"You’re dead, my little disciple."
The tip of the black sword had stopped right in front of Leonis’s throat.
The distance between the blade and his skin was less than a finger’s width, and the cold pressure coming from it made it very clear that if Evangeline decided to continue her movement, none of his current abilities would be able to save him.
He glanced at the sword, then looked at his master’s face.
"Master, if I really died every time I fought you, I would probably have broken the death record in Avalon by now."
Evangeline gave him a beautiful smile.
"And if you spent a little more time thinking instead of talking, perhaps you would have died fewer times."
The woman pulled her sword back and took two steps away. Her long black hair moved over her shoulders as she moved, and the morning sunlight shining through the hall’s tall windows gave her beautiful face a special look.
Leonis lowered his training sword.
Unlike the previous days, today’s training had no fixed pattern. Evangeline had adjusted the hall’s defensive arrays so that mana projectiles would be fired from random directions, and even the time between attacks was no longer fixed.
The main problem was not the speed of the projectiles.
The problem was that whenever she felt Leonis was getting used to a pattern, she changed it.
"Tell me, where did you make a mistake?" The woman rested her sword on her shoulder.
Leonis looked at the marks left by the projectiles on the wall for a few seconds.
"I correctly noticed the first attack, but when I used Lost Moon to move out of its path, I assumed the second attack would target the same point as before."
"And?"
"You changed the second attack’s path after I moved. I continued with my previous decision for a moment, even though the situation had changed."
Evangeline nodded with satisfaction.
"Exactly. Lost Moon can disrupt an enemy’s aim, but it isn’t supposed to think for you. If an enemy reads your movement and adjusts their next attack, all your efforts might become useless."
Leonis slowly let out a breath. She was right about this.
Calamity Sense could show him the paths of danger, but deciding which danger to take seriously and how to respond still depended on his own decisions.
"Do Fallen creatures fight the same way?" he asked.
"Some of them do."
She walked toward one of the damaged training dummies and pointed at a crack in its body with the tip of her sword’s sheath.
"Many people believe Fallen creatures are just monsters that attack anything in front of them. For someone who has never seen one up close, believing this might be the last mistake of their life."
The woman’s expression became more serious.
"Even weaker ones can use ambushes, tricks, and hunting tactics. Some of them can figure out how you defend yourself after just a few attacks and try to target the same weakness."
Leonis nodded.
This was not very surprising, actually.
A creature that had evolved to hunt was not necessarily as easy to predict as a trained animal.
And tomorrow, he would be facing creatures like these.
"That’s enough training for today," Evangeline finally said.
He raised an eyebrow.
"Already?"
"You have an exam tomorrow. If I destroy all your muscles today, I’ll probably have to collect your corpse from the training ground myself."
"I thought you had more confidence in your disciple’s abilities."
"I do, but rest can be just as important as training."
Leonis nodded.
However, when he tried to put his sword back in its place, Evangeline caught his hand.
"Wait."
The woman moved behind him and raised his right wrist.
"There’s still one small problem with your stance."
Her delicate fingers moved along his forearm and corrected the angle of his elbow.
They were standing close enough for him to feel the warmth of her body through his training clothes, and a few strands of her black hair fell beside Leonis’s neck as she leaned forward.
Evangeline’s dark combat outfit fit her well and showed off her curvy figure. Her movement brought her even closer, making him briefly conclude that designing such an outfit for a woman with such a striking figure might have been one of the hardest tasks for Avalon’s tailors.
Whether it was her large, round butt or her watermelon-sized breasts, keeping them under control while wearing clothes was not an easy task.
"Little disciple, where’s your mind?" Her soft voice sounded beside his ear.
Leonis replied without the slightest sign of nervousness. "I’m wondering why your training sessions always become more interesting when we’re standing this close."
The woman let out a short laugh.
"I’m sure you’re only thinking about swordsmanship."
"Of course. Though you do make it a little difficult to concentrate."
Evangeline moved her head slightly closer.
"And if you think about anything other than your sword, tomorrow might be the last day of your life."
He smiled.
"Then I’d better enjoy life enough today."
The woman laughed openly this time and stepped away after giving him a gentle tap on the back of his shoulder, but her laughter soon faded.
"Leonis."
Her tone had changed.
The boy turned around.
"Yes, Master?"
Evangeline looked at him for a few moments.
"Tomorrow, you’re not going to prove that you’re the best swordsman in Avalon. You’re not going to risk your life for a few insults or a better ranking. Your job is to stay alive, make the right decisions, and show that you can take care of yourself without my direct help."
He didn’t smile this time.
"I have no interest in risking my life just to prove my strength to a few students. If a victory isn’t worth its cost, I won’t pursue it in the first place."
Evangeline looked at him for a moment, then a faint smile appeared on her face.
"Good."
She stepped closer and straightened his collar.
"Then don’t do anything that forces me to enter the exam to save you."
Leonis kept his eyes on the woman’s face.
"Don’t worry, Master. I’m still waiting for that special reward you promised me."
"If you get first place."
Then, before her disciple could reply, she walked past him.
He watched her leave for a few moments. This woman really knew how to play with words.
However, despite her playful and seductive appearance, her warning just now had been completely serious, and he had no intention of forgetting it.
That same afternoon, Leonis entered the eastern training grounds.
Unlike the previous days, Rhea had not arrived yet.
He waited beside the training ground for a few minutes. During that time, he repeated a few simple Habsburg Swordsmanship movements without using mana.
Finally, he heard footsteps coming from behind him.
"Leonis."
He turned around.
Rhea was approaching in her usual training clothes, which showed off her attractive figure well. Her long red hair fell behind her shoulders, and she held a thin training sword in her hand, but something about her face was different from the previous days.
There were signs of tiredness under her eyes.
And her frown... was even deeper than usual.
Without mentioning her delay, he raised his sword.
"Ready?"
"Yeah."
She didn’t even give him more time to talk.
She stepped back a few paces, and the fight began.
In the first exchange, the girl attacked from the right, and Leonis raised his sword.
Clang!
The force of the strike spread through his wrist.
Rhea immediately launched her second attack, but Leonis used a short shift in position to deflect her blade and counterattacked from the left.
The girl was forced to step back and looked at him for a moment.
"Are you really still Level One?"
Leonis gave a faint smile.
"The last time I checked, yes."
"Then why do I feel like you’re getting stronger every day?"
"Maybe because I train more every day."
Rhea gave him a suspicious look but said nothing, and the fight continued.
As he had decided earlier, Leonis used only part of his newly increased physical strength. Even so, this was enough to force her to use more strength in some of their sword clashes.
Of course, the gap between their abilities was still very large.
In the end, the girl broke through his defense with a quick turn and stopped her sword in front of his neck.
"It’s over."
He looked at the blade.
"I was hoping I could last a little longer today."
"You lasted longer, but you still put too much pressure on your right wrist when defending."
She stepped closer and took his hand.
"Let me see."
He didn’t resist. The girl took out a wrist guard and wrapped it around his wrist.
While fastening it, she had to lean forward slightly. A few strands of her long red hair fell onto the boy’s forearm, and the gentle scent of her hair spread between them.
Leonis glanced at her.
During a fight, Rhea attacked with speed and controlled force, but now all her attention was focused on making sure the wrist guard was tight without putting too much pressure on his wrist.
He smiled.