Deed-196: Duel

{ March 2024 A.Y. Yokai Realm, inside Naimisha Kingdom's Palace }

[ Inside Dojo ]

[ Ram and Sampath go onto the ring wearing armor, while Queens, Charu Hashini, Gunaniddhi and Vidhur sit a bit far from the action area and wish them both all the best ]

[ Ram in a bit dominating tone whispers in Sampath's ears ]

Ram: Show me what you've learned over all these years!

Ram: Show me that all your training was legit and it was not a way to kill time!!!

Ram: Show me, that if I wasn't there, then could you have saved your maa Lotus!?!

[ Sampath gets all serious, as all those years of training and the instructors' pride are on the line ]

Ram: I won't be showing any mercy!!!

Ram: I will fight for real!

Ram: In the middle of the battlefield, there are no mercies!!!

Ram: Come with everything you have got!!!

Ram: The winner of this duel would be decided by submission or by making the opponent unconscious! Any weapon is acceptable!!!

Ram: Am I clear!?!

[ Sampath nods his head with agreement and gets into his stance with confidence ]

[ Ram signals him to come at him ]

[ Sampath with his katana-dimensioned swords, moves forward ]

[ Sampath places his left-hand katana in a defensive pose, just before his head, while holding the right-hand katana with its blade just beneath his elbow with his right hand for attack ]

[ As soon as Ram gets in Sampath's range, Sampath swings his right katana diagonally up from right to left while horizontally pulling back his left-hand katana ]

[ As soon as Sampath's katana reaches near Ram's body, suddenly Sampath swings his left katana to thrust it into Ram's jaw ]

[ Ram is surprised by that and jumps back, letting Sampath's blade scratch Ram's nose ]

[ By the time Ram is jumping back, Sampath changes his right-hand grip and diagonally swings down both his katanas combined, diagonally down from right to left, making Ram's armor get a deep cut and revealing Ram's chest behind the armor ]

[ Ram smiles and gets a bit serious, as he understands that he is fighting a weapon master, not a prince ]

[ Ram rubs his bleeding nose ]

[ Sampath again gets into a left-hand defensive position and keeps his right hand in an offensive position beside the left side of his waist, and walks towards Ram and swings his katanas as soon as Ram gets within his katanas' range ]

[ Sampath while swinging his right-hand sword horizontally, immediately swings his left-hand katana vertically down and later combines both his arms together and does a slanting upward swing, cutting off half of the armor with that attack ]

[ Ram smiles with pride ]

[ Sampath knows that giving Ram even a blink of time would mean going flying and hitting the wall, hence Sampath rushes forward, not letting any space become available between Ram and his swords' range ]

[ Sampath again gets into a left-hand defensive position, but this time a bit lower, parallel and straight to his eyes instead of his head, and keeps his right hand above his left shoulder, making it perpendicular, with the blade beside his left fist ]

[ Sampath moves forward and does a vertical swing onto Ram's shoulder with his left-hand katana while thrusting his right-hand katana by swinging it horizontally ]

[ Ram gets hit by the left katana and gets his armor damaged, while the right-hand thrust of Sampath misses Ram ]

[ By the time Ram understands what Sampath is going to do next, Sampath does a combined diagonal swing from right up to left downwards ]

[ Sampath gets into a stance where his left hand is holding the sword above his shoulder, while his right hand is holding his sword beside the left side of his waist ]

[ Sampath swings his right-hand sword diagonally up towards the right, while he swings his left sword vertically downwards, and continuously swings his swords alternately, not letting Ram find any pattern and not letting the blades touch each other ]

[ Ram gets cautious with Sampath's every movement and dodges them all while taking scratches. As soon as Ram's eyes start moving swiftly, Sampath understands that Ram is unable to track his blades ]

[ Sampath gets a bit overconfident and thrusts his left-hand sword straight while swinging his right-hand sword horizontally ]

[ Ram smiles and lunges forward ]

[ Psst, both katanas get struck in Ram's arm, and Sampath is about to pull back and slide his swords ]

[ Thaap ]

[ Ram performs a rolling thunder and lands his legs on Sampath's head ]

[ Sampath gets unconscious and falls back, while Ram stands up immediately and throws a punch in the air to let those swords fly and fall near Sampath ]

[ Ram smiles while Sampath lies unconscious on the ground ]

[ Ram gets proud of his son, as he has made Ram cautious, injured, and cut off his armor, leaving him armorless ]

[ Sampath lies on the floor, completely unconscious, as that kick was so powerful ]

[ Vidhur counts down from 60 and even after a minute Sampath remains unconscious, making Ram the winner of the duel ]

[ Vidhur goes and treats Ram's injuries and arm, while Gunaniddhi and Charu Hashini treat Sampath ]

[ After treating them both, Sampath regains consciousness and approaches Ram with a smile ]

[ Ram smiles and appreciates Sampath, as he has surely become stronger, as he was able to push Ram into defensive mode and make him bleed ]

[ Ram smiles ]

Ram: You would have won today's duel! But as you got a bit overconfident that you could take me down, you got a bit relaxed!!! I got a blink of time to attack you, as you thought that I was going to lose!!!

[ Ram smiles ]

Ram: Never consider your opponent to be defeated unless or until your opponent is dead in the war!!!

Ram: Real warriors don't care about their bodies, all they care about is defeating their enemy!!!

Ram: Hence, never consider that you won unless your enemy's heart is damaged or they are beheaded. Just injuring them doesn't grant you victory!!!

Ram: Sampath, you are stronger than most of the asuras I have fought till date! No asura was able to push me to the extent of sacrificing my body parts to defeat my opponent!!!

Ram: You sure are strong!!! Even if you were defeated today, you aren't a loser! You would have won today if you didn't get overconfident in between or if you had used your aura generation or twin blades!!!

[ Ram smiles and pats Sampath's head and hugs him proudly and praises him, making Sampath blush and everyone else proud of Sampath ]

[ Ram later talks with his children, queens and Vidhur with love and care for them ]

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----Meet you in the next deed, Guys