Chapter 80 - A spar and a double date?

Leaving the living room, Thomas quietly followed behind Tsubaki as she led him toward the training field as she called it. When they reached that place, Thomas was sure that this wouldn't be an easy fight, maybe not as hard as the one against Touji, but definitely above anything he had before. The moment both of them had their weapons in their hands, Tsubaki rushed forward, trying to use the reach granted her by the naginata. And in a way, she would have won the first engagement if not for Thomas anticipating this kind of attack, making him parry her blow. But that parry gave Tsubaki a chance to counterattack while Thomas was distracted. Her blade flashed as she mercilessly attacked, a flurry of fierce blows, astoundingly swift for the size and weight of the bladed weapon. This blade was probably the most dangerous thing Thomas has faced until now, in terms of weapons, and under no circumstances will he allow it to touch him. When Tsubaki was about to strike again, a sudden flash blinded her for a second, giving Thomas more than enough room to close in the distance and attack.

Just as Thomas's sword was about to strike Tsubaki, a shining mirror materialized in front of her, intercepting the trajectory of Thomas's blade. The sword clashed against the mirror with a resounding impact, creating a burst of energy and light. However, the mirror broke under the strength of the attack. In the next split second, the mirror absorbed the impact and reflected it back toward Thomas with double the force. Caught off guard by Tsubaki's quick reaction, Thomas had little time to evade the incoming attack.

The force struck Thomas, inflicting a powerful blow that sent him staggering backward a few meters from her. Pain shot through his body, but Thomas smiled in response to her. This was his first fight against another sacred gear user and from the way things look like, he was on the losing side for now.

Thought despite being the one hit by the attack, Thomas looked better than Tsubaki, who just stared in shock at the human boy who tanked the attack like it was nothing, almost as if the attack did nothing to him. Of course, that wasn't the truth since Thomas got used to the pain, thanks to Bahamut's training him in the dream world against all kinds of foes, which mostly ended up with the boy getting his ass kicked left and right.

Without missing a beat, Tsubaki lunged forward again, her naginata sweeping through the air with deadly precision. Thomas deftly parried her attacks, their weapons clashed, sending sparks flying. Soon, their fight transformed into a dance of blades, each trying to outmaneuver and land a decisive strike.

As they circled each other, their movements became faster and more fluid, as both got used to each other fighting style. With each second that passed, Tsubaki's strikes become more precise, utilizing her naginata's reach to keep Thomas at bay. However, Thomas, was in no way less trained or experienced than her, so each time she strike, he met her blows head-on with well-timed blocks and counters.

Then in one moment when Thomas thought of using his magic to give him some breathing room, in that heartbeat before she could drive the blade into Thomas' side, the boy charged. Miraculously, there was no blood flying on the ground, no mortal blow, but the boy tackled the bespectacled girl. The impact sent both of them tumbling down to the ground. Thomas twisted as he fell, trying to regain his footing.

Meanwhile, Tsubaki landed on her feet with a cat's grace, tightly holding her naginata. But for some reason, blood ran down the girl's arm from a wound that she didn't even know she had.

Before Tsubaki could fully process what had happened, Thomas, charged at her. Caught off guard by his sudden assault, Tsubaki's grip on her naginata faltered, and the weapon slipped from her grasp, clattering to the ground. She tried to react in time, but Thomas was too fast.

With a swift movement, Thomas closed the distance between them, and for a moment he seemed unstoppable. He aimed to land a blow on her arm. However, just as he thought he had secured victory, he was hit by a blast of magic.

The spell hit Thomas, blasting him away and sending him tumbling across the training field. The impact rattled his body, and pain coursed through him once again. But once again that didn't stop him from getting back on his feet. He had underestimated Tsubaki way too much and because of that, he paid the price, twice.

Breathing heavily, Tsubaki retrieved her naginata from the ground, as she kept her eyes on Thomas. Neither one of them wanted to attack now, fearing that the other might have some more hidden tricks up their sleeves. Thought, Tsubaki found this fight, the funniest and most exhaling fight she had ever had in her life. While she had fought both her master and her master's older sister, it was purely using magic, but against Thomas, she was forced to use everything she had learned and even then, she didn't know if she could win against the boy. Especially when Thomas hadn't used any of his charms to attack her yet, and only depend on his sword.

Sadly, for them, before they could fight again, a sudden clap made Thomas and Tsubaki break their stance and turn their heads toward the entrance of the training field where they saw Serafall and Sona looking at them. Serafall was beaming as she watched the fight, in a way proud that Thomas and Tsubaki were so in their little bumble forgetting about everything as they sparred. While Sona on the other hand, was looking at the boy her big sister had brought home a few months ago with a newfound interest in him.

Yes, Serafall had told them what she managed to find about Thomas and his feats, but Sona dismissed them as nothing more than made-up stories her big sister had made just because she took a liking to the boy, but now, after seeing how the boy pushed her Queen to use all of her cards to even the grounds, Sona understood that her sister wasn't lying. However, despite her interest in the boy, Sona knew that for someone that might join her peerage to trust her, she would have to be truthful with him or her and ask them if they actually want to join rather than creating an accident or appear at the right time and saved that said potential peerage member.

Something that her friend seems quite keen on keep doing in the future. Moreover, while this was a somewhat guaranteed way of gaining new members, Sona found it not so worth the trouble, especially since that means that her future members might have traumas on their own that she as their king would have to treat in the future.

Back on the field, Thomas calmed himself down and walk towards Tsubaki wanting to see if she was alright, considering just how intense their spar had been.

"Are you alright, Tsubaki? That was quite an intense spar. I didn't mean to push you too hard."

"I'm fine, Thomas. In fact, I've never been better. That was an incredible fight."

Just as Thomas was about to respond, a sudden impact knocked the air out of him, and he found himself wrapped in a tight hug from behind. Startled, he turned his head to see Serafall's shining eyes.

"Tommy! You were amazing out there!" Serafall exclaimed with so much enthusiasm that she could put an entire Disneyland to shame. "I knew you would show Tsubaki a good fight! "

Thomas chuckled when he heard her words. "Sera, you almost knocked me down with that hug."

Serafall giggled, releasing Thomas from the hug but still standing close to him. "I can't help it, Tommy. It was so exciting to see the two of you fighting. You were going whoosh then bam then slash, while Tsubaki was fussh and zoom …"

While Serafall telling her side of the story, Sona walked towards her queen and the boy she fought against with what Thomas could only describe as a serious expression on her face. Ignoring her older sister, who kept her childish way of describing the fight, Sona turned to face Thomas.

"I didn't expect to see a wizard fighting better than a lot of self-claimed sword masters."

"Thank you for the compliment, Sona. But to tell you the truth, I start learning how to fight with a sword because I'm pretty sure that when I eventually start dueling other people, this unexpected fighting style would confuse most of the wizards and witches making them unable to react properly."

"Quite a good strategy you made. Using both your natural school of magic as well as swordsmanship would definitely be out of the ordinary, considering that your community does seem all that keen on using any other weapons other than wands."

"Sadly, those old fossils seem to think that wands are the noble way or something along those lines when time and time again they had been forced to surrender against the church. Anyways, let's forget about them. When did you and Sera start watching our spar?"

Before Sona could respond, Serafall jumps and hugs her, to her little sister's horror. "Oh, Tommy! We've been watching you two ever since we left the mansion! It was all my idea! I thought it would be so much fun to see you in action, and Tsubaki was eager to test her skills against you, so I didn't want to interrupt."

When she finished her words, Serafall stuck her tongue out playfully at Thomas. "I wanted to see if you lived up to the things I've been boasting about. And I must say, Tommy, you didn't disappoint! Magical Levi-tan approves!" Serafall smiled while giving Thomas a thumbs up.

She then turned her attention to Tsubaki. "Tsubaki, you did great too! I'm so proud of you."

Tsubaki blushed slightly, after all, it was not an easy feat to impress one of the Satans, even if that Satan was Serafall. "Thank you, Serafall-sama. "

Serafall took Tsubaki's hand gently and nodded. "Let's get your arm checked. Also, Tommy, this is no proper way of treating a lady."

Before Thomas could respond, Serafall and Tsubaki were already far away. Letting out a sigh, he then turned his attention back to Sona, who, for some reason, was silent.

After a few seconds of silence, she finally opened her mouth. "I don't know if you had noticed or not, but my parents and maybe even my older sister want me to make you part of my peerage."

This wasn't exactly what he had expected to hear from her, but in a way was untestable. After all, as one of the big families from the underworld and as the heiress of the family, Sona was undoubtedly put under a lot of pressure by both the devil society and her family. And by having a strong peerage, she might be able to ease that pressure. But never did Thomas expect to hear this from Sona, at least not so bluntly, then again Latia did tell him that not all devils were scheming bastards.

"I would lie if I were to tell you that I didn't though about this before, but since neither you nor Sera said anything, I choose not to bring this matter up. However, I would have to disappoint you. I've told the same thing to my friend, Latia Astaroth and I will tell you the same. Right now, and probably in the near future, I don't plan to become a devil. Not because I detest you, not even close, but because, and I'm sorry if this sounds racist or offensive, I don't think becoming a devil will give me anything meaningful that I won't be able to get as a human. "

His response did make the bespectacled girl look at him with her eyes wide open before she slowly nodded her head. "I thought as much and while you are right, it is slightly disappointing that I would not be able to get you as part of my peerage that doesn't mean that I'm at a loss here. My older sister considers you a friend and by extension, she wants us to be friends, in that way, even if you are not becoming part of my peerage, we would still, in a way allies and friends."

"Well, that's…"

"Surprising?"

Thomas nodded his head since he thought that maybe Sona would throw a tantrum or something like that, even though it didn't seem in her character, truth be told, Thomas didn't know all that much about her and mostly used her older sister as a reference, which he found out was not quite right.

"I would be honored to be your friend."

"The feeling is mutual."

The two of them shook hands and Sona asked Thomas something he didn't think he would ever hear from her.

"My older sister told me that you came here to visit, so do you perhaps want to visit the capital tomorrow? Tsubaki and I will be more than happy to show you around."

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