"That is all. Dismissed."
The session on elemental magic had ended and most of the students that attended the session got up from their seats and left the classroom to gossip with their friends. Squall was one of those leaving the classroom. He wasn't leaving to gossip with anyone. He was heading to the training center to try to master his new gunblade. He entered the elevator and descended to the first floor. He ignored the growing crowd near the directory and walked right by. It was only Zell bragging about something anyway. Before long, Squall reached the training center and, immediately, began searching for any grats. He took his time and walked through each area, examining them thoroughly. There were several encounters with grats and due to his lack of experience with the gunblade; Squall had a tough time defeating those monsters. He had to endure several encounters in order to find his way to hold the weapon. He found it comfortable to hold the sword gun weapon with two hands: right hand in front of the left with his right pointer finger on the trigger, ready to squeeze. He found that the battles afterward were much easier now that he had a comfortable fighting position. Before long, he was slaughtering grats left and right, gaining experience with each victory.
Little did he know, he was being watched. Seifer sat with Raijin and Fujin on a tree that was knocked down at one time. He noticed that Squall was fighting with a gunblade and began thinking that the younger boy had copied him because he, too, had picked a gunblade for a weapon. Just when Squall was about to enter another fight, Seifer jumped up and called over to him. "What's this? You trying to follow in my footsteps?" He asked.
Squall turned away from the fight and returned his weapon to his side. Seifer walked over to him, until he was right behind Squall. "I asked you a question!" He said.
"…No." Squall answered. "Why would I want to follow you?"
"What?" Seifer asked. "Do you think you're better than me or something?"
Squall didn't respond. Instead, he tried to walk right passed Seifer. Seifer wasn't about to let him go. He drew his gunblade and held it out to his side, blocking Squall's path. "You do think you're better, don't you?" He asked. "You haven't fought with that thing until today and already you move around like a master."
Squall still didn't respond. He knew he fought using the gunblade before now, but he didn't really want to tell Seifer that. It'd make the situation worse. "That's it." Seifer said, drawing back his gunblade. "I say we see who's the better of the two of us."
"…What do you mean?" Squall asked.
"A duel."
Squall placed a hand on his hip and thought for a moment. They were in the training center, so he couldn't rely on the Garden staff to bail him out. He hadn't had a good fight with Seifer for quite sometime. This could be a good opportunity to try out what he has learned so far. Squall nodded, and then drew up his gunblade. "There we go." Seifer said, and then raised his own gunblade.
The two of them charged at each other, meeting at the center spot of where they started. They're blades locked together and they began pushing, each trying to gain the upper hand. In a short amount of time, Seifer made one flick of his wrist and sent Squall falling backwards. Squall was back to his feet in no time, ready for more. He swung his blade several times, each time it clanged against Seifer's blade. Seifer kept up his footwork, perfectly blocking Squall's efforts. After several more attacks, Seifer locked his blade against Squall's again and pushed the younger boy back down. "You don't stand a chance against me." Seifer said. "It's obvious that I'm the best."
Squall managed to keep his calm demeanor, despite Seifer's efforts to agitate him. He looked around at his surroundings, trying to come up with some sort of strategy. However, that was a mistake. Seifer caught him off guard. The older boy ran full speed at his opponent. Squall had only a few seconds to react. He raised his gunblade to try to block the incoming attack, but Seifer changed his current course and ran to Squall's side. Using the handle of his gunblade, Seifer slammed Squall to the ground. Squall wanted to get back his feet, but he could only stay in a sitting position, rubbing his now throbbing head. He saw Seifer making some distance between them, and then the older boy said, "No mercy."
Seifer released a fire spell upon Squall, and then twirled his gunblade at his back. Just when he was about to release his finishing blow, he heard Quistis shout, "Stop!"
The young blonde haired girl ran into the middle of the fight and stood in front of Squall. "Can't you see that he's down?" Quistis asked; her arms were outstretched.
"In this world, it's survival of the fittest." Seifer said. "Mercy is for the weak."
"Don't talk like you're a master!" Quistis countered.
"I'm just saying the truth, that's all." Seifer said, and than began leaving. He stopped long enough at the doorway to say, "I didn't even break a sweat."
Once Seifer was out of sight, Quistis turned around to examine Squall, who was making his way back up to his feet. "Are you all right, now?" Quistis asked.
"…Yes." Squall answered. (I'll beat him some day.) Those words were what were going through his mind.
Gullwing Yunie: I think I'm gonna end the story there. I wish I could make this chapter longer, but I couldn't think of anything else. Maybe I will in the future. So… how do you all like this fic?