Chapter 59 – Tit for Tat (2)

"...I was hoping this would be a joke, Rachel." Yeonha carefully eyed Rachel, clutching her whip in her hand. "You realize that I have no way of winning this, yes?"

Rachel let out a bright smile and said, "I'm well aware. That's why I did it." She idly flourished her foam rapier and said, "After all, you've been teaching my daughter bad things."

It was Tuesday, April 1st. The second, and last, day of duels for Cube's Mid-term exams.

Rachel, as she promised, had immediately nominated Yeonha for a duel in the morning at 8:00 AM.

Although she had wanted to cheer on Lee, Rachel had a grudge to settle first. So she'd just have to settle with catching his duel against Hajin later.

"Go Mommy! Beat up Bad Rich Auntie!" Evandel's cheers echoed from the stand.

Rachel glanced up and saw Nayun holding Evandel in her arms.

Nayun looked amused, a smug smile on her face.

Evandel looked excited, waving a chibi Lee in her hands, molded from Aether.

Seeing that, Rachel chuckled. "I guess that's sufficient."

Yeonha sighed. "...I suppose we should get this over with."

Since it was still pretty early, there weren't many guests from outside of Cube in the stands around the arena.

But even so, it was packed. As for the people packing the stadium...

"A thousand won that Yoo Yeonha cries."

"Ten thousand that she surrenders anyway."

"I don't have any money, but I'll bet a semester's worth of homework that Yoo Yeonha gets disarmed at some point."

...Obviously they were other Cube Cadets who had come for the show and for money.

Yeonha let out a blank look and said, "...This is your fault."

Rachel smiled and said, "My fault? I am not the one who accidentally married the man I adored."

Yeonha turned a bright red and said, "I do not adore Hajin!"

"You didn't deny being married to him~"

Yeonha turned even more red and then stomped the ground. "Ugh! You...!"

"Ahem." The announcer cleared his voice and said, "Shall we begin, ladies?"

Rachel let out a bright smile. "I am ready."

Yeonha sighed. "Just... get it over with..."

"Alright! Then... Rachel Elizabeth Louise versus Yoo Yeonha! The match begins in three... two... one... FIGHT!" The announcer swung his arm down and then immediately booked it out of the arena.

Yeonha blindly lashed out with her whip to try and keep Rachel at bay. But-

"That only works against Hajin, Yeonha!"

...Rachel flipped over it and used her magic to blast her down to thrust her foam rapier at Yeonha.

Yeonha let out a panicked yelp and jumped backwards, reflexively bringing the handle of her whip up to block.

The foam rapier smacked against the whip and then sent Yeonha staggering back as wind sent her long black hair scattering behind her.

And all the while, Rachel let out a bright smile. "Since you keep trying to bribe my daughter with treats... and since you appear to be a masochist... shall I give you 'treats' as well?"

Yeonha's eyes widened and she quickly stammered. "I-I am NOT a- KYA?!"

Rachel smacked Yeonha's thighs with the foam rapier. "Bad girl."

Yeonha swallowed. Then she realized her reaction and turned an even darker shade of red from embarrassment. "E-E-Enough! I will not-"

Rachel's foam rapier whipped across Yeonha's rear.

*SMACK*

"Kya~?!" Yeonha yelped and then grabbed her rear, mixed emotions on her face.

Rachel kept smiling as her clear blue eyes roamed Yeonha's body, looking for the next target. "Mm... I think ten lashes is enough punishment, right?"

Yeonha's eyes turned wide and she threw her whip away, immediately throwing her hands in the air. "I SURRENDER! I SURRENDER! I'M SORRY! GET ME OUT OF HEEEEERREEEEEE!"

Rachel giggled.

And up in the stands, Evandel's giggles echoed, mirroring her mother's.

===

Arena 4, the same place that Lee had his battle royale the previous day.

While he wished that he could see just exactly how his lovely Rachel was planning to punish Yeonha for trying to bribe Evandel with candy and video games, Lee would just have to settle for watching the replay.

And laughing at the inevitable clips and threads all over Cube's forum.

For now though...

Lee idly twirled the training sword he purchased with the advance that Boss gave him for joining the Chameleon Troupe... Well, technically 'Jeronimo Mercenary.'

...Lee had the urge to correct their spelling. Especially since it was something he actually knew about since the origin was pretty famous in American history.

But he decided to leave it be.

They were already giving him a lot of bonuses as it was, and he still hadn't met the whole crew yet.

But either way...

Suho walked into the arena from the opposite side and stared at the sword in Lee's hand. "So you're finally being serious."

Lee held his sword down loose at the side and casually paced side to side, flourishing the blade in a circle as he did. "Serious? Please. I'm playing around today."

Suho laughed and held his sword in a proper stance, stepping back with his left foot to point his sword at Lee with his right hand. "Then let's play properly today for once."

The announcer's voice echoed from the speakers. The same one that commented Lee's duels yesterday. "At Arena 4, we have the duel between the infamous Lee Shin, Rank 999, and the esteemed Kim Suho, top of the ranks in Cube's combat scorings! What's the reason for this grudge match? No one knows! But Kim Suho was the challenger! Could it be, a fight for affection from one of the ladies around Lee Shin?!"

Lee laughed and said, "That guy's having too much fun now."

Suho smiled and said, "Well, it's all fun and games today, isn't it?"

"Mm, I guess so." Lee's eyes twinkled. "But if you think you can beat me by half-assing it, you're going to be sorely mistaken."

The announcer started counting down.

Suho slowly exhaled, calming himself and focusing.

Lee smiled, idly pacing back and forth and spinning his blade around in a flourish.

And then...

"FIGHT!"

...Lee started walking forward.

Suho blinked, confused at the calm advance. But he stayed focused, taking in every bit of Lee's movements.

Seeing that, Lee smiled and said, "You'll be able to see it. But I wonder if you'll be able to understand it."

The moment he finished talking, Lee rushed forward, his blade still spinning around in a flourish to slash at Suho's neck.

It was flowery, flashy. Completely mechanically unsound.

Suho was confused still, but since he saw that the strike lacked power, he turned his body slightly to deflect it and set up for a counterattack thrust.

At least, that's what he clearly thought would happen.

But Suho's eyes widened as the flashy strike wasn't deflected or moved, but hit like a full force blow. Because of that, he quickly reached up with his other hand to keep his sword steady, lowering into a crouch to prevent his sword from being smacked off course.

In a real fight, it would be over.

But Lee stepped back, twirling his sword around with a smile on his face. "Good reflexes. But you lost that exchange."

Suho laughed, his eyes sharp as he tried to figure out what happened. "You got me." His eyes shifted to Lee's sword. "...That's a normal training sword, right?"

"Yep." Lee dangled the sword in his hand and said, "Picked it up from the armory this morning in full. No tricks here."

It wasn't a lie.

His sword didn't have any tricks in it. It had tricks ON it.

Namely...

===

[Art]

(New!) Sword Control Art (Proficiency 50% | Intermediate rank) - An ability inspired by the sword play from a galaxy far far away. Mana manipulation is utilized to treat the sword as an extension of the body even when not physically held.

===

...He was using the Force. Well, TECHNICALLY not the Force. But it was functionally the same thing.

Suho picked up on that though and said, "No tricks... but not no techniques."

Lee smiled and decided to show off a bit. Putting his hand at the pivot point of his sword, he twirled it around and used the momentum from gravity to roll it from his right hand to his left.

Suho gave Lee a blank stare.

But the people in the stands...

"OH MY GOD HE HAS THE FORCE!"

"IT'S JOEVER!"

"IS IT SPACE HANUKKAH? BECAUSE IF IT'S NOT WE'RE SCREWED!"

...They seemed to be having fun.

Lee laughed and did a few more party tricks, twirling his sword around his body before pointing it at Suho. "Well? Are you going to attack, or do I have to?"

"...You are having way too much fun with this." Suho smirked. "...But fine. Have it your way!" After that, he charged forward to close the distance...

And then Lee threw his sword at the ground and bounced it by the hilt to spring up at Suho.

Suho's eyes widened and he instinctively brought his sword to deflect it.

But in that brief gap, Lee had moved to reclaim his sword, grabbing it out of the air with a twirl before swinging it at Suho's exposed back.

Suho immediately spun around to deflect Lee's attack, bracing himself for the same force as before.

But Lee's sword bounced off it without any force.

Suho's eyes widened as he realized he was tricked.

Then Lee swung his sword back using the recoil of Suho's deflection to attack even faster.

Suho laughed as he did a retreating parry to open up some space. "Okay, that is NOT swordplay."

"What do you mean?" Lee stepped back, twirling his sword in his right hand. "I'm using the sword to fight. I'm just using EVERY part of the sword to fight."

Up in the stands, the crowd roared.

"That is DEFINITELY the Force!"

"Oh my god he's flexing on Kim Suho?!"

"THAT'S NOT EVEN SWORD KI OR QI REINFORCEMENT!"

"That's physics! That's literally just physics! WHAT THE FUCK!?"

Suho stared at Lee and said, "...I'm beginning to understand why you switched to a spear."

Lee looked amused. "Oh? And why's that?"

"Because in the real world you definitely still keep a sword on as a secondary weapon, don't you?"

"Maaaybe." Lee laughed. "But either way, you asked for this."

Suho clicked his tongue and said, "...You realize Hajin is going to steal those tricks the moment that he sees this footage later, right?"

"Bet. I'm still better."

Lee was pretty sure Hajin's cheat would let him copy the techniques Lee was showing off since it was technically 'long ranged weaponry' since he was using the sword as a projectile.

But at the same time, Hajin wasn't very smart, so application of said techniques would be lacking.

Suho laughed. "Well, can't deny that. But, hm..." He relaxed his stance and started pacing the arena.

Lee matched him step for step, keeping the gap between them.

And then the announcer started playing Duel of the Fates over the speakers.

Suho's face went blank.

Lee laughed.