Chapter -010.
Chapter 10.
Although Lucien's decision to duck at the last minute surprised Dorian, who had planned his first attack to test Lucien's abilities, he couldn't help but applaud Lucien for taking such a risky move; As had Lucien been even a moment late, his head would have been on the ground right now.
But seeing Lucian's such action, Dorian's excitement in the duel increases further, and he decides to take Lucian seriously instead of considering him good for nothing and testing him, and with this thinking he does not give Lucian even a single moment to get into a good position and immediately runs towards him for the next attack.
The next moment, the sword blow is only a few inches from Lucien's waist, and he is barely able to control his own depressing thoughts as Dorian rushes towards him. The swiftness of Dorian's attack stuns Lucien, but this time he cannot let himself be pushed back again, so he instantly blocks Dorian's sword using a well-known yet simple technique.
After two hours of training, Lucian could tell that he had already started to feel one with the sword, but he knew that having just a a sense for the sword wouldn't help him in this situation after witnessing Dorian's first two strikes.
Subsequently, Dorian's next attack is directed at him once more; after his previous two attacks were thwarted, Dorian uses an upward strike this time, raising his sword quickly into the air and then drawing it down in the direction of Lucian's skull.
"Oh shit. I doubt I can block this effectively." Lucian moves his sword as close to Dorian's blow as he can in an attempt to stop the impact force from increasing, but even in the competition of strength, Lucian feels weak as soon as the two swords make contact.
Clang~
Lucian felt slightly pushed back as soon as the two swords made contact, his hands also began to shake a little. Dorian, who could clearly see this, suddenly said, "Senior, why does it seem like you're not properly utilising the power of your muscles? Such an attack shouldn't have pushed you back. Are you perhaps hiding your strength?"
Hearing what Dorian had said made a large vein appear on Lucian's forehead, as he thought Dorian was trying to trash talk to him, "What the fuck are you talking about." Putting even more pressure on his legs, Lucian finally manages to push Dorian back a little, and continues to glare at him, as he felt Dorian wasn't the kind of person who would resort to such cheap tactics.
"That's more likely it, you should exert your full strength while duelling." Just when Lucian believed he had pushed the man away and could relax, Dorian, using his strength—agility—came back in front of him in a matter of seconds with another horizontal slash that appeared stronger than before.
Even though Dorian already had the feeling that he would prevail, as he could also see that the man in front of him was a complete idiot. However, how is that even possible? There is only one explanation for his prolonged service with Crowfield Battalion: he may be concealing his strength for an some reason.
Clang~
Just as he was thinking about it, another sword clashing sound echoed in his ears, and the next thing he knew, his sword had been parried, and the guy was already taking on an offensive stance.
"A quick thrust forward? How easy." With a single glance, Dorian had spotted the impending attack.
He grinned and decided it was time to end the duel since the cheers he had been hearing earlier had subsided, indicating that he had taken more than enough time to deal with the senior in front of him.
Unaware of Dorian's thoughts, Lucian took a quick step forward and thrust his sword towards him, just as he had practiced on the wooden doll. He was a little sure that he could push this guy back again with this, but what transpired next made him realise how inadequate he truly was.
Since Dorian had already spotted Lucian's attack, he was able to easily avoid the sword's trajectory. Now, all he needed to do was force the sword to drop out of Lucian's grasp, which too he was able to do it with ease.
Clang~ Thump~
The sword made a thumping sound as it hit the ground after hovering in midair for a few seconds.
When Lucian realised how lacking he actually was, he instantly raised both hands and declared, "It's your win." at the same time he felt that this guy in front of him could help him become stronger and more proficient with the sword, so if he could have, he would have loved to fight him. However, he was currently at a stage where he still needed to learn how to walk properly before he could learn how to run.
"Wait, what? That's it?"
"How is he able to accept defeat so readily? Is he the same Lucian that everyone knows?"
"Who knows? Perhaps after that altercation with Adam, he fears being assaulted yet again."
The soldier observing, who was anticipating to see Lucian through to the end of the duel, was shocked to see him concede defeat as soon as his sword fell out of his hand.
Meanwhile Abraham, whose heart was seething with anger, as he saw Dorian dragging out the duel, where he could have overpowered Lucian in the first strike; but now seeing him standing still while Lucian was trying to admit his defeat, he couldn't help but curse out in his heart, 'You bastard, why didn't you shut his mouth before he could admit defeat, it is not worth all this drama to let him admit his lose so easily.'
Abraham discretely picked up a piece of stone, thinking, "I have to do something to let it carry on." He was all set to initiate the battle again when a loud voice resounded, "What's going on here in this nook?"
Callum, who had just arrived, rushed in with anxiety when he saw the multitude of soldiers gathered in the area where Lucian usually practices. However, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his friend standing there just alright and smiling and waving at him after hearing his voice.
Knowing his friend was safe, Callum looked around and saw the man, and immediately knew who it was that had cornered Lucian. "Abraham, what's that in your hand?" Callum noticed Abraham looking at him and quickly put his hand inside his robe. Slightly curious, Callum asked as he approached him.
Meanwhile, Abraham saw Callum arrive and quickly realized that he couldn't do anything from now on. However, realizing that Callum had almost caught him doing something considered taboo, he quickly hid the piece of stone inside his robe and turned around and left without further explanation. "alright, I'm leaving. and you,You don't have to follow me."
Abraham's last words were directed at Dorian, who couldn't help but ask in confusion: "What? What did I do wrong?"