Chapter 38: General Mika vs Sir Leo
What makes the center sparring area compared to the other sparring areas was the fact that it was larger and had a few seats surrounding it.
It wasn't big enough so it could only be considered a mini arena of some sort.
Leo also noticed his children in the crowd. He looked proud and smiled as he secretly made eye contact with them.
The siblings simultaneously looked at each other, their eyes wide with surprise.
Reginald didn't seem to notice as he continued, "They are also the only ones who had affinity with elements other than the castellan!"
Hearing the word "affinity", the young trainees' eyes sparked with excitement.
It was common knowledge that having an affinity gives a warrior an edge over the other warriors.
Therefore, just by the two warriors having an affinity made the children more excited.
Reginald smiled as he saw the excited children, he introduced the light blue haired girl first, "Though I know that most of you had already heard of her, this is General Mika. A powerful warrior who has affinity with the water element. She just recently became a full pledged First Class Warrior."
"Woahhh, she's so beautiful!"
"I know, right!"
…
The trainees clamored as they were stunned by her beauty.
After a short moment, Reginald gestured over to the other warrior with golden hair reminiscent of a lion's mane. His golden eyes emitted valiance, looking as if he was of nobility.
"This gentleman to my right is Sir Leo. A powerful Second Class Warrior with fire affinity. Their sparring will be very beneficial to you so make sure to do your best in comprehending what you can!"
Hearing his words, the children all had the same thought as they looked at the man called Sir Leo.
'He seems a bit familiar…'
They all felt that he looked handsome and valiant, but the strange feeling of familiarness made them feel a bit odd.
However, they didn't think of it any further as they were all mesmerized by Mika's beauty.
As he finished introducing the warriors, Reginald gestured for the children to sit down.
Mika and Leo didn't waste time any further as they both got to their positions.
Reginald stood at the middle as he officiated the spar, "Both parties will use real weapons for their duel. Of course, it is provided by the logistics since using their main weapons would be too lethal. The one who breaks their weapon first will lose the spar."
After he stated the specifics of the spar, Reginald raised his hand, "3, 2, 1…"
"...begin!" He shouted as he waved his hand.
Wungggg—
The two didn't waste any time as they suddenly unleashed their aura.
Mika unsheathed her katana as she lowered it with its edge facing the ground.
A soft chant could be heard within the area.
[Tidal Art, First Form: Surging Tide]
She dashed as she performed a powerful upward diagonal slash with her katana, mimicking the power of surging tides.
Woahhhh—
The children could see the illusion of tides alongside her slash, making them cheer louder.
Leo remained calm as he raised his greatsword.
[Burning Sword Style]
Crackle—
Fuvvvv~
Flames spurted out from his sword.
It wasn't an illusion like Mika's Tidal Art.
His greatsword literally erupted with flames.
Then, he swiftly performed a downward slash, meeting Mika's attack.
The raging flames tainted the surroundings with an orange hue. It made the children widen their eyes, unwilling to miss even a second of the spar.
Mika was forced back, unable to bear the sheer power of Leo's strike.
The two of them quickly exchanged blows.
Every swing of the burning sword left a flame trail in its wake, thoroughly demonstrating its power.
Mika tried to focus amidst the barrage of Leo's attacks.
[Tidal Art, Second Form: Ebbing Tide]
Along with her chant, her sword and body started to move strangely.
She seemed to flow together with Leo's attacks as she redirected them with fluid movements.
The incoming forces were successfully evaded and dissipated by her, just like an ebbing tide.
Leo clenched his teeth slightly as he saw that his attacks weren't effective.
He hurriedly circulated his fire attributed aura to his right foot before taking a powerful step with it.
Bang—
A loud sound similar to an explosion reverberated in the area as the trainees saw Leo shot towards Mika at an unimaginable speed.
If Reginald hadn't been protecting the trainees with his aura, then they would have been injured just by the sound and shockwaves of the battle.
The sudden change didn't allow Mika to respond with his technique.
She could only parry the greatsword hurriedly, using the force to distance herself slightly from her opponent.
Of course, Leo wouldn't allow this to happen as he took an explosive step again while slashing with his burning greatsword.
However, this instance was enough for Mika to focus her mind and chant.
[Tidal Art, Third Form: Crashing Tide]
With a downward slash of her katana reminiscent of a tide crashing on a rock and thus breaking it, Mika successfully forced Leo back.
She didn't let go of this chance as she rushed towards him.
[Tidal Art, Fourth Form: Raging Tides]
Her soft chants were followed by consecutive slashes of her katana, mimicking the power of raging tides.
Leo parried the attacks, but he could feel the heaviness of tides within them, making it hard to block.
He then saw a glimpse of his children in his peripheral vision.
They had worried expressions on their faces which made his heart feel warm.
'I must win!' Leo thought with utmost conviction.
Though it was just a spar and really shouldn't be taken seriously.
His dignity in front of his children was on the line.
Leo's greatsword erupted with more flames as he started to counterattack.
The flame trails of the burning greatsword and the raging tides of the katana clashed beautifully in the arena.
Beautiful colors shone on everyone's eyes, making them marvel at the beauty of aura.
Crack!
The firework-like explosions of aura lasted for a long while before a cracking sound echoed in the area.
After the smoke from the fight dissipated, everyone could see a broken sword embedded on the ground.
Reginald appeared in the middle of the sparring area again as he pointed his hand towards his right, "The winner is Sir Leo!"
Woahhh—
The children cheered excitedly, unable to forget the fight they had just witnessed.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone