Touché, Finally

"En garde!"

Luca's feet sank deep with focus into the red rug below him and Adrian as they got ready for another round of fencing.

He adjusted his grip, rolling his wrist to test the balance of his own blade while keeping his stance firmly in place. He was no fencer, but he knew the aim was to stick the other with the tip of the thin blade.

"You're too confident. I will win against you this time," Luca said behind his mask.

"That's what you said some minutes ago. And Friday too," Adrian replied mockingly. "Reflexes here are a different kind than the ones you have for the track."

Luca didn't reply; he just watched Adrian lower his mask, ready to defeat him again.

Two weeks after the finale in Monza, Luca had begun searching for recreational activities to keep him engaged with life and not end up the victim of one of Karl Marx's quotes.