Improvement

The lesson that Ares most remembered his father teaching him was to think while fighting.

"All the real fighters think while fighting because they use both their minds and body to make a good performance and defeat their enemies. However, most people don't think when in a life or death situation. They just throw blows consecutively and without any strategy behind, also as trying to get their physic to its peak to win the battle quickly. These kinds of people are just brawlers."

He always thought a lot about that advice. The boy had harsh times when trying to concentrate in the battle and think properly. He always ended up going forward by instinct and not getting a good result out of it.

His father was always trying to prompt him to think faster, and not just when resting, but while attacking, dodging, and moving around. Ares was raised as a swordsman knowing that, if someone could keep their minds sharp in the battle, they would always be two or three steps beyond their opponents.

Through his years of training, he noticed that his father always could beat him for two reasons: he could think of a lot of things in just some seconds and he had mana to enhance his body.

The second one, Ares would be able to get someday, it was just a matter of time. However, the first one was the issue. It was something that you just would get after years of training. He needed to polite his mind until it reach the level that Kavir once was.

During that year while brawling with the guards and training by himself, Ares focused mostly on developing that skill. Each day, he could feel a little bit of progress. He believed that, as long as he could keep striving to reach that goal, he would always improve a little bit.

He was not a talented person, so he could only rely on his determination. That was the only way to get things done when you couldn't improve fast enough. Ares learned how to fall with his face on the ground several times and get up again while running toward his goals.

The boy needed to get beaten several times when trying to fight. He struggled to think at the same time he tried to survive. Train his mind and his body at once was tough, but no one would go easy on him. He no longer had a teacher. The only way to learn things was trial and failure. The price for his classes wouldn't be just sweat and exhaustion anymore, but blood and bruises as well.

Every day was suffering. Every training was a different pain. The mocking of the guards, the rumors among the citizens, and the constant scolds of Alice were entering his mind and accumulating as bad energies that, despite making that massive anger inside him get denser, were helping Ares to keep going with determination.

After all that year of agony, he finally reached his peak.

While fighting with Matteo, someone older than him and more talented, he noticed that his hard work had paid off. All the theories that his father taught to him turned into practice that day. Now, he was the idealized fighter that Kavir always dreamed him to be!

Once Ares dodged that last blow of Matteo, seeing the blade flying and nearly touching the tip of his nose, he didn't waste time and charged forward while delivering a flurry of blows.

Again, each attack was calculated, his eyes moved across Matteo's body, finding openings and flaws that he could take advantage of. Meanwhile, he also paid attention to the movements of his opponent, predicting where he would go, how he would react and dodge, and when he would give an attack of his own.

Just analyzing the slightest motions, like the foot position, a tickle on the shoulder, or waist rotation, for example, one could read his enemy like an opened book.

That wasn't the first time that Ares fought Matteo, so he was aware of the patterns of his attacks and how his body instinctively acted when going to attack or defend! The boy had his rival on the palm of his hand since the start.

'Last time I was tired, but now I can go at full strength! Let's see who will look down on who when this battle ends!'

The other guards thought that Matteo was going easy on the boy as they saw that scene. Although they knew that Ares was a good fighter, they would never imagine that he would be able to match their best guard. All of them were trained every day to bear the toughest situations. Even though they were just warriors of low rank keeping a small village, they still needed to know how to fight well.

A lot of guards had lost to Ares throughout that year, but most of them were drunk or not taking it seriously. In the end, they couldn't even see it as competition after those brawls became usual. They considered it a time to relax, give some laughs, drink a bit, and give a break from the daily duties.

Nonetheless, Ares never was going serious once as well. Every time he fought, his body was destroyed after his intensive training. Also, he tried often new skills and patterns to enrich his fighting style and sharpen his mind as well. When trying to focus on all those things at once, he couldn't make a good performance.

Anyhow, that day was different. Besides being one of the few days in which he would fight the guards with real swords, he didn't train that morning, nor push himself last night. He just rested from the previous battle and went at full power on the current one.

'I-It can't be!' Matteo desperately thought as he dodged the boy's attack, then defended another swing that came right away. He needed to keep locking blades to recover his breath, even if for some seconds.

'This brat... His eyes are following each one of my movements! He looks at my body, my sword, my eyes, everything! It's not just a matter of thinking fast while fighting, this technique goes beyond this level. It's not something that a normal human could do!'

Matteo tried to concentrate several times to catch up with his reasoning and counterattack somehow, but he couldn't. In comparison to Ares, he was kilometers away distant. The only things that kept him untouchable in that fight were his trained instincts and his physical advantage. If not for those points, he would have been cut in dangerous spots several times.

Their exchange became intenser as they stopped to walk around and planted their feet in the center of that circle, attacking continuously while holding their breaths.

The guards finally noticed how serious Matteo was, and with astonishment kept watching that show.

The sound of their swords colliding echoed in place of the guard's shouts and jokes. The atmosphere became tense and apprehensive. Jasmine's folk stopped for a while to see if the impossible really was happening.

"Son, listen well, in a battle of endurance, whoever thinks that the strongest or more resilient wins are wrong. When you need to keep a firm base on the ground and attack with all you have got, remember that who decides the end of the battle is your intelligence. Take advantage of any opening that your enemy shows. When getting exhausted, people generally start to display the most obvious flaws."

As Ares remembered that, his mind focused again. He felt his body getting distant, but could still sense the impact of their swords reverberating through the blades. Their movements were going in slow motion. The only thing quick enough was his eyes and his consciousness, which registered everything at a high speed.

That state lasted several minutes once he could find the right opportunity to return and use his full power.

'I will end this battle like... THIS!'

Matteo was going to attack. However, of all the swings he made that day, the most defective was that one.

The blade didn't even have the time to finish its course before Ares parried the blow with such perfection, that sent it flying several meters before getting stuck at the wooden wall of a house.

The perplexed eyes of all those people gathering around followed the sword in the middle air. Then, slowly, they returned their gaze toward the middle of the circle again.

There, Ares was standing with his breath unsteady. Sweat was running down his face and dripping nonstop on the ground. He was tired and weak after that battle.

Nevertheless, his posture was erect and imponent. His grip was firm on his sword that now was placed beside Matteo's throat.

"The next time, don't accept the invite to fight me, bastard!" He shouted with a defiant smile.

Matteo closed his eyes painfully. That was a strong hit on his pride.

"Fine, It's your victory." The guard answered, gritting his teeth.

From then on, all the citizens yelled in celebration, running toward Ares and complimenting the boy. The other guards couldn't do anything but lower their heads and ask for extra mead.