Chapter 115: Let’s do it again!
"Yield."
Alaric spoke in a cold tone, Lucian’s eyes glowed faintly, then he just laughed.
"Alright Alright, I give up."
He spoke as he raised both his hands in the air.
Could he continue fighting?
He could.
Actually, the strength boost Alaric’s White Marrow Aegis gave him was about to run out, once that happened, Lucian could have used brute force to topple him away but...
Lucian didn’t do that.
Alaric got the better of him, he got him into a hold. If this wasn’t a spar, Alaric had all the time in the world to bind his body, break his neck, arm, leg, or even electrocute his entire body till he passed out.
But Alaric didn’t do it because he treated this as a Spar.
Victory was already decided the moment he got hold of him.
And Lucian wasn’t going to challenge that just out of pettiness, that would be low, even for him.
"You can leave me now, you know?
I don’t swing that way.
All respect to you though, I don’t judg—"
Before Lucian could complete those words, Alaric released him and stepped back. Lucian coughed a little as he adjusted his neck, he remained on his knee for a second, then he stood up while rolling his shoulder.
"You did well."
Alaric praised.
"Meh."
Lucian clicked his tongue as he continued rolling his shoulder, there was a bruise near his neck, but it was already fading away.
Alaric noticed that and Lucian—
"I lost."
He seemed disappointed.
"I am more surprised you actually thought you would win."
Alaric answered honestly.
"Let’s do it again."
Lucian offered, his eyes shining brightly even though his breathing was uneven.
But—
"No."
Alaric shook his head.
"Pleaseeeee~"
"No."
"Prettyyy pleaseeeee~"
"No."
"Oh come on! I almost had you!"
"You did not."
"You hesitated before saying that!"
"I did not."
"You did."
Alaric sighed at those words, then, he grabbed his coat and—
"You forced me to use three artifacts actively and four Aegis bursts, you should be proud."
"Oh who cares about pride? Let’s do it again! I’ll force you to use your healing potion this time, I promise!"
"No."
Alaric shook his head as he put his coat on.
"Come on, Commander.
Just one more time, I promise it will feel good."
Alaric looked at him with a straight face and—
"Unlike you, Cross, I cannot spend the entire night trying to break myself for entertainment."
"That sounds like weakness."
"That sounds like command discipline."
"Bleehh~
Coward."
Alaric’s eyes sharpened at those words, Lucian smiled provocatively, and Alaric just walked away.
"You did well, Cross.
Your gaps are small, smaller than they should be for someone with your experience. Most hunters would not see them, most who do see them won’t be able to use them."
Alaric then took a short pause as he looked at Lucian and—
"But they exist.
And until they stop existing, someone better prepared than you will be able to best you, even if he is weaker than you."
"I understand."
Lucian nodded, this time, there was no amusement in his eyes. Alaric liked that, so he nodded back and turned towards the door.
"Tomorrow night?"
Lucian walked after him.
"No."
"The night after?"
"No."
"Commander, I feel our bond growing."
"Have Sarah explain boundaries to you."
"She denies we are close."
"Then ask Evelyn."
Alaric paused after saying it, Lucian didn’t say anything either. For a moment, both of them turned silent for the same reason, but then—
Alaric walked away, not wanting to talk about that sudden silence.
Lucian remained in the training room.
His body still hurt, ribs, thighs, shoulders, he didn’t heal the injuries either. He wanted to feel them to understand where he was targeted the most.
He would remember it and then strengthen his defences even further.
He smiled at that before his attention returned to Vivienne’s case.
It was time to continue his training.
...
In the hallway outside, Alaric walked without saying anything. There was no change in his expression, his steps were steady as usual but...
His wrist still hurt.
He looked at his hand as he flexed his fingers and he... couldn’t help but think about him.
’Lady Vivienne’s new disciple huh...
To think he has only been in the Enclave for a few weeks.’
He found it absurd.
Just what sort of monster was he!?
No wonder that woman took him in!
Alaric wanted to facepalm.
He could see another headache coming very soon in the near future.
And just as he thought about it, he heard that headache’s voice coming from inside the training room.
"One more round tomorrow, Commander!"
"No."
Alaric answered without slowing down at all.
"You are breaking my heart!"
Lucian screamed.
"You can regenerate.
Heal it."
"Oh come on!
You really are a heartbreaker, aren’t you!?"
Alaric didn’t say anything and just walked away.
"Commander!!"
Lucian continued to scream dramatically. Alaric could already imagine him kneeling on the ground, acting like a tormented wife and he...
He quickly threw that image out of his head. He didn’t wish to interact with this man at all.
And it showed very very clearly on his face.
Or at least that was what others would see, but Alaric, he was different. Despite acting so cold in front of Lucian, Alaric started coming down whenever he had time, which, unfortunately, wasn’t much.
After all, unlike Lucian, whom he could excuse and free for the night, Alaric couldn’t do that with himself, he had command duties, security reports, route approvals, and after all this, a need to sleep like a functional human being.
His schedule was tight, however, whenever his schedule allowed it, he came to the basement and sparred with him.
Lucian always welcomed him with a grin, there were nights when he only came to watch because he was too tired to actually spar, but every time Lucian saw him, he had his own way of convincing him.
"Again?"
Lucian asked one night.
"No."
Alaric shook his head.
"Then why are you here?"
"To observe."
"Wow, I did not know the Ashcroft Heir was afraid of losing. Old Families really are too prideful huh. Well, I guess it makes sense, if you lose to a new recruit, it would indeed be shameful, I would be careful too if I were in your place."
Lucian sighed dramatically, Alaric looked at him, his grin only widened and a minute later—
They were sparring.
Of course, Alaric still won every time. Lucian may be a monster who improves with every battle, but Alaric wasn’t weak either. In fact, the more they fought, the more obvious Lucian’s weakness became to him, even though Lucian continued to work on those weaknesses as their fight continued.
Alaric’s victories weren’t easy either, he did win but he never won carelessly.
Lucian improved too quickly for that, Alaric needed to always remain on his guard, not knowing when Lucian would pull something absurd that no sane mind should come up with.
The worst part?
Lucian enjoyed their spars.
So much that every time he now looked at Alaric, he only saw a man who could make him stronger. He looked at Alaric like a predator looking at its prey, even though Alaric was much stronger than him.
And Alaric...
He did not like that gaze at all.
Not one bit.
So every time he had the chance, he sparred with Lucian, making sure he knew who the prey was, though it didn’t seem like Lucian’s mind was comprehending that.
"Let’s do it again!"
Lucian grinned as he wiped the blood on his mouth and stood up. His eyes shone intensely, looking at Alaric as if he was going to tear him apart.
"Just stay down, will you?"
Alaric sighed.
"Don’t worry, give me a week.
Once I am strong enough to defeat you, once you are no longer useful to me.
I’ll discard you."
Lucian’s grin widened and Alaric—
His mouth twitched in annoyance.
