Rhea took a short breath and tried to return to her usual state.
"So if you ever try to do something that stupid again, I’ll deal with you myself before anyone else gets the chance."
Leonis calmly nodded.
"That’s a fair threat."
She unconsciously gave a small smile, and at that moment, a window appeared in front of his eyes.
[Rhea Valcrest’s Affection toward the Host has increased]
[62 -> 66]
Leonis saw the message, but soon turned his attention back to the girl.
He had not forgotten about the System, but not everything had to be reduced to a number on a panel.
A few minutes later, Rhea stood up again.
"Alright. Let’s have another round."
He glanced at the time.
"I thought you would at least go easy on me a little today after that emotional conversation."
"What emotional conversation? We only said a few ordinary things!" Rhea replied with a slightly red face.
Leonis laughed and picked up his sword, his goal was not to defeat this girl, he only wanted to make her take one step back.
Rhea stood about five meters in front of him and launched her attack, her sword moved toward Leonis’s shoulder at a much higher speed.
Clang!
The two blades collided.
The force of the impact made Leonis’s wrist shake.
Rhea immediately changed the direction of her attack, but he used [Quick Step] to move out of its path and deflect her next strike.
He had already noticed a small habit in her fighting style.
When defending, the girl usually tried to move outside her opponent’s sword line to create a good angle for a counterattack.
This habit was not wrong, but it was predictable.
Leonis sent a direct strike toward her right shoulder, and just as he expected, Rhea deflected the blade.
The second attack came from the left.
The girl lowered her sword, and at that moment... [Lost Moon] activated.
For a fraction of a second, Leonis’s presence shifted away from the path Rhea expected him to take.
Instead of completing the strike, he took a short step inward and guided his sword toward the wrist of the girl’s sword hand.
Rhea reacted immediately, but the close distance did not allow her to create a good angle to block the attack without changing the position of her feet.
Her right foot took one step backward.
Clang!
Leonis’s attack was blocked, and a moment later, Rhea stopped her sword in front of his throat with a clear advantage in strength.
Another defeat.
But Leonis looked at the girl’s foot, and Rhea noticed it too, she stayed silent for a few seconds and then raised her head.
"You... really have gotten better."
Leonis smiled.
"Was that a compliment?"
"I’m just telling the truth."
"Then can I expect to hear more things like that?"
"Don’t get arrogant! I can still beat you with one hand."
"I never said otherwise."
This time, Rhea actually smiled.
Leonis simply looked at her for a few moments.
She noticed and frowned.
"What?"
"Nothing, I just think you look much prettier when you smile."
Rhea froze, then turned her face away.
"D-Don’t say stupid things!"
But this time, she could not completely hide her smile, and when the lights around the training area turned on, their training came to an end.
Leonis put his sword aside and slowly rotated his right wrist, his entire body was tired.
The morning training with Evangeline and the evening fight with Rhea had used up more energy than his body could currently handle.
She noticed the movement of his hand.
"Give me your hand."
He held out his hand, and the girl grabbed his wrist and sent a small amount of Mana into it to check the condition of his muscles and energy pathways.
"Just as I thought. You pushed yourself too hard, your wrist still isn’t ready to handle this many strikes."
The examination ended a few moments later, but Rhea did not let go of his hand, Leonis kept his eyes on the girl’s slender fingers.
"Rhea, if you want to hold my hand, you don’t need to make up an excuse."
The girl immediately raised her head.
"I’m making sure you haven’t damaged yourself again, idiot!"
"I know."
This time, he did not continue the joke, he simply and gently closed his fingers around her hand.
She stayed still for a moment, expecting him to make another teasing comment.
But Leonis only looked into her eyes.
"Thank you for still being by my side."
Rhea lowered her gaze, a few strands of her red hair fell over her face, and when she answered, her voice was much softer than usual.
"Idiot... how could I have abandoned you?"
They stayed like that for a few seconds, and then she quickly pulled her hand away and stood up.
"A-Anyway, come at the same time tomorrow, too! You still have a lot of problems that I need to fix."
Leonis also stood up.
"So you want to see me again tomorrow?"
"For training!"
"That’s what I said, too."
Rhea blushed again.
"Just don’t be late!"
The girl quickly walked out of the training field.
But Leonis noticed that before she went too far, she turned her head one more time and gave him a quick glance.
At that moment, a semi-transparent window appeared.
[Rhea Valcrest’s Affection toward the Host has increased]
[66 -> ]
He looked at the number, only two more points were needed to reach seventy.
That meant another Destiny belonging to Rhea might become available to him.
But this time, Leonis quickly closed the panel, his gaze fell on the path the girl had taken, then he turned his attention back to himself.
He had made a pretty good progress today.