Years of training, fighting and hard work passed, and, in the winter four years after he started his training, Draid's fighting skills were put to a test. A lieutenant from the Noxian army was scheduled to come and take a look at Sam's students, the future elites.
Light chatter of the students echoed throughout the large dojo, but it subsided when they noticed that Sam's gaze was directed at them.
"Ahem," he cleared his throat to gather everyone's attention. "We are... honored to have lieutenant Quinton here with us to spectate the tournament we're having."
He continued. "You will fight each other and based on your performance, Quinton will decide whether or not you join the Army this year and what position you'll get in the new company that's forming." The crude-looking lieutenant spared him a nod.
We will start off with... Josh and Mitch. A student whose most noticeable feature was his long, dark hair and another student who was short, yet strong-looking stepped up to Sam and Quinton, waiting for a sign to start.
"The rules are simple", explained Sam. "If either you or your sword hit the ground, you lose. Just try not to hurt your opponent too much."
The two combatants felt a bit uneasy - they had to fight their friend in order to get in the army.
"What are you waiting for? Start!" Their sensei signaled them.
Mitch, the shorter one, was the first to attack Josh, whose sword was still hanging over his shoulder. He went for a stab at his chest, but his sword was deflected with ease by his opponent using the momentum that he got by swinging his blade directly from over his left shoulder. Mitch then took a step forward and went for an upward slash, but Josh jumped backwards to dodge and immediately went for a counterattack, using the small window he had after dodging. He thrust his sword forward and took a swift step forward to punch Mitch in the face with his free right hand, who caught the incoming fist in his palm and blocked Josh's sword with his own, but, as a result, neither of them could move without backing off and putting themselves in a vulnerable position, even if it's just for a moment.
"Stop this nonsense..." Quinton said, clearly dissatisfied with the fight. "Try again next year. Both of you. NEXT!"
"Now how about...Aaron and... Daniel!"
Both of them stepped out of the crowd and waited for their sensei to signal them to start.
"You heard the rules. Just don't kill each other. Fight!"
"You both pass." Said Quinton, still bearing an impassive stare.
Aaron was cut all over his midsection while Daniel ended up with a bleeding leg and with many bruises from his opponent's punches.
Bloodied, they returned to the crowd and, seeing the lieutenant's gaze on them, wondered if passing was really better than failing.
"Next up are... Draid and Dave." They separated from the rest of the students and got ready for fighting. It was clear that Dave was in dismay for having to fight Draid. "Try not to gut each other, this is for showing your skill rather than making a bloodshed." Sam reminded them, but it was clear that it was directed to Draid.
"Start."
Dave took up the basic stance, while Draid's sword was embedded in the wooden floor. He heard Sam say something about a diamond in the rough to Quinton, but he ignored it, focusing on the fight at hand. Both of them waited for the other to make the first move, but neither did. At least not until they heard lieutenant Quinton's audible sigh.
Dave struck first, with a straightforward thrust just to test his opponent's defense. Draid blocked the incoming blow by pushing away the sword by the flat with the back of his hand and thrust his sword straight at Dave, hoping he would dodge it.
In order to do so, he took a large and quick step backwards, dodging the attack, but stuttering a bit.
His opponent delivered a swift and powerful punch to the face that made Dave's upper body twist backwards as much as his spine would allow, which let Draid grab his sword hilt with his free right hand.
He tried to yank the sword out of the noble's hand in order to end the fight before one of them get seriously hurt, but Dave did not give in.
Not letting go of the sword, he kicked Draid in the stomach with his left leg, knocking the air out of his lungs and almost making him fall down and lose. Barely managing to stay up, Draid stabbed his own sword into the floor and leaned on it to regain balance. He let go of his opponent's sword and backed off to recover.
Dave, not wasting a moment, jumped forward and slashed horizontally, hoping it would hit Draid. He jumped away, but not in time - the slash connected. Draid had his guard down, so he couldn't counterattack.
"Flesh wound, just ignore the pain..." Draid said to himself and tried to focus.
Dave struck again, this time with a direct thrust, but, again, it met the back of his hand as Dave had Draid's sword going towards his head at an alarming speed. The noble, not knowing what else to do, jumped back, but still got slashed shallowly across his forehead and the wound started to bleed profusely.
Instead of stopping there - Draid took a fast step toward him and made an uppercut with this fist at his chin, making him drastically lose balance and - fall down.
"Winner - Draid!"
A rather long moment passed in silence - everyone waiting for Quinton to decide.
"... You both pass."
Draid gave Dave a hand to help him stand up as they returned to the others.
A/N:
Thanks to all of you who dropped favs and follows on this story, knowing that someone likes my walls of text means a lot to me.
I took quite a while to upload this one, entirely my fault, but hey - noone even read this until a few days ago. A few favs and follows made me upload this.
If anyone cares, I started 'reworking' Sandstorm (my other fic) and trying to make it better. It is kind of not my biggest priority right now, but it's definitely something I'll do every once in a while.
