Chapter 209 Sword Dance

While Luke was approaching the gymnasium of the Strogueher estate, he heard cheering screams, which were quickly overlapped by the crack of thunder.

When Luke appeared at the door, people didn't even notice his presence, because they were focused on watching the practice fight.

To Luke's surprise, who were practicing were Nathalia and Stella Hoka, the previous Champion of the Tournament of Legends.

The Elf with white hair and red eyes looked more mature than Luke remembered. Somehow, her gaze seemed more focused. In addition, she had her hair pinned up in a bun on top of her head, unlike how she used to secure her hair in a ponytail.

Nathalia's training partner, Stella, didn't seem to have changed anything since Luke had last seen her, during the Strogueher Family selective. Her hair was still grayish, and she still had an expression composed, almost inexpressible.

The two's practice match looked more like a dance, making Luke realize how much Nathalia had evolved. The two women glided across the battlefield, and the clang of their swords clashing echoed through the four corners of the gymnasium. Because Luke had trained with Nathalia every day for some time, it was clear to him that her movements were more polished than ever. Her feet were faster, and because of this, her advances and retreats were also more powerful and skillful. Now she almost didn't need to take her feet off the ground to move, which usually created a moment for her opponent to take advantage.

However, Stella Hoka wasn't a bit behind Nathalia in fencing, because her movements were also skillful, handling the light wooden sword with mastery.

Luke could quickly tell that Stella knew some sword art, because her method of holding the sword with only one hand and under her right forearm was certainly uncommon.

"Go, Nathalia, you can beat her this time!" Livia Strogueher shouted, drawing the half-wolf's attention.

"Attack her from below; this is her weak point, Stella!" exclaimed Lais Strogueher. Luke didn't know this Elf, nor did some of the other Elves in the huddle of cheering.

"Don't let her push you around. Get your guard up!" exclaimed Jilly Strogueher, worried.

"Hey, isn't that Luke?" A white-haired Elf asked his cousins, pointing to the gym door.

The half-wolf couldn't hide, so he just answered with a nod to them, which made them lose interest in the battle altogether. Nathalia also turned her face to look when she heard Luke's name.

When Nathalia turned her face, Stella didn't hesitate to take advantage and tried to attack her. Luckily, Nathalia was quick and managed to block. After sliding backward on the battlefield because of the two wooden swords clashing, Nathalia threw the sword to the ground and ran towards Luke.

"Luke! You're back!" She shouted, moments before jumping into Luke's lap, who naturally held her. "It's been so long!"

Livia and Jilly sagely contained their cousins' excitement to let Nathalia and Luke talk in peace.

"So, how are you?" Luke asked, even with Nathalia still hugging him tightly.

The Elf realized that her emotion might be exorbitant for actually being in public and released Luke from the hug.

"I'm fine, and stronger too." She spoke proudly, scratching with the side of her right index finger the part between her nose and lips. "Now I come here whenever I can to practice in that gym with my cousins or with Stella." Nathalia pointed to the black-skinned woman.

Luke greeted Stella with a nod as she went to pick up the wooden sword that Nathalia left dropped on the floor. She answered him with a nod and a serious countenance, which Luke didn't even care about.

"I've noticed that you're a lot more skilled. I also heard that you joined the Oukiwa Noble Academy. Are you enjoying it?"

Nathalia arched her eyebrows, because for Luke knowing this meant that he had already arrived at least a few minutes ago. But she wasn't pissed about not being called sooner because, after all, she had already been warned that he would arrive between afternoon or evening.

"Ehhh... let's just say I preferred the times I was a Class-F Adventurer than studying complete bestiaries and monster features. But no more talking about me, tell me about you... You managed to find who you were looking for, didn't you?"

The half-wolf smiled. "Yes, I'm happy I did. If it's okay for you, they will stay at your home until the problems are solved."

"Are you aware of what happened in the Dungeon yet, 'Half-wolf'?" Stella Hoka intruded into the conversation, causing even the other teenagers to finally be quiet, after all the conversation between two established Champions of the Tournament of Legends had started.

Luke looked at Stella Hoka, surprised by her rudeness. He remembered that she had been a bit of a sadist since the Strogueher selective, but still, he hadn't expected this behavior.

"Yes, a guard told me." He answered her briefly and turned back to talk to Nathalia.

"And you're not going to do anything to improve the city? You are the current Champion of the Tournament of Legends; you should understand the importance of that title and the message it carries."

Impatient, Luke almost rolled his eyes in disgust, because all he wanted was to have a normal conversation with his partner, who he hadn't seen in so long.

"First of all, can you tell me what is your name again?" The half-wolf inquired. Since Nathalia had just said it, he remembered her name, but he wanted to mock her.

"Tsk! I was wrong about you. Nebezial would be a better Bi-Champion than you because at least he had ambitions; you were lucky you pissed him off."

"Hey, Stella... be careful with your words. Luke trained hard to be able to win the tournament." Nathalia stated, starting to get bored with the intrigue.

Nove l B(in).C OM

"Calm down, Nath..." Luke placed his hand on the white-haired Elf's shoulder. "Haven't you realized that she's just finding a pretext to piss me off, so she can call me out for a fight? She seems to be that kind of person."

Stella's eyes widened with her back turned to everyone, for this was precisely her intention. She was still harboring consternation from the day Luke was chosen to go to Vasconcelos, and she stayed in Oukiwa only as an attention decoy for the rest of the Strogueher.

Then, Stella turned around and said with a sadistic smile, which none of the Strogueher she had protected ever saw on her face. "So, are you going to piss your pants, or are you willing to accept the challenge?" She confirmed Luke's theory.

The half-wolf's response was the dropping of his overcoat to the ground. For some time now, Luke had wanted to prove to himself that it wasn't luck, much less fate, to have passed the Strogueher selective.

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