At another angle, Kiera, a white haired girl with crimson eyes smashed her gauntlet into the robot's torso as a burst of red exploded from the impact, sending the robot flying as it hurriedly stabilized itself mid-air, shooting a flurry of arrows at her. She calmly parried each arrow until one exploded on her, blinding her momentarily.
Though it was just momentarily, six arrows arrived at her side almost immediately but she skillfully blocked them with an energy shield that appeared on her left gauntlet. Her lips curved into a knowing smirk as she shot forward at blinding speed and delivering a heavy blow to the robot's head. The metal bent a little as she celebrated until the robot suddenly delivered a kick to her side, sending her flying.
Brimming with rage, she launched back at it, her eyes glowing with an eerie glow.
Liam changed his stance as the enemy's blade came down upon him. Gambling, he rushed forward instead of retreating, shocking the onlookers as he slashed his sword against the belly of the robot. The attack disrupted it's momentum as it missed him entirely, allowing him to step onto it's knee and headbutt it. Before it could recover, he delivered a fully powered kick to it's Adam's apple, if it had, and at the same time, slashed the neck.
Clang!
Boom!
The attacks rang out loudly as Liam distanced himself from the robot. His gaze rippled when he realized his attacks didn't leave any delibitating damages on the robot.
'I have to strike harder then '
He thought when he was suddenly distracted by a soft cutting sound. Turning his head, he saw Kaiser's opponent lose its left wrist as it blocked a blow to the neck.
The whole room fell into momentary silence which was broken by Kaiser himself who slapped the robot with the flat of his spear, gaining distance from it. The robot's eyes turned red as it dashed at him with vigor, emitting artificial killing intent which added a kind of pressure on it's opponent.
'My skills are getting rusty'
Kai thought as he used his spear to perform a pole vault, dodging the blade of the robot.
He locked his legs around it's neck and used the momentum to flip it. The robot crashed unceremoniously onto the ground as it struggled to get up with one hand. Without giving it relief to stand, he brutally kicked it's head. Suddenly, his instincts screamed of danger as he dissolved into shadows, narrowly dodging a zooming mace which returned to the hand of the robot.
Appearing a distance away, Kai exhaled slightly. Black smoke escaped from the side of his mouth as his grip on the black spear tightened. As he was about to charge, Mr Natusalene commanded the group to stop, halting the robots' movement also.
Kaiser calmly dismissed his spear as it dissolved into a whirlwind of black sparks.
"Your results were pretty good, but you all need polishing to your skills. During the next class, we'll expatiate more on that.
Now, one final question before we leave. What, is the essence of Combat?"
Mr Natusalene spoke with an intruiging smile on his face as he pointed at Kiera.
"Reason" She said.
"Explain"
Kiera exhaled slightly then said, "Cause and reasons determine the intensity of a battle. If there's no reason to win, you won't put in your all. So I think it's all about why you are fighting"
"Logan?"
A grumpy boy with a thuggish aura snorted as he replied. "It's all about killing"
"Liam?"
"It's about determination" The brown haired boy said with a peculiar glint in his eyes.
"Haruki?"
"I don't know, maybe skills?" The timid Japanese boy replied.
"You have all gotten it wrong. It's nothing. Nothing is the essence of Combat. You either kill or be killed. Either by overwhelming force or trickery? It's all the same. Think of that later and you might find what you need."
Mr Natusalene said with a confident smile on his face.
...