The next day, in the middle of a forest on a self-created stage, stood two persons, Lilith and Eris, the demon princess and the princess from the wolf clan.
Like Alex suggested yesterday, they took their time to enjoy a day off, while today, they were about to begin sparring. The first match would oppose Lilith against Eris. The goal of this fight was to gauge each other level for better coordination as they would need it on the next floors, where it would become harder and harder to advance.
After exchanging a few words with Maria, Eris stepped on the stage; she unsheathed her Gift, a rapier, and curtsied towards Lilith, who did the same.
"Princess Lilith, it's an honor to fight you."
Lilith nodded. "Same here, I have heard of you. Eris Wolfang, the [Wind Princess]. It's said that your fencing techniques have reached a high level that you can control the Wind like an extension of your limbs, you fast as the wind itself. Something I wish to see. We never fought. I'm curious about you, Wind princess."
Eris shook her head indifferently. "Princess Lilith is overpraising me. My fencing is nothing compared to a true master. While you often use a scythe, you are also good at using a sword.''
Suddenly, Eri's eyes narrowed, her timid side disappeared like a puff of smoke, and she smiled.
"I'm truly curious about such swordsmanship."
"Same here."
With the discussion finished, the two looked at Alex acting as the referee.
Alex smiled. He raised her hand and,
"Start!"
... Signaled the start of the fight.
Lilith summoned her Gift and turned it into a black sword form; however, Eris made the first move. Hee rapier shook briefly before piercing towards Lilith; her speed was too fast.
With just one step, she covered the distance between them. Just a moment ago, she was standing on the other side of the stage, and now, she was already in front of Lilith.
Lilith couldn't help but admit that she was fast and praised her movement technique sincerely.
Before Eris's rapier could reach Lilith, she responded with her own move, a quick draw.
Faster than Eris's rapier, her sword left the sheath and slashed towards Eris. The wolf princess only noticed Lilith's attack when her word was about to touch the latter neck.
Lilith's attack was fast as a bullet; however, Eris's response was immediate. She did not hesitate to forsake her attack and crouch down. She then retracted her rapier and executed a basic fencing move, lunge.
Eris's attack was nothing short of perfect. Her quick reaction should be praised
However, this quick reaction and attack were not perfect in Lilith's eyes; she could see through the flaws. She simply raised her sword, slightly touched Eris's rapier, and changed her move into a thrust.
Then, Eris's rapier passed helplessly beside Lilith's head while her sword passed near her neck.
"!!!"
Eris opened her eyes wide. She shifted her head aside and jumped back. Instantly, she put some distance between them; she was a few meters away.
Lilith chuckled. "As expected of you. Sincerely I was planning to end the fight with this attack."
Upon hearing Lilith's words, Eris felt insulted and frowned; then she felt something which made her move her hand to her neck, where she felt something hot on it.
Blood.
Lilith's attack had injured her; however, instead of bursting into rage, Eris was perfectly calm; she remembered something her other twin used to say.
'During a fight, you need to stay rational; no matter what happened, you must not let your emotions take over you, not until you are sure to use them to your advantage.'
"Such a fast sword." Shaking her head to stay focused, Eris muttered and looked at Lilith; the latter replied with a smile and took a step forward. Then, her sword made a piercing motion, moving toward Eris's neck.
Eris simply stepped aside and shook her rapier. The rapier moved like a snake trying to bite Lilith's neck, but she blocked it with her sword unexpectedly and cut towards Eris's chest in counterattack.
Wind gathered under Eris's feet, and she jumped back before she filled her rapier with mana and thrust forward despite the distance between them.
With each thrust, the mana in her rapier was shot towards Lilith in the form of wind arrows, while at the same time, it was also filled with sword intent making them sharper.
While normal people would have panicked, Lilith did not panic. Her body became lighter as she let lightning course through her whole body, then her body flashed briefly as she weaved through the attacks. With each step, she left one of the projectiles behind, finally appearing in front of Eris again. Everything happened too fast.
Eris's expression changed. She hurriedly twisted the hand holding the rapier, creating a rotating attack that seemed to absorb the wind in the surroundings.
The powerful attack seemed to pull Lilith towards the rapier. It exerted a powerful, attractive force that forced the opponent to receive the attack.
[Wind Attraction]
It is how Eris named this technique she created; it consists of using the ambient wind to force your enemy toward a designated spot; in the current situation, it was Eris's rapier.
Lilith's eyes narrowed. The mana inside her body started to circulate at high speed; lightning coursed through her veins, creating a countering force around her.
Then, ignoring Eris's attack completely, Lilith closed the remaining distance between them.
"I guess this is the end!" Lilith declared.
Seeing Eris's expression of horror, Lilith smiled and stabbed towards her heart.
But contrary to Lilith's expectation, Eris's expression changed abruptly. When her sword was about to pierce her body, she opened her mouth.
[Noise Amplification!]
Snap!
Boom!
She snapped her, and Lilith, like a hammer, was just slammed into her ears; she became unable to concentrate, and her attack got deviated from its trajectory.
Alex, who was watching the match, was surprised by the move used.. To think she would use the wind in the air to amplify the sound in the air to disrupt her enemy's concentration, how ingenious however Alex believed that the fight would end up just like this; he was not wrong.