A Bout (2)

With a higher spirit realm, Elena has a big advantage. A high-level spiritualist is physically a lot stronger than a lower-level spiritualist. Just the life essence is a lot stronger the higher their level gets.

So, from the beginning, in terms of pure physical strength, speed, and perception, Elena had the upper hand. It would be understandable if Jon ran away, giving some excuse.

But when fighting, Jon never held back anything. No matter how strong his opponent is, he never back down. At least, when victory is a possibility. It's as if a switch gets turned on, and he is ready for battle.

Jon charged forward with a fast frontal blow from the top.

Elena stood still in her place till the last moment.

Just before Jon's initial attack landed, she put a bit of strength in her right foot to get closer. She moved a bit to the left.

She quickly cut the distance shorter than optimal for Jon.

She then used the short sword to parry the blade.

She then used the motion of Jon's sword and tried to throw him off balance. Jon anticipated the attack. He rolled to his left to avoid her.

Elena didn't give him a chance. She followed quickly followed him. Before Jon could take a proper stand, Elena's short sword struck his long sword and pushed it away.

Jon's defense quickly got opened up.

Elena moved to his right before using her left arm to push under his right shoulder and put the left leg behind his right leg. She gently throws him off of his feet. It's as if she didn't use any strength at all. About fifteen seconds into the fight, Jon was down for the first time.

Some of the other guards, practicing further, gathered around when they saw some beauty fighting Jon. They came to watch the show.

At first, they came just to watch the show. But now, they were quite baffled to see the scene.

'What happened just now?' They thought.

Those that were still practicing stopped their practice and started giving their full attention this time.

Elena walked back. She didn't want the match to end just yet. She still has a score to settle with Jon. Jon falsified her identity. And it turned her into a house tutor without asking her first.

If she ended the match here, when will she again find such a fun opportunity to bully him?

Jon got up quickly. He took up a stance again.

He again charged right in. As if he didn't learn from the previous bout.

Of course, that is not the case. This time instead of directly slashing from the top, he swung his long sword diagonally from below.

He had a longer reach than Elena. As long as he anticipates her movements and keeps her at a distance, he should be able to avoid any trouble.

Thinking of this, Jon's slash this time was in a stance where he could easily take a step back if Elena were to again close the distance between them.

This time, however, Elena took a step back and directly avoided the strike as a counter.

Jon found an opportunity. He didn't wait and quickly took another step forward to strike from the top with full power. Even though he did the two consecutive attacks very quickly, he found Elena taking some quick short steps forward to close in just as quickly.

Jon's eyes went wide.

It gave him the feeling of deja-vu. And within seconds, Jon was again on his back, looking at the blue sky.

The onlookers didn't know what to say. The strongest among them was taking a beating like a dog with no way to retaliate. And it is even from a girl.

Well, it was a very, very good-looking girl. Still, it was a girl.

They didn't have a word to say to this absurdity.

Of course, there was a chance that Jon was taking a beating on purpose because he was against such a beauty. But did he have to go that far?

They were contemplating very hard... trying to guess what they would do in this situation.

Elena waited for Jon to get up. But this time, he didn't charge in like a bull again.

"What? Out of Juice?" -Elena teased.

But Jon didn't give in to the taunt. He learned his lesson. Charging in won't get him anywhere. Though his opponent isn't using any power behind the attack, with the skills she is using, she could beat him by using only his own power against him.

But, even so, it wasn't just in his nature to wait for the other party to attack. And it doesn't look like she was planning to do anything serious.

He knew he was about to lose this bout. So, as a losing side, he should try to get what he can to learn from his better.

Jon took this bout as training. So, he gathered up his courage and took a single step at a time.

'Well, he isn't a total muscle head.' -Elena thought.

As Jon took two steps forward, Elena placed her left foot back and right foot front. In this stance, it is easier for her to move closer to her target and pierce him.

Seeing Elena take such a stance, Jon started to doubt his decision to continue fighting. 'Will she really hold back and not kill me?' -he had such thoughts.

As he thought, Elena made her move. There wasn't much distance between them, to begin with. So, she was before him in a blink of an eye, but she didn't try to pierce him.

Her reach was shorter than his. If she wanted to attack him directly from the front, she would be the one taking the hit before Jon.

The moment she got close enough for Jon to strike, she used a movement technique.

It allowed her to move out of his sight. It's like she had vanished right before his eyes. But with Jon's keen sense, he instinctively spun around and kicked behind.

It's not like Jon only relies on his weapon. He was ready to use any means necessary to win a fight.

Elena blocked the kick with her arms, but the force pushed her a few steps back.

"You are rather rude. How could you kick a girl?" -she said with a smile hanging on her face.

"Well, you are no ordinary girl, are you?" -Jon replied.

Elena didn't answer and kept smiling. But seeing the smile on her pretty face, the onlookers started booing at Jon.

"Oi, Jon. What type of swordsmanship is that?" said one.

"Yeah, You are making us knights lose our face." Said another.

"Yes. Jon is just a brute. He kicked that big sister in a knight's duel. He should be punished." Petra yelled out. She already hated Jon for hurting her brother. But now he is even hurting her pretty big sis? He is despicable.

In her mind, Petra already thought Elena was someone close to her as she was the only one who stood out for her brother.

Hearing this, Jon wanted to vomit blood. What knight's duel? What swordsmanship? When was there ever a rule that said, 'You cannot kick someone in a fight'?

And more than that, he wasn't a knight, to begin with.

He could understand Petra yelling, but what's up with these bozos. Don't they have anything better to do than to look at chicks?

He just wanted to go and beat them up.

It is already clear that this strong opponent of his is an outsider. But they are cheering for her. Are they brain-dead? Or, a beauty's face can make you throw away your reason.

On second thought, that is indeed possible.

Anyway, he didn't have time to care about them. Because right now, Elena was already launching her attack. Jon tried his best to counter. But it isn't easy to do so.

He was getting thrashed around pretty badly.

This thrashing continued for about ten minutes.

Jon only managed to hold himself a bit better in the last two minutes. But even then, he didn't get any comfortable.

He could only do it because, in the last two minutes, Elena changed her attack pattern slightly. And his battle-oriented spirit allowed him to predict incoming attacks.

Still, Jon saw her smiling the way she was before. Like everything was going as she planned, Jon felt that there was something wrong that he couldn't put his finger on.

"You have some good reflexes there. I can't seem to land any hit on you anymore." Elena complimented. But Jon felt that those words held a bit of mockery in them.

The onlookers smirked.

Though they were mocking Jon from the sides, they didn't feel good to see the best among them to be thrashed like that.

So when he started to fight back without getting thrashed around, they could finally console themselves by saying, 'Jon was just playing around because it is a good-looking girl.

"That was good practice. Should we call it a day?" -Elena called out.

"Sure." Jon was relieved. He thought he would lose all his dignity. But somehow, a bit was still left there.

No one remembers what happens in the middle of the game. What they remember is the result. And in the end, it was a draw. So he was happy.

Others may not understand, but he was the one who earned the most in this match.

In his eyes, this practice session was better than a full six-month training. This type of tampering could only be gained in war or a fight to the death. He should thank Elena for helping him.

He was exhausted for the day. So-called it a day for Olen's training and turned back to go back to his room. He has to digest the experience. As it is the type of experience you only get fighting someone better than you.

But the sad thing is there weren't many who were better than Jon around. And those who were better wouldn't have the time to practice with him. So, getting to fight a genius like Elena was a big experience for him.

"Yey, you beat up that rude guy pretty good, big sister. You are so cool." -On his way back, he heard Petra saying loudly.

His shoulder dropped. This brat would surely remember this event and mock him later. He didn't even need to look back to know that there was a smirk hanging on the brat's face.

He quickly me his way out of the training ground.

"Thank you. What is your name?" -Elena asked.

"I'm Petra, and this is my sister Chlera." -as she handed her a towel, Petra pointed at Chlera who was also handing Olen a towel.

Petra is a bit curious type while Chlera is a bit affectionate.

"Oh, how adorable you are. Thank you." Elena just wanted to hug the little thing. She took the towel and wiped the sweat on her face.

Then she looked beside Chlera. Olen was standing looking at her in a daze. Olen was speechless from the very beginning.

His wife is already so beautiful. And now she is also this strong? His heart was racing. But at the same time, he was feeling shy. He has to quickly get stronger no matter what.

Seeing her new student in a daze, she felt proud of herself but didn't show it on her face. Looking at the boy, he doesn't look so evil after all. She thought.

"Big sister, what's your name?" Again Petra asked.

"Oh, my name is Elenora Aniston. You can call me Elenora. It's very nice to meet you, Petra." -She introduced.

"You are so nice and strong. Can you teach me how to do that too? I want to beat up Jon Just like you did." Petra said excitedly.

"Hmm, why not? I'm staying in the cottage at the west corner." -Elena said.

Looking at the smiling Elena, Olen renewed his conviction. He will most definitely marry her. But then he saw her walking towards the main gate.

So he quickly asked, "Are you going somewhere? You should take some rest. Going outside right after practicing isn't good."

Elena turned back. Looking at his genuinely worried and hesitant eyes, she answered truthfully. "I'm just going to visit the alchemy shop and see if I need anything. You don't need to worry."

"But…" Olen still wanted to say something but stopped.

"Don't worry. In a match like that, I didn't break a sweat." Then she smiled.

"Ok. But do you mind if come with you? I can help as I am the son of the city lord. They will give you a discount." Olen quickly said. He just wanted to stay with her now.

"All right. Come along if you want to." -Anyway, it would be very convenient for Elena as people who don't understand will always cause trouble. And having him as a company would solve a lot of problems from occurring. So she allowed it.

Olen readily gave his towel back to Chlera and came beside Elena.

They took a carriage from the stable and headed for the alchemy tower. He started to chat about this and that on the way.

He talked about a store that sells the best sweets, the best food stalls in this part of the city, and the best Inn situated in the middle of the city market area. These things are common knowledge around here. So, she didn't stop him. She needed this common knowledge. And the little guy knew everything around here. It's like having a pocket guidebook.

Anyway, they approached the alchemy pavilion. It is the highest building in the city apart from the Alden Mansion, though it is only four stories high.