Ashley's Dad was named Daiki, it meant a large tree in Japanese and just looking at the man it suited him well, he was a very large muscular man. He didn't look like your average Japanese businessman; he didn't even look like a swordsman. The man had muscles on top of muscles, it seemed like he was going to enter the world's strongest man competition not teach people Kendo.
Just the sight of the man, made Novis feel incredibly small.
"Oh, what's this, did you finally bring me a new student," Daiki asked as he came over towards Ashley.
The students bowed to Daiki as he walked past.
"Actually, I'm here to ask about" Before Novis could finish his sentence, Daiki started to touch Novis's body all over.
"Oh, these are some good foundation muscles, how's your stamina? have you used a sword before?" Daiki was nonstop with the question that Novis eyes were starting to spin.
There had been some people who were interested in the dojo before but got put off by Daiki's passion.
There wasn't much Ashley could do when her father got like this. Even if she was to say anything it would go in one ear and out of the other.
Novis didn't know when but in the middle of all the questions, he was suddenly in an official Kendo suit. The kendo gear was heavy, it had a padded chest piece and a grated helmet so you could still see through it.
"Now let's see if you're any good, Ben come over here," Daiki said.
One of the overweight students started to move forward and stood on the opposite end of Novis.
"Ben here is one of our newest student's but he has power behind his strikes, the first one to hit the opponent three times anywhere on the body or head is the winner."
"What is going on, this wasn't meant to happen, I was just going to talk to her father," Novis said to Arthur.
"Why don't we just use this as a training opportunity, for now, you can't always just fight against me."
Novis agreed there was no rush and this was better than having to fight the old man himself. Maybe the old man would listen to Novis if he was just strong. Novis couldn't imagine much people being stronger than Ashley's dad.
Ashley sighed; she knew that something like this would happen but was afraid if she told Novis he would run away. She to hoped that maybe somehow Novis would be able to convince her father. It was a long shot but for some reason, she had hope when she looked at Novis.
"I'll be the ref," Ashley said.
Ashley went over and grabbed a white flag. The students and Daiki were currently sitting on the floor by the sidelines watching the match. Ashley then stood between Novis and Ben. There were a good five meters away from each other.
Novis grabbed the bamboo sword tightly. It was a similar length to the long sword he used. Novis looked to the floor and judged the distance to the ground.
"5 meters, one leap and with arm length, he should be able to reach me, but then there will be no power, he has to dash in."
Arthur was pleased that Novis was going through everything he had taught him.
"The toes, their tense, he's nervous. As soon as the flag goes down, he'll jump in for the attack. Weight too strong to be knocked over by one blow, need to deal with him as quickly as possible." Novis continued to mumble to himself.
Daiki could here Novis mumbling to himself but not any of the words he was speaking. He could see that Novis had a good body but Daiki wanted someone headstrong and fearless. Mumbling was usually the sign of nerves, a way for people to calm down. Suddenly, Daiki's hope for Novis had diminished.
Ashley swung the flag down and the fight began.
Just as Novis had predicted Ben went in straight for an attack to the head.
"Come on move Novis, move," Ashley said to himself.
Novis hadn't reacted to the attack which made Ashley nervous. The sword came down closer to Novis's head and at the last second Novis moved to the side and ducked down.
"Move at the last second to bring the opponent as close as possible to you."
Then Novis swung his blade at the belly.
*Wack
The impact was so fast and powerful the sound echoed throughout the room. Ben was winded and coughed out some spit, even though he was wearing armour. Then Novis from the other side whacked the stomach again. The pain was too much for Ben. The second hit made him drop to his knees and as Ben was falling down Novis went for an overhead strike to Ben's head.
As the sword came down when it was just about to hit. A giant hand reached out and grabbed the bamboo blade. Novis couldn't move, his sword had completely stopped. Ben then fell to his knees as he tried to breathe in Air.
Novis looked to the man holding the blade and realised it was Daiki.
"You already won, there is no need to hurt the man any further."
Novis had recently been training his strength. He had been obsessed with performing the same sort of attacks that Arthur produced. Although he was never successful, Novis's strikes got a lot stronger. It was hard for Novis to tell because he never had anyone to hit against but this was currently the result of his training.
Daiki blood was pumping harder than before, he was wrong about the boy.
"It looks like you brought me a strong one Ashley, I didn't realise you already knew how to use a sword."
Novis thought if the man gave him a chance to answer he probably would have found out.
"let's see how good you are, I want you to face my best student."
Novis was then expecting the man who was skinny compared to the other three to come forward. Instead, Ashley went away and started to put on the gear.
"Don't hold back boy just cause she's a girl. This girl is a tiger."
Novis looked over to where Ashley was standing. It felt like he could feel flames coming over her body. She was intense. Ashley was no longer the kind cute little girl who wanted to play games. If Novis didn't take this fight seriously, he would lose.