Chapter 105: A Broken Sword
Monica showed no sign that she wanted to pause or rethink her attack. The slight surprise she felt when her first strike missed was immediately replaced by a renewed offensive focus.
She was not going to let him get away. Twisting her body with fluid grace with a smooth and easy movement she seamlessly converted the momentum of her previous swing her missed attack into a new one.
Her wooden practice sword now whistled through the air towards Eric’s head. It moved in a vicious dangerous arc.
Even though the blade was made of wood not sharp steel Eric knew from painful past experiences in other practices that its impact would be strong.
Delivered with Monica’s evident strength and skill it would be powerful enough to cause serious pain. It might even give him a concussion if it hit him cleanly.
As Monica spun to make her new attack the world for Eric once again resolved into that strange heightened state of perception. He saw the glowing blue line again.
It was clear.
It was tracing the path her sword would follow through the air. This time the blue line was aimed directly at his head. He knew exactly where she was going to hit.
This time with the predictive blue line giving him a fraction of a second more warning than her initial lightning-fast strike had Eric had just enough time to react defensively.
He quickly lifted his own wooden sword. He brought it up in a desperate attempt to shield his face and head from her incoming blow. He had to do something.
But in his haste his rush to defend himself and because he was still unaccustomed to judging the true force behind an opponent’s blows Eric made a crucial miscalculation.