The Grand Catastrophe

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Leinas stood there, her back arched forward slightly as she looked at her sparring partner. She had been taught a lot in the past seven years of her second life. In front of her stood her instructor, the only person who she had any trouble against.

That wasn’t to say that he was hard to fight. She had beaten him a large amount of times, after all. She believe the tally was 126 to 10. 126 in her favor. She seemed blessed, at least that was what her father had said many times. Her instructor just said that she was manic in battle, and that was why she was so good.

If she fought against someone who was good at fighting that kind of thing, then she’d be screwed. Yet, until then she was fine. So, there she stood, a spear in her hands. She was bent over slightly, to make her profile smaller than it was, and herself harder to hit.

The sun shown overhead, the rays beating down on her and the man. The grass under her feet was slick somewhat from the rain earlier that day. She shifted her weight slightly as she looked at him. There was a wooden fence, the posts thick so as to hold the weight of a fallen man in full plate.

There was a group of three people around the area. There was her mother, Amalie. Her father, Albert. Then there was her maid that had been assigned to her when she had turned ten. No one else was there. The others were off to the side, in the shed that held the equipment that was used in these duels.

The man in front of her was much taller than her, though she was tall for her age. He was grey of hair, and black of eye. His body was tense with expectation. It was expectation of her attack. Yet, she wasn’t going to make the first move. She had made the first move for the past six matches.

It was now time to react. She had been practicing something that she had seen her father do very little of, and something that her instructor said was going to be hard to learn for someone of her age. It was a martial art.

A martial art, in this world, was a spell that Warriors used instead of magic casters. It was grown and developed from strong and harsh training and real battle experience. Yet, Leinas was able to learn this one from just studying people and studying the way her own body moved.

She had seen her father use this once before, when a man was just about to strike him and knock him to the ground in a duel. She waited until today to show it off. It was a simple thing, really.

Her instructor shifted his weight, and dashed forward with his short spear in hand. He thrust it forward, the sunlight of the noon sun glinting off the metal. Leinas smirked, her mind running and pushing out the power for the martial art.

“Martial art: Evasion!” she called out, and the man’s eyes went wide.

Her form darted back, her brain yelling at her. She ignored the instincts to run away from conflict that were always there, and darted forth. Using the tip her her spear, she thrust it toward her opponents now shocked face. He frowned and managed to rear his head back.

She smiled some more, and ducked under his retaliatory strike. Then, as she reared her spear back, she swung it towards his legs. He then blocked the blow, and the swung her spear tip off to the side, aiming for his elbow pit.

He shifted his stance, and pulled his right side away from her. This made his profile smaller, and harder to hit. It was of no problem, because she simply darted off to his left side, and tried to swipe at his back with a powerful slash.

He barely blocked the blow, tried to peel away. This failed, as she then shifted her hold of her spear, and then slashed at his ankles. He jumped over the attack, and stabbed down at her with his spear while he was midair.

This, while impressive, was dodged as Leinas the little murder machine rolled off to the side and stabbed with her spear. He deflected the blow as he fell to the earth, and swiped upward with the point of his spear as he took a step forward.

She tilted her head to the side as she stepped toward the blow, and stabbed her own spear forward. He backed off, yet he stumbled as he did so. Then, he fell on his back, and Leinas stepped over him and placed the tip of her spear on his neck.

The man chuckled as he raised his hands in surrender. Leinas simply smiled. She had beaten him once more, and under her personal best time. She felt that it was right that she had some pride.

“Careful, child. That was a risky game you played with that last attack. If I hadn’t known you before, I would have thought you had a death wish,” he said as he stood, and Leinas’s parents jogged over to her.

Well, her father jogged. Her mother simply sped walked over to her, and grabbed her ear with her fingers. Leinas yelped at this, then tried to pull away. The twelve-year-old was no match, however.

“What were you thinking? You don’t use a martial art until you’re absolutely sure that you can handle it!” Amalie said, and Leinas flinched from her mother’s words.

It was less her words, and more her tone, though. Leinas had studied hard so that she could use a martial art. She didn’t like that her mother was cross with her about it.

“Mother, I’m fine. I studied how to do it. I’m fine,” Leinas said, and Amalie simply looked down at the girl as she cupped her small face in her hands.

Her father simply smiled at the exchange. He didn’t really seem to be all that bothered by her learning. Though, he did wince in sympathy for whoever he paired with her. While Leinas didn’t have any siblings yet, he was trying.

While it may have been his body, as his family wasn’t known for its virility, it may have been her mother. Then he spoke. His tone was light, yet questioning.

“Little one, how did you manage to figure that out? I’ve only used that martial art in front of you once,” he asked, and she turned to him with a shit eating grin on her face.

“No telling,” she said simply, and he sighed as the grim turned a little evil.

As the years had passed, her face had become more beautiful, and less gremlin-esk. Her face had grown longer, yet not too much. All in all, he was proud of the way she had grown so far. He only now worried about who to pare her with.

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