I Reincarnated as a Shinai

The first battle of the day will be Stella against Vinete. 

This time, Stella did not use her Nittouryuu at all and decided to just use a single shinai. This is not because she's underestimating her opponent but simply because she felt that she needed to hold the shinai with two hands.

Considering Vinete's physical strength, Stella can use Nittouryuu to compensate with her technique. However, she knows that holding a single sword would allow her to give her fastest sword swing in the battle. 

She felt that it would do a lot more benefit than harm when using only one shinai against her. 

Soon, the Dojo was filled with people who wanted to watch the matches of the disciples. The elders of the Half-Imps, the younger students, and the werewolves who knew close to nothing when it comes to sword fighting. 

However, because the werewolves became Reiji's Sword Slaves, they earned affinity with the Sword and were now interested in these types of things.

"Who do you think will win, Diether? I heard that half-imps are strong…" Calliope whispered to Diether's ears as the two young ladies walked to the center of the platform.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. I've only seen Vinete's skills once and she was also using a dagger at that time. So I can't really tell… However, I know that Stella came after me so I'm sure that she has a lot more chances in practicing Kendo in a real battle so she can be dangerous as well."

Diether shared his opinion and the other disciples had, of course, heard him.

On the other hand, Reji was just looking at the two ladies with melancholic eyes… if he has some eyes.

Apparently, Stella and Vinete were wearing Hakama and Keikogi which has been previously prepared by the Half-Imps. This gave him nostalgia as he felt like he returned to his previous world as he watches his students fight in a competition.

"Begin!"

Shiori announced the start of the battle by waving her hands. She remained in the middle of the platform but stepped back about five times to get the two some space. 

As soon as the start of the battle was announced, Vinete broke her shizentai and came forward using simple footwork, Ayumi-Ashi…

However, Vinete is not using a normal stance as well. She's using Mu no Kamae as her sword remained pointed on the ground.

Normally, using this stance means you are prepared to counterattack. But the way she just rushed forward tells that she's about to begin her assault!

Stella didn't want to get caught in her opponent's pacing as she decided to preemptively attack. 

Since she already grasped the essence of Ma'Ai, she could easily tell when Vinete reached her range…

'Now!' Stella decided to strike Vinete's body so she can also use this to parry her sword in case the latter decided to change her tactic… After all, targeting Vinete's head may lead to a counter instead since her shinai is lowered.

At the very least, Stella would do that if she were in Vinete's position. More than that, she also wanted to see how powerful this half-imp was. 

Pah!

As expected, Vinete decided not to counter and parried her attack…

However, Vinete was actually waiting for Stella to attack her when she charged forward!

Maki-Waza!

"Ahh!" Diether let out a voice after noticing what Vinete was trying to do. Maki-Waza is a technique that has a chance of disarming the opponent!

He knows it very well since he did that many times before. 

"Hmph!"

Stella realized that her shinai was about to be released from her hands so she quickly soften her hold to divert the force coming at her and stepped back.

It is their first exchange and this allowed them to grasp the other's speed and strength…

Stella grinned after realizing Vinite's style. 

'Let's see what more you can do…' Stella decided to play on the defensive as she started baiting Vinete into attacking her. 

In truth, Stella's defensive technique in Kendo is not that great because, in the past few years, she had mostly relied on her Awakened Arcana filled with Defensive Skills. 

Nevertheless, there is one thing she's good at, it's her vision. Like Rufus, Stella has very good eyes which allowed her to become a good blacksmith as she sees impurities or flaws so easily. 

With this ability, she's able to softly block Vinete's powerful attacks and avoid taking damage. After all, if she decided to go hard on her defense, her hands will surely get numbed from each of those strikes. 

Pah! Pah! Pah!

The two continued to fight and none of them are getting a clean hit on their opponent. It appears like they are both at the same level but at the same time, the audience can see that Vinete can dominate in terms of physical strength while Stella shows a perfect display of her agility. 

Furthermore, Stella is also showing her incredible understanding of all the Ashisabaki in Kendo. Especially her Fumiko-Ashi or Thrusting Footwork and Nusumi-Ashi or Stealthy Footwork…

Fumiko-Ashi and Stella's Chudan no Kamae perfectly baits Vinete from attacking. It would always seem like Stella was about to thrust her sword but she would always pull out and land a counter. These counters only light touches Vinete but if this keeps going on, Stella might really be the first one to land a clean hit. 

"She's very agile and refined… Hmm~ Does she like Rufus?" Mourad, who was silently watching, just broke his silence after seeing Stella's graceful movement. 

"Hey? What are you talking about?" Imane glanced at the guy who was closely watching Stella with his fascinated eyes. 

"Ahh… Did I say it out loud? Forget about that." Mourad quickly waved his hands as he continued watching the battle unfold. 

Nevertheless, it wasn't just him who was fascinated by Stella's way of combat… After all, most of the half-imps here have a very straightforward method of fighting like Vinete.

Pah!

"A hit!" Shiori raised her hand to confirm that there was indeed a clean hit for the first time. 

"I can continue…" Stella shouted in response after getting hit on her shoulder.. She wasn't disappointed at all and she even seemed to be so eager as if she had finally grasped something in that last exchange.