leaning against the wall with his arms folded in such a casual, carefree manner. He was the cause of all his recent troubles and was even more determined to pay back all grievances tenfold to this pesky brat.

Back on the ground floor, the momentary respite has passed, and suddenly Cole sprang into action, by jumping back on his feet, and charging against the already awaiting opponent. However, just as he entered striking range, he jumped to the right and jumped up in the air whilst swiftly raising his sword above his head and striking downwards with all his might.

Against the fierce, surprise attack, the seasoned warrior still did not flinch and simply raised his weapon above his head, ready to intercept and block the attack. However, what surprised him was that the boy already perceived this obvious attempt and just as he was mid-air, he kicked out with his right feet surprising the man and hitting his face, causing him to blink and lose sight of the boy for a fraction of a second.

This momentary loss of vision and as a consequence his control of the actions, caused him to put less strength into his weapon-.holding arm. As the blade collided with the metallic spiky ball his arm began to falter against the added pressure of the boy's full might plus his not-so-meaningless weight. His legs began to tremble, as without a proper stance, withstanding such a sudden pressure started to prove to be a challenge. 

Still, in the end, although his arms hurt due to the numb pain of the sudden overexertion, the warrior managed to block and deflect the blow, as he swung with his left fist and punched the boy to the side.

Thinking he had a few seconds once again to recuperate, he began to swing his right arm, trying to shake the numbness, whilst looking at the boy, and sizing him up once again.

"Now, that was really unexpected. Such a dirty trick! It almost worked, you just lacked the required strength to push it through! But don't falter, in a few years, you will be-" However, before he could finish voicing his thoughts, the boy suddenly jumped up and charged at him once again, with a fierce, determined gaze, not giving him any time to recuperate. 

Cole was determined to prove himself today.