Chapter 3: second day, the ball (part one)
Clashing steel could be heard, the sound of earth being upturned, shattering crystals, heavy panting. All painted an interesting vision of a tired yet still fighting Leonel swinging his glowing blue halberd towards Ansel who merely tapped his foot and raised a glint stone pillar before him. The pillar shattered as the halberd bisected it, but Ansel dodged to the side upon seeing a crystalline dart jumping from the ground behind him and piercing the remains of the pillar. " Good if you can't beat an enemy through honorable means then use deception to bring them down, remember boy all is fair in love and war" he said before kicking Leonel square in the chest sending him flying.
Leonel slammed the halberd down onto the ground catching himself midair as the residual mana within it crystallized the earth sending glint stone shards all around him stopping Ansel's advancement. "Good you're learning, but never forget that your opponent too wields magic" Ansel said as a pillar rose from the ground slamming Leonel straight in the stomach pushing out all air in his lungs. Remembering the breathing technique Ansel taught him early in the morning Leonel executed it and quickly filled his lungs back up before rolling to the side narrowly dodging a wooden sword strike.
Striking forwards with his halberd it connected with the sword snapping it in two. He dragged his hand across the ground collecting dirt then clenched his fist and pumped his entire reserve of mana into it save for enough to jump away and threw it. Ansel watched as a small piece of intensely glowing glint stone reached him and simply vanished from his position just in time to avoid a destructive explosion sending glint stone shards all over the place.
Appearing a bit away he looked towards his heavily breathing protégé with a proud smile. " Good job kid, that move could've easily killed anyone near your level of skill, only problem is that with it you'd be out of any usable mana even if you reabsorb the residue, only do this when you are certain of victory and there is only one enemy" he said. "Hah... hah... thank you... master ill... do as you...say" Leonel said in between large gulps of air. "mhmm sit down and focus on regaining mana, do the technique as well to expand upon your reserves" Ansel said as he began to practice his basics.
Like this they trained for several hours, soon enough lunch came as two maids gave them food which Leonel devoured in seconds. " Now that we've eaten it's time to teach you another technique, it's called crystal emergence, the way it works is to be able to transfer mana through the medium of the air itself and crystallize the earth in order to catch your enemy off-guard, watch me closely, not with your eyes but with your mana sense" Ansel said as Leonel closed his eyes and focused on the large glowing mana stream within Ansel easily dwarfing his own.
He watched it reach his palm then congregate there before leaping onto the ground in a wavy pattern. " All enchanted knights have their own pattern, remember all mana is visible to the naked eye outside of the human body, you must find the best pattern for yourself and practice its flow outside of your body" Ansel said. Leonel quickly put it to practice as he tried to shape multiple forms, from waves to straight lines nothing clicked until one simple pattern did. A crisscross akin to a lightning bolt worked best for him. What followed after was another two hours of practice as he forced his mana into that pattern over and over constantly exhausting his reserves while expanding them.
"Mhmm looks good enough, come it's time to put it to the test" Ansel said as he grabbed another wooden sword from the rack and stood before him. Leonel stood up, sharp eyes as one hand wielded his halberd and the other pointed to the ground. The spar started immediately as Leonel guided his mana through his palm and onto the ground sending a wave of spikes towards Ansel who jumped over them. The spikes enlarged trying to impale Ansel, but he was saved by a larger spike emerging from the earth acting as a ramp to kick off of. Leonel widened his eyes at the weird phenomenon, that spike wasn't his, yet he did not see Ansel move his hand to bring it up.
Nevertheless, he pulled his halberd up and enhanced his feet before meeting Ansel in a deadlock midair. Ansel stuck his sword in between the gap of the axe and pole of the halberd and moved it aside delivering a strong kick which sent Leonel flying backwards although he had to block the glint stone shards Leonel threw at him before being sent flying. Leonel landed and immediately erected a pillar before him which took the brunt of a sword swipe, and his halberd deflected the rest before slamming onto Ansel. Ansel brought his arm guard before the halberd and diverted it across the top away from him before sending a kick but this time his foot met another although his strength was far higher than the boy, this was a spar where they fought as equals.
The two slid back a bit then clashed again at the center although Ansel received a knee in the guts which sent him skidding backwards out of air. He pulled on his mana and erected strong pillar which stopped another attack then exploded outwards sending Leonel flying and smacking onto the remains of another pillar. " You did good boy, but you must remember to give it your all, at any point you could've overloaded a pillar and did what I just did to you, remember to use any and all techniques at your disposal to incapacitate the enemy" Ansel said.
Thankfully Leonel was wearing full heavy training armor, so no shards cut into him, but this failure did leave him stumped. "Ah so this is where you two train, mhmm he learns fast Ansel, soon it'll be time for the two to train together" lady astra said as she approached the two. "Yes, I doubt it'd take longer than a month, what brings you here my lady?" he asked. " Oh nothing, I was wondering if young Leonel would like to accompany Luna tonight, you see there's a ball that we will be attending, he will need the experience I figured" she said.
" Ah yes, I nearly forgot, very well boy you already have the clothing necessary, I'll have an armorer stich a filigreed crest and some plating so as to show your status, well finish up training early today" he said. " Very well then, oh Luna did so beg for this and I'm glad to see it happen, thank you Ansel, you too should get ready, tonight we have guests of the golden order, lord Radagon and lady Rennala visits us alongside dignitaries of the golden order" she said greatly surprising the two. " Very well then, I take it most of the enchanted knights will be there as well, we'll be in our best behavior" Ansel said.
Astra left soon after, " you heard her boy, tonight you get to meet some bigshots make sure to be on your best behavior, now let's get in some final practice before we head off" he said as a dangerous glimmer passed between his eyes, and they commenced training yet again. Some hours later Leonel stood beside Ansel. He wore a loose-fitting shirt with leather armoring on the shoulders and steel pated arm guards, black leather pants with steel shins and leather boots. Overall, he felt much better with this than the overly flashy noble clothing.
Ansel next to him was kitted out in full enchanted knight armor with is sword at his side. " You look good boy, remember how I taught you to reinforce glint stone as you can't bring in a halberd with you" Ansel said. " of course, master, hey how strong is lord Radagon compared to an enchanted knight?" asked Leonel.
"Well, Hes- oh the ladies are here, remember you are to stay by Luna's side at all times, her safety is your top priority boy" Ansel said as he approached the practically glowing mother and daughter pair. "You look wonderful my lady and so do you, young lady Luna" Ansel said. Leonel copied him to the best of his abilities earning a pinch on the cheeks from lady astra. "Thank you both for your kind words, now we best be off, I'd rather not keep everyone waiting" she said as she walked towards the awaiting carriage Ansel by her side.
Leonel took this chance to stand beside Luna as he tried to be as stoic as possible but only looked to be constipated much to Luna's amusement. " Mother told me that you come from one of the villages near the manor? could you tell me what it's like outside?" she asked in wonder. "Ah well it's not as beautiful as the manor but it feels... free in a sense... like outside the small village walls a whole world awaits you... I guess?" he said as he never really put much thought into it.
She giggled a bit before looking up to the starless sky then hopped onto the carriage next to her mother. Leonel hopped in as well next to Ansel and their carriage departed soon after. " Say Leonel, do you know how to dance?" lady astra asked. " Ah no my lady I don't...is that necessary for tonight?" he asked a bit worried." I wouldn't say necessary but it would be nice to know... Luna dear would you help Leonel when we arrive?" she asked getting an exited nod from the girl.
The ride was quick as they weren't very far from the main manor. They stepped out, Ansel first as he helped lady astra off the carriage before giving Leonel a look. Leonel noticed the hint and did the same for Luna earning a bright smile from the girl. "Welcome lady astra and young lady Luna, Kight Ansel and his protégé, we welcome you to tonight's ball plese do enjoy yourselves" two large and imposing knights said in unison as they entered the doorway arch. inside the party had seemed to be already underway as some groups gathered up and began to dance to the night's melody.
"Right, I better go and greet everyone, Luna dear try not to get lost, Leonel watch over her please" lady Astra said as she walked in deeper into the room Ansel at her side. " Well then let's go get something to drink before we dance" Luna said as she snatched his hand and led him towards the punch fountain. "So that's your protégé eh Ansel? he sore does have talent... and you say has tied to Luna? at such a young age too..." a red-haired tall man said as he shook hands with Ansel. " Yes, Hes a good kid, almost takes after you Radagon, a couple of years and I wouldn't be surprised to see him give you quite the fight" Ansel said.
"mhmm that's good to hear, house Caria gains another powerful knight to help defend it, congratulations brother, now tell me... what did you find out on your last trip?" Radagon asked. " a misbegotten raiding party took the sword although I know not of its current location, I can't go towards the mountain top so I'm guessing that's where its located, now tell me how's life treating you at the academy? no sparring partners must be tough," said Ansel.
" Ah well it's not all bad, Rennala keeps me plenty occupied and it's nice to take things slow for once, so I'd say it's good" he said. "ah that's-" Ansel was cut off by a loud clash of steel, a fight had broken out between a Leyndell knight and an enchanted knight.
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