Chapter 84 Restraint.

  Isaac’s pure black hood drank in the sunlight and let off steam as the shadows burned away in the harsh light. His shoulders were covered by his cloak so the armor underneath would be safe from the light. His breastplate flexed with each breath as the shadows stayed perfectly conformed to him. He felt his regeneration rate tank and mentally commanded the armor’s integrity to lower until he was no longer in danger of bleeding his reserves dry just to look cool.

  Isaac rolled his sword in his hand and took one silent step forwards. “Well, class.” Isaac purred. “As a rule, though it has exceptions, whoever attacks first wins.” Isaac swung his sword up in a casual diagonal uppercut.

  Instructor Fitz deflected it on instinct as his head was suddenly back in the game. “However, it is important to know whether or not your opponent has set a trap for you.” The instructor continued their lesson and then thrust his sword towards Isaac’s chest.

  Isaac brought his sword back down on top of the instructor’s blade and sent its tip towards the ground, leaving his own pointed directly at the instructor’s chest. “Traps can go both ways.” Isaac explained. “If you know how your opponent is going to counter, then you can launch a very real attack that was also just a set up for another strike.”

  Instructor Fitz stepped back and brought his sword back up into a defensive position. “Is there anything else you wanted to teach my students, Lord Darkness?”

  “I might think of something during our stretch.” Isaac grinned. “For now though, help me sharpen my blade, would you?”

  “It would be my honor.” The instructor replied and dashed in with another thrust.

  Isaac deflected the attack and then went in for his own. This time Fitz pulled back and immediately sent another thrust towards Isaac, again and again before he pulled back for real. Each thrust was met by Isaac ever so gently deflecting it out of the way. That was the problem with thrusts. They were the easiest to turn aside. They were also the most deadly, but their extremely deflectable nature prevented them from being the perfect strike. Isaac abused this as he turned each of Fitz’s attacks just far enough so they would miss or skip off of the edge of his armor in what could be considered a glancing blow at best and an illusion at worst.

  Isaac was instantly aware of Fitz's normal fighting style. The Instructor fought as if he had a poorly balanced spear in his right hand and had his other arm up as if he was still holding a large round shield. Fitz was also instantly aware that Isaac was used to dueling with a singular one handed sword and he could see the slight strain as Isaac wielded a hand-and-a-half wooden training sword with one hand. If Isaac was a bit stronger then it would be perfect for him but as it was, Isaac was at his physical prime, maybe his peak, it was hard to tell when his body didn’t visually change at all, and he still wasn’t strong enough for that.

  The Lord of Darkness changed the tempo of the fight like a coin flip as he suddenly turned a deflection into a counter thrust. The instructor’s block was slightly awkward but it came up fast enough that it didn’t matter. It was at that moment that Isaac realized that not only was the shorter and older man stronger than he was and had more experience, but he was also faster. Isaac pressed the attack with a quick chop and when his sword was caught by Fitz’s, he switched into a reverse edge hit that the instructor barely managed to block in time. The instructor caught every attack that Isaac threw at him, regardless of the angle or speed. Back and forth they clashed as neither man was able to land a single clean hit. There were plenty of attacks that brushed against each other but not a single one was solid.

  “This brings up a great teaching moment.” Instructor Fitz began with a questioning look.

  “Go on.” Isaac waved him on.

  “Never, in an actual duel, use a weapon that you do not have complete faith in.” The instructor told the students. “If I had a spear, and especially if I had a shield, this would be going very differently. At present, it is all I can do to force a stalemate, and I assume the same is true for Lord Darkness.”

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  “Actually, if I were to use my training sword, I doubt I could push you into a position where I would definitively win.” Isaac conceded. The instructor and plenty of the students looked surprised but Isaac just smiled. “My class only gives me magical prowess and power, nothing more, nothing less. All of my martial combat is learned and honed the hard way. It is not surprising that a real Soldier would be better equipped for melee combat.”

  “How much do you train?” One of the students asked with his hand raised.

  “One and a half hours of martial training, one and a half hours of physical training, two to eighteen hours of magical training depending on how close I feel like I am to a level up.” Isaac explained to the students. “I am a being of darkness but I am also the Lord of it, due to that fact, I don’t need to sleep simply because I don’t allow myself to need to. That is what allows for those random days of near constant meditation and practice with my element.”

  “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” The instructor told all of the students who looked positively disheartened by how much Isaac trained.

  “But hard work and talent always wins.” Isaac finished the saying. “Some of you have real talent, those are the ones who should be working the hardest. Some of you have nowhere else to go, those are the ones who should push themselves to the breaking point. The rest of you are here for money, honor, or expectation. You only need to do well. Push yourself simply because it is an amazing feeling to realize your own growth, but don’t let it consume you unless you want it to.”

  “Shall we call it a draw?” The instructor asked Isaac.

  “Let’s go for another minute or so, maybe some of the kids will take inspiration from our fight. Then, if no victor has been decided, we will call it a draw.” Isaac replied. Instructor Fitz nodded and entered a fighting stance once more.

  Each of Isaac’s deflections were perfect and graceful as if he had spent his entire life using only the smallest amount of force necessary to complete a task. This was not because he was showing off but because if he wasn’t careful, he would either over extend or tire himself out long before that minute was finished. The sword was a bit too heavy for him, only around ten percent, but that was ten percent that turned into a twenty percent increase in endurance loss while fighting.

  Sometimes, while Isaac and Instructor Fitz were sparring, Isaac would have to make a counter attack just because he knew that he would not be able to deflect the instructor’s next attack. The instructor always played it safe, however, so each time Fitz would either retreat or cancel his attack and turn it into an aggressive block which sent shockwaves up Isaac’s arm. A few times he was surprised at the durability of the wooden swords, as their weapons had impacted each other like two opposing magnets. By forty five seconds in, it was clear who would actually wind up the winner if the spar was allowed to continue for too much longer. Without Isaac using his death flames to relieve his exhaustion, his body simply couldn’t keep up with how hard they were pushing each other. Meanwhile, Instructor Fitz hardly looked winded. He was focused, for sure, and was also obviously pushing himself, it just appeared that he could push himself for far longer and far harder than Isaac could.

  In the end, Isaac had to cheat in order to win, which was something that everyone who knew him as ‘The Lord of Darkness’ wouldn’t even bat an eye at. Isaac forced a bind, where both their blades met and bit into each other slightly. His next move was to step in and, while the sword was held up and out of the way, he landed a solid uppercut into the instructor’s kidney.

  Fitz stepped back and rubbed his ribs with his hand while Isaac rubbed his hand with his other one. It felt like Isaac had punched a wall. “I believe this brings up another part of formal duels.” The instructor began. “Non-weapon attacks.” He said and eyed the students. “Depending on the circle, that could be seen as either an admission of defeat or as a sign that it was time for the fight to continue on to the next stage.”

  “Indeed.” Isaac agreed. “When it comes to knight versus knight combat, if there was not a rule that dictated that the first solid weapon hit would decide the duel, then they often devolve into armored brawls. Good armor will protect you from good weapons. Weapons only beat armor when they surpass the other by an entire tier.”

  “Ah.” Instructor Fitz said with a realization. “It is my loss then.” He told Isaac with a bow. “I had not even realized that gap in our agreement.”

  Isaac nodded. “And that brings us to the last point for today.” Isaac gestured behind him and his shadows all returned to where they had come from. “Before you make an agreement, especially one that could potentially put your life in danger, make sure you understand everything. Even just a tiny change in wording could mean the difference in a draw and losing because of a sly punch to the ribs.” He then turned towards Instructor Fitz once more. “Now, I believe that we have a tour to finish?”

  “It would be my honor, my Lord.” Fitz said and gave Isaac a courteous bow. He then handed his sword off to the other instructor who also retrieved the one that Isaac had been using. Once the group was well away from the students who had immediately begun another lesson with the other instructor, Fitz gave Isaac and Lenna a deep bow. “I sincerely apologize for my rudeness earlier, my Lord, my Lady.”

  “It is forgiven.” Lenna told him.

  “I’m surprised it stopped there, to be honest.” Lucius chimed in.

  “No one asked you, Lucius.” Isaac shot back. “And I know when to show restraint. I usually show a lot of restraint, as you well know.”

  Lucius felt a shiver run down his spine. “Yes, well, thank you, for that.”