"Are you serious?"

The atmosphere was tense as silence echoed in the vast, dull expanse. The faulty lights on the ceiling flickered, radiating flashes of brilliance on the two who stood beneath it.

Trisha still tightly held her blade as she stared seriously at Rey.

The question he asked lingered in the air, and she bent a little lower, parting her lips to answer the question.

"What do you think?" As her responseanother questionwafted through the air, Rey suddenly broke into a slight grin.

Trisha felt taken aback by this. She didn't know why he was displaying such emotions in front of her. Somehow, it infuriated her.

"You know I'm going to win, right?" He said. "There's no point in doing this."

"You said you wanted to talk. Well, this is what I want to do. So do you only want to achieve what you want, or will you take your stance and fight?"

Her eyes harshly stared at him, and in response to this, he shook his head and sighed. His smile instantly vanished and he slowly began to move.

"I'm sorry. You're right I apologize for the delay." Slowly, Rey began to take his own battle stance as well.

There was no hesitation in his movement, neither was there an ounce of weakness in his form. By the time he was done setting himself up, he gently placed his sword forward and didn't lose the stoic demeanor on his face.

"Whenever you're ready"

Everything was set. Within the vast room that occupied them, the brewing moment had finally reached a crescendo.

It was time to explode.

~WHOOSH!~

Trisha attacked first with a sharp lunge aimed at Rey's torso. Her speed caused the very air around her to vibrate, and she moved as though she was a blur given form.

Still

Rey deftly sidestepped the strike, his own blade rising to meet Trisha's in a clash of steel.

'Tch! He's fast.'

Gritting her teeth, she narrowed her gaze and strengthened every ounce of muscle in her body.

The two circled each other warily, their footwork precise and their blades poised. Then

~SWISH!~

Trisha moved in with a series of quick, calculated thrusts, her sword a blur as she aimed for Rey's arms and legs. Rey countered each attack with smooth parries, his wrist moving fluidly to guide Trisha's blade away from his body.

"Guh!"

Trisha pressed her advantage, launching a feint to Rey's left before slashing diagonally at his right shoulder.

Rey anticipated the move, pivoting on his heel and dodging the attack with grace.

As Trisha's momentum carried her forward, Rey took the opportunity to counter with a riposte, striking for Trisha's midsection.

'No, you don't!'

Trisha narrowly avoided the strike, her reflexes sharp as she twisted out of harm's way. She retaliated with a sweeping horizontal slash aimed at Rey's neck, but Rey ducked beneath the blade and lunged forward, his sword flashing with a quick thrust toward Trisha's stomach.

~WHOOOSH!~

Trisha parried the attack just in time, her blade catching Rey's and pushing it aside.

~CLANG!~

The two locked swords momentarily, each struggling for dominance as they tested each other's strength.

"You're strong, Trisha" Rey mumbled, but she wasn't having any of it.

His compliments were worthless to her.

'We aren't using any special abilities, which is why it seems I have some measure of a chance. I'm sure he's turned off his Passive Skills too'

In essence, this was a battle of pure Stats and skill.

'I might not be as strong as you, Rey but I've been practicing Martial Arts my whole life. All my experiences all my knowledge I'll pour them into this match!'

Trisha broke the deadlock with a forceful shove, and they both had to disengage, each assessing the other from a small distance.

She tried to regain control of the fight with a series of aggressive attacks. She lunged, swung, and slashed, forcing Rey to move quickly to evade her strikes.

'Why?'

Despite moving as fast as her body would allow, concentrating her full strength in every strike

'... Why can't I hit you?!'

Trisha already knew the answer to that.

Rey's footwork was impeccable, his movements light and agile as he danced around Trisha's assaults like a ballerina in a play.

He was so smooth in his motion, as if he was one with the swordno, one with everything that was happening around him.

It was beautiful.

Sensing an opening, Rey went on the offensive. He unleashed a flurry of precise strikes, his blade darting and weaving through the air.

"Gah!" Trisha, caught by surprise, tried to hold down the fort, but it was too late.

For the first time since the fight began, her defenses were pushed to the limit as she blocked and parried each attack, her breath coming in quick gasps as she struggled to keep up with Rey's speed.

~WHISH!~

Rey followed up with a high slash, aiming for Trisha's head. Trisha ducked just in time, feeling the rush of air as Rey's blade swept over her. He transitioned seamlessly into a low sweeping strike, forcing her to jump back to avoid being hit.

"Haa haa!"

Trisha retaliated with a counterattack, aiming a thrust at his chest. He deflected the strike with ease, his sword moving in a blur as he countered with a series of powerful slashes. Trisha managed to block and dodge each attack, but Rey's relentless onslaught pushed her back.

'He's getting faster!'

With a final burst of speed, Rey executed a complex combination of strikesfirst high, then low, then from the side.

"G-guh!" She tried to maintain her stance, but she coudn't keep up.

Trisha's defenses began to falter under the pressure, and Rey saw his chance.

~SWUSH!~

He feinted a high strike, drawing Trisha's guard up, then quickly pivoted and struck low, his blade sweeping toward Trisha's legs.

Trisha stumbled, her balance lost, and Rey took advantage of the opening.

"I win." He muttered as he sent his blade flying at her.

~ZZZTTZZZ!~

Suddenly, with a burst of lightning, Trisha's entire body moved much faster than before, allowing her to evade the strike at just the right moment.

Less like a blur and more like a flash of light, she vanished from her position and appeared at a more distant position.

Sweat stained her face as she breathed heavily, staring hard at Rey, who remained stoic despite how intense the fight had been.

He never even broke a sweat.

"You used your Skills. Isn't that sort of cheating?" Rey said with a slight smile playing on his face as he watched her wary expression.

"...."

Trisha took the break to catch her breath, heaving visible breaths, before finally standing upright and preparing her body once again.

"I never said Skills weren't allowed." Once more, she took her battle stance.

"Oh? Is that so?" Rey narrowed his eye as he stared at her with a somewhat curious gaze.

"Yeah. Got a problem with that?"

"No" He began to take his own stance as he pointed his blade at her and resumed his stoic demeanor.

A dangerous air surrounded himenough to make the fearless Trisha shake down to her bones. But she snapped out of it and focused her attention on the incoming exchange.

'I can't win.' Her thoughts echoed as she strengthened her body even more with more Skills.

'But even if it's just one strike'

The time was near, and she was finally done with her preparations, her entire self ready to resume the dance once again. Her desire was simple too.

'... I want to prove you rightthat I am strong!'