After a week, Morrigan had made significant progress. She had been learning theoretical knowledge from Richard, combat skills from Rachel, and advanced in Dark Magic with Thomas.
Now able to control her Dark Magic, Morrigan could strengthen her body and create shadow tendrils.
In a way that made Rachel jealous, Morrigan was rapidly mastering swordsmanship, and even learning how to wield an axe. This skill had earned her praise from Richard and everyone else.
Now, Morrigan and Rachel were set to fight one last time. Both were bruised from their battles throughout the week, but neither seemed to care.
Rachel had a severe bruise on her neck, while Morrigan bore small bruises on her arms and under her eye. Even though Thomas had offered to heal them, Morrigan had refused.
Respecting her decision, Thomas, as his lady instructed, did not heal her. The Wargan siblings had gained a new respect for Morrigan.
This time, Morrigan didn’t just hold a single longsword. Instead, she wielded two swords—one long and thin, the other short and sharp.
Both were swords crafted and enchanted by Thomas with great care, and they were so light they were almost weightless. It was an interesting style for battle.
For someone fast and agile, these dual swords were truly fitting.
Meanwhile, Rachel was using an exceptionally long and large axe, rather than a simple one. The axe seemed to be made specifically for her.
It was engraved with unique Wargan shamanic spells. According to Rachel, these Shaman Spells had been gifted to the Wargans by the Ice Goddess.
Even Morrigan could feel the threat from the axe.
Though Thomas considered these low-level spells, to Morrigan, they were intriguing and a pleasant experience to face.
Judging by Rachel’s expression, fighting a Dark Mage would be a new experience for her.
Without any further delay, Morrigan made no comment and lunged forward. Her legs were strengthened with mana as her swords gleamed ominously.
Being more agile than Rachel, Morrigan advanced without hesitation. Rachel swung her axe with a fierce grin.
Morrigan gracefully ducked under it, and as the axe swung behind her, she aimed to slash Rachel’s abdomen with her longsword held in her right hand.
A blade of ice surrounding Rachel’s stomach blocked her strike. Morrigan quickly retreated as Rachel swung her axe downwards with tremendous force.
Morrigan dodged this too with ease, but the impact of the axe hitting the ground made it tremble as if an earthquake had struck.
Then, a wave of ice spread rapidly from the axe, freezing the ground and covering the grass in ice, causing Morrigan to frown.
"Even if you’re faster than me, you won’t be able to escape once the ground is slick and dangerous," Rachel taunted, effortlessly pulling her axe from the ground.
"This isn’t fair," Morrigan said calmly. Then, shadows formed under her feet, gripping the ground tightly. Stomping the ground, she coldly met Rachel’s gaze. "But now it is."
Rachel merely laughed. She began running smoothly across the ice as if it was nothing, her large axe swinging mercilessly as she charged at Morrigan.
Morrigan took two steps back. As the axe changed direction and swung towards her again, Morrigan’s figure vanished for a brief moment, reappearing behind Rachel.
Though this ability seemed like teleportation, it wasn’t. Morrigan had momentarily turned into a shadow, allowing her to appear behind Rachel in the blink of an eye.
"You’re getting better!" Rachel praised with a wild grin, blocking Morrigan’s sword with a swift turn of her axe.
Morrigan, having arrived at the perfect spot, swiftly manipulated the shadow and easily lifted the trees Rachel had knocked down using large shadow tendrils, then swung them at Rachel like a sword at great speed.
With a rare smile forming on her lips, Morrigan lifted the six trees Rachel had felled with her shadow tendrils.
"Very clever, but—" Rachel gave a wild grin, gazing at the large trees threateningly held by the shadow tendrils. "For me, they’re just simple!"
"You’re done, Rachel. I’ve won." As Morrigan’s calm voice echoed, the shadow tendrils suddenly hurled the large trees toward Rachel.
Rachel’s fist gleamed. Grinning, she injected more mana into her fists. She swiftly blocked the first tree with a powerful punch. As the next tree came at her, an ice wall emerged from the ground at her command, shattering the tree.
The shadow tendrils hurled the trees toward Rachel with synchronized timing. What she didn’t expect, however, was the trees starting to become coated with Dark Mana.
Rachel’s eyes widened as she quickly formed a massive ice wall. Moments later, the trees, glowing with dark mana, smashed through the ice wall, hitting the ground with destructive force, causing severe damage.
Rachel managed to leap back to avoid the impact, but Morrigan, her fist enveloped in mana, rushed forward. A quick punch stunned Rachel, and with rapid blows, Morrigan first hit her kidney, then her chin, and finally her chest, causing Rachel to stagger.
"Uh?" Morrigan, fatigued, panted heavily. Rachel, however, laughed and attacked Morrigan. Barely dodging Rachel’s punch, Morrigan winced in pain as a second punch hit her left cheek.
Still standing, Morrigan faced Rachel and delivered a hard punch to her nose.
"That hurt! Damn it!" Rachel’s face twisted in pain as she grabbed her now bleeding nose. Morrigan, slightly exhaling, said, "Sorry, but what you did to my eye yesterday was worse."
"You’re right, let’s call it even." Rachel smiled and got back into her fighting stance, throwing punches at Morrigan once more.
Morrigan dodged nimbly. The fight between the two girls resembled a match between Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali.
While dodging Rachel’s barrage of powerful punches, Morrigan slowly wore her down with weaker but quicker strikes.
The fight continued until evening, with both girls exhausted but still fueled by fiery excitement. Finally, Morrigan dealt a fatal blow to Rachel’s lungs, causing her to momentarily lose her breath.
As Rachel’s defense suddenly faltered, Morrigan didn’t miss the chance and channeled nearly all her mana into her right leg.
With a powerful kick, Morrigan struck Rachel’s chin. Even Rachel’s incredible endurance couldn’t last any longer.
"Huh?" As Rachel collapsed on the ground, Morrigan also fell, breathing heavily. Both girls lay on the ground, as if passed out, gasping for breath.
Their souls were under immense pressure, pushing them dangerously close to the limit.
"I won!" "I won!"
After a brief rest, Rachel shouted. Despite being exhausted, Rachel firmly said, "Fine, I give up for today. You won." Rachel lay back on the ground, surrendering.
"Let’s call it a draw then?" Morrigan calmly suggested. Rachel turned her head toward her. "You already won, just stop pushing it and rest."
"I said it so you wouldn’t feel bad." Morrigan replied calmly. Rachel gave her a strange look. "Losing isn’t a bad thing. Winning or losing doesn’t matter to me."
"What matters is that I had a lot of fun." A joyful smile spread across Rachel’s face, almost like that of a child. "Let’s do it again. Tomorrow."
"No way, I don’t want to die," Morrigan said as she relaxed her aching muscles. Rachel pouted but didn’t argue.
The two girls then rested and chatted.