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Chapter 19: The Right Thing To Do

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Be righteous, do not transgress.

‘Hm?’

Krone turned around. He thought someone had whispered to him, yet there was no such person. The voice echoed within, yet the echo was so short, it felt imaginary.

‘What was it again?’

Since the voice was so fleeting, he forgot what it actually said. He noticed at his side the twins were going to start.

‘I’ll deal with her later.’

The twins were matched against each other.

They were used to sparring back in their hometown, thus they were less nervous than others. Krone walked right next to their ring. Since his turn was over, he had no need to stay at his ring. He had this feeling he had forgotten something, but he brushed it off his mind.

Both twins were wearing the Limit Gloves. After checking the girls’ hands, one judge raised his hand;

“Start!”

The girls nodded to each other, followed by Liliana lowering her stand. She placed her hands to her right side; her left over her right. Her right hand was opened in a grasping fashion.

Buzzing.

Crackling sound.

The sound as if something shocking was connecting with another.

Sparks of lightning emerged around her body.

Lightning was being channeled, focused onto her hands. Continuous flow of mana was being converted, the candidates knew instantly this one girl had skill.

She readied herself for Lightning Assault.

The elder sister however, stood erect. She placed both hands open in front of her chest, channeling mana into the middle point of where her grasping hands met.

The judges had a pleasant surprise. They knew these two had gone beyond beginner level.

‘Superb.’

‘Worthy daughters of The Lightning Lance.’

She turned to face her sideway. Her left foot to the front, right foot to the back.

She positioned herself for Thunder Shield.

“Here I go, sister.”

“Come, lil’ sis!”

The sound of lightning sparks intensified. Liliana hurled her right hand, lightning shot right to her front. The light of her attack attracted everyone in the square.

Thiana was at the receiving end, calm.

She separated her hands.

A small shockwave spread, a transparent sphere covered her body. Liliana’s lightning hit the sphere, yet it dispersed immediately; slithering around the sphere, leaving sparks along its path.

All happened in a blink.

A boom spread.

Sound akin to thunder, followed by zapping sound.

Then, sound of sparks.

Those who stood too close; their ears were ringing.

The sisters made their sparring test a pleasant show to the audience, even when their ears were sacrificed, momentarily.

Start the whole thing with a bang.

Krone had a faint smile.

He was troubled with what to do with Julia, but he had to revel in the twins’ effort.

The girls could not keep such massive mana consumption continuously, so they started to exchange lightning sparks using their fingers, and moved around with nimbleness.

‘Physical limitation is common among girls, but those are well-trained movements.’

They lowered their stance, and moved their feet by sticking to the ground. Only rarely did they raise their feet. Liliana formed a chain of lightning with her hands, then threw it to her sister.

‘Stable lightning chain.’

The judge noted. It was a skill beyond beginner level.

Thiana slipped down, her feet to the front. Her right hand had a transparent sphere, palm-sized. She extended her hand, then shouted;

Ha!

A mini-boom spread near her sister, the shock ran through her. Her tender face seemed blank.

She blanked out.

Her feet turned weak; she lost her balance and tumbled down.

Thiana rushed, placing her hand on her chest and her back, stopping her from falling.

They stopped in an embrace.

Liliana trembled, then breathed in deeply. She had blanked out, yet it took her no effort to know the result.

“Haah, you won again, sis.”

“No, lil’ sis. We won.”

She turned to the judges, who then nodded in satisfaction.

They were good enough as Mage Knight’s candidates.

The judges drew their conclusion, Krone did the same.

Around the same time, Ron’s sparring test started. The boy in blue robe faced his opponent; a braided brunette, armed with a halberd. Blue Life Armor covered their chest.

“Start!”

Ron waited for her a little bit, locking eyes with her. She was cautious, already aware her opponent was not someone to trifle with.

“Here I come.”

“Huh?”

Ron did some short steps, continuing with a piercing strike using his spear. It was done swiftly, taking her by surprise.

The spiraling eye of the spear flashed within her eyes, moving in as if a snake.

It was quick, and well-aimed.

‘Vicious!’

She jumped back, yet the attack connected, right onto her chest.

Pa, pa!

“Ughh!”

The attack knocked her away a few metres. She slid a metre on the padded ground before stopping. Her halberd however, was still in her arm.

The audience, witnessing this, was either shocked or angered. The attack was way too vicious; especially so against a girl, especially so considering this was just a sparring.

“Damn, merciless!”

“Isn’t this just sparring?”

“No honour.”

“Don’t worry, the judges aren’t blind.”

Naturally, the candidates were not satisfied. They eyed the judges.

The judges however, did not budge, only noting down his attack and discussed it a little.

The girl lied motionless for a few seconds, before coughing.

She coughed out heavily.

“…Ugh, huh?”

Something left her perplexed. Soon other candidates also noticed, frowning.

‘I’m okay?’

She had expected the attack to deliver a heavy blow, yet it did not injure her at all. It was just enough to knock her down and dimmed the blue Life Armor. She felt as if someone pushed her chest, heavily.

While the push was strong, it would in no way injure her.

‘He… Did he do it consciously?’

“Alright, stop. Let her rest a bit.”

The judge said, though Ron already kept his distance. The sparring was paused, giving the girl time to calm down. She soon stood up, gaining her breath.

‘I was careless, I need to take initiative.’

Soon, they continued.

Ha!

She did circling attacks, prompting Ron to back away for some time. He kept his eyes on her expression. After the ninth attack, his spear moved.

Clang!

The short moment his spear halted her halberd, it moved up and forward.

Again, it spiraled as it moved. His hand; to the audience, as if elongated.

‘Again?!’

Pa!

The thrust landed.

“Augh!”

She was knocked away; this time almost spiraled once as she flew.

She landed on the padded ground, sliding towards the end of the ring, near the audience.

“This attack again!”

“It really seemed vicious, but last time…”

“She, is she okay?”

“No way that was okay!”

The judges gestured the medics. As they closed in, the girl coughed out, raising her palm as she indicated she had no need for them.

“I’m, okay…! I still can, ugh, continue.”

The judges nodded to the medics, prompting them to back away.

“Alright, a bit quick, but that’s enough. Good enough, you two.”

“Thank you Sir.”

“Thank, you… uh, uhum!”

Even while lying down, she thanked the judges while coughing. She had lost, yet that was no excuse to lose manner. At the time, Ron placed his right fist on his chest, saluting the knights.

He quickly walked towards her, extending his hand.

“Please excuse me, I ended it quite quick. My bad.”

“…The heck you’re sorry for? Uh, I don’t need your sympathy.”

She protested, taking his hand all the same. He helped her up and out of the ring.

"The name's Ron. Thanks for the spar."

"Shana,"

It started out cold, but soon it warmed up, they chatted.

After a while, they turned around and observed others’ sparring.

Standing side by side, they seemed to be acquainted without any hard feeling.

…

‘That boy’s an all-rounder, with excellent manner.’

Krone still had his eyes on him.

‘That piercing strike resembled Arte Instana too much. He had the basis already laid out, good.’

…

After some time, it was Athea’s turn.

She took a sword and two knives from the practice arsenal, while her opponent took a spear. She placed the knives at her back, positioned horizontally to her left.

They familiarized themselves with their weapon for some time before being called to step forward.

They stood three metre apart.

Athea had a relaxed look, almost as if bored.

Her opponent, the spear user, had a sober look, fitting for a knight candidate.

“Alright, start!”

As soon as the judge said so, Athea threw a knife.

Her move startled her opponent. He moved right to evade.

Athea had moved to his right as well.

The knife grazed his shoulder.

Noticing her, he swung his spear, she moved her sword.

Schiii –

A screech.

Screeching sound stung everyone’s ears.

For a moment.

Athea’s sword collided with the spear’s head, yet she relented and backed away a few steps.

Long steps.

For the first confrontation, she retreated several metres, gaining distance.

Their clash was a few seconds at best, and was nothing special. However, her throwing the knife was borderline unacceptable to the other candidates.

‘Should a knight be doing that?’

‘I don’t know, why don’t you ask the knights?’

‘It’s just sparring, should she be throwing knife?’

A murmurous discussion.

Athea paid them no attention.

Her eyes were on her opponent, an adolescent boy her age, well on his way to become a man.

He was aware of his opponent’s agility and nimbleness, but her decisive move took him by surprise.

He however, moved well.

She dared not underestimate him, thus gained a little distance.

Thus, a little time.

She observed him as he held his spear, with his right hand near the middle and the left near the end. His right foot was in front.

Along with his hand, his reach would be a little more than two metres.

She observed his movement.

He moved his foot one at a time, while maintaining his low stance. While doing so, he was on guard.

He was in no hurry.

Reach reigns supreme to any positioning options.

She recalled what she was taught. She thought of using surprise attack to end this quickly, but her opponent was no pushover.

‘Surprising him the second time…’

Had this been the battlefield with a lot of obstacles and hiding spots, it might have been different. This sparring was in an open ground, no obstacle.

‘Guess I’ll have to be bold.’

She clutched her sword with both hands, prompting the opponent to tense up.

…

…

Yet she did not move.

Suddenly, she put her sword to her left side, and his opponent again tensed up.

…

…

It became a staring contest.

Feeling that she was toying with him; eyes sharp, he said;

“If you’ll excuse me.”

He swung his spear.

With over two metre reach, the difference between his reach and hers was a mere metre.

However, in a close distance weapon fight, that one metre meant trouble.

“Hm!”

She kneeled, yet not to evade.

Positioning herself into a stable kneeling position, she moved her sword to the side, parallel to the incoming attack.

‘Is she… crazy?!’

He realized what she intended.

The sword’s blunt edge landed on the spear’s shaft.

Kak!

As it did, she let it go, dashing towards him.

A quick dash, for a split second, it covered the two metre.

Her left hand moved as her feet did, and the knife shone as the sunlight hit it.

He reacted fast, pushing his spear to the side with all his strength.

Thud!

It landed.

“Ugh!”

The spear’s butt hit her Life Armor, knocking her back to her previous position.

Gasping breath could be heard, from both sides.

She had rushed all too sudden; her heart was pushed to the limit.

He was taken by surprise, never did he thought she would be so bold, again. Her sword was still swinging on his spear’s shaft; reminding him of crazy stunts some people could undertake, without any indication whatsoever.

‘In battle, there might really be maniacs like this… A beauty, but crazy! I’ll have to be careful next time, huh?’

He had just noticed, her left hand was empty.

‘The knife, did it fall?’

His eyes moved, and it stopped short on his chest.

‘No way…’

It was on his Life Armor, landed right into the cracks between the blue crystals. They dimmed a little, but only in that location.

That location however, was crucial.

It was his heart.

‘Was I careless?’

As he pondered this, the judges nodded.

“Alright, that’s it. Good job, you two.”

Dusting off her red padding and clothes, she stood erect and saluted on her chest. Her opponent, back to reality, did the same.

They thanked the judges, while the audience, as per usual had some heated discussion.

“Is that bold or stupid, what do you think?”

“Well, in that situation…”

“Had the spear’s butt had sharp edge, she would be injured, or worse.”

“She did land the knife, so it’s a fair trade, I think.”

“Unless it was done by surprise, it won’t work.”

Krone, Doran and the twins had watched her sparring as well, coming close to her.

“Well done.”

“That was beautiful move Athea! Isn’t it, sis?”

“Yes, it was done beautifully.”

“G-good job.”

“…Em.”

She nodded. With that, they walked to the nearby platform as a group.

Soon, Sir Kent concluded the whole sparring test. From over thirty metre away, he slid the air and stepped onto the platform.

Red line filled the view, lasting only a moment.

Next, he announced the Arte Exhibition.

“For Arte Exhibition; all candidates, proceed to the hall at my back. There’ll be five rooms. You may use your weapons and equipment for the test. There will be proper instructions when you get there. Assemble in half an hour!”

After reminding the audience that the Arte Exhibition was a closed test, he thanked the audience and concluded his speech. The Arte Exhibition would only be spectated by the staff members and officials with security clearance, due to some issues.

Thus, the audience in the grandstand had to wait.

The result for the second screening would be out before late night, so they could only make themselves comfortable for the next few hours.

Many were anxious, worried that their son or daughter would not pass. The candidates were anxious too, with many took some space to do some late-minute training.

As for a certain someone;

‘Tomorrow will be the team battle. I did say I’ll tell him tomorrow, but it seemed… Aii, I’ll be in his debt if he accepted this.’

He already devised a certain plan for tomorrow, already concluded his and his fellow team’s passing. His eyes ran wild, finally landed on a certain girl with purple tunic. The young brunette stood straight, eyes sharp as she looked around, as if searching for someone.

He was far from her, so she did not notice his gaze.

He sighed, depressed.

‘It’s the right thing to do.’

…

===== Chapter 19 End =====