A Nascent Kaleidoscope.

Chapter 679:

Winter and Sasaki seemed to be evaluating one another.

Winter, I don't think, was a traditional swordsman.

At least, not in the same way that Sasaki was. From what I recalled, everyone in her family had the same semblance? And it was rather versatile in application as well. But even still, her weapon didn't appear to be anything too strange.

Her sword had some mechanisms to it, but even her sister, Weiss, took the whole moving parts aspect to a minimum as well.

But even so, Aura, Semblance, and Dust presumably, she would be using all of that, as it was a normal part of Remnant life and for a Huntsman.

Was it unfair to say she wasn't a 'pure' swordsman because the norms and customs of this world were simply different?

Still though, as someone who practices and trains with a sword, they have their own pride regarding it.

Even I don't consider myself a proper swordsman.

It probably wouldn't even be in my top three identities I would use.

Before the sword, I was a Magus.But still, I took my training seriously and wouldn't ever give it up, and if someone told me that the best swordsman in the world was standing in front of me, I would have to verify it myself.

It must feel silly for those on the outside of the circle.

"I assume you are the one I'm here to fight, Miss…?" Sasaki looked at Winter.

"Winter Schnee." She stood a little bit straighter. Maybe it was her instincts that took over. As a military veteran, maybe she unconsciously recognized him as a threat. "Atlas Military Specialist." She added.

I got up next to Pyrrha and nudged her as I helped her up.

She was tired but not hurt.

Getting your aura drained is like a double whammy of exhaustion.

On one end, it hits your body physically; on the other end, it's literally the Light of your Soul, and it can hit you metaphysically as well.

Granted, you're not going to die from getting your aura shattered completely, but the shock of it can be extremely disorienting and debilitating.

I've had it happen to me plenty of times, and it's even knocked me on my ass.

"Wilhelm, who's your friend?" Pyrrha asked, catching her breath.

Sasaki's eyes turned to me, and he smiled. "Well, allow me to introduce myself. Sasaki Kojiro Miss." He said politely as he bowed his head.

Maybe he noticed that Pyrrha was my friend and was being extra nice.

"Wow, you look like you just came out of one of those old movies." Ruby blurted out.

"Rubes!" Yang swatted at her sister's shoulder.

"Do I now?" Sasaki asked humorously. "Maybe they're not as old as you would think." He winked.

It's funny how similar cultures popped up across various worlds.

"He's a samurai," I said simply.

Weiss blinked. "That's a real thing?"

"It's an old tradition from Mistral." Pyrrha spoke up. "I didn't know any were still around? It's a…..really old tradition."

Sasaki let out a laugh. "Consider me a relic from the past then."

"And from Menagerie," Blake spoke up. "A lot of festivals have them dressing up like the old days still."

Everyone glanced at her and just nodded.

That was still an awkward topic, it seemed.

I clapped my hands. "Well, have at it."

Winter shot me a short glare but refocused her attention back on him. "Would you like to proceed?"

"By all means." He smiled warmly. "I had been dreadfully bored the past few days, so I'm rather excited."

"Playing gate guard?" I asked.

He let out a small sigh. "You save one town, and suddenly they can't survive without you." He gave a 'what can you do' kind of shrug. "But the food and drink were welcomed."

He was hanging around Riften if I recall, something about the Thieves Guild as well.

Winter adjusted her stance. "I see, you are a man of noble character."

He chuckled. "As flattering as that is to hear, I wouldn't say that. I just so happened to be there when the town was attacked, nothing else."

Winter hummed; her eyes shifted as if she reevaluated him completely.

I wouldn't be surprised that she immediately assumed the worst of him because I'm a 'criminal' and we're friends.

But hearing he 'saved a town,' well…

"Stop flirting and fight already," Yang hollered.

"Yang Xiaolong! My sister would not lower herself to…to flirt with some random stranger!" Weiss hissed.

Winter coughed, seemingly embarrassed slightly. "Then let us proceed. Would you please connect your scroll to the controls so we can measure Aura? The rules of this institution are fights end when Aura reaches a low threshold."

"A scroll?" He rubbed his chin. "I'm afraid I don't have something like that. There's no need for anything complicated." He grabbed the sword on his back and pulled it free. The glistening black metal was unmistakable to those who knew. "If you claim to be a swordsman, then come."

"Holy shit, that's a long sword. Overcompensating much?" Yang snickered.

"Yang!" Ruby puffed up. "Don't make fun of someone's weapon!"

Even Sasaki laughed, though.

He could take a jab at his expense.

"Wait, is that just a normal sword?" Weiss asked in confusion. "I don't see any mechanism on it for Dust?"

"That's right." I crossed my arms. "It's just a simple sword, no other tricks."

They seemed rather confused by that.

Really, only Winter was still treating him the same.

I think she barely batted an eye at that fact. Maybe it took her by surprise, but…it's the difference in experience.

"I wouldn't underestimate a man with a sword if I were you." I hummed.

Winter pulled her saber out of its sheath and took a stance, turning her body to the side, saber extended, and her other arm crossed behind her back.

A proper stance—I could tell at a glance how much she's practiced it.

In contrast, Sasaki held his sword rather casually at the side.

Winter furrowed her brow, as if waiting for him, but maybe her patience had run out. "Are you going to prepare yourself?"

"I'm quite ready to begin when you are." He smiled politely still.

"Are you not going to take a stance?"

He tilted his head. "Who's to say that this isn't my stance?"

She seemed to take that as an invitation and shot at him, her saber piercing right towards his chest.

He casually raised his blade up horizontally to deflect it upward, completely destroying the momentum she tried to build.

He then twisted his hand in a circle, his large blade acting almost like a snake as it wrapped around her sword.

Her eyes widened, and she jumped backwards, gaining distance.

"Hoh? You can surely fly far away, little bird. Did you realize you were about to be disarmed?" Sasaki laughed, laying his long sword against his shoulder.

"What's he talking about? They only clashed once?" Weiss muttered. "Winter had the advantage of striking first; why did she retreat?"

"Because she would have lost if she pressed forward. A second later and her sword would have been sent flying from her hand across the room." I answered as they looked at me. "She overextended on that first thrust and almost paid the price."

Arrogance.

She believed she could defeat him quickly and smoothly.

Winter frowned but didn't rise to his little verbal jab.

She adjusted her stance and settled back down again; this time, however, a glyph appeared behind her back foot.

She came at him again, but this time, she accelerated forward many times faster with the help of her Semblance.

The same thing happened where he casually deflated her blow, but this time, she didn't commit to it; rather, she grabbed her sword with her other hand and pulled it apart.

Her saber was actually two swords, the new one a proper rapier.

It stabbed from under Sasaki's sword up towards his chest.

"A fun trick!" He smiled, but his expression turned slightly. "But one I've seen before." He grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands and spun his blade expertly to deflect both her weapons in one movement.

To her credit, that didn't cause her to falter.

She immediately regained her footing and followed up again with a thrust of her rapier as she parried a slash of his.

She looked well trained in using both her weapons.

Not just someone who wielded two weapons, but a proper dual wielder.

With her saber, she blocked and parried, and with her rapier, she smoothly followed up to attack, doing everything in one motion.

But her frustration clearly began to build as Sasaki effortlessly continued to block or parry and deflect each strike with a casual movement.

She seemed to be overextended again at first glance, the rapier dodged ever so slightly by Sasaki as it went past his head, but she used that to step in closer.

It was smart, in all honesty.

Sasaki's sword was…unwieldy, to put it simply.

Almost like a spear, where the obvious advantage was to get up really close so they couldn't properly use it.

But he didn't stop her and did the exact opposite of what she expected; he, too, stepped up closer until they were nearly a breath away and stepped around her as their swords sent sparks flying everywhere.

He was staying with his back to hers as she attempted to make use of the close proximity to limit his sword's moveability, but instead he maneuvered around each of her strikes as he stayed with his back to hers.

To the outside, it looked like a dance as their feet intertwined.

With one step, Winter tried to get around him to stab at him from the side, and then he moved in a half circle and flicked his sword to knock her rapier away, following along.

From above or below, she couldn't land a hit despite his sword being so egregiously large.

He wasn't mocking her.

Realistically, he wasn't leveraging his Servant-level parameters either out of respect.

But he most certainly wasn't doing it to make a fool of her, though perhaps it was meant to be slightly teasing because he can be a little shit when he wants to.

No, he was leveraging her own 'strategy' against her. She could step out of their little 'dance,' but then she would be entering his 'full range' once again, which would immediately put her at a disadvantage.

She charged at him so aggressively both times before because of the range of his weapons.

However, something had to give.

And it seems she was the first to shift strategies again.

Several glyphs appeared in front of her, and she stepped up them, like a ladder, to use them as leverage to flip over him and attack him from above.

"Clever! But, there is an obvious flaw, little bird!" He called out as he stomped on the ground and swung his sword with a bit more force despite not being able to do a full range swing due to the proximity.

She went flying backwards, barely reorienting herself upright again as her boots hit the floor and screeched as she came to a stop.

"A swordsman doesn't lightly leave the ground. Perhaps calling you a little bird is more proper than I thought." He continued to tease her.

He was having fun despite the skill level gap being so big.

Winter blew up at the few strands of hair on her forehead to get them out of her eyes.

Her earlier annoyance seemed to intensify; she was a bit angry now, maybe not specifically at Sasaki, but more in a general sense.

She summoned a glyph behind her again, the same snowflake-like image that her sister had as well when she used their Semblance.

And she pressed against it and shot forward, but this time, dozens of glyphs appeared all around Sasaki.

Her weapons collided with his with a loud screech of steel, and she immediately lost the exchange but seemed to predict this, no longer trying to overpower him.

Her back foot touched another glyph, and she used it to thrust upwards with her saber, several times faster than her normal movement, as it shot her up towards the ceiling with the same power.

Sasaki stepped backwards, narrowly avoiding it, but Winter touched against a glyph high above and used it to shoot down at him again.

He swung his sword up to meet her again with another resounding clanging of steel as Winter hit the ground and stepped on another Glyph.

She shot at him from the side, and he deflected her attack away as she hit a Glyph on the opposite end.

She began to pick up speed with each 'boost,' attacking him from every angle, using her Glyphs to continuously propel her.

Gradually she turned into a blur to almost everyone in the room.

But Sasaki stood in place, and the collision of steel and spray of sparks was the only indication that they had clashed as it picked up more and more.

I could see it perfectly fine.

Winter was seemingly adapting to the speed well enough and attacking all of his perceived 'openings' every single time, yet he just 'barely' managed to avoid being hurt.

"Little Bird, flying around. It was amusing, but I believe it's time to clip your wings." Sasaki said casually as she came at him again.

He pulled his arm back and thrust the tip of his toward right at her.

Her eyes widened because she didn't expect an attack to come at her like this.

She quickly threw her swords up to block, but her own speed was her downfall as the thrust hit her.

She went flying back against, hitting the wall, crashing into it, and then hitting the ground.

Oof.

She's not used to someone being able to keep up with her speed.

And that hit wasn't from him using his Servant strength; that was from him redirecting the power of her own strike right back at her.

Like someone running full speed and jumping at an extended bar. He just simply utilized it to push her back with the force.

If anything, he made her take less damage by allowing her to flow with the force.

She didn't even consider why he was able to keep parrying and deflecting her blows during her little trick or consider if he could turn around and attack her as well.

"Winter!" Weiss let out a panicked shout, but Winter held up a hand as she stumbled back up to her feet.

Winter was breathing a bit heavy, but she picked up her swords again. "You could have attacked me at any time."

"Perhaps." He didn't deny it.

"Have you been going easy on me this entire time?" Winter asked, though it sounded a little rhetorical as she came to the realization. "No dust, no semblance, no bullets, purely…your sword."

She took a deep breath and took a stance again. "However, I'm not finished."

Sasaki smiled a bit wider, maybe more genuinely too. "That's a good attitude."

"At the very least, I will lower your Aura!" She said firmly.

"...Aura?" He tilted his head. "Apologies, I don't have that."

Winter froze, as did everyone else in the room.

"W-what?" Winter asked in utter confusion. "You don't have Aura?"

He scratched his head. "No? Is that strange? I'm a swordsman; I don't care to use anything else but my sword."

She gaped at him, and seemingly everyone else did too. "Are you mad!? I could have killed you!"

"Could you?" He raised an eyebrow.

And it seems like Winter came to the full realization of everything that just happened.

"You have no aura?" She repeated. "You have no aura…. You were fighting me…you were beating me with no Aura!?"

"Will?" Pyrrha looked at me.

"What? He doesn't have Aura." I shrugged.

Confirming it just seemed to silence them in utter disbelief further.

But I'm fairly sure Winter's fighting spirit just up and left the room in that instance.

Her persistence, her pride, and her arrogance seemingly just had a head-on collision with a humbling called Sasaki Kojiro.

"Little Bird, have you lost your fire?" He walked towards her. "I haven't properly attacked yet."

"Y-you're just a regular person with no aura? But…how!?"

"Is it that surprising?" He scratched his cheek. "My friend called me the 'best,' and as much as that tickles my pride, I can't agree with it. I'm just a simple man who spent most of his life on a mountain trying to swing his sword at a most annoying bird."

I snorted, but no one paid attention to me.

Her aura must have taken a big hit.

Combined with how much she was using her Semblance, she was probably 'in the red,' so to speak.

Her legs wobbled, and she dropped her swords before falling to her knees.

She lost all will to fight at that point.

"I-I lost…."

He put his sword away and held out a hand to her. "A woman is most beautiful when she's confident, Miss Schnee. I enjoyed our duel, and I hope this loss won't dull your edge for the next time."

"O-oh." Winter noticeably flushed as she took his hand and he helped her to her feet. "Next time…" she whispered. "Y-yes, I suppose I will have to challenge you again to reclaim my honor."

"I can't believe Winter lost…" Weiss whispered.

"I can't believe she lost to someone without Aura," Yang added.

That hung in the air still.

"If you intend to…remain within the city… I am no stranger to its streets. Perhaps, you would like someone to show you around?" Winter asked.

"How wonderful. I am a stranger to this city; I would be more appreciative of an experienced hand guiding me." He smiled in return.

Someone better pick up that phone.

Because I fucking called it.

"W-winter!?" Weiss whispered in confusion, very clearly seeing her older sister showing a faint blush on her cheeks.

"...this is exactly like my books." Blake, usually the quiet one, looked uncharacteristically excited as they watched them.

Weiss turned to her with an absolute look of horror on her face.

…Jesus Christ, what kind of books is she reading to get that kind of reaction?

Well, that settled that then.

I suppose there's no need to rub salt into the proverbial wound here.

Now I don't have to waste my time with that; I can spend the rest of the evening with Pyrrha, then head over to Junior's bar and partake in some questionably legal and morally dubious actions.

I can't wait to be smug about this to everyone when I tell them.

[Line Break]

A/N

Wilhelm didn't actually have confidence in this happening, but he will take full credit and pretend it was all part of the plan anyways.

Finishing up with Pyrrha, then going over to see Roman, Neo, and the others for some less than legal things he needs done.

If you want to read 10 chapters ahead or support me visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone

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