"Ely, I..."
"Elysia Avery, I, Serena Scott, challenge you!"
Just before Elysia exited the battle area and just before Evelyn challenged her best friend Ely, Serena exclaimed swiftly and preceded her.
Serena was aware that another male student would challenge Elysia and that could be seen clearly from their glances and expressions. She doesn't know why the commoner girl is high in demand and surpasses her.
She is very confident about her appearance and what comes to her mind is Elysia's rare talent that can heal with magic, magic that Elysia used just a moment ago.
For a commoner girl to have the talent of platinum class that she envied so much, coupled with a very beautiful face and body even though she really didn't want to admit it, and the attention she got even though she didn't do much.
Everything Elysia got without doing anything was already displeasing to her at this point in time to think about it. She had planned to humiliate Elysia by crushing the village girl with her sword talent that had been honed by her family.
That way, all the attention will be on her again, that was what she had in mind in her immature mind that had always been spoiled with full attention as the first daughter and only child in the Duke Family.
"Muuu~" Evelyn puffed up her cheeks in displeasure at being overtaken by that rude girl in challenging Elysia.
She was eager to test Elysia's abilities which she said was the first time she wielded a sword and it was evident from how clumsy she was a while ago while training. But seeing her current advancement in swordsmanship, Evelyn became eager to try clashing swords with Elysia.
"Sure, I accept the challenge from you." Elysia smiled slightly when she saw the sullen Evelyn before nodding at Serena, she returned to the battle area and was followed by Serena.
Elysia put on a stance similar to the previous one with the kodachi in front of her body and grasped with both hands while Serena held her claymore as if the sword was in a sheath at her waist.
"Begin!" Instructor Dillon gave a loud signal.
"Your two previous victories were nothing, but beginner luck. It won't work against my true sword skills, you can attack me first. Don't say I'm unfair if you lose." Serena is very confident in her talent, taunting Elysia with a smirk.
'Ely, slaughter her. She looks down on you as a loser. Prove my Lil Ely is great. Remember the agreement we had in the library? Don't give her any mercy, and also smile smugly to intimidate. '
"Then don't hold a grudge against me if you lose. I will attack, be prepared." Elysia also smiled contemptuously when Elena triggered her in her mind. Unfortunately, that smile doesn't intimidate anyone and is seen as a smile of the attractive and excited girl.
"Heh! Just try your luck." Serena sneered even more.
Elysia is feeling her blood flowing so pleasantly and her adrenaline is so excited when in battle, she no longer considers cause and effect like her usual self. What she had in mind right now was defeating her opponent, a situation she didn't really recognize but had known for a long time.
Elysia with her active advanced perception quickly approached Serena and then made a full turn with a strong swing targeting her opponent's hand.
*Pa!*
A violent clash of the two hardwood swords echoed out as Serena tried to parry the single strike that was aimed at her hand. Elysia didn't stop her attacks there since she was given the first chance to attack.
Several sword strikes were swung again, again, and again, Serena parrying them passively in a cold sweat. She had practiced swordsmanship for years, but that didn't mean she was adept at taking heavy and insistent attacks like this.
Elysia changed her attack pattern which in the previous two mock battles from dodging gracefully like dancing on a dance floor to a full attack mercilessly and giving no breath to her opponent.
*Pa!*
"You've become cocky, huh!" Serena dragged her opponent sword downwards after the final clash to launch a counterattack.
Elysia just smiled and stepped back to avoid the claymore stab. Surprisingly, when Serena thought her opponent was dodging and gave her the opening attack, Elysia quickly spun twice for the surprise attack.
Serena who was about to give a surprise attack was given a more severe surprise attack. She immediately canceled her attack for emergency defense.
*Pa!* *Crack!*
"Ow!"
A clash that is louder than the previous one reverberate. Serena had yet to properly position her sword to parry the force of the two full turns resulting in a sprained wrist, and two swords cracking.
Seeing the opponent off guard because she sprained her wrist, Elysia lightly stabbed the cracked kodachi into Serena's heart position or rather her bust.
"Ei! You're dead." She smiled happily, but her opponent had tears in her eyes and then dropped her sword to grab onto her sprained wrist.
"Ow! Ow... It hurts! You broke my wrist! Uuu... Aaaa... Mommy... Maybe my bones have cracked..." Serena's eyes became teary as she endured the pain from her sprained wrist. started blushing.
"Err... I accidentally... Did I swing my sword so hard? Are you okay? You just sprained your wrist, let me heal you."
The excited Elysia suddenly became sympathetic to the teary girl but when she was about to grab Serena's hand to heal her, the latter slapped Elysia's hand with a vengeful look.
"Don't touch me, damn it. You bitch, damn you! How dare you hurt me." Serena burst out without caring about her public image.
Instructor Dillon scowled unhappily at this attitude. Only with an attitude like that, he didn't need to announce who was the winner and who was the loser because it was obvious. He immediately appeared beside Serena who was still in pain with trivial pain and the confused Elysia.
"Serena girl, that's not the attitude of a knight. In this knight class training, all the students have been given too much leniency because your compromise is still brats and beginners. The real training of knights and warriors is not like this. You will die with this kind of attitude in real combat."
Instructor Dillon gruffly grabbed Serena's hand for examination, and it turned out that it was just a minor sprain as Elysia had said. He also patted roughly on the sprained hand for no reason.
"Ow! Ow! Hold a girl's hand roughly, Ow! You're hurting me!" Serena cried but couldn't escape Instructor Dillon's grasp.
"The winner this time is clear. You said you could heal this whiny girl? Now do it."
Elysia immediately did as Instructor Dillon asked and healed Serena's wrist with her magic disguised as healing magic.
Instructor Dillon then walked out of the battle area without any more words after Serena's wrist healed. Serena glanced vengefully for a moment at Elysia before picking up her cracked sword and returning to her servant side.
She started thinking about how to get back at Elysia which not only hurt her but also humiliated her, she had forgotten Elysia's words before the mock battle to not hold grudges.
'Lil Ely... I'm proud of you huhu...' Elena wiped her non-existent tears to dramatize the situation.
'Hehe...' Elysia just giggled in her mind as she returned to Evelyn's side.
"Ely, you are so domineering! Too bad poor Serena overtook me. I also want to exchange some clash with you to hone my skills. You learn so fast."
"We can practice together at another time whenever you want. Now you need to beat the three students first and then try Instructor Dillon's challenge." Elysia smiled gently at her friend, the first friend to finally make it to her friend list.