Marvel's Princess - Chapter 58

The pale-skinned, handsome middle-aged vampire, Carlisle Cullen, was a bit taken aback upon hearing Bella’s request.

A woman, a woman from modern society, actually wanted to challenge him to a duel with swords.

Carlisle Cullen was quite old, born in 1640, and indeed knew fencing, having practiced it for a long time. Frankly, his swordsmanship wasn’t considered masterful in his day, but it certainly wasn’t low.

His wife and children were all turned into vampires at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, an era dominated by firearms, where armor, warhorses, and crossbows were discarded as rubbish. Who would still practice sword fighting?

It was only in modern society that those with money and leisure rediscovered fencing.

Carlisle didn’t know if Bella had suddenly taken an interest or was just messing around or if she had some other motive. He subtly glanced at Alice Cullen.

The black-haired vampire beauty began to encourage him: “Bella’s swordsmanship is very impressive! Anyway, I think it’s great, why don’t you give it a try! Don’t hesitate, hurry up!”

“Yes, Uncle Carlisle, let’s have a match. Practicing alone always has its problems,” Bella also said earnestly.

“Sure, let’s give it a try.”

“Let’s enlighten ourselves!”

The other vampire children also egged them on. A human woman challenging these antiques to a sword fight in this day and age was too novel an event to miss out on the fun.

Overwhelmed by everyone’s enthusiasm and in his own home where Bella, the outsider, was unafraid, Carlisle didn’t need to worry about his safety. After much deliberation, he braced himself to spar with Bella.

His sword from his youth had long been discarded, and now he used a modern epee.

Carlisle Cullen stepped out into the open space, swinging the epee to find the feel of it.

It had been at least three hundred years since he had practiced this!

He had indeed studied it seriously in the past and had experienced many life-and-death battles. Normally, such a skill, once learned, would never be forgotten in a lifetime. But that lifetime meant a human lifetime, not a vampire’s. Carlisle felt very unfamiliar with the feel of the sword.

He slowly searched for the feeling of swinging the sword, and Bella didn’t rush him.

Ten minutes later, Carlisle Cullen smiled, indicating he was ready to begin.

By specification, both used heavy swords, Bella’s sword being 90 cm long and weighing 720 grams, and Carlisle’s was a bit longer and slightly heavier.

It wasn’t an official match, so they didn’t wear protective gear or set any rules like 11 touches or 21 touches.

Carlisle Cullen flicked his wrist lightly, his sword tip covering all of Bella’s angles of attack: “I really haven’t played with this thing in a long time. I hope I don’t lose too badly.”

Bella was modest, too: “Uncle, go easy on me. I just learned this.”

The next second, Bella, who claimed to have just learned, launched a fierce attack.

Pirate swordsmanship is definitely different from that of nobles; it’s quick, precise, and ruthless, with no need for politeness or etiquette, focused on defeating the opponent as quickly as possible.

Considering his age and not expecting much from Bella’s skills, Carlisle initially adopted a defensive stance.

But after a few moves, he felt immense pressure and had to use his height and arm length to counterattack.

Both moved extremely fast, mastering the rhythm between advance and retreat, attack and defense, extension and retraction.

Bella’s swordsmanship emphasized speed. On the high seas, between the decks, the essence of pirate swordsmanship was to strike down enemies quickly.

Carlisle also began to exert his noble style fully, emphasizing stability. Nobles didn’t need to fight for their lives as commoners did; more often, they considered how to save their lives, so their swordsmanship included more defensive moves.

Bella’s moves were quick but lacking in experience, and she was deceived several times by small tricks. Carlisle, however, was weak in his attacks, constantly using his superior knowledge to cope.

The two fought from the ground up into the trees, standing on branches as thick as arms, their swords clashing, producing a continuous crisp sound, like playing a beautiful and moving piece of music.

Bella felt regretful; if she had had a Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack playing, her swordsmanship might have been even faster. As the battle progressed, Carlisle slowly regained his form, and the elegant middle-aged vampire was impressive in both offense and defense.

The watching vampires were somewhat surprised, as fencing was a martial art long removed from their time.

Carlisle came from that.

Era, so good swordsmanship wasn’t new. Where did Bella learn hers? From a school teacher? Did the gym teacher at Forks High have such skill?

Bella and Carlisle’s sparring ended quickly. Fencing moves were repetitive, and sparring was more about learning from each other’s style to improve one’s swordsmanship.

“Your attack moves are too fierce; that last small lunge would actually be better as a straight thrust.”

In terms of pure swordsmanship, Carlisle was still more skilled, and he offered some timely advice after the fight.

Bella also recognized problems in her swordsmanship: too many killing moves. If it was a fight to the death, no problem. Just kill the enemy and be done with it. But if she wanted to show off in a university club, she needed to change some moves to make her swordsmanship more beautiful and elegant, rather than just stabbing at the eyes, heart, or lower regions.

Compared to her original timeline, Bella became quite familiar with this family of zen-like vampires, occasionally coming to learn fencing from Carlisle.

Bella designed two sets of swordsmanship for herself: one flashy, using a handgun while fighting, and another beautiful with pretty moves.

Carlisle’s children also learned for two days, but they felt it was somewhat pointless.

The bulky Emmett Cullen thought fencing was less practical than boxing. It’s inconvenient to carry, has too many rules, and in modern society, apart from showing off, what use is it?

What do you think? My main goal is to show off! Bella was clear about her purpose. Having learned a bunch of fancy moves, she already imagined herself flourishing in the Stanford Fencing Club, gaining a huge following of admiring fans!

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