Xie Yue Didn't Let the Two Blades Touch

Pawniard turned the dark Poké Ball right side up, and, as if nothing had happened, picked up the whetstone and walked away.

Xie Yue did not immediately press the question.

He unhooked his practice blade from his waist, placing the scabbard and sword in the middle of the stone room. The footwork test promised yesterday was not yet finished, and finishing the task at hand suited both parties better.

"Use this today."

Pawniard tapped the wooden scabbard of the practice blade and looked up behind him.

"The Moon Blade is saved for later," Xie Yue said. "The first time, we won't touch real blades."

Pawniard did not agree right away.

Yan was just bringing Magby back from the back courtyard and asked upon hearing this, "Without even touching, how do you know who is stronger?"

"Today we aren't comparing who is stronger."

"Then what are we comparing?"

"Who stops first."

Xia Che placed a plate of roasted Berries by the window. "The loser washes the dishes."

Xie Yue looked at him. "You only have this single rule here?"

"It works very well."

Hearing about washing dishes, Magby immediately grabbed Yan and retreated to the side. Yesterday's basin of water clearly left a deep impression on it.

Indeedee erected two thin wooden stakes in the back courtyard, with a dry leaf hanging from the top of each stake. When the wind blew, the leaves spun gently.

The rules were quickly set.

Xie Yue used the sheathed practice blade, and Pawniard used the outer sides of its arms. Both approached the stakes from five steps away; their movements could be fast, but in the end they had to stop in front of the leaves, and whoever touched a leaf would be considered defeated.

Yan understood even less after listening. "You have a blade yet you don't cut?"

Hu Liena held Eevee and sat down in the corridor. "You have fire, but you don't burn everything you see."

Magby looked up at Yan's sleeve, which still had a charred edge.

Yan said, "Watch the test."

In the first round, Xie Yue went first.

He stood five steps away, his palm resting on the scabbard. As soon as Rotom said begin, he had already surged forward.

No spirit skill was released, nor was his Martial Soul summoned.

By the third step, the practice blade lifted with its scabbard. When the fourth step landed, the tip of the blade had already reached the front of the dry leaf.

The leaf was not touched, but it was blown fluttering backward by the stirred-up wind.

Xie Yue steadied his posture and stood firm.

"Does that count as touching?" Yan asked.

Rotom slowed down the footage from just now. "The scabbard made no contact, but the airflow caused the leaf to shift by an inch, Rotom."

"The rules only said you can't touch."

Xie Yue glanced at him. "I'll add one myself. The leaf can't move either."

Pawniard nodded.

When it was its turn, everyone stepped back a bit.

The small figure lowered its center of gravity. The first step was very steady, and the second suddenly accelerated. Its right arm lifted from its side with the sharp edge consistently facing outward, and what truly drew close to the leaf was the flat back of the blade.

In the final half-foot, it came to an abrupt halt.

The leaf only swayed once.

Lighter than Xie Yue's just now.

Pawniard did not look smug; instead, it lowered its head to look at its feet. It had stepped a bit too heavily on the final step, leaving a very faint scratch on the stone surface.

"You win the first round," Xie Yue said.

It shook its head, pointing at the mark.

"The ground doesn't count toward the rules."

It still shook its head.

Xie Yue understood. "Then neither counts."

Both sides returned to the starting point.

Before the second round began, Zorua tried to make the two dry leaves look identical in size. Indeedee saw at a glance that the left side had an extra layer of dark light, and she picked up the little fox and carried it to the corridor to keep it from adding new rules to the test.

"Awoo."

Zorua lay prone beside her knees, its face full of regret.

This time, Xie Yue deliberately slowed down his first two steps. Only after the wind direction turned did he pick up speed, bringing the scabbard to a clean stop in front of the leaf.

The leaf didn't move.

Pawniard set off right after. Having learned the lesson of stepping too heavily, it landed its final step very lightly, and its right arm also came to a steady stop before the leaf.

Still no movement.

Both passed.

Just as Rotom was about to announce a draw, a gust of wind suddenly swept in from outside the courtyard wall.

The dry leaf on the left wooden stake was blown loose, spinning as it fell toward the ground. Pawniard was closer and its right arm was already raised; Xie Yue also instinctively thrust out his practice blade, preparing to catch it with the scabbard.

An arm and a wooden scabbard approached from both sides simultaneously.

Seeing they were about to touch, both parties stopped at the very last instant.

The dry leaf drifted through the gap in the middle, landing in Xia Che's teacup.

Xia Che looked down at the extra leaf in his cup. "If you're going to catch things, catch them, don't send them my way."

Xie Yue retracted the practice blade.

Pawniard also put its arm down.

If anyone had focused solely on rushing ahead just now, the two sides would likely have collided. Now, while the leaf wasn't caught, at least they both upheld the agreement to stop.

Indeedee poured a fresh cup of tea and fished out the dry leaf, placing it on the stone table between the two.

Xie Yue asked, "Add one round, catch it?"

Pawniard shook its head.

It pointed at Xia Che's new tea, clearly unwilling to try it again.

"Makes sense," Xie Yue said.

Xia Che carried his cup and moved to a further spot.

Yan waited for half a day. "So who actually won?"

"Both stopped," Xie Yue said.

"There has to be a winner and a loser."

Pawniard glanced at Yan and suddenly pushed the whetstone toward his feet.

"What do you mean?"

Rotom guessed, "It wants you to grind your patience for a bit, Rotom."

Hu Liena laughed out loud.

Yan picked up Magby. "I'm going to train."

"What about today's rest slot?" Xie Yue asked.

Yan's stride pivoted, changing direction to go to the front hall to eat something.

After the test ended, Xie Yue finally summoned his own Moon Blade.

Two crescent-shaped Martial Souls appeared at his sides, cold light flowing along the blade edges. Pawniard immediately straightened up, its golden eyes fixed on one of them.

It did not rush over, only extending its right arm and measuring the arc across a safe distance.

On one side was a crescent long-blade, on the other were short blades growing from the body; their shapes differed, but the sharp aura was remarkably similar.

"Want to touch it?" Yan poked his head out from the front hall again.

Xie Yue and Pawniard turned to him simultaneously.

"Consider I said nothing."

Xie Yue put away one Moon Blade, keeping only the other. He turned the blade edge downward and slowly came to a halt half a step away in front of Pawniard.

"Looking is fine, no testing hardness."

Pawniard walked half a circle around the Moon Blade. It looked very carefully, not missing even the finest pattern on the Martial Soul. Finally, it raised its own right arm, but turned the sharp edge outward, using only the unsharpened back to maintain parallelism with the Moon Blade.

The two blades did not touch even once from beginning to end.

A moment later, Xie Yue recalled his Martial Soul first.

"If we truly spar in the future, we'll set the rules together."

Pawniard nodded.

Xie Yue took out the fine whetstone bought from the morning market and placed it beside the dark Poké Ball. "Are you willing to come with me?"

Pawniard looked at the ball, then looked at the whetstone.

It first pushed the whetstone back to Xie Yue's side.

"This is your thing," Xie Yue said.

Pawniard still pushed it forward.

Rotom explained from the side, "You'll use it together after traveling companions, Rotom."

Xie Yue gripped the whetstone and did not refuse again.

Only then did Pawniard raise its claw to touch the round button of the Luxury Ball. Red light pulled it into the ball, and after two breaths of quiet, the Luxury Ball activated once more.

It quickly came out of the ball again, standing back at Xie Yue's side.

Both sides were still half a step apart, yet their positions were already the same as when they walked down the street in the early morning.

"Peer connection established, Rotom!"

Hu Liena walked a couple of steps closer, then stopped outside the yellow rope: "Don't you need to shake hands?"

"It has blades on its body." Yan answered for Xie Yue.

Xie Yue ignored him, only extending his left hand toward Pawniard. Palm facing upward, his arm paused in a position where both sides could see clearly.

Pawniard looked for a moment, slowly turning its own right arm over. The sharp edge faced outward, and the flat blade-back lightly touched Xie Yue's bracer.

This was their handshake.

Parting at once, without any excess movement.

After seeing this, Magby also learned to raise its claw to touch Yan's wrist. Its body temperature was too high, and Yan quickly withdrew his hand the moment he touched it.

The little fellow tilted its head to look at him.

Yan extended his hand back out, lingering for an extra breath this time until his palm turned red, then put it down as if nothing had happened.

Xie Yue glanced over: "Everyone's way of greeting truly is different."

Yan knew he was repeating yesterday's words, yet happened to find nowhere to refute.

Indeedee pushed over a newly made narrow cabinet. The top layer held whetstones and soft cloths, the middle layer held Xie Yue's seven personal sharp weapons, while the bottom layer remained empty, waiting for Pawniard to arrange it itself.

Xie Yue counted the cabinet compartments: "Why are there eight spots?"

Indeedee pointed at Pawniard.

"It can't be put into the cabinet."

Indeedee pointed at its whetstones and soft cloths instead.

"So that's how it is."

Yan leaned against the door frame: "I even thought she counted it as a sharp weapon too."

Pawniard raised its right arm.

Yan immediately shifted a step to the side.

That arm reached past him, straightening the crooked business sign behind the door.

A row of figures was subsequently revealed outside the door.

Over a dozen residents who had followed along from the morning market had already lined up to the street corner. Some wanted to ask about Berry chips, some wanted to see the Metagross that could move cabinets, and others had specifically brought application forms.

Pancham stood at the very front of the line, holding newly made number tags in its paws, so busy it even forgot to hide its injured wrist.

Xia Che looked at the long queue outside, then looked at the lunch just delivered to the windowsill.

He reached out and flipped the business sign to the other side.

[Lunchtime, get your numbers first, don't rush. (-_-)]