Satisfying Fight

Despite spending most of his time training his skills, Lake never slacked on his cultivation of the Swallowing Star technique. While it is slow compared to other top tier techniques, in the beginning stages it is still extremely quick while training.

At this point in time Lake's physical abilities had all shot up by 20 points, giving him more speed and strength than Lyra by a long shot.

Lyra stared dazedly at Lake's smug filled smile, feeling embarrassed her face flushed with a hint red creeping up her face. Not everyone had as mature a mindset as Lake, ultimately she was still just a 12 year old child.

Angrily she stomped her feet on Lake's foot.

"Ow!" Grimacing in pain he held his foot while looking at Lyra whose face was flushed red.

He was stunned at the sight of the Princess blushing, the goddess in all the students hearts was blushing in anger in front of him.

Though she was beautiful before her current bashful appearance at the moment was on another level entirely.

Suddenly he felt that the room had gotten colder, he saw Lyra had raised her hands and that a white mist was being emitted from her palm. The source of the cold was also that white mist.

"Uh, Miss Lyra, I thought that we were sparring with martial arts. Doesn't it seem unfair to use your abilities right now?" Lake chuckled nervously while backing up slowly.

Ice crystals were appearing in mid air and floating around Lyra, the cold mist added onto her beautiful appearance, making her seem like a frozen goddess.

But Lake had no time to appreciate the view as he could feel the threat of death right now. Lyra wasn't like the trash Gregory, she was a true genius and her ability was very powerful in comparison.

Ice control, 4 star ability. Freezing the water particles in the air, utilizing the ice that is generated for attack and defense. It was an incredibly versatile ability.

Watching the ice crystals form in the air Lake was becoming truly nervous. Lyra was too young so she hadn't honed her usage of her abilities too much. She could only use simple attacks but Lake wasn't going to underestimate her.

Lyra commanded the ice crystal to fire at Lake, sending forth a rain of ice crystals at him.

Lake only saw a huge cluster of ice crystals flying at him at high speed, he saw no path of retreat and just activated Shelled Armor to withstand the attack.

He prepared himself for the impact when the ice suddenly stopped right in front of Lake's face.

Turning to look at Lyra he saw her standing there smugly smiling at him. "Don't underestimate a Princess."

With a wry smile Lake said, "I'm sorry for offending your highness."

Feeling satisfied Lyra put her arm down and the ice crystals disappeared, there was a moment of silence between the two before they started laughing lightly.

"Okay, we've had our fun. Now, come!"

Without waiting for Lake to finish Lyra rushed at him in the same manner as before. Unlike last time though she kicked at his abdomen with full strength. She learned her mistake from last time to not hold back.

Like before Lake just stood there without moving, but Lyra didn't underestimate him either. From their last exchange she found out that Lake was also at the first copper esper stage.

Just before her leg reached him he put his arm up and blocked the attack. Lyra didn't let up and sent another kick at him which was also blocked completely.

Kick after kick Lyra became dejected when every single one of her attacks had been blocked by Lake. She tried switching up her attacks but no matter what she did she could never break his guard.

She jumped back to her position and looked at Lake and spoke, "Why are you just defending?"

"There's no point in attacking back, if you can't even break my defense do you really think you can block my attack?" Lake said coolly. Lyra listened silently.

"When you attack your distribution of strength is all over the place. All you did was strike me with your leg but there was no power in it at all. For a kick especially you need to use your whole body when you attack, otherwise someone even weaker than me could block it easily. Don't forget you're still a copper esper, your strength needs to be used correctly if you want to be ab;e to fight with martial arts."

Lake was by no means a master at martial arts, he had no experience when fighting but his knowledge was enough to satisfy the needs of a beginner.

Lyra just silently listened, nodding her head she raised her head with firm determination.

Without any useless words she rushed at him again, using kicks once more she sent her leg at his face.

Raising his arm to block he felt that the kick this time had much more strength than before.

"Good!" Despite blocking it successfully Lake was shocked in his heart, 'To be able to use her strength so well with just one explanation, she truly is a genius.'

The same scene was playing out once more, with Lyra attacking and Lake defending. What surprised Lake was that with each hit she became more and more adept at using her power.

He felt a fire burning slowly inside of him, Lake despite his skill in martial arts had never truly fought with someone else like this. Even with his cold demeanor he was still a hot-blooded youth, he strove to find a worthy opponent to hone his skill.

While Lake was distracted one of Lyra's kicks went past his block and struck him in the face full on.

Lake took a step back from the hit and looked at Lyra with a smile on his face. "That was a good hit your highness."

Seeing Lake only take a single step from her hit made Lyra gasp in shock, she knew how much force there was behind her kick. To see Lake only move a single step despite taking on her attack at full force showed off his strength.

Even with both of them being copper espers the difference in physical strength was massive. If she didn't use her ability there'd be no way for Lyra to win against him.

She was unsure if she could win even if she used her ability either.

While Lyra was shocked at Lake, Lake was in just as much awe as her. To be able to learn so quickly just from a single explanation was an incredible feat.

Her ability was also incredibly powerful, so he didn't understand why someone as talented as her went to a lower class school.

Even if she didn't have a high status any school would've accepted her on account of her talent.

In the end however he didn't ask, they only knew each other for a few days. He felt it wouldn't be appropriate to ask when they barely knew each other.

With a drive for victory the two spent the rest of the evening sparring against each other.

Yet throughout the rest of the training Lyra could never hit Lake again and he stayed rooted to the same spot, blocking her every attack.

Lake lived in the other direction from Lyra so after saying goodbye at the gate he turned and left. As he walked away he didn't notice the faint smile on Lyra's face.

'What an interesting person.'