22 Duel

After a single clash of swords, John Billing was utterly shocked

'He...What a monster...', he thought inwardly.

He had heard from his sister Emma about the young master of the Golden Lion Villa, especially the part where she was praising him for his intellect and wisdom. John had yet to discover the magical talents and skills of his sister as a wandering acolyte, but he had seen her advise their father countless times, proof of her own intellect and wisdom. Officials praised her as the hidden flower of the Billing Household, which ultimately allowed the household to become one of the three main noble families in Melvinger City, with extraordinary influence and prosperous businesses in the inner city.

The Billing Household, however, possessed a strong legacy of knight. The current head, Henri Billing, was a Grand Knight who taught his offspring with great dedication. As a result, John had grown tremendously. Although he was only 25 this year, his strength had reached a realm that most knights would never attain in a lifetime, no matter how much they trained. Resources, talent, coaching...He was forced to train, and train some more until exhaustion on a daily basis.

Over the past ten years, he had competed eight times in the Knight Festival of Melvinger City. Out of these eight attempts, he had been acknowledged as the champion 3 times already. Although Grand Knights were forbidden from participating, there were hundreds of knights coming from numerous kingdoms trying to prove their skills. Among them stood extraordinary talented noble heirs.

Yet...none of them were as solid as the young master of the Golden Lion Villa.

*CLANG*

Yet another wild swing from George's great sword crashed onto his blade. This time, however, George used all of his strength, causing John's wrist to be twisted slightly. Still, he was used to taking hits from a stronger opponents from the daily spars with his father, and reacted accordingly, rotating his body in an attempt to dissipate the kinetic energy that George's blade had transferred onto him.

However, George had the initiative in this duel, and continued to swing his sword. Despite wielding such a heavy and big weapon, George's strikes were extremely accurate.

From George's perspective, this fight was extremely easy. Although John was respectable attribute-wise, his lack of sword mastery proved fatal in this fight. George had reached a realm of sword mastery that even Henri Billing, a Grand Knight, had not attained. George was, after all, a [Master Swordsman].

The sixth strike proved fatal.

*CRASH*

Using a faint, George bypassed John's parry, and the blade crashed onto his shoulder, sending him flying onto the wall. Thankfully, George had greatly restrained the strength of his last strike, or else it would have broken John's ribs and shoulder, dealing permanent injuries that would have taken months to heal, even when considering the best treatment that physicians could offer and his high vitality as a knight.

John was flabbergasted. He was used to be defeated. He had never bested his father in a spar after all. However, he had never been defeated by someone younger than him. He had fought against hundreds of knights, and competed eight times in Melvinger's Knight Festival, dealing with the most talented knights of the region, some of them having fought for decades on battlefields. Yet, he had been champion three times.

Lady Emma Billing was similarly shocked. She had bet the negative energy stone to gauge George's skills. But she did not expect her brother to lose without George using spells.

From the side, James was clapping: "Excellent work, young master. Should I prepare a couple of biscuits for our guests? This duel must have opened their appetite"

"Thank you James. You do just that. I am sure we can resume our visit after taking a break, alright? I promise you will not regret it. My cook is from the Gnome Island, and the rumours are actually true! He is small, and weigh no more than thirty kilograms, but his hands are like that of fairies when it comes to cooking"

George's words lightened up the atmosphere, but John was in a state of shock. Lady Emma Billing merely nodded, similarly surprised. After eating a couple of biscuits, George continued to lead the conversation as he introduced Arthur: "This is Arthur, the home physician. Although restrained my last strike, I am afraid that it will impede your performance in the knight festival if it goes unchecked"

"I appreciate the thought, George. But I am fine, really", John spoke, but quickly shut his mouth as his sister glared at him, "But if you insist, I will accept your kindness"

George then took Lady Emma Billing's hand and muttered: "Should we continue the visit, then?"

The woman blushed. George knew that single sentence would allow him to get her into his bed, but seducing her served another purpose: the sacking of the Billing Household. Leading her into his laboratory, George revealed a stash filled with 12 [Spiritual Potions].