Extra's Rise: I Stole All The Women In The Hero's Party-Chapter 116: Testing The Party (II)

Zayn twirled one of the practice swords between his fingers, then gave it a light toss and caught it by the hilt, giving it a few test swings.

The polished steel hummed softly with each arc, slicing the air like it had something to prove.

Tobias, meanwhile, opened his inventory with a flick of his wrist, that calm, practiced motion of someone who’d been doing it for years.

At least that’s what it looked like.

Two identical swords blinked into existence above his open palms — sleek, dark steel with runic engravings near the guard.

With a sharp inhale, he grabbed both and crossed them over his chest.

Zayn raised an eyebrow. "Dual wielding? Trying to compensate for something?"

Tobias gave a short, humorless chuckle. "Just giving myself a fighting chance."

"Wow," Zayn said. "If I’d known it was gonna be that kind of spar, I would’ve brought a blindfold too."

They stood in the center of the sparring courtyard behind the inn, the stone floor scratched from their earlier face off.

The rest of the party had moved to the benches to watch — Bran munching on an apple, Kara sitting cross-legged with deadpan interest, and Elisse wearing that slightly worried, slightly amused look she always got when the boys got competitive.

"Ready?" Tobias asked, shifting into a low stance.

Zayn didn’t respond. His sword rose slowly until it was level with his waist — point angled slightly downward, grip loose but controlled.

A swordsman’s stance. Not just someone who knew how to swing a blade, but someone who lived in it.

The moment the signal came — a slight nod from Elisse — they both vanished.

The clash of steel rang out as they reappeared mid-swing,

Zayn parrying Tobias’s downward strike with an upward twist of his wrist.

Sparks scattered in a small burst of light, and they both landed on opposite sides of the courtyard with twin thuds.

Tobias’s foot slid slightly on the stone, but he recovered instantly, lunging again.

His left sword swept low while the right came in high in a mirrored strike.

Zayn ducked under the high slash, tilted his blade, and deflected the lower one.

His counter was almost lazy — a half-turn pivot into a rising diagonal slash that forced Tobias to leap backward to avoid losing an eyebrow.

"Oh, he’s serious serious now," Bran muttered around his apple.

Zayn came at him again.

A flurry of controlled, elegant swings — wrist-led and precise.

Tobias blocked one, two, three hits, but the fourth knocked his right-hand sword away.

The fifth made him stumble.

Tobias gritted his teeth and surged soul energy into his remaining blade.

A violet shimmer traced the edges like a flickering flame, and his next attack nearly cleaved the practice floor.

Zayn sidestepped it casually and tapped his own sword against Tobias’s shoulder.

"Point," he said, grinning.

Tobias’s eye twitched. "Again..."

They clashed once more, steel ringing like bells across the courtyard.

This time, Tobias went on the offensive.

He retrieved his second sword mid-dash and let loose a series of rapid, crisscrossing slashes.

Zayn deflected them with minimal effort — his blade almost gliding, like it knew where to be a half-second before Tobias even swung.

Tobias feinted left, then twisted into a spiraling upward strike.

It looked like it’d catch Zayn’s arm — but Zayn bent backward at the last moment, one foot sliding across the stone, his sword flicking up to redirect the blow.

The blade kissed Tobias’s chin just hard enough to leave a scratch.

"Tryin’ to shave me?" Tobias muttered, flicking his soul energy higher until both swords gleamed with purple heat.

Zayn raised his sword and gave it a little soul tap — his own aura flickered to life, bright and golden, it began crackling along the blade. "Just trimming the ego."

This time, they didn’t hold back.

They moved too fast for the eye to follow — slashes and stabs blurred together in a dance that sent shockwaves across the courtyard.

Stone cracked underfoot.

Benches rattled. Kara grabbed Elisse’s arm when a stray wave of energy made the air ripple unnaturally.

Zayn parried and dodged with frustrating ease, every step and twist clean and with little movement.

Tobias pushed harder, chaining combos, switching grips mid-swing, even sending waves of soul energy from his blades in crescent arcs.

One of those arcs sliced through the bench Bran was sitting on. Bran blinked as the top half slid to the ground.

"I liked that bench," he muttered.

Zayn blurred again — appearing behind Tobias with a faint shimmer of golden light.

He didn’t slash. He tapped his blade against Tobias’s shoulder once more.

Tobias spun with a wide, angry cross-cut.

Zayn leaned back like he was dodging a tennis ball and delivered a clean smack to the side of Tobias’s leg with the flat of his sword.

"You’re just showing off now," Tobias growled.

"You said you wanted to test my sword skills," Zayn replied. "I’m just being thorough."

Tobias threw both blades forward, spinning into a spiraling soul-infused finisher.

His aura exploded in a violet burst — both swords screaming through the air toward Zayn’s head.

And then —

Zayn dropped low, slammed his foot against the ground, and pushed off like a bullet.

He moved a few feet forward using soul energy, turning mid-air into a spin.

His sword caught both of Tobias’s in one fluid, circular motion and disarmed him mid-flight.

The sound of Tobias’s swords hitting the ground echoed through the now-silent courtyard.

Zayn landed smoothly and tapped his blade gently against Tobias’s chest.

"Game."

Tobias stared at him, sweat dripping down his forehead, then finally exhaled.

"Okay. Yeah. You’re good with a sword."

Zayn grinned, lowering the blade. "Told you. I got this skill called ’being awesome.’ Rare drop."

Bran clapped slowly. "Ten out of ten. Would bet money on Zayn again."

Kara nodded, adjusting her gloves. "That was overkill. Entertaining, but overkill."

Elisse walked over with a towel in her hand, holding it out to Zayn with a small smile. "You didn’t even break a sweat."

"Pretty sure I sweated a little," Zayn said, though he still accepted the towel with a wink. "Might’ve been from dodging Tobias’s rage swings."

Tobias sighed, retrieving his swords from the ground. "You’re a monster. I’m gonna start carrying a third blade just in case."

Zayn sheathed his sword and gave a little stretch, rolling his neck. "Nah, don’t do that. I’ll just bring two next time. Even the odds."

Despite himself, Tobias chuckled. "I almost had you a couple times."

"Almost," Zayn said, shooting him a grin. "But almost is just the universe’s way of saying ’try again later.’"

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A/N:

Sorry some family issues came up or I would have written earlier.