Chapter 6: It’s time to duel!

  HidingInTheNovels

  Luna Pov

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  At the signal, we sprint towards each other. Dad, trying to leverage his longer arm length, does a diagonal ssh as soon as I am in his range. I jump up without losing my forward momentum, predicting and narrowly avoiding his ssh.

  Then I do a vertical ssh, which he blocks by holding the sword in front of him horizontally to the ground, after redirecting the force of his swing. Thanks to my added weight and the hastiness of the block, I hold an advantage in the exchange, forcing him two steps back. I don't let go and continue sshing at him after nding, keeping up the pressure. However, he slowly recovers by using his superior physical fitness, starting to suppress me.

  Obviously, he is aware of his advantages and is using them to his fullest extent.

  However, I'm not beaten that easily. I have my own advantages too. I deflect a vertical blow by angling my sword above my head, and slip around him, resetting the tempo of the fight.

  Being a child can be disadvantageous in a swordfight. It means having a shorter reach and a physically weaker body. However, being a child can also be an advantage. It means less body weight to move around and other factors, such as more slow-twitch muscles, which make a battle of endurance easier. Children are real monsters of endurance, I tell you.

  I continue with my stalling tactic, my mind wholly concentrated. Even a small error would make the whole fight for nought. Just once, where I'm unable to deflect a blow properly, or fall for a feint, and I'd be beaten. Soon, Dad gets more and more exhausted, and I'm about to seal the deal.

  Suddenly, Dad starts ughing.

  "You really grew these past three years. I'm proud of you. Now, let's finish this."

  Dad sprints toward me. I hold my sword at the ready, preparing for the next attack. A vertical ssh from above. I move my sword upward, angling it. Suddenly, an incredible force is transmitted through my hands. Dad, at the st moment, changed the angle of his swing. A feint.

  I don't dwell on it, ducking to dodge a swing from the right. However, as if having seen through it, the sword swerves a bit. Thankfully, my sword is already in blocking position on my right exactly for this situation.

  A heavy force is transmitted once again. I groan, gritting my teeth. However, Dad continues without stopping. Now, I am constantly on the backfoot, always retreating and never getting an opportunity to change the tempo.

  Soon, I'm backed into a corner. An especially mean swing breaks through my guard and reaches me. In desperation, I hold down the sword using signless magic before pcing my sword on his neck.

  "So, did I win?" I ask.

  "Hahaha! No. Did you know that there is a power every swordman close-combatant strives for? It's only after mastering it that you step into the realm of a true master."

  "I know, Dad! But, I beat you, right?"

  "If you had fought me like that half a year ago, then yes. Now, however, not. Don't think you're the only one improving, Luna."

  "You mean, you've acquired Aura?!" I am genuinely happy. It means Dad is now on par with an A-Rank adventurer.

  "Yes, I did! So let's fight again."

  "That's so shameless, Dad! But sure." This time, I decided to use Magic openly.

  "Who is the shameless one, using magic to trap my sword?" He retorts.

  I whistle.

  "Looks like I need to beat some respect into you!"

  "Stop it with the 3rd rate vilin act!"

  "Caught," Dad admits.

  We both take our starting position. Dad counts down once again.

  "3, 2, 1, go!"

  While Dad closes the distance rapidly, putting behind ten meters in a second, I take to the skies. Dad's sword attacks me. However, using magic, I alter its trajectory. Dad is taken aback and can therefore not react to the bst of wind that explodes directly in front of him. He is sent back fifteen meters.

  Holding his stomach, Dad excims: "But I infused it with aura!"

  "Yes, you did. And I never maniputed the sword itself, but only the air around it. So who taught whom a lesson?"

  To expin, a sword that is infused with Aura is incredibly difficult to manipute with Magic. In general, Aura nullifies most magic.

  "You brat! Don't think you've beaten me yet! I was just a little surprised. Take this move I've recently developed!" Exciming, Dad swings his sword. Aura, compressed into a bde, comes crashing toward me. I smile and also swing my sword. A Windbde appears. The Aurabde cshes with the Windbde before being swiftly cut apart. The Windbde continues unabated, with Dad barely dodging it. Of course, even if he hadn't, I would have still dissolved it before it hit Dad.

  Well, the reason the Windbde could cut through the aura bde was that after materialising, it became purely a physical phenomenon.

  "Seriously, what's up with you?!" I hear exasperation in his voice.

  "Y'know, when it comes to pure physical combat and swordsmanship, you are superior, but if it is a comprehensive fight, then you're not capable of beating me ever," I boast, before making my next move.

  Suddenly, the ground around Dad splits open again and again. It's a Magic I've only recently mastered. A magic which dispces space itself. The dispcement is minimal enough to not cost too much Magic Power, yet precise and rge enough to easily cut off an arm. Only through Magic or Aura could you possibly defend against it. Even then, you need to be constantly on guard, enveloping your entire body with Aura or Magic, since you can't predict the attack simply because it's too fast. Only combat instincts honed through many battles could feel the threat and therefore react.

  Dad, seeing the smooth cuts, gets shivers. He is far from the level needed to block or predict it. "So, did I win the duel?" I ask.

  "Well, you are strong, but don't think strength..."

  As he is talking, another cut appears near him.

  "You won."

  "Yay!"

  "But seriously, how did you grow so strong, and more importantly, how did you have so much Magic Power?"

  "Well, I always practised Magic whenever I went out in the mornings. As for the Magic Power, Mana grows bigger whenever Magic Power is used. Therefore, since I always depleted my Magic Power every day, my Mana grew a lot bigger." Fun fact: Mana is not part of the physical dimension, but instead part of the so-called spiritual dimension. There, the concept of space is really distorted, so my Mana can grow as much as it wants without trouble.

  As we talk, we go back home. As Mom sees us, she is confused. "What are you already doing here? Aren't you doing sword training?"

  "I beat dad!" I answer her question. "Can I go adventuring now?"

  "Don't forget my condition! I'm not letting you go until you have memorised those books!"

  "But I have?"

  "We'll see. What does a fifetailed foxgrass do?"

  "A Fife-Tailed Foxgrass is used for a seductress potion. Fife-Tailed means that it is fifty years old."

  "Then what about a Heart-Herb?"

  "It is the main ingredient for an elixir."

  "Then what about..."

  This continues for several hours. Finally, after four hours, Mom has no choice but to accept that I memorised the books.

  "So when do you pn to leave?" My mom asks.

  "In three days."

  "So early?"

  "Yes."

  "Okay, you can leave, but only under the condition that you return on your birthday, that you always write letters, that you never do anything life-threatening and that you, and this is the most important part, have fun!"

  "Yes, Mom."

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  3rd Person Pov

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  That night, after the couple has their usual fun, Fana asks Hec:

  "Can she really go out?"

  "Yes, she can," Hec answers. "She is powerful enough to easily beat an S-Rank adventurer."

  "You and I both know that is far from the ceiling in strength," Fana retorts, remembering what happened ten years ago.

  "Don't worry. When I fought against Luna today, the feeling I got was worse than the feeling I got from that terrifying being."

  "You're saying she can rival a full-grown dragon?!"

  "It's not just rivalling, she can defeat them if she goes all out."

  "She really grew up so fast!"

  "Yes, she did."