512 Winter 50th
Suvai Pavilion, Afternoon
Suvai Pavilion, Afternoon
The first floor of the pavilion housed the novices, and this is where Nira’lia found herself this day. Her eyes roamed across the red walls and the numerous duels. The first floor was wide and roomy, giving its students the space that they needed. Nira’lia stood by the walls and saw that many of them were wielding their suvai. She had one of those, but she had left it back at the inn—she had not thought of entering the pavilion until she had seen its magnificent establishment, and had not planned on training.
But now, looking at her sisters, Nira’lia was amazed. They were not the most skillful, but they more or less knew the basics to the art of fighting. She didn’t know it, but the first level of the pavilion was reserved for the amateurs. The combat was vigorous but graceful, their moves novice but focused. Consequently, Nira’lia, who did not know much about fighting, was very much impressed.
She thought of heading back to the inn to fetch her suvai. Smiling softly to herself, she pushed herself away from the wall and started to walk towards the door. As she walked, she noticed a few of her sisters speaking amongst themselves. They were pointing and observing, and the words ‘unarmed style’ caught Nira’lia’s ears. Glancing to the side, she saw that they were watching a pair of Konti who were fighting with their bare hands.
It wasn’t much, she had some experiences in that style of combat before—if it could indeed be called a ‘style’. The two Konti who were fighting seemed to have a more refined touch to it. The little knowledge she had about unarmed combat was vague.
“Hello!” she suddenly said to a girl beside her. It was one of her sisters, though she had never seen her before. “I would just like to inquire… if I would want to look for someone to practice with, who should I ask?”
The woman looked at her from head to toe. An interested but kind smile graced her lips. It was evident that Nira’lia was not from here. “What kind of duel would you want?”
Nira’lia pointed at the dueling women in front of them. “Unarmed,” she said simply. The young Konti was starting to get excited.
To her surprise, the woman she had asked suddenly called out in a loud voice, “Anyone willing to do an unarmed duel?”