Holding her sword, Sofia took a deep breath.
She was in one of the many open areas where one could go to train, but unlike the others, this place was special, as there was one thing here that was hard to find.
Her gaze shifted to the dummy in front of her, this, unlike the usual ones, was special as it was made of tal and was enchanted with magic. As such, cutting or damaging it in any way, shape, or form was incredibly hard.
She had to thank the academy she attended. This was one of the privileges of going to the most prestigious one in the whole empire, they had a vast number of these dummies, specially made for students to train on. As such, damaging or even destroying them was not only allowed but encouraged.
She had a week to prepare for the upcoming fight, and her goal was clear, to cut as many dummies in two as possible.
Grace—her opponent—used so kind of golden threads to trap and defeat her opponents, so the best counterasure that Sofia could co up with was to train her attacks to beco so powerful that they would be able to cut the threads with ease.
It wasn't the most detailed plan, but sadly nothing else ca to mind when she thought about how she should prepare.
Her eyes shined a deeper shade of blue as a few clouds began to form in the sky above.
Then she dug with her foot so deep in the ground that she cracked it.
Exploding with impressive speed, she appeared like a blur to the bystanders. One mont she was far from the dummy, and the next she was next to it.
In the blink of an eye, her sword moved. From the point of view of the untrained, it might have looked like a regular slash, but it was so much more.
Every movent, every slightest twist of the muscles, was precise, allowing her to deliver maximum damage.
Her sword flashed with lightning speed, splitting the air and hitting the dummy.
A tallic sound echoed around the training field.
Sofia, acting almost as if it was expected, didn't let her sword rest for even a second as she used the montum to attack again.
Her sword collided with the dummy again, and a second ti, it was pushed back.
Yet Sofia used the montum again as she attacked with no rest. This ti it was faster.
One ti, ten tis, a hundred tis.
With each attack, it seed that the speed of her attacks was only getting faster, delivering more devastating damage.
After about an hour, she took a step back and glanced at the spot where she had been focusing her attacks.
There was a small dent in the body of the dummy.
With a sigh, she muttered, "Okay, this is the limit of my physical strength… let's see what happens when I use my powers."
At her words, a few more clouds appeared in the sky as Sofia charged again.
She wasn't faster than before, but there was sothing different about the sword she was holding.
It seed like there was a ray of water that was following it.
The sword hit the dummy, and the sa thing happened again—until the water flowing along the sword reached the dummy a second later and struck.
This ti, the sound that echoed around the field was much louder than before.
Sofia threw a quick glance at the sky, searching for the position of the sun.
"I have a few hours to train… better make use of them."
*****
It was the middle of the day when she started her practice, now it was the middle of the night.
Sofia's chest rose and fell rapidly as she took hoarse breaths. Every muscle in her body ached with pain.
Throwing a glance at her palms, she grimaced, they had long since begun to bleed from the strain she had put them under.
But it was worth it.
"It split," she muttered as she observed the dummy on the ground.
Yes, it had taken her many tries, but she had eventually managed to break it in two. The result was ugly, but that didn't matter, she had managed to achieve her goal.
Grabbing a bottle, she drank all the water she needed and threw it to the side, adding to the large pile of water bottles she had drunk.
Her training was done, and she was about to go ho and rest, satisfied with her progress.
That was until she rembered Vera and her words, the way she looked and acted.
"Fuck," she muttered under her breath as Sofia stood up, grabbed her sword, and approached the next dummy.
Taking a deep breath, the water surrounded her body once more, ready to strike.
Vera was tortured from her visions, day and night, and Sofia had promised that she would help her friend.
So she didn't have any right to rest, she was going to train until the end.
That was her thought as she charged at the dummy.
When morning ca, a few people arrived at the training field, only to widen their eyes in shock.
The field looked absolutely demolished, like a storm had passed through the area just the night before.
The ground had been torn up, with nurous craters as if they were created by attacks.
Three dummies were lying on the ground as they had been cut in two,
And a woman with striking blue eyes and hair was focused on demolishing the fourth one.
It was truly a sight to behold.
*****
"Are you watching Vera?" Sofia muttered to herself as she took a step forward.
The sound of thousands of conversations happening all around the arena reached her ears. She tried not to react as she felt nurous eyes on her, it was important to remain calm.
Of course, she tried to ignore the disapproving gaze of her father as well.
Stopping just before reaching the center, Sofia gazed at her opponent.
Grace looked as elegant as always. Just from the distance, Sofia was able to tell how strong her opponent truly was. It seed that the rumors really hadn't been exaggerated.
Gripping her sword tight, she got into battle stance. At her actions, it seed as if a few clouds ford in the sky, and a thin layer of water began to surround her body.
She had spent the early week training, pushing herself to the absolute limit.
Was this going to be enough? She asked herself for a mont.
A second later, she shook off the thought. She was going to win. She was going to make herself believe that, casting all hesitation and doubt away, helping her stay with a clear head.
Her heart rate increased in anticipation for the upcoming fight.
She was going to prove to Vera that fate can be changed. She was going to prove to her father that she wasn't a failure.
She was going to prove herself.
Both Grace and Sofia charged at one another as the emperor declared the start of the fight,
And the audience gasped as, until now, they hadn't seen a fight of that magnitude.
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