“Happy to, but I feel like you’re just gonna be as confused as I am once I do,” came his deflated response.
20MAIYA VS VIR
Weeks of training had finally led to this moment: the first ‘official’ duel between Maiya and Vir.
Official, because they’d been training together daily, so this duel wasn’t the first time they’d fought each other, but it was their first match where Riyan would act more as a judge than an instructor. And if Vir knew anything about his best friend, it was that she hated to lose.
The upcoming battle would not be easy.
They stood ten paces apart in the training dome, with the rays of the early morning light filtering in. Riyan stood in the middle. He wore a black robe today instead of the usual white, as if he’d dressed for the occasion.
“For your first duel, you will fight unarmed,” their instructor explained. “The victor does not matter. Rather, I shall bear witness to the fruits of your efforts over these past three weeks. Give it your all and show me what you have learned.”
“Ready?” He looked at each of them in turn, receiving nods from both. “And fight!” Riyan commanded, swinging his arm down like an ax. He then Leaped out of the way, leaving the two contestants to do battle.
Maiya charged at Vir the instant Riyan announced the start of the match.
Unusual, thought Vir. This wasn’t like her.
They’d quickly discovered they thought similarly—to plan and think through each step of the battle. While Vir’s instincts were far superior to Maiya’s, she usually planned further ahead than he did. Which meant Maiya’s opening move must have been driven by a strategy of some sort.
Vir played it cautiously. He’d secretly scooped up two fistfuls of sand before the fight, which he threw at his opponent, forcing her to close her eyes and look away.
Maiya hated it when he used that tactic, but if it worked, it worked. And Vir wasn’t the type to forgo an advantage.
He ducked low and threw a straight punch at her stomach, hoping to leverage her own momentum to knock the wind out of her lungs.
But Maiya knew all his tricks. She’d seen him fight a hundred times. The girl wrenched her body at the last minute and intentionally fell, slapping the ground before rolling away, preventing Vir from launching a follow-up attack.
Their fights almost always went a certain way. If Maiya was feeling good that day, they’d engage in an honest duel, where Vir would swiftly win. But if she was grumpy, she’d draw the fight out, forcing Vir to exert himself. It only took a few minutes of that before he could no longer keep up, and Maiya would always win in that case.
This duel seemed like it’d be the latter. Vir had no hope of winning once she’d exhausted him—stamina was always his most precious commodity. He had to ration it like a desert traveler.
As a result, the efficiency of his movements had improved by leaps and bounds. He’d practiced tirelessly to eliminate any wasted actions that might sap his stamina, and he tried to use his opponent’s weight and momentum against them.
Vir decided this was one of those times where spending his stamina would be worth it. He spun around and sprinted after Maiya before she could recover.
The problem with rolling was that it deprived one of their situational awareness. Maiya would first have to regain her bearings before making any further moves. That would cost her a precious few seconds. Seconds she didn’t have. What am I missing? Vir thought. He felt like he’d already lost… Like he was walking into one of her traps. It can’t be this easy…
Vir had little choice. He was already committed. He threw himself into a slide, tucking his rear leg and extending the other. His leg smashed into Maiya’s shin just as she’d righted herself, sending her falling on her butt.
This time, Vir was in the perfect position to capitalize on his advantage.
Mimicking what Riyan had done to the knight scout in the Godshollow, Vir attempted to pin Maiya under him, but she locked her legs around his back instead. He was now in a disadvantageous grappling position, with Maiya having leverage over him.
Maiya pulled him closer with her legs.
He knew how this would go. If he did nothing, she’d reach up and choke him out. But thanks to their endless practice, he’d figured out how to get out of this position.
Vir threw his weight forward to create some slack, then ducked, and pulled back, freeing himself from Maiya’s leg hold. He then grasped her ankles to restrict her movement and threw his body on top of her.
Maiya grunted under the strain of his weight.
Now he had the dominant position.
They’d only just begun to learn ground fighting and grappling from Riyan, but Vir found he had a natural aptitude for it. Thanks to all the years he spent mastering his parkour, he simply understood his body better than the average person. Though he held the advantage, he didn’t let his guard down, suspecting Maiya would try something. He locked her legs and pinned her hands, and with his entire body weight on top of her, prevented her from moving even an inch.
Vir then clasped her neck and applied pressure on her carotid arteries to choke her.
“I—I yield,” Maiya whispered as Vir ramped up the pressure.
“Uh, what?”
“I said I yield, you brute! Stop choking me!”
Vir was so surprised that he’d completely forgotten to relieve the pressure on her neck. “Oh, shoot. Sorry. I just… didn’t you have something planned? Isn’t that why you charged in?”
“Um, mind getting off me first, Vir? You’re kinda heavy.”
“Oh, right,” Vir said, standing back up.
“Good,” boomed Riyan’s voice. “You are both as clumsy as newborn babies, but at least the boy remained calm and used tactics. But you, girl. What were you thinking? I have never seen you use that tactic before.”
Maiya dusted herself off. “I tried something new. Just didn’t work. That’s all,” she huffed, blushing slightly.
So she panicked and charged in without a plan. Wasn’t expecting that.
“You panicked and charged in without a plan,” Riyan said, startling Vir. Could the man read his mind!
“I did not!” Maiya said, unable to meet his eyes, “Just that… nevermind. You don’t want to hear my excuses. What’s next?”
Riyan smirked, clearly happy that she’d swallowed her words. The Maiya of a month ago would’ve complained endlessly.
“Again. But this time, with katars.”
They both groaned, but for different reasons. Vir was hoping Riyan would end things with a single round. The longer this went on, the worse the situation became for him. And Maiya didn’t appreciate being forced to use a katar when her weapon of choice was a spear.
Neither of them complained any more than the groan. They’d learned long ago that whining only led to punishment. Often cruel and unusual punishment, like triple chores.
Maiya picked up a wooden katar from the racks on the wall and handed another to Vir. They’d begun training with the weapons only a few days ago, so both were still clumsy. But even in his limited time with the weapon, Vir had steadily grown more proficient.
He had a shot at winning, if he ended things quickly.
Vir and Maiya again faced off at the center of the training dome, ten paces apart.
“Begin!” Riyan said, and this time it was Vir who charged Maiya.
He was lucky in that his motions from unarmed combat translated well to katar-based combat. The weapon’s design made it act like an extension of his arm, allowing him to carry over some of his existing skills, rather than learning them from scratch.