His heart was bouncing so hard that Thomas thought it would explode. He stood, hot and sweaty, his blade pointed towards his opponent. One hit. One hit would decide everything. Years of training had prepared him for this moment - the moment when he would carry China to an Olympic victory and have his name in the hall of fame. Thirty seconds were left on the clock - a lifetime when one was reacting to the 2nd fastest thing in the Olympics.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhCszbkgTei
“EN GARDE!” he tightened his grasp of his epee’s handle. 346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyseuapICZP
“READY?” the referee screamed.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBy4gLwy7sG
“FENCE!”.
Several years earlier…346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnoPvI986bc
Thomas’s heart had skipped a beat when he got the invitation. He had jumped for joy, screamed so loudly that the orphanage caretaker had sprinted from across the building but none of that mattered now. As the Chinese National Academy of Sport came into view, his heart began to race and an indescribable electric feeling coursed through his veins. This was his chance - his chance to have his name in the hall of fame.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVITPXdxbWO
“I don’t know what you’re smiling at, you’re the weakest one in this class. you’re right-handed and you’re shorter than all of us”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXG17kXRgs
Turning to glare daggers at the blonde girl sitting next to him, Thomas was on the edge of an amazing retort when she cut him off.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCQjyjYRWB
“Everyone knows that you only placed 4th in the invitation tournament because of luck. You have shit skills and reflexes.”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡao3HqeFz8Q
It was true. He had gotten lucky. Thomas had gone into the tournament knowing that he lacked the reflexes or skill of any of his competitors. Instead, he had watched every duel of his competitors, analyzed their duelling styles - he didn’t have to react to his opponent if he knew what they were going to do. Of course, that could only bring him so far. Once he got to the seasoned veterans, he had lost every duel due to poor technique. Fencing was physical chess - it was tough to play if you didn’t master the physical part.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZKkpkT8cS
“Well, what makes you think you’ll win then?” Thomas challenged. She looked like he had slapped her. It was almost as if she had never been questioned about her abilities before.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcT23ZDEDDV
“Oh, just the fact that my mum was an Olympic fencer and I’ve practised since I could walk. I’m taller than almost everyone and unlike you, I’m left-handed and I know how to fence”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcxNEEThBO
Thomas was about to issue a witty retort when the bus carrying the sixteen man class screeched to a halt.
Everyone stampeded their way off the bus in the rush to reach the Academy, high on excitement. This was it. He was finally here. The chance that he had been waiting for had come. Waiting for them was a man dressed in a red and yellow Chinese Olympic Fencing Team jacket, towering over the two men that stood next to him. His blonde hair and distinctive sword scar meant that he needed no introduction - he was disgraced French Olympic champion Louis Flessel. 346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPznVvBTVle
“First of all, I’m Louis Flessel. I’ve been where you all are. Some of you think you were the best at your club, your school, or even your province. None of that matters now. Here, you will be tested against the best in the country for a chance at representing China on the international stage. Your schedule will be physically and mentally demanding. You will have no freedom. Everyone will learn to fight with at least two different weapons. We will teach you how to use those weapons like an Olympian. But first, I wanna see what you can do. Everyone, drop your bags and go into the equipment room. You have until I blow my whistle to get your gear on, grab a weapon and come back”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARL8lzn5Sm
Everyone took a moment to digest Louis’s words and his accent before immediately surging towards the armoury, however, the girl who he sat next to on the bus went to her bag and pulled out a beautiful customized set of gear and began putting it on.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYsp9AUc7Xh
“Elizabeth! I ordered you to use equipment from the armoury” Louis screamed, his accent making his anger sound all the scarier. Everyone stopped and turned around to watch.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwW3jMbUnBL
“But this is Olympic quality FIE Gear!” the girl whose name was Elizabeth protested, utterly appalled.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39qiXMnbfA
“When I give an order, I expect it followed. Now go to the armoury and grab the gear!”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMsH6Fc7T2
Elizabeth hurled her chest protector at the ground, steaming in fury and making Thomas giggle, prompting her to give him a vicious glare.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlUVBh3KRa
The armoury was easily the best fencing armoury Thomas had ever seen. Row upon row of Olympic grade swords of various types and grips could be found, along with workstations to maintain them and a series of amour racks kept both Olympic grade and non-Olympic grade armour. Remembering his size, Thomas hurriedly grabbed his gear but as he was about to put on his jacket, a familiar antagonizing voice mocked him from behind. “Wow, you wear chest protectors? Aren’t you a little bitch?”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMDaI0IpiQ
Before Thomas could get a chance to issue his own retort, another man jumped in to defend him.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFh6MnGp9R
“Stop being an arsehole. He can wear whatever he likes as long as its within the rules”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4Pa3Ti79A
He turned around to face him, ignoring an indignant Elizabeth. “I’m Joshua Shen but my friends call me Josh”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFiL201k6xl
Thomas eagerly shook his hand while replying “Thomas Chang. You can call me Tom”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwW4Cqal9BR
They both fumbled to do up their backzips before enlisting each other’s help.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIehAeI1g8
“I hate backzips” Thomas groaned as Josh zipped up his backzip.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFFNIfapyT
“Same. First time I’ve ever had to use one” Joshua agreed.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGcqs8TqIZ
Rushing outside just moments before Louis blew his whistle, Thomas noted that a lot of them hadn’t zipped up their backzips.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQeobE3PYi2
“Right. Before we get started I see some of you can’t do up backzips. No backzip means no shoulder flexibility which means you can’t infight”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFeh3rdZGo
“Infight?” Thomas wondered aloud.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3B1siXV8o
“When you duel closer to an opponent than at slash/stab length” Louis explained, raising his eyebrow at Thomas’s lack of knowledge.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTs5cWXLTC
“To fix the issue of flexibility, everyone here who failed to do a backzip will be expected to attend Saturday morning yoga lessons”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8iO3wEKns
A collective groan erupted from nearly a quarter of the class. Thomas had personally wished to sleep in.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWiEUnHbscm
Giving them a shush, Louis bellowed “Everyone form up on the pistes. Bout details are on the electronic screens on the wall”.
It turned out that only six of the sixteen man class practised Thomas’s weapon of choice, Epee. Fortunately, Elizabeth was one of them. He looked forward to showing off his skills and beating her. The look on her face if he did so would make his day. Thomas chose to start last, last hoping to size up his opponents and ignoring Elizabeth’s taunts that proclaimed him as being scared to get on the piste. He slowly watched as each competitor duelled, noting the length of their lunges, their reactions to various attacks and their attacking combinations. His first opponent was Elizabeth and both of them couldn’t suppress their feral grins as they put on their masks, each eager to prove their dominance over the other. They started off slow with Elizabeth probing his defence, trying to judge his reactions but Thomas knew what she was up to. He didn’t need to reciprocate because he knew what she was going to do. She had used the same opening in most of her matches so far. As soon as she moved to beat his blade away to break his guard, Thomas dodged and lunged forwards, expecting her to dodge but instead, the scoreboard lit up. At the same time, he felt the familiar but painful sensation of having a blade thrust onto his arm. Glancing at the scoreboard, Thomas’s eyebrows shot into his forehead when he saw that only his light had lit up. He couldn’t suppress the smug look that erupted across his face. Elizabeth’s reaction was fascinating. She pulled up her mask and flurry of emotions washed over her face. A look of pure shock and denial graced her features, followed by outrage before her face settled on a deep scowl that made Thomas giggle uncontrollably which only deepened her scowl. When the duel resumed, Elizabeth immediately pressed the offensive, driving forward with rage-enhanced speed and strength. Thomas retreated, giving up a quarter of the piste before suddenly switching directions and moving forward, bashing Elizabeth’s blade to the side and stepping into her guard. By the time Elizabeth realized what was happening, her sword was already past his body and all Thomas had to do was pull his arm back for an easy hit. At the last moment, Elizabeth tried a brutal desperate flick, her blade whipping around to hit Thomas in a most unnatural manner. It was for naught however, the scoreboard had already gone off from Thomas’s blade. 2-0. He could taste her steaming fury and the desperation.
“HALT!” Louis shouted in his French accent.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ44y2DWGQ1m
What could he possibly want?346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0PzrZs8A7
“Thomas, come with me”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkvzazJgRRs
Returning Elizabeth’s triumphant look with a glare, Thomas obediently followed Louis to the armoury where they could talk without being disturbed by the sounds of blades clashing and scoreboards screaming, a wave of panic and confusion swept over Thomas, despite his efforts to suppress it.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl21UcfZuTM
“Relax. You’re not in trouble”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4yPis20Wky
Thomas felt his shoulders relax and he involuntarily let out a breath that he had been holding in.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNAhf04pwA
“I looked at your rankings at the invitational tournament. 4th place. Very impressive”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1Xd6u5q9M
A sense of warmth spread through him at the praise. “Thank you coach”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK2Hzodf8Tv
“I expected you to have all the technical skills perfected. What I saw today was the opposite.”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HLGzq7ywK
Thomas’s heart dropped off a cliff, a sense of vertigo enveloped him.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcoWdgS0RtL
“Did you win by predicting your opponents?”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8R6BoIpfkY
Thomas replied with a silent nod. Was that wrong?346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKWnpSxEG9
“Do you know what we teach here?”346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJqwrgg9PCY
Thomas didn't respond.346Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeoAdkiHjl
“We teach fencing strategy. Most of our pupils come here with their physical technique perfected but they cannot play the mental game. Perfect reflexes but no mental skills. Fencing is physical chess and they cannot play the chess part of it. That’s where you come in. You predict your opponents, study them so much that it compensates for your lack of technical skill. I like this. The ability to strategize in a duel is something that separates top-tier fencers from amateurs. You have learned the hard part. Now you need to learn the easy part: technique and this is why you are probably the most interesting pupil I have ever had.”
