Chapter 45: Physical Combat Training: Milena Vs Rudra [2]

The exchange kept building, faster, sharper, until Milena found an opening.

It was a low sweep aimed at Rudra’s grounded stance, the kind of strike built to end things quickly.

He read it half a second too late to avoid it cleanly, forced to plant hard and absorb the blow rather than dodge it, and that half-second of committed weight was exactly what she needed.

She drove forward, aiming to close the gap of him adjusting his legs and finish it.

Except Rudra, rather than retreating, let the momentum carry him into her instead, catching her wrist as she came in and using her own forward motion against her, pivoting his whole body into a clean, decisive throw.

She landed with a sharp hiss, body already moving to block Rudra from pinning her down and immobilizing her, instinctively kicking him on the ankles at the same spot before he could get on top of her.

She was on her feet already by the time Rudra staggered back.

Both of them took another moment to reset. Milena taking deep, sharp breaths while Rudra adjusted his feet, accommodating for his hurting ankles.

One more second later, they were already on each other, the fury of their exchange somehow growing even fiercer.

Elian glanced at the professor, who had the same concerned look on his face.

Callan Reyes let it run a few more exchanges before finally cutting in, sharp and decisive.

"Enough! Both of you, stand down."

Neither of them had actually landed a finishing blow.

The fight had just simply escalated past the point where ’controlled duel’ still described what was happening, and Reyes clearly wasn’t interested in finding out where it went from there.

Milena and Rudra broke apart at his voice, both breathing hard, neither willing to be the first to visibly relax.

"Draw," Reyes said, crossing the floor toward them.

Both of them protested with groans.

"No. Stand down." He said, already ushering them out of the arena.

"I only called it because neither of you seemed like you were losing momentum." He said in a sharp voice, shaking his head.

A small pause, then his expression softened.

"But when I said stop, you both actually stopped. That matters more than you’d think. Good work, both of you."

He sighed as he waited for them to step off, looking between the two of them for a long moment, arms crossed.

When he spoke again it came slower, more deliberate and instructional.

"I’ve been running this class nine years. I’ve had war veterans’ kids come through here. Kids who fight like they’ve got something to prove, like they’ve got their life bet on it and still have nothing behind it. I’ve had young trained duelists who go stiff the second a fight stops following the shape they rehearsed."

He shook his head slightly.

"Neither of you did that, and on top of that, you read each other in real time. You adjusted mid-exchange without losing your footing more than what was expected of kids on your level, and you both threw away your weapons in the opening three seconds like it was obvious. Which it is not obvious, not to anyone who hasn’t actually had to make that call with something sharp coming at their face."

A long moment of silence.

"Suryavanshi."

His eyes moved to Rudra first.

"Your grounding’s excellent. Your instinct to close distance and finish at the correct time is also excellent. But you commit your full weight on attacks when you’re already fatigued, and that’s exactly the kind of habit that gets punished by someone faster than you eventually will be. Fix it before it becomes a flaw"

Rudra declined his head slightly, expression unreadable, though something in his posture suggested he was filing the correction away with more weight than the casual look implied.

"Belyanova."

Reyes turned to Milena next.

"You read distance better than anyone I’ve seen in this class today, Tanner included somehow." A glance towards Darrow. "But you hesitate for a half-second before committing to a finish once you’ve got an opening. That hesitation’s going to cost you against someone who doesn’t have Suryavanshi’s discipline to not immediately punish it."

"Understood." Milena said, flat, though Elian caught the faint furrow of her brow—her expression actually visibly frustrated, but still focused as if she had taken the advice seriously.

Reyes studied them both a moment longer.

When he spoke again, it wasn’t quite instructor-to-student anymore.

It was softer, almost private, like he was thinking out loud more than delivering feedback.

"I’m going to ask you both something, and you don’t have to answer in front of the class, you can think about it until after this class is done if you’re gonna tell me or not."

His gaze flicked briefly toward the rest of the class, towards Darrow and Oizys in particular, before returning.

"Who taught you to fight like that." He glanced between the both of them.

"Because that wasn’t any academy technique, that wasn’t even palace-guard technique, or the basic training foot soldiers get. That was someone training you like your lives were actively in danger, thinking you were going to need to employ it sooner rather than later."

Milena’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.

Rudra’s composed expression didn’t crack, but Elian could feel something behind his eyes go very still, same as it had done with Darrow.

Neither of them answered.

"Didn’t think so." Reyes said quietly, more to himself than to them, and didn’t push further.

"Wait after class with Tanner today, I need to have a word with you both."

He turned, looking at Oizys and Elian too.

"Valcourt and Rosemere as well, stay behind after class today."

Elian blinked, surprised, wondering how he had ended up being dragged in to this whole mess.

Then professor Reyes straightened, voice snapping back into its usual brisk register as he turned to address the room at large.

"Everyone take five. Two more duels until we’re done, first up will be Sterling and Ashworth."

Conversation took over the room as the students scattered into groups.

Rudra went and sat on one corner, silent and deep in thought.

Milena came back to them, already being teased by Darrow about being in trouble before she could even get a word out.

Elian listened with half his attention, the rest still occupied by the small, warm weight curled around his wrist, and more of it occupied by the fact that his duel was going to be dead last.

The dread kept growing until Reyes’s voice cut through the chatter again after five minutes, sharper this time, dragging his focus back fully.

"Sterling. Ashworth. You’re up."