In the distance, a tall man with black hair observed the event from the sky while floating on a sword, alongside another tall man with white hair.
"It's hard to believe they're only thirteen. It's truly a disguised victory to be able to teach these young ones," replied the white-haired man.
"Yes, the worst part is knowing that both are holding back considerably. How much of their real power do you think they're using?" The black-haired man said, crossing his arms.
"Hard to say. Maybe the girl is using only 50%, but the boy... that boy is using even less. It's challenging for me to gauge him. It seems like there's some artifact concealing the presence of things within him."
"An angel and a demon flirting in a fight, it reminds me of my youth with Yuna," the white-haired man responded curiously, wanting to know the backstory that led to this point.
"They are young; they might not even understand that their auras have merged, creating a bond. Despite the boy being Scarlet's son, it's hard to see her in him. In fact, he's so different... I feel there's something special about him," the black-haired man said.
"Indeed, they seem like us in our adolescence. I vividly remember our fight in the Black Forest. Hahahaha!" The white-haired man laughed.
"I hope these two stay together and don't become enemies like us, although I think fate always writes in twisted lines, they seem to match," the black-haired man said as he looked at the two young fighters.
"Our disagreements stemmed from being too arrogant. If we were more humble like them, we might have become great friends back then, Musashi".
"True, but it took us a long time to grow mentally, which made us the best in our styles, Sasaki," Musashi responded with a smile, and Sasaki understood.
"You're right," he replied and then looked again at the young ones with a melancholic smile. He closed his eyes and pondered.
"What do you think?" Sasaki said while watching both warriors panting; he quickly remembered a moment from the past but snapped back to reality.
"Well-polished," replied Musashi.
"I didn't ask about that; I'm talking about romance, old man, romance!" Sasaki teased Miyamoto.
"Old romantic! Pull yourself together! Stop seeing love even in battles between rivals! You'll end up teaching the young ones bad things!" Miyamoto tapped Sasaki's head with the sheath of his katana, who quickly put his hand up, grumbling.
"OUCH! Cut it out! Better romance than hatred! They're at the age to marry; we have to nurture the next generations, you old grump!" Sasaki replied.
'I hope their paths aren't as daunting as ours...' He prayed internally.
The fight continued fiercely, with no openings or chances for attack. They had reached the peak of their power, so it didn't matter anymore; they just wanted to have fun, and with each clash of swords, they understood each other more.
"The best way to understand someone is by exchanging blows," his mother once told him, but Sara had never understood. The same goes for Dante; his mother also said something similar.
"Someday, you'll meet the intent of an enemy. On that day, you'll learn about understanding people, son." Dante remembered the red-haired woman educating him in the art of combat.
When they realized it, once again, they became more excited and elevated the level of the battle. Durandal's slashes began to get out of control, and the remnants of their strikes affected the arena.
Dante was sent flying far away, but it was just a push; he wasn't injured.
Dante assumed a different stance, clearly stating, "Let's finish this in one strike." Dante's intent reached Sara, and both took attack positions.
They looked into each other's eyes, and Sara saw the flames of hell, while Dante saw the depth of the ocean.
Both ran towards each other, and again, an explosion occurred; a lot of dust was raised, and soon they thought the battle had ended with a winner. But unfortunately, when the dust settled...
A tall man held both swords with just one hand each.
The man stopped both swords with just one hand; he was smiling, but he didn't stop smiling until he saw the faces of the two young ones returning to normal.
"I understand that you want to learn more about each other's relationship," he said slowly. "But don't you think it's too soon to destroy the newly built Arena? You know, it's complicated to recover this."
When he finished speaking, the two young ones looked around and saw several cuts and stones everywhere; the stands had deep cuts, and the arena floor was completely burned, wet, and with several irregular unevennesses.
Realizing they had been caught by some instructor or administrator, they had no way to escape and accepted everything that came, doing the only thing they could do after causing so much chaos to the people around them.
"We're sorry." Both bowed their heads and spoke in unison. Musashi chuckled softly at the two while admiring them up close.
"So young and so eager to fight... that elf wasn't lying," he said, recalling Queen Elf's announcement about a new era.
Both felt embarrassed when they came to their senses. When you enter the Flow Zone, your body works exclusively to satisfy your desire for battle. It's such a focused zone that you lose even the perception of colors; nothing exists beyond your opponent, and any thought is completely extinguished, focusing only on your goal.
"Listen, I know the desire to fight is strong, but don't you two think this was a bit too passionate of a scandal for the students to witness?" Sasaki appeared, although the two didn't know either of the two teachers, they showed respect.
Sara, who was recovering from the battle and with a racing heart, blushed quickly when she looked at the dorms and saw several people watching them...
"Passionate?" Dante questioned Sasaki, who wasn't introduced or made any greetings.
"Well, you two lovers were passionately dancing with your swords, murderous intent? Spare me, you were almost giving your hearts to each other." He replied calmly while looking at Dante's face, who blushed halfway and then responded.
"Sorry, we were foolish when we made a bet and came here without permission."
Sara bowed again in respect, and both nodded.
"Honestly, if you want the opinion of the more experienced, the fight would be a draw. This wasn't a dispute over something like a bet; it was a humble exchange of blows to get to know each other," Sasaki said, and Musashi nodded in agreement.
"Both are limiting themselves too much for it to be valid for a bet. If it were a real fight, both should have died together." Musashi said calmly with a smile on his face.
Of course, he smiled; how could he not? He would love to see a fight like that. Maybe they would even reach the full expert level in their weapons.
"What kind of bet was this that made you two fight so passionately, youngsters?" Sasaki, being a lover of romance, quickly asked when both had already calmed down.
"It's just something about the dorm..." Sara said, afraid to reveal too much...
"Wait, are you two sharing a dorm?" Musashi said alarmed. Man and woman? Young? Sharing a dorm? Even more THESE YOUNG ONES?
"I'm afraid that's a problem," Sasaki said, worried as he looked at the young ones. He didn't think about anything sexual or such; he actually thought, in fact, about their mothers.
"It wasn't our choice," Sara said, and then Dante continued. "We were the last to arrive, and there was only one vacant dorm. Even if we go there and ask to switch, no one would really want to." He replied.
"I understand, but still..." Sasaki pondered but gave up; he already had no way to contradict the young man.
"And is it okay with you, young lady?" Musashi spoke to the shy girl.
"I... I'm okay. It's better to share with him than with the other girls... you know about us, right?" Sara said as she looked at the two adults.
"Yes, Sara Vortex and Dante Scarlet," Musashi replied, confirming their names.
'So he's really Scarlet's son...' She still had her doubts since she didn't see him using the scarlet flame, but now with a teacher confirming, she had no reason to deny it anymore.
"It looks like I've gained several enemies..." Sara said, catching Dante's attention, who gave a bitter smile, as if apologizing.
'Are they starting a romance? How interesting, I want to know more about this!' Sasaki said telepathically to Musashi.
'Really, so young and with so many problems and still falling in love. Actually, I think they haven't even realized it, so I guess it's okay, isn't it?' Musashi replied with a complicated smile.
"I guess we can consider this a draw." Dante said to Sara, specifically. She couldn't show more, just as Dante couldn't either.
"I guess my disguise won't work tomorrow, will it?" He said looking into Sasaki and Musashi's eyes.
"Don't count on it. Even we could hardly see anything beyond sword techniques, and apparently, you didn't use anything either, did you?" Musashi said as he looked at the boy's hair.
"No, there was no need to reveal, so I used only the basics." Dante said.
"Doesn't this long hair interfere with the fight?" Sasaki asked.
"No, I'm getting used to it... it's also a form of training to adapt to new situations, and changes in the body like this help." Dante replied with a smile. "And also... it was my wife's magic that did this..." He held strands of his black hair while seeing small traces of arcane magic.
"With a wife... you mean..." Musashi dared to ask, and Dante nodded. "Morgana Arcane, a Master of the White Tower." He said, and Sara became engaged, hearing the affirmation.
"You're fine, young man?" Sasaki asked.
"Of course."
"So that's why Alice did all that." Musashi quickly remembered weeks ago when Alice had a fit of rage in front of him.
"Anyway, go back to your dorm, kids. Tomorrow will be a long day..." Sasaki said, completely ending the conversation.
Dante and Sara said their goodbyes and walked side by side together. "I forgot to ask what your names were." Dante said, and Sara noticed the same. "It must not be very important; we don't know their faces... I think."
Dante put his hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword, and a bitter smile appeared on his face. The entire blade had been completely shattered like glass, becoming just small shards inside the sheath.
"A draw... what a lie, I lost." He sighed lightly as he looked at the sword on Sara's back.
'Durandal... why do you think she's like Excalibur? A legacy? I wonder who gave such a powerful weapon to a child...'
As Dante pondered his first failure, little did they know they were conversing with the two greatest swordsmen in history: Sasaki Kojiro, the Grandmaster of Nodachis, and Musashi Miyamoto, the Grandmaster of the sword.
It's different from the story Dante knew; both walked away alive from Ganryujima. In this world, Ganryujima never existed, and both became friends after a great draw, where both katanas broke. Dante still didn't know this story, but two legends arose on the same day and at the same moment in an ego clash to know who was the strongest.
A fight so balanced that made the threads of destiny intertwine, and both never managed to surpass each other.