"We could get a rune on our body as long as we defeat her?"
"We don't need to defeat her. As long as we can just push her back, we will win."
The soldiers were whispering to each other. Anna's offer was actually beyond their imagination and had sparked a lot of interest.
Even Howard couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes," Anna confirmed without hesitation.
Although he hated Anna, his opinion changed during the conversation. Instead of thinking about how to harm her, he considered the fact that Anna might have to take care of these men. It would definitely look bad for her reputation.
"But…" Howard wanted to stop her, albeit Anna had made her decision. "It's fine. I've consulted with Noel as well. Besides, they have to win against me first."
Howard was still worried since it wouldn't be only her reputation that would be damaged. Noel's reputation as the one who married her would be questioned. But the fact that she had received Noel's permission meant that their master had agreed to it.
One of the Spirit Masters raised from the ground and volunteered, "Captain. Please allow me to fight her."
Howard's face looked troubled, but after seeing Anna's determined face, he could only agree. "Alright."
"Oh?!"
"Grandel is the one going to fight first!"
"Grandel is a Spirit Master, the strongest among us."
"This is a perfect opportunity to measure our opponent's strength."
The people became excited as Grandel reached the arena and stood two meters away from Anna. He politely bowed to her and said, "Please forgive my aggression."
"If you can hit me, that is." Anna nodded with a smile.
Howard sighed before announcing, "You can use your ability, but not the big one and destroy this area. No killing blow is allowed, and I will have the authority to stop the fight at any time. If you don't have any objections, the match can start now!"
Both Anna and Grandel nodded their heads as if signaling to each other that they had no objection. Grandel took out his spear while Anna pulled out her sword.
There was a silence filling the battlefield for a few seconds before Grandel rushed forth.
In just an instant, Grandel reached Anna and thrust his spear. Anna didn't have any change of expression from Grandel's speed.
She only raised her right foot as if trying to take a step back.
'Going away? You can't!' Grandel sped up, but this was the time Anna showed her true intention.
Instead of taking a step back, she actually rotated her body slightly, causing the backstep to become a sidestep and ultimately avoiding the spear.
'!!!' Grandel widened his eyes in surprise. He hurriedly swung his spear to match Anna's movement, but the latter had struck his spear from below, knocking it up.
Grandel still held his spear, but the force actually forced his arms so high that he could lose his grip at any moment. In addition, Anna took this chance to push his body back.
"Kh!" Grandel coughed a few times as though a boulder had just hit him. He never thought that a gentle push from Anna would be that strong.
Among the people who watched the battle, only Howard could actually see through Anna's move.
'What? Grandel used his Spiritual Energy to make a leap toward her and cover his whole body. But she didn't use her Spiritual Energy to avoid him… she only utilized it to strike him.'
Howard was completely surprised. Anna could actually change the flow of her Spiritual Energy and cause the difference between Spiritual Energy. Just like the training with Old Ru, where they knocked each other out when there was a different level of Spiritual Energy, she utilized that power to knock him back.
And she released a high amount of Spiritual Energy in an instant to generate that much pressure.
Her control was simply unbelievable.
However, the more he observed Anna, the more terrifying she became. Anna actually took advantage of Grandel's confidence.
By making that back step, she made Grandel increase his speed, causing him to be late to react to the change in her movement.
Anna looked at Grandel and said, "You have a good speed, but to utilize that speed, you either need a sharp instinct that can take over your fight or a fast mind to create logical attack patterns at that speed."
"I know that." Grandel gritted his teeth and charged at her again. But this time, he stopped right at the edge of his spear's range and kept thrusting his spear so that one of them could hit Anna.
Sadly for him, Anna parried every single thrust. "Good judgment. To fight an unknown opponent, it's best to learn their ability first by maintaining your distance. I guess the basics have been ingrained into you."
"Don't talk as if you know everything!" Grandel roared and increased his speed, trying to overwhelm Anna.
But there was a big difference in their strength. Anna was already a Spirit Grandmaster after all. Her lightning not only increased her power but also her speed. And the instinct that his spirit gave her told her where the spear would be coming next.
"I actually want to show everyone here about runes. After all, you're going to be the elite soldiers of our Ardagan Family." Anna raised her other hand, pointing it at Grandel.
"!!!" Grandel instinctively stopped attacking and jumped away.
"Good reaction." Anna nodded in satisfaction while forming the Increase Agility Rune on her hand. The target was Grandel.
"Hmm?!" Grandel felt a surge of power coming into his body. He felt his body get slightly faster.
"This is the Increased Agility Rune. It's a basic rune, but it can increase your speed slightly. Come at me again!"
Grandel paused for a moment, never expecting Anna to give something like this. He took a deep breath first to calm himself and erase that prejudice. His eyes were now clear and refined, very different from the first time he stepped into the arena.
"I like your eyes now." Anna smiled.
"Grandel, coming." Grandel lowered his center of gravity before using the Spiritual Energy to kick the bottom of his feet, launching him straight to Anna.
The speed was faster than the previous one. Even Anna couldn't make any fake and had to stop him with her blade.
A clicking sound echoed on the battlefield, shocking everyone.
"Isn't that… quite fast?"
"I think it's faster."
"The difference might be small, but it's noticeable."
"But it's only a basic rune…"
"Even if it's only a basic one, it's still quite huge for us…" A Spirit Practitioner soldier claimed.
Howard made a wry smile. He fully understood the power of runes, considering Noel had drawn it for him to showcase its power. And to think Anna was also a master of runes who had been helping Noel this whole time. It seemed that he had been completely mistaken about Anna.
Anna and Grandel clashed a few times. The latter had refined his movement a bit further, but Anna started to get serious and poured more Spiritual Energy into her strike, gradually overpowering Grandel.
Once Grandel lost his speed, Anna got a complete advantage and struck his spear down, knocking it to the ground.
The last clicking sound was the bell that signaled the end of the match.
To their surprise, Grandel was actually defeated without being able to do anything special. No, it could be said that Anna directed his focus on the rune, causing him to be unable to perform as he usually did.
"This is…"
"She defeated Grandel so easily."
"No. Grandel didn't perform well this time."
The soldiers had mixed feelings. On the contrary, Grandel actually bowed his head to Anna.
"I've lost completely. That Increase Agility Rune…" Grandel looked at Anna but was hesitant to ask for it.
"It's nothing secretive. Our Ardagan Family will have elite soldiers who are adept in running. There will be soldiers who can incorporate runes or even use runes directly. That's why I'm introducing you to the runes right now. It can boost your strength, create unimaginable force, or even protect your comrades."
When Anna started explaining about runes, the soldiers fell silent as they were curious about it.
And in this silence, Anna actually delivered the real message. "I know that you hate me for what I've done in the past. There is nothing I can do to change it.
"Yes. I was your enemy… I was Noel's enemy." Anna emphasized the fact that it was in the past as she continued, "That's why I'm going to show you that I have changed. I will show you that I will be your strongest ally and build this territory together with him.
"I will earn your respect with my effort. That's why I only request all of you… to give me one chance. Just the river, please trust me with your life. If you deem me unfit, then you will never see me again among the soldiers."
The soldiers were astounded. Anna's tone was sincere and her determination was genuine. They had scrapped all the possibilities because of what they knew about her in the past.
As she said, she needed a chance… a chance to show them that she was different from the past. They only needed to respect her if they deemed she was worthy.
She had also introduced runes, and Noel seemed to have trusted her with a lot of things.
This plea somehow made Anna look cool in their eyes. Even Grandel broke the silence by asking Howard, "Captain… I volunteered to be under her in the exploration. I am the fastest, so I can move around to help other soldiers in case of emergency."
Grandel's request had changed the direction of the soldiers' thoughts.
Although it was only a little bit, that day, Anna earned the respect of the soldiers.
