"Haah!"
With all of the guards present, all of them seed to be mages.
It seed like the only ones present with weapons were Brandon and Evelyn.
Though they weren't duelists at all.
Evelyn was a re pretender, and Brandon was just fixated on learning the sword.
While the rest of the guards trained separately. So even loitering around, completely content with their current abilities.
Brandon on the other hand, continuously swung his blade forward.
Slash—!
He tried to get the timing right. Increasing the force of the swing, at the sa ti his foot stomps the ground.
Slash—!
Sweat trickled down his face with each swing. His clothes started sticking to his back.
An hour passed.
The heads had already left to go about their own business.
It was ti for lunch. For that reason, the guards left the private training grounds.
Everyone except Brandon.
And….
"What were you doing?"
Evelyn.
She approached him, lowering her hood.
Brandon halted his movents and turned his head, acknowledging her presence.
"Waiting for you. I had to do sothing. Else, I would've died from boredom."
"Hah."
She chuckled.
"We can't be too suspicious. If they see us suddenly beco close, they'll be suspicious. My reputation is kind of…. aloof?"
"I see."
Makes sense.
Now that they were on the topic.
"Actually…."
Brandon leaned close and whispered in her ear.
Evelyn's eyes widened.
"Really?!"
"Mhm."
"That's such a coincidence…. Do you trust him?"
"Yes. Just like us, he wants the syndicate to fall."
Brandon paced himself and walked towards a more open area. Evelyn followed closely from behind.
Since the two were the only ones who used weapons, it wouldn't be weird if they got along.
They just needed to make the pace more believable.
"For now, let's use wooden swords. Here."
Evelyn tossed him a wooden sword and Brandon caught it with ease.
"First, I need to assess where you stand. Rember, no magic."
"Okay."
Brandon nodded his head.
The entire arrangent was ironic.
The two were mages, and yet, they were having lessons about swordsmanship.
Evelyn stood straight and extended her hand forward. The tip of the sword facing Brandon.
"To be honest, you were the reason I decided to learn swordsmanship."
", huh."
"I could tell how fixated you were, despite being a mage. I felt like I had let you down. For that reason, I wanted to increase my diversity when it ca to teaching."
"Fixation…."
It was truly odd.
His body, his mories, they were all Brandon Locke's.
And Brandon Locke was a mage. Not even the combat type of mage.
Then was it….
….Because of his soul?
Because he is Raven Blackheart…?
'Probably.'
The body may not be the sa. But the soul never forgets.
Raven Blackhearts were always ant to be duelists.
"Show what you got. Don't hold back."
Those words from Evelyn signaled the start of the spar.
There was a sense of familiarity with their current exchange.
They had done this a couple of tis a year ago, back when Brandon was still a student of Astrea Academy.
They would often spar. And Evelyn would help him control his mana more efficiently, even helping him control his deviant abilities.
However, the latter was now useless.
He was no longer a Deviant.
Brandon kicked the ground and drew an arc with his sword.
Thack—!
The wooden swords clashed in that instant, and Brandon staggered back from the force.
He kept going.
Unleashing a flurry of swings, aid to strike wherever he deed Evelyn was open.
However, she was quick to react in exchange.
Thack! Thack! Thack—!
Swinging down forcefully, his sword was instantly repelled. And at that mont, the wooden sword broke in half.
"Okay. I think that's enough."
Evelyn looked at her wooden sword. There were cracks all over, and the sword looked as though it was bent.
It was no good.
Thump!
Tossing the sword to the side, Evelyn looked at Brandon.
"You at least know the basics. Good. You must've read books about it."
She started her evaluation.
"However, books can only take you so far. I can see how technical your approach towards swordsmanship is. The way you move, looked so textbook. There's no flexibility, or creativity in the way you fight."
"...."
"I've noticed you've had that problem as well last year. Not with swordsmanship. But fighting in general. It's as if you're imagining an image of soone or sothing in your mind, and you seed hell bent on becoming an imitation of it."
"...."
He had no words….
He couldn't fully refute her assessnt of him.
'She's right….'
No matter how much he tried, he couldn't erase the image of Jin's fighting style, especially throughout all of the progressions.
He was the strongest person he knew.
Unconsciously, he was copying the way he fought.
"Tsk."
He clicked his tongue.
'He's a failure…. So why am I….'
Clicking his tongue once more, he raised his head, eting Evelyn's gaze.
"Don't be disheartened. Just like , your body isn't built to beco a duelist."
All of a sudden, Evelyn's eyes began to glow a hollow color.
"Since I needed a proper identity, I had to develop my own way of fighting, without relying too much on my affinity."
Evelyn picked up another wooden sword, facing the tip forward.
"I did study swordsmanship. Along with my knowledge, and a bit of creativity, I've co to develop sothing for myself."
"That is…?"
"Well, it's general knowledge that mages cannot ever be as physically strong as a duelist, right?"
It was for that reason why most mages had never picked up the sword.
"Yes."
Brandon nodded his head.
Evelyn continued.
"Then I'll show you what I've been working on for the past six months."
Her brows suddenly knitted, and Evelyn fixed a battle stance.
"Co."
Listening to her provocation, Brandon picked up another wooden sword and positioned himself.
Swoosh—!
All of a sudden, Evelyn disappeared from his peripheral view.
Brandon kept his guard up and looked around, trying to trace her figure.
'Didn't she say no mana…?'
Although despite his complaint, he could tell Evelyn had not used mana at all.
There were no traces of mana from where she once stood.
"....!"
Suddenly, Evelyn appeared right below him. The tip of her wooden sword aid to thrust at his sternum.
Having no ti to react, Brandon only reacted as much as he could before the sword t his sternum.
"Ukeh!"
Too fast!
He was caught off guard, causing him to let out a groan, feeling his rib crack a little.
Staggering back and clutching his chest, Brandon started coughing.
"Cough! Cough! What… was that?"
"I only said no magic for you."
Then that ant, she was using magic.
However….
"I couldn't sense your mana though?"
"Yes. This is the sole principle of my swordsmanship. Subtly using mana in bursts to assist and enhance our muscles."
For that reason, they can enhance the speed and force of their attacks.
"At the sa ti, it simultaneously trains your mana control efficiency."
She had a point. Though mana was present inside everyone, the abundance was different.
For that reason, not everyone chose to beco mages.
And unluckily born with a fragile body, they opted to beco normal people instead.
'Skill issue.'
Is all he could say.
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