Upon hearing the High Priest's command, Keren and Joab immediately fell back and kept a safe distance from Eli.
There was an intense silence around the training ground, until Eli saw that the two were slowly surrounded by a faint white light.
As the light covered their entire body, a soft breeze also circled around them, making Eli feel a great sense of danger. Cold shivers made her hairs stand on ends when the breeze brushed through her skin.
Dangerous!
She instinctively took a step back and braced herself. Her heart was thoroughly shaken as she realized how far she was from being called "strong".
"Young Eli… Now we will attack you while using our spiritual powers… ready yourself!"
Joab warned Eli with a kind tone, but his expression was still like a ruffian ready to bully a little child. It was such a great contrast to the way he said his words!
Without waiting for Eli's reply the two disappeared in her vision.
This time, Joab attacked head on and Keren's presence completely disappeared, not giving any hints as to where her attacks would come from.
Their speeds doubled compared to the first two minutes of the battle!
Although Eli relied on her hearing and shadow step, there was no way her body could react this fast to Joab and Keren's enhanced speeds.
"Not good!" General Farauld and the rest stood in shock; they knew for sure that Eli would not have the speed to be able to dodge this level of attack.
"Arrgh!!!" Joab roared as he leaped on the ground and lifted his war hammer over his head. From his perspective, he could clearly see that Eli's body turned stiff and was unable to react for a full second.
A smirk appeared in his face for he was already certain that he would be successful in his attack. He charged with his hammer in full strength, knowing his blow would be ten times heavier than his normal attacks without the use of his spiritual power.
Keren also had a bright glimmer of light in her eyes; she knew that even if Eli was able to dodge Joab's attack, she would not be able to escape from her spear. With the use of spiritual power, her area of coverage expanded by thirty percent, while her speed doubled.
They knew that the High Priest would immediately activate the defense array he carefully installed on Eli's body to avoid her from getting injured. So they didn't hesitate nor held back from the strength of their attacks.
Anyway, this battle was about how long Eli could survive in their hands. There were no consequences at stake if Eli failed in this fight. They would even have a good view of her limits, which would eventually help in her training moving forward.
But how could Eli give up at before the three minute mark? In her previous life, she was a notorious workaholic! She was so used to stretching her own limits in order to finish her work.
With that innate habit she had been carrying even after her rebirth, she gritted her teeth and took her wooden sword while turning her body facing Keren's whom she finally detected coming from behind.
She was letting her back exposed to Joab, deciding to face Keren's spear attack with her wooden sword.
Holding the punny little sword in her two hands and relying on her intense sense of hearing, she stepped sidewards at a distance where she could flexibly move her body and try to dodge the spear's thrust.
"The battle is finished.." The spectators, except for Leon and Kayden, shook their heads upon seeing Eli's mundane move.
With her back exposed to Joab and a wooden sword trying to deflect a silver spear, anyone would just close their eyes in disappointment as they know that the result would be Eli's defeat.
The High Priest even raised his hand to deploy the defensive shield and stop the fight.
They were only waiting for the two vice captains to successfully hit Eli at the turning point of the match, then the sparring session would be over.
Roar!!
Just as they were ready to see the fight stop, they saw a big furry beast appear behind Eli.
The furry beast simply swatted Joab who was still mid air like an annoying insect.
Whoosh!!!
The next second, they saw Joab's body, which was still holding the gigantic war hammer, fly away like a kite with a broken string and crash nearly at the edge of the training ground.
As this was happening, Eli moved her upper body sideways as fast as she could, almost falling onto the ground as the spear directly moved towards her chest.
She barely managed to dodge and she tried to parry with her short sword to create more distance between her body and the back of the spear's blade which managed to cut some of her hair.
Swoosh! Crack!
The shortsword immediately crumbled against the silver spear.
Keren was fast to attack with her spear, but was also fast in retracting it and creating her next move.
Out of desperation, Eli tried to delay Keren from retracting her spear by directly grabbing it!
This miniscule delay made the big furry beast turn around and grab the spear with its paws. The big furry beast swung the spear away from Eli making the wielder, Keren, fly along with her precious weapon.
Poof!
The two knights who were certain to see the match end were now down on the ground eating some dust!
When everyone woke up in their daze, they realized that the big furry beast was actually Baobao, Eli's contracted beast of the Panda species.
"A cursed bear!!!" Joab and Keren exclaimed in shock, they were more surprised at the fact that the 'cursed bear' appeared in front of them rather than the fact that it was Eli's contracted familiar.
They immediately recovered and wielded their weapons with vigilance.
In their minds they know that the cursed bears are extremely terrifying mythical creatures. They were rumored to be extremely vicious and strong, never showing mercy to anyone.
But never did they expect that the cursed bear would actually ward them off like annoying flies. They were the vice captains of the Temple Knights, their strength were of the lower level A class! It was already considered the top of the pyramid!
But the cursed bear simply swept them away with his paws, in one hit!
Now that same cursed bear was already in front of them, appearing within the temple grounds. Their hearts couldn't help but tremble upon remembering the horrifying stories of their predecessors who had encountered the creature.
They had long forgotten that they were in a sparring match with Eli. All they could think of was that if they were not able to apprehend this creature, the temple would be in danger.
"Calm down, this is not a cursed bear, it's a panda. He is my contracted familiar." Eli's voice reached Joab and Keren's ears, waking them from the initial fear and vigilance they held towards Baobao.
"A panda?" The two asked in uncertainty.
"Yes, he belongs to the rare species of bear - the Panda race." Eli answered them, letting her body rest in Baobao's fluffy stomach.
"Master, are you ok?" Baobao didn't mind the people around, he was just focused on Eli's well being. He supported Eli's body with his big paws, letting Eli rest in his comfortable body.
Now that Wisey has been taken away, he knows that he has to do his best to protect Eli until his buddy comes back fully recovered.
"I'm just a little tired." Eli answered Baobao with a gentle smile, but her body was already trembling.
Her arms were already numbed from that last attempt to delay the spear attack. Infact, she felt that the flesh of her palms were torn from grabbing the spear while Keren was in the midst of retracting it. She couldn't even feel her fingers anymore.
Her heart was beating at a fast rate from the adrenaline rush.
Now her body was already shouting that she was at her limits because her stamina was completely consumed. The reason why her body jolted earlier was because her feet no longer listened to her command to execute another shadow step.
"It seems that I could only continuously use the shadow step for two full minutes." She mumbled dejectedly.
Her knees were also shaking and weak. She felt like if she tried to stand, her knees would snap like the brittle celery.
"It is good that you now also know where your limits lie at the moment." The High Priest looked at Eli approvingly, raising his hand to officially end the sparring match.
"The match ends here, Young Eli survived for three full minutes!"
"Do not be discouraged about the outcome of this match. Instead, remember everything. This is your starting point moving forward!" The High Priest encouraged her, who was visibly disappointed in herself.
Just like that, Eli's assessment came to an end. While she may not be successful today, she now knew where she lies and how far she was from the level she was striving to achieve!
Visit freewe𝑏no(v)el.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experience