n.)1n
"Master Orion! Was that satisfactory? Or should I increase my strength a little more? I can even use my real sword instead of this wooden sword, but I believe that it would be too much for Young Master Vaan to take." Isabel turned towards Orion and spoke with an excited look on her face. "…" Orion stared at the girl standing in front of him and had no clue how to react. He looked behind and saw Vaan lying on the floor with bruises all over his body. "Ugghhh…" Vaan groaned in pain. "Vaan, a-are you okay?" Elara questioned with a worried look on her face as she placed Vaan's head on her lap. Vaan on the other hand, glanced at Isabel and recalled what happened just a few minutes ago. …
When Orion realized how important this opportunity was, he took Vaan, Elara, and Isabel to the training room. "Are you sure you will not have any problems if you return to your residence late at night?" Orion questioned with a worried look on his face as the four of them were walking towards the Training Room. "Master Orion can rest assured, there will be no problems," Isabel replied with a big smile on her face. "I was actually looking forward to showing off my skills to you. Truthfully, I had my doubts and I didn't think I would get this chance today, now that I did, I do not wish to miss it." Isabel's overexcitement could be felt very clearly. Orion nodded. If there were any issues, he could go with her and make sure that she reached her residence safe and sound. He then turned towards Vaan, "What about you? You don't mind sparring with her, do you?" Orion questioned. Vaan stared at his father for a while and didn't say anything. Orion should know that Vaan wasn't in his best condition right now, however, now that the opportunity had presented itself, Vaan didn't wish to back down either. He wanted to see just how strong a Star Sword Division Student was for his father to react like this. It was not just him, even Elara was looking forward to seeing Isabel fight, after all, even she wasn't very experienced in terms of facing swordsmen, she needed to gather experience as well. As the four reached the Training Room, Vaan and Isabel took their positions following the standard duel norms. "Take out your sword," Vaan spoke. Isabel however, just chuckled and grabbed a wooden sword. "Are you looking down on me?" Vaan narrowed his eyes. Isabel however, just continued to smile. Vaan didn't bother either. Isabel would start taking him seriously the moment she realized the danger she was in. Vaan took out his sword and pointed it at Isabel. The three Spirits around him prepared for the battle as well. Orion acted as the judge and, "Start." As soon as Orion ordered, Isabel dashed towards Vaan.
Her speed was visibly faster than Alex, therefore, Vaan decided to go all out from the start and jumped back, widening the distance between the two and at the same time, absorbing the surrounding Mana and circulating it throughout his body. Normally, a swordsman would panic in this situation since that would mean that he would lose the initiative at the start of the battle, Isabel however, didn't care and simply continued to chase after Vaan. Vaan, however, was faster, once he successfully circulated the Mana throughout his Body, three Advanced Magic Circles appeared around him, and Flamey took the charge to start with the basic spell that could be cast almost instantaneously. Firespike. The Firespike rushed towards Isabel, the woman however, simply dodged the attack and before Flamey could use [Direction Manipulation] to chase after her, Isabel had already appeared next to Vaan. She swung her sword, Vaan dodged it using his sword. The Wooden Sword clashed with the steel sword and a visible cut appeared on it. Isabel however, did not back down, rather, she aimed at Vaan's hand that was holding the sword. Tak In the last moment, however, Splashy created a Water Shield that blocked Isabel's sword, however, "Ugghhh!!" Isabel quickly kicked Vaan's waist from the other side, ruining his balance. "Krriii!!" Not liking how her friend was attacked, Flamey appeared right in front of Isabel, her eyes shone brightly, and together with it, Vaan's Magic Circle shined. I fireball was formed right in front of Isabel's body. If the attack connected, Isabel would need instant medical attention. However, Isabel was simply too fast for Vaan to focus on her. Even though his eyes could keep up with her movements because of his father's training, his body had absolutely no way to resist her. Before the Spell could even be completed, Isabel had already rolled over and appeared behind Vaan, targeting his back. As Vaan turned around, trying to defend and get into an attacking position, Isabel was already aiming for his leg. *Tak* *Tak* *Tak* "Ugghh…" "Ahh!" "Fuckkk!" The little Spirits and Vaan, both were confused and were taken aback by Isabel's insane movement speed, she was almost three times as fast as Vaan, he felt like an amateur facing a seasoned veteran. He missed more and more of her attacks, allowing her to land more hits on him. And since the strength behind her attack was so great that each one of those hits generated a pained groan and left a bruise. In the end, unable to take it any longer, Vaan knelt as Isabel kicked behind his right knee, then as she placed her sword on his shoulder, "The Duel ends." Orion spoke up. "Winner, Isabel." He announced with an unsurprised look on his face.
Vaan fell on the ground, groaning in pain while Isabel quickly rushed towards Orion. This was how they came to the current situation where Isabel was still full of energy. She didn't even have a single drop of sweat on her face, her real sword was still placed inside her scabbard on her waist, Vaan on the other hand, was on the floor, panting and groaning. "Uggh… how is the difference this big…? My strength should still be around 4th Circle Mage…" Vaan questioned with a frown on his face. Honestly, Isabel was so fast that he wasn't even given the time to cast stronger spells and that was just when this woman was using a wooden sword. If she was using a Steel sword, then all those bruises would have been cuts and he would have already died from excessive bleeding. This level of one-sided beating… This was the first time Vaan had been through something like this.
"Do you still not understand? In a one-on-one battle, Mages have a major disadvantage against Swordsmen. That's why even if your strength is close to 4th Circle Mage, there is no way you can win against a peak 4-star Swordsman like Declan. Mages are supposed to create distance between them and their enemies to bombard them with their spells, you on the other hand are trying to face a swordsman in close combat. Do you truly believe that you would be able to win against someone who has been trained in close combat just because you can cast Magic Spells while fighting? At this distance, almost all your big spells would harm you as a caster as well, not to mention you would never be able to react to an established Swordsmen speed and technique. The only reason you were able to win against Alex was because he was caught off guard, not to mention he was too overconfident, and the fact that you managed to injure him before changing your battle style and going for a close combat battle. Honestly, if Alex is given a second chance, then your victory wouldn't be as smooth as before." Isabel lectured as she stood beside Orion. It was as if she was trying to impress Orion with her knowledge. And if that was indeed her goal, she was succeeding. Orion was impressed. He had expected Isabel to be skillful, but the difference between her and his son would be this big, Orion had no idea. "You did well." Orion praised. "T-Thank you, Master Orion!" Isabel nodded, her eyes shining brightly. Orion then turned towards Elara and, "Take care of him, I will return after dropping Isabel to her residence." "We are leaving?" Isabel was surprised. "Do you think he is in a condition to fight you?" Orion questioned back. "I thought you Master Orion…" Isabel wanted to say something but she turned silent. Orion, however, smiled and, "I still need to see your fighting style and spar with you a few times before coming up with a suitable training plan for you. You can go to Headmaster Octavius and tell him that I'll be stealing his student.
No, actually, tell me when you plan to tell me, I will come with you." After all, there is no way he can miss the look on his father's face when he reveals the truth. "D-Does that mean..." "Be here at 7 in the evening from tomorrow and do not be late."
Orion spoke with a strict look on his face. "Y-Yes! I promise I won't be late!"
And Isabel couldn't be any happier.
