Chapter 10: Joshido vs Renir

Neither of them moved.

Joshido and Renir watched each other in silence, each waiting for the other to make the first move. The air between them was dense, heavy, as if space itself was holding its breath.

In the corner of the platform, Jojiro couldn't take his eyes off the scene.

Zianya approached him quietly.

-Are you sure about the decision you made?

-Yes -he replied without hesitating-. When I saw the type of weapon Joshido has, I immediately thought of Renir. This fight will help him improve his sword techniques. And at the same time... we'll see how good Joshido is with his.

A brief pause, his eyes fixed on the two young ones facing each other.

What they're about to see will be incredible.

From below, the group watched in silence.

No one spoke. No one cheered. They just watched, eyes fixed on the platform, waiting.

But the wait was tormenting them.

Joshido breathed slowly.

His mind went back to the day before. To the moment when Renir had drawn his sword and lunged at him. A movement so fast that Joshido hadn't been able to see it. If it hadn't been for Zurame, he didn't know what would have happened.

This time will be different.

He told himself that with a firmness that allowed no doubt.

On the other side, Renir held his sword with a calm that had nothing passive about it.

In his mind there was only one thought.

Beat him senseless.

Joshido was the first to move.

He advanced toward Renir with firm steps and attacked with his right hand. Renir blocked with his sword without stepping back. The metallic blades clashed against the steel with a dry, clean sound. They stayed like that, struggling, staring each other directly in the eyes without either giving an inch.

Then Joshido attacked with his left hand.

Renir blocked again.

They separated for an instant. They looked at each other.

And then it truly began.

Joshido attacked. Renir blocked. Joshido changed angle. Renir responded. The movements were so fast that an untrained living being wouldn't have been able to follow them. Only flashes, shadows, the constant sound of metal against metal filling the air of the platform.

That sound traveled far.

Much farther than anyone would have expected.

The village inhabitants heard it from their homes. Some ignored it. But others felt curious and followed the noise to its source. When they arrived and saw what was happening on the platform, they stopped.

Their leader's son. And one of the survivors of the Intellectual village.

Face to face.

No one left. Everyone stayed to watch.

Renir stepped back.

From his sword, he launched an electric discharge directly at Joshido.

Joshido moved in time.

And launched himself toward Renir immediately.

Renir turned the sword sideways, preparing a horizontal strike with the full force of the weapon.

Joshido saw it coming.

He ducked at the last instant.

Renir's sword cut the air just above his head. Some hairs fell to the platform floor, separated with a precision that left no margin for error.

Joshido didn't stop.

From below, he launched himself upward and threw a strike with his right hand weapon, straight at Renir.

Renir leaped backward to evade.

He was too late.

Joshido's metallic blades caught Renir's clothing, cutting a part cleanly before he finished moving away.

Renir stepped back.

He lowered his gaze toward the cut in his clothing.

Then he looked at Joshido.

And saw the smile.

Faint. Almost imperceptible. But it was there.

Something ignited in Renir.

-This will be as far as you get!

Renir didn't wait any longer.

He closed in with a speed that left no margin to prepare, and began to attack. Joshido blocked each blow with his substantial weapon, responding with a precision that didn't easily give ground.

Then Renir changed something.

The thunder element began to cover his sword. A dense, brilliant electricity that spread along the entire blade with a hum that could be felt in the air.

Renir's movements became faster.

And the danger changed in nature.

Now it wasn't just the sword that had to be avoided. Any direct contact with the blade, even minimal, could be devastating for Joshido.

Joshido understood immediately.

He kept dodging, but this time with more care. Every movement calculated to avoid not just the edge, but the electricity surrounding it. The difficulty was visible. The margin for error, almost nonexistent.

He decided to create distance.

He launched himself backward.

But Renir didn't allow it.

He advanced with the same speed, closing the space before Joshido could open it. In an instant he positioned himself right beside him, giving him no time to react.

The sword moved.

Joshido had no time to move.

He blocked with his substantial weapon.

The metallic blades clashed against Renir's sword with a dry impact. But in that instant, the electricity covering the blade found its path.

It shot out from the sword.

And made direct contact with Joshido.

The electricity hit Joshido full on.

Renir waited.

But what he saw wasn't what he expected.

Joshido was still standing.

Renir frowned.

Why didn't it cause enough damage?

The answer came on its own when he lowered his gaze toward Joshido's metallic blades. Part of the electricity had been absorbed by the substantial weapon before reaching him. That had considerably reduced the impact.

In the corner of the platform, Jojiro said nothing.

Just a faint smile.

Now this is getting interesting.

Zianya glanced at him sideways.

-They're very evenly matched -she said-. Either one of them could win.

From below, the group erupted when they saw Joshido still on his feet.

-Keep it up!

-Don't give up!

-Joshido!

Joshido didn't hear them. Or if he did, he didn't show it.

His eyes were fixed on Renir with a seriousness that hadn't been there before.

-That's not enough.

And he attacked.

His movements were fast, direct, giving Renir no room to breathe. Renir blocked each attack with his sword, responding with the same speed.

But something had changed.

Renir noticed.

Joshido's face was different. More serious. More persistent. As if something inside him had decided to hold nothing back.

And the movements confirmed it.

Joshido began attacking in a more unpredictable way. Angles that followed no clear pattern, rhythm changes that arrived without warning. It was becoming harder and harder for Renir to block or dodge with the same ease as before.

The metallic blades clashed against Renir's sword.

They began to struggle.

Neither gave way.

Then Joshido threw a strong kick, straight at Renir's hand.

The impact was precise.

The sword slipped from Renir's fingers and shot upward, spinning in the air above them both.

For an instant, everything stopped.

-It's over.

Joshido didn't wait an instant. He threw a direct strike with his substantial weapon.

Renir ducked.

The blow passed over his head.

Joshido reacted immediately and threw a second blow with his other hand.

Renir spun from below in a fast, fluid movement, and with his leg swept Joshido's legs.

Joshido lost his balance.

And as he fell, Renir leaped.

A small leap. A spinning movement in the air. And a clean kick that connected directly to Joshido's stomach before he hit the ground.

Renir landed on his feet.

He positioned himself over Joshido, who was on the ground, and in that instant extended his hand upward. His sword, still spinning in the air, fell back toward him with a precision that didn't seem coincidental.

He caught it.

And placed it near Joshido's neck.

The silence on the platform was absolute.

Renir looked down at him with a calm that needed no raised voice.

-Surrender. It's over.

Both were breathing fast.

Renir with the sword near Joshido's neck. Joshido on the ground, staring up at him.

In Yuzo's mind there was only one thing.

Come on. Don't give up. Don't give up.

The others watched in silence.

The inhabitants who had come to watch the fight from a distance had already assumed everything was over.

Joshido stared upward without moving.

How can I beat him?

He searched for the answer. Couldn't find it. And as he searched, something began to seep through the edges of his mind.

Desperation.

Renir turned his back on him.

-The fight is over.

And began to walk.

Those words landed on Joshido differently than any blow he had received. It wasn't physical pain. It was something deeper. As if he were being discarded. As if he were a weak being not worth looking at anymore.

Slowly, Joshido began to get up.

Renir didn't notice.

Until the voice came from behind.

-I'm still standing.

Renir turned.

-Didn't you realize? -he said coldly-. I am stronger than you. You have no chance.

Joshido looked at him.

-I create my own chances.

And launched himself toward him.

The metallic blades and the sword clashed again. The exchange was immediate, no pauses, no room to breathe. One attacked while the other defended. Then it reversed. And so on, over and over, neither giving ground.

But in Joshido's mind, everything was different.

How? How? How to win?

I want to be strong. I need to prove my strength.

The thought repeated. Accumulated. Became something that no longer fit inside him.

And then, without anyone expecting it, his presence surged.

All at once. Without warning.

Renir instinctively stepped back.

And stood staring at Joshido with an expression he rarely showed.

Surprise.

From below, no one spoke for a moment.

-That presence... it's pretty strange, isn't it? -said Eldren.

-I don't remember my brother having that kind of presence -Yuzo murmured.

-It's an incredible presence -said Heliya-. Where is all that energy coming from?

Naiden looked at all of them and then turned his eyes back toward the platform.

-Is that really Joshido?

In the corner of the platform, Jojiro and Zianya watched without moving.

Zianya spoke first, in a low voice.

-I think it would be best to stop the fight.

Jojiro shook his head.

-Don't worry -he said-. It's just presence. Nothing more.

Then Joshido felt something.

An energy he didn't recognize. That he had never felt before. It coursed through his body from top to bottom like a current searching for an outlet, intense, alive, as if it had been waiting a long time to be called.

And then he felt it more clearly.

His substantial weapon.

It was as if it were asking him for something.

By instinct, Joshido pointed the metallic blade of his right wrist directly at Renir.

At the edge of the blade, something began to appear.

A light.

Glowing. Faint at first, almost imperceptible.

Renir watched it without understanding.

What is that?

But the light didn't stop.

It kept growing. Intensifying. Until it covered the metallic blade completely, wrapping it in a light orange glow with yellow flashes that pulsed as if they had a life of their own.

In the corner of the platform, Jojiro stopped smiling.

He understood in that instant.

What was coming was not good.

He moved.

-Now it's really over.

The energy shot out in the same instant Joshido said those words.

And Jojiro arrived just in time.

He threw himself to the ground beside Renir, covering his son with his own body in the last possible instant.

The light orange energy with yellow flashes crossed the platform with a force no one had seen coming. It destroyed the magnetic field on first contact, as if it had never existed.

And kept going.

In its path, the grassland and earth were left marked, a long, burned scar that showed exactly where that energy had traveled.

Until, a few seconds later, it disappeared.

All the astonished gazes of those present concentrated on Joshido.

Joshido lowered his arm slowly.

He stared at his substantial weapon with wide open eyes, not moving.

What just happened?

Where did all that energy come from?