Stardust: The First Champion

Martial Cousins 3

"Swords," Alesia said, returning to their initial conversation. "You know how?"

Tora nodded. "Jian or Dao?" She placed the staffs back on the wall stand before taking the prop swords off the wall.

"Jian."

Tora tossed the sword to Alesia before bowing to her. She removed the scabbard, tossing it aside as she gripped the hilt with both hands. She turned to Alesia, the sword in front of her.

Alesia unsheathed her blade, holding the sword with the scabbard in the other. With her chest to the side, she held the blade before Tora.

This time, Tora was the first to attack, clashing swords with Alesia in the air, as she forced Alesia back. Tora thrust her sword toward Alesia's navel, which was deflected by Alesia's blade. Tora brought the sword down over Alesia with all her might.

Her height and physical strength were advantages in the fight. Each blow was heavy, pressing down on Alesia, forcing her to her knees.

Alesia angled her sword, letting Tora's blade to glide before she quickly got to her feet. She attacked Tora, thrusting at Tora's chest and neck with each strike. This time, Tora went on the defensive as she tried to parry the strikes. Alesia was fast, not letting Tora rest as she moved back. Tora flipped out of the way of the sword, before stopping a good distance from Alesia.

The two paused as they stood two meters from one another. Tora tried to catch her breath while she was still a great distance from Alesia. Although Tora had the strength, Alesia had the speed and agility to force Tora back with continuous, unrelenting strikes.

"Did your parents teach you all that?" Tora asked Alesia.

"My mother comes from a long line of Chinese martial artists. Since I could walk, she taught me how to fight, just as she had learned from my grandfather," Alesia replied. "My father, who was also a wrestler, encouraged it because our family inevitably had enemies. I've been doing this since I could crawl and I've never stopped learning."

Tora twirled the sword in her hand as she closed the gap between her and Alesia. She swang for Alesia's head, who ducked beneath the blade, rolling behind her. Tora turned quickly, parrying a thrust from Alesia. She countered, swinging at Alesia's legs, who simply stepped out of the range of her blade.

Tora attacked immediately, thrusting at her ribs to catch her off guard, but it was Tora who was caught off guard. Alesia brought the sheath in her hand forward, catching Tora's blade inside the sword scabbard. Tora's eyes widened at the unexpected move. She gasped as the tip of Alesia's blade came up toward her chin.

Tora let go of her sword before flipping out of the way.

Tora stopped out of Alesia's range once more to catch her breath. She looked at Alesia, who was calm and collected. Not a one drop of sweat on her brow nor was she breathing heavily after their exchange. As Tora looked closely, she saw a strange of Alesia's hair feathering in the air. There was no wind in the room, but she sensed pressure in the atmosphere. She recognized the pressure immediately as she had sensed the same pressure from Master Levi when he unlocked her Chi pathways.

"Not bad," Tora said.

"It's amazing how many times experienced fighters will toss their scabbard away during a fight. It can be used for defense or as a decoy to catch the enemy off guard," Alesia said as she smirked. She had Tora, who was sixteen years older than her, on the ropes, and her ego swelled. "Like just now."

"You used Chi?"

Unlike Tora who only trained with Master Levi for a while, Alesia's family was full of fighters and martial artists and had been training her entire life. Alesia was also a veteran in the use of Chi in combat, while Tora only recently learned to open her Chi pathways. In skill and experience, Alesia had the upper hand. "Like I said, we're martial cousins." Alesia threw the sheathed sword at Tora before charging her.

But Tora was would not back down. She dodged the weapon, keeping her eyes on Alesia who trusted forward at her abdomen. Tora caught Alesia's wrist, levering her strength to press on the pressure point. Alesia released the sword before she fell to her knees.

Tora grabbed the sword, placing it at Alesia's neck. This marked the end of their fight.

Had they been in a real fight, with real swords, Tora had the leverage. She could cut Alesia's carotid or cut her head off completely. It was Tora's win.

Just as Tora surrendered the first round, Alesia surrendered the second round. "I surrender."

"Can we end in a tie?" Tora asked.

"Yeah," Alesia replied. She retracted her Chi before falling on the mat. She laid on her back. "Ah. I'm exhausted." She gasped for breath, her chest moving up and down as she inhaled. Even with all the cumulative years of training, Alesia still had trouble maintaining control of her Chi in combat. Meditating and continuously training her Chi was not her priority so she let her training lapse. Whenever she used it, it sapped her stamina and strength.

Tora fell beside her as well, lying on her back, with her head beside Alesia's.

Alesia turned to Tora. "You're learning Chigong, right?"

"Yeah."

"You should be careful. Chi techniques require a large amount of stamina. Even though circulating your Qi can help increase your martial prowess, it's temporary. It puts a strain on your physical body that can kill you if you push it too far without enough training," Alesia explained. "It can cause internal bleeding."

"I'll keep that in mind," Tora replied. Her master had already warned her. He forbade Tora from using Chi outside of the Martial Arts studio. If her Chi were to become unstable, there would not be anyone to help Tora stabilize her internal energy. She could destroy her Chi pathways and never be able to cultivate ever again or kill herself. How many years would it take her to master Chi to even Alesia's level?

"Hey," Alesia asked.

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell me about your home planet?"