Sudrian Blades. (Humanized TTTE Fantasy.)

Chapter 7: Dueling Daniel.

Over the course of the next few days, the students of class A had been interacting well professionally and socially. During his childhood with her, Lady has known Thomas to be somewhat shy, so to see him up and front, making friends, and not just interacting out of necessity made her feel quite surprised.

"Since when did you break out of your shell of shyness?" She then asked one evening as they drank some tea after their dinner.

"Uh.. it was about 5 to 6 years ago," Thomas replied. "While I was in that one school in Brighton." He recalled the day when he found out that he could trust some people that he met on his own. "Before Horace and Lucia's abuse took a serious toll on my mental health, a band of siblings, two twin sisters, and their brother noticed my downcast behavior and treated me far kinder than anyone else at the time. Their names were Stepney, Annie, and Clarabel Stroudley. Until that day, they were the only friends I had apart from you. I relayed my suffering to them and even mentioned how deeply I missed you. In all honesty, they were perhaps the siblings that I never had."

"I guess that makes sense." She then replied. "But why haven't you told me?"

"Probably because I was excited from being reunited with you." He replied back, which Lady chuckled at.

"I suppose that would make sense." She replied. "Admittedly, I was quite excited too."

As she then watched him, drink his tea, Lady suddenly felt he heart pound pretty hard. She didn't say anything though for she was beginning to have suspicions about how she truly felt for her childhood friend. 

"I guess only time would tell." She thought sadly, knowing how dense he was presently. Somehow holding up a smile, she and Thomas said goodnight to one another as they went to their separate rooms. Neither one noticed the glow coming from their swords. 

The next day was their day of rest, and with special permission from the teachers, Thomas dueled Percy in hopes of teaching him the Billinton Style. Lady, meanwhile was out with the other girls in her class, so she could get to know them better. 

As the two boys dueled, Thomas found Percy to be a very quick learner as well as a very worthy opponent. Their wooden swords glowed brightly as they clashed against one another. Eventually, with a swift parry, Thomas came on top.

"I got to say." Thomas then panted. "You're doing very well, Percy. True, these wooden swords can't run the higher sword spells, but with the rate you're going at, you might figure them out yourself."

"Thanks," Percy replied as he then exhaled a quick breath. "Alright, I think that I had enough for now. I'll probably continue practicing on my own tomorrow."

"Okay." Thomas complied. "Keep up the good work."

"You too."

The next thing that happened would have perhaps really surprised Lady. With two fist bumps and a few different gestures with their hands, Thomas and Percy performed a special handshake that only the best of friends could figure out. With one last high-five, they waved each other off as Thomas then began to wield his sword out of pure boredom. He swung and swung, getting more and more engrossed by the weight of his real sword, which he brought out to help demonstrate more of the higher strike skills to Percy.  He was so engrossed, that he didn't notice a figure watching from the shadows, looking quite impressed with his skill level.

"Interesting." He then said to himself as he edged closer. 

Thomas, being completely oblivious, got really fired up and decided to release Diamond's Last Breath: Azure Nova. However, unlike the time during the raid on the Kobold's lair, he was trying to control the power output which caused him to fail and trip on his two feet.