A grassy area not far from the martial arts arena.

There, two swords and two sets of protective equipment for practice were left alone.

"Come with me for practice."

"......, don't tell me you've been waiting for this?"

"Sorry."

　The first time He saw him, he was wearing his own armor.

　(What is this, martial arts practice?)

　(What's this about?)

　(Maybe Torque, as the team leader , feels a sense of responsibility.)

　(But still.)

"If we're going to practice, why don't we do it in the martial arts arena? Wendy and Leila will be there too "

"No."

Torque bluntly refused.

"We'll do it here."

Almark, having no choice but to put on his armor, brushes away with his hand the winged insects that fly in front of his face.

“I"'ll go with you, but ...... not here ...... is no place to do it"

"I'm not going to let you get away with that. Put it on."

　Torque had already put on his armor and was waiting for him with his sword.

"I know,"

　Almark had also put on his armor and was standing in front of Torque.

"......Go easy on me,"

　He said and raised his sword.

　Almark matches the tip of his sword with the tip of his own.

　Then the two quickly move in for a moment.

　"Whoa..."

　Almark's eyes widened.

Torque's stance has changed.

Before, his stance was full of openings, as if he was trying to take advantage of his size to overwhelm his opponent, but now, Torque is carefully maintaining a semi-conscious stance against Almark, trying not to show any openings.

The two kept their distance and slowly circled around in a circle.

"You're getting better, Torque!"

　Almark calls out.

"Fuck you," .

　Torque spat.

　Sweat beads on his forehead.

"There's no gap. I could have hit you from anywhere before."

　Almark was surprised and said so.

It's true that the only thing he could hit was the torso, so there was no way to compare it to a real fight, but even so, Torque's improvement was remarkable.

If there is no gap, there is no choice but to crash it.

Almark lightly poked his sword at himself.

　Torque reacted to it and jumped back to get a good distance between them.

Then Almark steps in and launches a follow-up strike.

Torque parries it with his sword.

Almark strikes, and Torque catches him.

　The more they move, the more openings are created.

As they continued to attack and defend, Almark found a number of gaps in Torque's body armor that he could exploit.

"There are more and more gaps, Torque."

"Shut up!"

　Torque shouted as he desperately blocked Almark's attacks with his sword.

"If there's an opening, why don't you just hit it?"

'Then ......."

Almark suddenly changed the angle of his step and stabbed Torque in the side of his torso.

"Gghh!"

　Torque groaned and fell to his knees.

Damn."

　He pounded the ground with his fist.

"Again."

　He stands up.

You've got a much better stance, but you're not going to win if you don't attack , Torque.

"I know that."

Torque readied his sword.

'One more time."

:All right."

Almarc matched the tip of his sword with the tip of Torque's sword.

The next step was the same as the first.

　He was in a good position, but his attacks were poor, so he was on the defensive, and when he had an opening, Almark struck him.

"Damn you," he said.

　Torque stood up with a sickening grin.

Let's do it again."

　Almark responded, and they went at it seven more times, each time with the same result.

"Damn you."

Torque kneels down, and Almark says to him,

"Torque, your strength is your big body and your power. Your stance is better, but I think your cautiousness afterwards is killing your good qualities."

"Shut up!

　Torque stands up and raises his sword.

"I'm sure it's the same no matter how many times I try. "

"It's getting dark. Let's call it a day."

　Almark put his sword on the ground.

“Let's do it again,"

"Let's call it a day," Almark said.

"No."

　Torque shakes his head.

　The sun is almost set, and his face is only dimly visible.

"One more time,"

　Torque repeats.

" it's not safe."

　Almark shakes his head.

"Martial arts practice is not something to be done in the dark when you can't even see what's going on around you."

"Almark!"

Torque howled.

" This is the last time."

Torque looked desperate.

"I understand, ".......

　Almark nodded reluctantly and picked up his sword again.

'This is really the last time.'

　He said, and set the tip of his sword to Torque's sword.

　They faced each other in time.

Torque moved slowly in the same stance he had just taken.

　The sun is setting and his body looks like a black shadow.

　"If it gets any darker, it will be really dangerous. Let's decide quickly."

　Almark moved forward.

　But the moment he closed the gap, Torque also came forward.

"Oh, are you going to fight?"

　At that moment, Almark felt something strange.

Torque's distance from him was very close.

　(No, this is...)

　(This is not good.)

　Almark sensed danger and tried to defend himself by retracting his sword.

However, Torque's sword was faster.

The quality of the strike was clearly different from the previous one, and it was a powerful strike.

　Almark made a hasty decision and gave up on catching it with his sword and jumped back, twisting his body.

The sword of torque snagged on his armor and made a sharp sound.

"Tsk!"

　Toruku's tongue lashed out.

Almark's sword caught Torque's torso, which had been fully extended by the full force of his attack.

"Ugh!"

Torque falls to the ground.

He had hit him too hard in his rush.

"Are you okay, Torque?

Almark rushed to get down on his knees.

　Torque looked up at Almark with a pained expression on his face.

　But after a moment of silence, he begins to laugh out loud.

'Kuhkuh, ha ha. I finally gave you a real expression."

"What?"

". I loved the look on your face when you deflected my thrust just now. It would have been better if you had hit me in the torso with all your might."

"Torque, you didn't do that, did you?"

　Almarc looks at Torque with a puzzled look on his face.

"You let me fight with you until it got dark."

　Torque smirked, his face covered in sweat.

"You let me down by losing every time in the same fashion, and only in the last match did you switch sword to your left hand under the cover of darkness when it was time for the final round."

　"Was that the reason why you insisted on competing outside rather than in a well-lit martial arts arena?"

"The left hand thrust was too soft. I knew it wasn't dominant hand."

　Saying this, Torque raised his upper body.

"You must have been in a hurry because we were suddenly so close to each other."

　Almark nodded, and Torque laughed again and shook his head.

"That was close."

"But you can't use this in a martial arts tournament."

"A martial arts tournament?"

　Torque snickered.

"I'm going to use my size and power to overpower you, just as you said I would. I'm not interested in that."

"So you think this is a martial arts tournament?"

That's right. Ever since the day I lost to you, I've been thinking about giving you a shot in the arm. I was so close."

　Almark sighed and stood up.

I had thought that you was practicing for a martial arts tourmane. I thought I was practicing for a martial arts competition.

"I thought you was practicing for a martial arts tournament . ...... If you can't beat 'em on your own merits, you have to use your own tricks. If you're mistaken, I'll take advantage of that as well. I never lied to you."

　(It is true that Torque never once asked me to fight with him to practice for the martial arts competition.)

"I couldn't allow myself to move on without taking a shot at you while I was still losing ineptly,"

　Torque said.

"Your face just now. I'll take that as a good sign for now."

　"Now I can move on, "Torque muttered.

"You despise me for being a coward."

　With that, Torque looked up at Almark.

　It was too dark to make out his expression clearly, but there was a strong glint in eyes as he looked at Almark.

　Almark shook his head.

'Nope. I respect you, Torque."

　The strength in his eyes was perhaps connected to a strength that was familiar to Almark.

　Almark held out his right hand to help Torque

　Torque shakes his head and reject him .

"I don't need your help."

　 He says, standing up on his own.

"I'll stand up on my own. I always have and I always will."