Kal still remembered the first time he dueled with Lucy.
It was the day he almost committed an irredeemable sin because he couldn’t control his emotions.
Had it not been for the Lady's mercy, he would have lost his dream that day.
Back then, Lucy was so frail that it was hard to believe she was the daughter of Benedikt Alrn.
She couldn’t even run long without collapsing.
She struggled under the weight of her shield and mace.
While she managed to handle the shield somewhat decently, her attempts to swing the mace were pathetic.
At that time, Kal didn’t think Lucy would grow significantly.
Talent often shows itself from a young age. To think her transformation would be steep was more a blind faith than a hopeful prediction.
Kal was not the only one who thought this way.
Anyone who knew about Lucy Alrn, who lived in the Alrn territory, would think the same.
And now, a year later, Lucy had demonstrated her value as a human through her own abilities, not by anything else.
“Isn’t your attack a bit pathetic?♡ If you want me to throw you away, just say so!♡”
“Are you sure your lips aren't a bit too stiff for someone pretending to be relaxed?!”
As Kal forcibly calmed his heated head, he frowned.
He never thought he would find himself genuinely finding it difficult due to how demanding the Lady could be.
Lucy was showcasing many strengths right now.
The first thing that stood out was her remarkably sturdy shield.
Even though Kal swung his aura-laden strikes at it, there wasn’t even a scratch on her shield, which made the opponent struggle to breathe.
But it wasn’t just the shield that was strong.
No.
The mace Lucy firmly held contained enough power that even Kal felt threatened by it.
At the moment he showed a gap, her mace would surely penetrate and shatter a bone somewhere.
What made this situation even more complex was that Lucy understood these two facts very well.
She would hide behind her shield to make the opponent anxious. When they tried to break through, she would threaten them with her mace, pushing them back.
If her opponent made a mistake in that process, she would swing her mace to smash them.
If one tried to combine these tactics awkwardly, they would only be half-hearted in both defense and attack, but with Lucy, there was no need to worry about that.
Having accumulated countless experiences, Lucy was not the type to make such blunders.
Her combat style knew her strengths and maximized them.
While it might sound trivial when spoken of, how many people fail to maintain such a basic principle?
In just a year, she had established her combat style from the ground up.
It would be no surprise to call her a knight now.
To counter this, one must know how to handle the situation when the opponent seeks to maintain their strengths.
You must force them to abandon those strengths, leading them out of their territory into yours.
An experienced knight like Kal certainly knew this and possessed the skill to execute it, yet he could not escape Lucy’s domain.
“Where shall I give this mutt?♡ I wonder if there’s a place willing to take in a pathetic old dog like you, but I’ll check!♡”
“Though I may seem like this, I have many places that would take me!”
With every word Lucy uttered, Kal felt a warmth fill his head.
His rationality slowly started to slip away.
No matter how hard he tried to stay focused, his sword would sometimes lurch forward.
Thus, Kal had no choice but to dance in Lucy’s territory.
Good grief. Truly, it’s quite a challenge to have her as an opponent.
If it’s not about pressing down with skill and strength, she’s an opponent you simply cannot defeat.
If someone was at a similar level or weaker than her, could they truly break free from her territory?
For sure, they would be toyed with and eventually lose their mind, becoming prey for her mace.
One day, I might end up like that.
But not yet. I cannot afford to lose to her now.
If I do, I’ll end up as that pathetic abandoned dog she was just talking about.
It would be fitting if I were branded as a failure circulating in some bard's tales instead of being a knight esteemed for my deeds beside the Lady.
So let me show her.
This knight.
Your dog.
The 𝘮ost uptodat𝑒 novels are pub𝙡ished on freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.
Just how sharp my fangs are.
As Kal dodged the shield flying towards his face, he stepped back.
With the distance between them widening, Lucy stood still, watching his movements.
“Are you already tired, mutt?♡”
“Not at all! As you know, the knights of the Alrn family can move for about a week without sleep!”
“Then why are you running away?♡ Are you scared?♡ Afraid you’ll hurt if you get hit by the mace?♡”
“I need to maintain some space so you can see what I’m trying to show!”
While saying this, Kal chuckled and infused his aura with color.
Just like when he faced Duke Burrow earlier, a white aura resembling snowflakes enveloped his sword.
“I’ll show you the sword of the knights of the Alrn family.”
The starting point and goal of the Alrn family’s swordsmanship: a strike of nearly ultimate power.
Lady Lucy, please feel just how sharp the fangs of your knight are.
The moment Kal raised his sword high, Lucy didn’t say a word.
She simply kept a smile on her lips as she pushed her shield forward.
At that moment, the divinity she possessed concentrated upon it.
Anyone could see that it wasn’t ordinary divinity.
It was deep, warm, and noble; it looked entirely different from what many knew.
Yet, no one there would dare say it wasn’t divine.
On the contrary, it was the opposite. Those who saw the divinity engraved on her shield thought everything they had seen before was false, and that this was the true divinity.
Lucy’s divinity was that awe-inspiring and reverent.
“Come at me♡, you mutt!♡ I’ll show you how dull your teeth truly are!♡”
“I’ll go!”
Kal took a step forward,
And Lucy stepped forward as well.
His sword rose high,
And the divinity gathered on her shield formed a new barrier in front of it.
He poured all the might he possessed into a strike.
He reproduced the tale of heroes right before him.
To summarize the result of my duel with Kal in one word: I lost.
I succeeded in coloring Kal’s aura, as per my original goal, and somehow managed to respond to his attacks.
However, just blocking with my shield doesn’t mean my body won’t suffer, and I eventually got worn down and lost.
Considering how Kal maintained his composure until the last moment, he probably didn’t give it his all.
That guy is just disgustingly strong.
<No matter how I think about it, your knight seems to have far surpassed the level of an ordinary knight, right?>
‘I think so too.’
Even now, I could easily defeat a decent knight, yet I still couldn’t reach Kal.
When I think it through, Kal is also over-spec.
Good looks. A decent personality. Skills. And he’s still young, so he has potential.
If it weren’t for one flaw, he could truly be called a superhuman.
The flaw of having a distorted loyalty that wants to be treated like a dog by his master.
...No matter how I look at it, that flaw is far too big.
Just adding that one line changes him from an ideal knight to a perverted freak hiding his distorted desires.
No matter how much one might argue that humans cannot be perfect, is this not too significant a flaw?
<Well, still, thanks to that guy’s strength, you were able to see just how far your abilities have developed.>
‘I can definitely feel that my overall abilities have increased.’
While I have generally become stronger, what stands out the most is my ability to handle divine power.
I previously struggled to wield the divine.
I had been steadily improving while practicing with my grandfather, but I was far from the level I desired.
But not anymore.
With the elevation of my divine power, my body can now manage the divine as naturally as breathing.
I felt that change distinctly when I reproduced the tale of heroes against Kal’s aura.
Previously, I couldn’t perfectly reproduce that shield technique, but now I managed to get quite close to the original, enough to impress my grandfather.
Considering I still haven’t fully adapted to my altered body, I believe it won’t be long before I can wield shield techniques even better than my grandfather.
Heh, I’m looking forward to it.
When that day comes, I’ll pretend to be a pathetic old man due to my mesugaki skills and tease him. It will surely be amusing.
“Your Highness, are you already tired?”
“What are you talking about? It’s you who seems tired!”
As I laughed while imagining a future day, I was pulled back into reality by the voices of Arthur and Frey.
As soon as my duel with Kal ended, the two began their own duel without hesitation, swinging their swords without giving each other an inch.
From what I heard from Joy, Arthur was fired up after seeing me move.
I don’t know the details, but it’s a good thing that he felt the desire to become stronger.
“Yield quietly!”
“You’re talking too much because you think you’ll lose. Pathetic.”
...So, is it really the desire to become stronger?
Watching them duel, it just feels like they want to torment each other.
“Really, you’re still such children.”
Joy let out a hollow laugh at the sight of the two.
You’re right, Joy. Those two really look like kids.
But you know...
‘The Lady’s words are...’
“It’s not something for an idiot who doesn’t realize that both of you have your hair in the same pigtails!”
“...Huh?”
Not realizing her hair was a mess, she blinked in confusion, then conjured a mirror with magic to reflect herself, freezing in place at the sight.
“Um...when did this happen?”
‘Since the beginning.’
“When did it start? It’s been like this since you came out of your room, isn’t it? Isn’t that obvious?”
Hearing my response, Joy turned red and quickly excused herself, saying she needed to tidy up before rushing out of the training room.
Is that really so embarrassing? I thought it was cute.
“Lady.”
As I was left alone, Kal approached me.
‘What is it?’
“What is it?”
“I remembered a message from the Dungeon Studies professor.”
Dungeon Studies professor? Why would they be looking for me?
I had no idea why, so I tilted my head, and Kal continued speaking.
“It’s regarding the final exam. I didn’t hear the details, but it seems they want to assign you the design for the dungeon for the final exam.”