The fight continued. Kaiser parried another air blade with a minimalist swing of his sword, the impact producing a dull thud.
"I'm observing," he replied, his voice neutral in stark contrast to the unleashed fury before him.
A wave of irritated heat rose to her cheeks. Without another word, she intensified her assault, clenching her fists to compress the air into denser, faster gusts. This time, Kaiser no longer settled for merely deflecting the blows. He made a move: one precise sidestep, then a second backward, his body shifting with disconcerting economy of motion. He avoided each projectile as if anticipating its path a fraction of a second before it materialized.
The truth was that, unlike Kethra's training, this fight felt almost child's play. Adriana's emotions were getting the better of her, allowing Kaiser to read her like an open book.
"What are you…" she began, bewildered by this sudden mobility.
But Kaiser had stopped listening. He rolled the wooden sword's grip in his palm, and for the first time his feet planted firmly, his center of gravity lowered, and he adopted a classic guard. Nothing flashy, but a stance of fearsome stability and efficiency.
"You have a habit after a concentrated volley," he stated, his piercing gaze fixed on her right arm. "You drop your right guard for one breath, as if releasing tension. You expose yourself without even realizing it."
Adriana's eyes widened. "What?"
He moved, advancing with determined steps. Reacting instinctively, Adriana hurled a frontal blast to halt him dead in his tracks. Kaiser, however, did not slow. He simply angled the flat of his blade against the current, parting it with calm force, as if merely pushing aside a warm breeze. The confidence in his motion was absolute.
A rising murmur spread among the watching soldiers.
"Wait… he's counterattacking?"
"It's not luck. He's reading her moves," another remarked, impressed.
"Look at Adriana's face. She's losing her cool."
In three swift strides, Kaiser had closed the distance to nothing. He was now in her personal space. With a sharp, precise strike, he tapped the tip of his sword lightly against the wrist that controlled her spells. The pain, more startling than severe, made Adriana leap back.
"You rush too much," he commented, unruffled, closing the gap she had just created. "And you get angry. That's a weakness."
Furious and humiliated, Adriana grimaced. She ignored the throbbing in her wrist and gathered all her will. The wind began swirling around her in an ever-faster, louder spiral, kicking up dust from the ground. The spell was clearly stronger, a desperate attempt to drive him back with raw force.
Facing this display of power, Kaiser stopped dead. Instead of retreating, he focused, his eyes analyzing the shifting structure of the tornado. He waited, motionless, until the exact instant Adriana's magical concentration faltered slightly, creating a brief ripple in the vortex. That was the weak point, the opening he had been watching for.
He lunged.
His movement was startling in speed and precision. While Adriana was still focused on unleashing her wind spiral, he slipped through the space she had momentarily left vulnerable. He didn't swing wide, but struck true. The wooden blade sliced the air and slammed down with a sharp crack into the ground right between her feet, the impact vibrating up to her ankles. The force was enough to unbalance her, yet so controlled that it didn't even graze her boots.
The air spiral, deprived of its caster's focus, collapsed with a dying sigh, leaving only heavy silence behind.
Adriana stood frozen, eyes locked on the wooden sword buried in the earth at her feet. She was breathless.
Around them, after a moment of stunned silence, the soldiers erupted in unanimous cheers.
"He got her! He really got her!"
"By all the elements, how did he do that? That opening was tiny!"
"He read her completely from start to finish! She never had the slightest edge!"
Adriana finally drew breath, harsh and ragged. She clenched her jaw so hard her muscles ached, unable to hide the shock coursing through her. Kaiser, calm as ever, straightened up, pulled the sword from the ground with a fluid motion, and rested it casually on his shoulder. His expression remained impenetrable.
"That's why she chose me," he declared in a low voice, perfectly audible in the falling silence. His words were not mockery, merely a statement of fact. "She saw what you stubbornly refuse to see."
Adriana opened her mouth to protest, to find an excuse, an explanation. But no sound came out. The truth, as brutal as the blow he had delivered, had forced itself upon her. Kaiser had no flashy magic or spectacular spells. He possessed something more fundamental: a reading of combat rhythm, a honed instinct that dissected every intention, an ability to analyze his opponent without ever yielding to panic.
He compensated for no weakness with brute force; he understood the mechanics of the fight, and that understanding was his ultimate weapon.
A respectful, almost awkward silence enveloped the arena. Then, gradually, the murmurs resumed, now tinged with newfound respect and genuine admiration.
Without sparing her another glance, Kaiser turned on his heel and headed toward the training ground exit.
"I'm going to take my bath now," he announced simply, as if he had just finished the most ordinary task.
And he left, leaving Adriana alone in the center of the circle, staring blankly at the mark his sword had left in the dirt. Her fists were clenched so tightly her nails dug into her palms, but this time she was utterly unable to dispute the evidence of her defeat.