Chapter 21:

Elin and Eleanor faced each other on the podium.

They looked at each other, ready.

Immediately, Eleanor struck first, as if mimicking Alex's move, she swung diagonally towards Elin's upper body, more specifically the neck. Elin like he had done before tried to guide the blade away, but the moment the sword was off the intended part, Eleanor put her right foot forward pressuring Elin and re-directing force back to Elin.

Elin twisted his hands, and made both swords point towards the ground, suddenly-

BAM!

Eleanor spun around and struck Elin with her left leg. Elin who brought his sword near his chest barely managed to block the kick, but it wasn't over; Eleanor was already in front of him ready to strike again from the top. Elin quickly took a defensive stance unable to make an offensive move.

CLANG!

The swords struck each other, but instead of Elin guiding the blade, Eleanor put a bit of perpendicular force on her blade as it bounced off his blade, Eleanor quickly used the backlash from the strike to regain her balance and strike from the opposite side.

Elin, who was on the defensive since the beginning, positioned his sword near his back, redirecting the strike and opening up the front of the opponent. He struck from the top as the sword rotate around his shoulder. Eleanor who seemed open towards her front, but since Elin had also chosen to attack from the top; he was also open on the front, quickly raised her leg and kicked upwards towards her opponent's chin.

Elin had no choice but to dodge and back away.

"Phew…", Elin sounded out, he never expected this spar to be this challenging.

He readied his blade, there was no point holding back.

"My lady Eleanor is also very talented; she will surely become very strong in the future"

He lunged at Eleanor, and stabbed at her; Eleanor brought her sword towards her side and struck the sword away, while slashing towards Elin. Elin rotated his body, barely dodging the strike; Eleanor also rotated her body towards the side and prepared to unleash another strike as she raised her sword vertically upwards.

Elin immediately acted, regaining his posture, with a lowered slash and an open front, he swiped his sword from left to right, at the same time Eleanor's sword came down as they clashed with each other.

CLANG!

A loud sound came from their clash as both of them backed away.

This entire exchange lasted 1 minute, but it seemed the two opponents had now gauged each other's strength and now, were ready to begin now.

They stared at each other, both preparing their next set of actions.

They looked like beasts ready to pounce at a moment's notice, ready to take down their prey in an instant.

Then-

CLANG! CLANK! CLANG!

They clashed with each other three times in a fraction of a second.

Alex was stunned, the moves his sister was doing in the first half was obviously the ones he had used for the spar against Mr. Elin, but the effectiveness of those strike varied greatly. While Alex's sword was guided by Elin's, Eleanor never let go of the control easily, she always stayed in control, always balanced; it was like watching a very elegant dance.

Now, the second half of the fight seems to have begun. Both their blades moved at incredible speed, each time they clashed a loud-

CLANG!

-sound was heard. At first only a few could be heard at any given moment, now like an orchestra performing a piece, the 'clangs, and clanks' sounded more like music than a fight.

Eleanor's and Elin's blades looked like a hurricane, than swords clashing with each other, at times Alex could make out their moves, for him to only be unable to catch up with his eyes.

"Don't just look with your eyes, brat", a coarse and rough voice came from his side

"Huh?"

"You heard me, eyes are good and all but they're too…good; you dependent too much on your eyes, if you stay like this you will never become like them", the traveler said as he pointed at the fight.

"Don't look with my eyes? Then, how am I supposed to-"

"Use your sense, don't just look at them, feel them, feel the strikes, feel the movement of the sword, feel the winds which come off them, feel the muscles of the fighter's tighten when the strike and get ready to take the strike, feel brat. FEEL.", the traveler spread out his arms in front of him towards the fight which seemed to be progressing to another level.

"…feel", Alex mumbled to himself, and then closed his eyes.

He felt the wind coming from towards the podium, but that wasn't enough. He needed to feel more, like the traveler said. He tried to focus all the senses of his body towards the fight…

Nothing.

Nothing seemed to happen; he couldn't feel anything other than the winds. The winds continued to become more and more ferocious, as the two fighter became faster and faster. It seemed like the fight was about to end. Alex did not give up, he again pushed his senses to the 'max'; he tried and tried.

The winds got even more ferocious, but Alex did not know if this was due to his focus or if the fight was accelerating.

"FEEL GOD DAMN IT!", Alex cursed himself for not being able to 'feel' the fight.

Then suddenly, for a second, no, not even a second, an instant, a fraction, a fraction of a fraction, he felt the trajectory of his sister's blade; it was fast, very fast. But he could feel it, he didn't know if he could follow it but he felt it; he felt the muscles Elin contracted in the moment to block his sister's sword as they struck each other's sword again.

CLANG!

The sound of the clash was infinitely louder, but Alex did not care, all he cared for was in front of him. As soon as the clash ended, Eleanor's sword did not cease the same for Elin. Even while 'feeling' them Alex felt overwhelmed, he couldn't keep up. Then suddenly-

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH~~~

Alex took a huge breath. In his focus, he forgot to breath it seemed. His forehead glistened with sweat, he looked around and his eyes struck with the traveler's.

"HAAAAAH HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~~~", he laughed with his rough voice, his face completely hidden by the cloak, knowing he didn't have to say more.

Alex bowed his head towards the traveler, thanking him wordlessly.

On the podium however, the battle was almost at its end.

The two of them had slowed down significantly.

Eleanor and Elin rotated their body, as they swung their sword with all their strength, and pushed each other back. They did not cease their swords even once, instead they used to recoil to fuel their next attack, and they would immediately recover from striking and clash again.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The swords clashed a few more times, before the two of them backed off.

Eleanor immediately raised her sword above her head and brought down her sword at incredible speeds. Elin, whose sword was beside his hip, also swung his entire body with his sword.

Their swords met in the middle, and some sort of energy seemed to be produced just before their clash, which flowed outwards at incredible force and speed.

The two of them obviously did not use any 'will', but to be able to produce such energy, Alex was truly perplexed.

Alex's hair was pushed backwards, as the traveler pulled down on his cloak. He seemed to be laughing like a mad man, but it wasn't heard from all the noise produced from the fight.

Then it stopped.

Like a lie, the two fighters had stopped and brought their swords near each other to just touch. This was some sort of respect ritual after a spar to show respect.

"I lose my lady", Elin admitted his defeat.

"Good fight, Mr. Elin", Eleanor spoke back.

"WHOA~", Alex sounded out his excitement as to what he had just experienced.

"That was so cool"

"Obviously it was cool brat, it would've been even cooler if you were to master how to 'feel'"

"REALLY?!"

"I never lie, brat so, get practicing"

"Wi-Partner…please show some respect to young master…", it seemed like Elin was about to lose his sanity when he heard the young master being called 'brat'.

But, it seems Alex didn't care as he immediately sat down, folded his legs and closed his eyes. He wanted to recreate the sensations he had felt.

"Hm? It seems Alex's perception has improved quite a bit…hm, well I suppose this duel has been very productive then"

"Yes, my lady, I never imagined you would be so strong", Elin gave a deep bow to Eleanor, but was stopped half way through.

"Please Mr. Elin you're too humble", Eleanor made a passing remark.

Eleanor then looked into Elin's eyes. It seemed to be a signal.

"Brother, we'll be going inside for a while, keep training…you'll be training with me now."

"Alright sister!", although he wanted to practice his perception, thus should've been in complete focus, spoke up.

Eleanor and Elin went to the ball room.

"How long can the transformation last?"

"About 10 minutes now"

"Ok, leave for now and come back again when you're ready, don't be seen by anyone ok?"

"Ok"

Eleanor was not exactly sure when Alex would be able to use his cognition to its fullest, so she didn't just whisper the contents in front of him.

"Alright my lady, I'll be back as soon as I can."

Eleanor went back to the training grounds and taught her brother how to more effectively use the skill.

At the moment, Alex could use it quite inconsistently for a fraction of a fraction of a second. Through Eleanor's guidance, he was able to 'feel' a bit more consistently.

***

An hour later, they all had lunch together. Alex seemed to view the traveler as a mentor figure, for teaching him the way to 'feel', as he constantly kept eyeing the cloaked figure with glistening respect. Elin, however, seemed quite a bit jealous, but he dared not to show his envy.

The traveler, although face hidden, was obviously taunting Elin. If he could say anything right now, he would probably say-

"What're you looking at? Jealous?", then proceed to laugh at Elin.

"How…lively", Eleanor thought to herself, as she looked at the ongoing disputes which were hidden from untrained eyes.

But, although amusing this atmosphere wasn't something that should continue, Alex currently viewed the traveler as someone who knew more than Elin, but in fact the traveler had only taught him the very basics of intermediate level weapon–man-ship, and well, Elin would be the one to teach Alex a lot more later on.

"Well, I suppose he'll figure it out eventually, it just means 'Elin' has to teach him a lot more things.", Eleanor thought to herself, a small smile crept up her face.

"Mr. Traveler, have you completed my request?"

"Request? Oh yes, my lady I have."

"Request? Sister what is this about?"

"Brother, if you didn't know, Mr. traveler has been helping out estates' economy by investing in some of our businesses, I asked him to write me a report on them…I wanted to deliver them to Mr. Francis myself."

"Wooooooooooow~", Alex's opinion of the traveler seemed to rise even higher.

Elin seemed to be biting his clothes internally, wanting to beat up the traveler. But, he didn't show it on his face, instead a small amount of energy crept up his body, slowly nearing the traveler.

The traveler flinched at the clear sign of a threat.

But, the traveler didn't back down, instead he doubled down.

"Yes, I have made many preparations. Although I am not the best at weapons, I am really good at alchemy, wanna learn it, brat?"

"Yes!", Alex answered not realized the hit he had given to Elin.

Eleanor could see veins pop from his head. She needed to step in now, or else the traveler might 'accidentally' die from a heart attack this night.

"Brother, I understand your wants to study new things, and I won't stop you. However, managing time effectively is a very important skill too, so I hope I won't have to have this conversation again with you right?"

To Alex, his sister's words were clear.

"Practice everything equally"

"Ok sister, I will. Have a safe day."

"Alright."

***

Eleanor made her way towards [Brookshire town].

Although she had been there many times, it was always as Elin, but today she was going as herself. Knowing how bad the people of Brookshire had of the baron's family, who they think had been raising the taxes, refusing to clear the forests, and well generally being bad rulers of the lands they were in charge of; Eleanor steeled her nerves.

Entering the town, Eleanor realized that she was not welcome in this town. The town's people were staring daggers into her. But, Eleanor did not back down, neither did she put her head down. Instead she raised her head high and walked towards the town square; her goal was to get to the inn after all.

"How shameless", "What does she want now?", "Coming here after trying to destroy this place, does she want to see the fruits of her labor now?", "Wench", "Disgusting…", "…"

And many more comments were whispered behind Eleanor's back. Although whispering, they did not realize that Eleanor could hear all of it very clearly. In fact, they clearly spoke louder just in case Eleanor did not hear them.

"YOU! WHAT DO YOU WANT HERE!? DID YOU COME TO SEE OUR SUFFERING?", a man shouted from the numerous eyes watching Eleanor.

"DID YOU WANT TO INCREASE OUR TAXES, NOW THAT YOU HAVE SEEN THAT WE ARE HERE?", another man shouted.

Soon, following their comments, more and more people spoke. If they could spew venom, this square would have enough to kill an arian.

But, Eleanor did not budge. She made her way towards the fountain statue in the middle of the square. She bowed down and put a silent lily flower on the base of the fountain. She did not reply to the comments coming her way, she knew she would only agitate the situation by talking.

While she had to go towards the inn, she had to show herself to the town. She had planned to at least lessen the anger towards the baron family before the Tara festival. After all, if she had randomly shown herself at the festival, only anger would grow, and there would be more repercussion, since her brother would also be there. For that, she needed to start now.

 But while she was putting down the flower at the base of the fountain, a man who had been struggling tooth and nail over the past few months, trying to pay the taxes and feed his family; furiously walked towards the young baroness.

Just before he reached the baroness, he raised his right hand-

"YOU! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH PAIN YOU HAVE CAUSED THE PEOPLE HERE?! AND NOW YOU DARE! DARE TO SHOW YOUR FACE HERE?!", he shouted to Eleanor, ready to hit her.

Eleanor, who had just put down the flower, turned around and looked at the man. She knew the pain he had been through; trade was now the only way for the dying barony to earn money. Now, however since the baron's passing, and the new owner of the lands, Eleanor, had neglected her duties and hire people to clean out the forest, he couldn't even farm without having monsters plunder his crops, resulting in bad yield and bad quality.

He was currently struggling, but only him; everyone was struggling through these months, even those who were well off currently, would not be able to escape the struggle without leave their home.

"ALL YOUR GREED, ALL BECAUSE YOU WANTED MORE. YOU HAVE RUINED THIS TOWN.", he brought down his hand.

Just before his hand could touch Eleanor's face; it stopped.

The hand which stopped the hand was familiar to Eleanor. It was a large muscular arm, a huge round shield strapped to his back, and an extravagant sword on his hip with minimal armor. It seemed he had forgone the scar sticker, as his chest lay bare today. It was a man named Asher, someone who had tried to bully Elin, and had been a brief topic between the contractors.

Eleanor did not show any emotion. Any emotion she shows now would harbor more rage from the people, be it of sadness, regret, or any other emotion.

"Stop it…she's just a child", his voice was small and deep.

"YOU-", the man was stunned.

"HAH Ha~ hahaha, you…you're trying to defend her now, after you sold your dignity? After you tried to earn money by just sitting off to the side, and show off that sword you can't even use, you bitch. STAND ASIDE."

"No. Calm down... She is just a child.", the man named Asher said as he clenched his hands, putting more force of the family man's hands.

"You…you…"

"Honey…please stop", the family man's wife who had seen the commotion had come up to the town square and held his hand.

She pulled on his hand, prompting the man to look at his wife. Each time he saw her face, he was reminded of the pain, the struggle, and the rage towards those who failed to protect them. He was angry, very angry towards the young miss.

"Ugh-", he looked at the side, but he had come a bit too far to go back…

"…please"

Hearing his wife's plea, he shook. He looked at her again; she was looking at the ground, almost at the verge of tears.

"I-I…", he was stunned, but he knew he shouldn't pursue this any further, this was only hurting others.

"I-I will say this again, you wench…you have destroyed this land for everything that it was worth, we have bowed and bowed, but we will not bow any longer and-", he didn't continue any longer, for he knew.

He knew the young lass in front of him was not the reason, neither the cause. He just wanted someone to blame this on, to blame his struggles on, and to say caused this entire problem, to say all this misfortune had a cause. In fact not only him, but everyone this town knew, but they had gone too far, they couldn't back down now.

The family man went back with his wife. The stares did not stop though; this incident caused more people to stare at Eleanor with more venom in their eyes.

"Young miss, I may not have the worst impression of you, but I don't have the best either…I advise you to leave"

"Thank you sir, but I have some business to take care of…now please if you will"

Eleanor made her way through some alley towards the inn's direction.

"She-", Asher looked at the alley, she had just entered.

The crowd all looked at the direction.

"Now get back to your jobs people, what're you gonna do? Fight a little girl? You shameless bastards?", Lucian spoke up again.

All the eyes looked at him, with a bit of rage; but they moved as he said. No matter how much deep seated hate they had for the baroness, she was still just a child.

Asher who stood at the town square looked at the silent lily at the base of the statue.

Lucian walked towards Asher, and in a small voice-

"You did well…"

Lucian also walked away.

"How…pretty", a small voice exclaimed in the crowd.

***

[Dawn Breaker Inn]

Ting~ Ring~

The bell chimed when the door opened was opened by Eleanor. But, it went silent.

.

.

.

"Was that necessary?"