Another training arc

To Kai's surpirse, Ezekial's expression actually shifted to one of shock. He hadn't even expecting Kai to ask something like that, so he was a little lost on how to respond.

"If the honoured guest would be willing to, then I would be up to attempting to train you. However, if I deem that you have no potential, then I will stop training as there would be no point in doing so."

A little blunt, but Kai saw the logic. Ezekial was just saying that if Kai was bad with a sword, he wouldn't train him, simple as. Still, that was all Kai could have asked for, an oppurtunity.

"That's fine with me, if I'm terrible I'm terrible, I get it.

But I'm guessing there's an indoor training area or something, considering that I'm not allowed to leave the castle."

Ezekial nodded his head in response, his eyes not leaving Petunia.

"There is. If you wish, I could take you there now?"

Kai's eyes widened slightly.

"Really? Are you not looking after Petunia though?"

Just as Kai finished the question, he felt a rush of wind breeze past him as Ezekial disappeared from where he was standing.

He only realised what had happened when he heard the blue haired swordsman's voice come from in front of him.

"My Lady, I warned you about running around the halls, didn't I?"

Turning his head, Kai saw that Ezekial had caught Petunia just before she fell onto the ground, him tenderly holding her up.

Petunia blushed in embarrassment as she pushed Ezekial away, turning away in the process.

"I would have been fine, I was going to catch myself."

Ezekial remained silent for a moment, but simply smiled softly and said:

"I see... My Lady, you said you wished to see me fight, would you like to watch me and the honoured guest spar?"

Petunia, instantly forgetting that she had just been acting bashful towards Ezekial, turned around as her eyes shined in excitement.

"Really? Okay! Go, where are you fighting?"

Ezekial stood back up and adjusted his uniform back into position before gesturing to the corner to the right.

"The indoor arena is this way, so that is where we will be going."

Not waiting another moment, Petunia began running in the direction Ezekial had pointed, not bothering to wait for Kai or her blue haired bodyguard.

However, Ezekial did wait, turning his head and saying to Kai:

"I forgot to ask, is it fine if we train now? The guards will all be on break, so the arena will be empty."

Not seeing any reason to say no to that proposal, Kai grinned as he caught up to Ezekial, lightly slapping the swordsman on the shoulder.

"Of course, I don't mind."

Ezekial smiled softly in response before walking alongside Kai.

After a couple minutes, and a few more stops for Petunia to check out some other paintings hanging in the hallway, the three of them arrived in the training hall.

It was a spacious area, with a large arena in the centre, surrounding by a running track. Along the edge of the walls, there were a few racks decorated with a variety of wooden weapons, while on the otherwise there were racks filled with a variety of real weapons.

Not seeing any real reason to pick the second option, Ezekial made his way over to the wooden weapon section and picked up a sword, performing a few test swings with it.

"Feel free to use any weapon you obtained in the tutorial, I don't mind."

Kai's expression twitched slightly, he really was looking down on him.

Then again, Kai expected as much, Ezekial was much stronger and a much higher level than Kai, so it made sense that he would give himself a handicap.

However, Kai couldn't use the Blade of Eradication due to the level requirement, and he also couldn't make use of Esurient as he wanted to keep some trump cards in his pocket, just in case.

So, inwardly regretting what he was about to do, Kai sighed as he grabbed a wooden sword that was a similar shape to Esurient off one of the racks.

Ezekial raised an eyebrow slightly, surprised by Kai's choice.

"Are you not going to use your own weapon? I really don't mind if you do."

Kai sighed and waved his hand dismissively.

"My weapon got destroyed in the tutorial, and all of the ones in the shop were pretty bad, so I have to wait to get a new one."

Kai was lying, obviously, however, if seemed that Ezekial had believed the lie.

"I see, I suppose I could ask His Majesty if he would be willing to lend you a weapon."

Kai shrugged, not wanting to push his luck.

"You could ask in a passing conversation if you want, but I'm not expecting much. The reason the weapon got destroyed is because I was absolute rubbish at weilding it. No technique or nothing, so I've got to start from the basics."

Ezekial's surprise lessened as he lowered his sword slightly.

"If that is what you wish. However, since you say that you know nothing, would you like me to go over the basics that every guard receives?"

Kai's smile widened.

"That would be great."

However, Kai's smile quickly disappeared as he watched Ezekial throw his wooden sword away to the side of the arena in favour of using his bare hands.

"Test number one of the city guard.

Try and hit me without making use of any skills or your innate ability."

Instantly, Kai was pressed down as an overwhelming aura started emanating from Ezekial. It reminded Kai of his first interaction with the Demon, only this time he didn't have Failure to protect him.

Kai's whole body trembled as he struggled to remain standing. It was like he was a rat about to fight not a cat, but a gargantuan tiger that could rip him to shreds in less than a second.

However, Kai was pleasantly surprised that not even a second later, Nonchalance kicked in, lessening the oppressing aura ever so slightly.

It was a relief that the skill actually still worked and hadn't just disabled itself in favour of watching Kai get teased by Anastasia, but he was still a little bitter that it didn't work when Anastasia was around.

Gritting his teeth, Kai's grip on the wooden sword tightened as he took a step towards Ezekial, trying to spot any sort of weak points in the blue haired swordsmans stance.

There was none.

And it's not like Kai could make use of his strange future sight, considering that ability stemmed from a mixture of Soul Sense and his Innate Ability, meaning he wasn't allowed to use it.

No, he had to rely on pure skill and technique.

... Pure skill and technique which he did not posses.

Kai slowly approached Ezekial, sword in hand as he circled the blue haired swordsman, steeling himself for what's to come.

Meanwhile, Ezekial was just shocked that Kai was still standing. He had flared his aura to make Kai fall to the ground, like he had done with every other member of the city guard for their initiation, but Kai was the second person that he had seen resist it.

It seemed that maybe he did deserve first place after all.

Still, Ezekial had to hold back the urge to laugh as he watched Kai circle him, trying to act tough.

After noticing that Ezekial hadn't moved an inch since flaring his presence, Kai realised that he wasn't planning on moving in the first place, so he lunged and attempted to slash at the blue haired swordsman's side.

Ezekial reacted instantly, effortlessly lowering his arm and blocking the blade with the edge of his palm.

He didn't even flinch, making Kai wonder what the exact number of his stats were. Kai's Strength was still over 100, so he thought that he would at least react to the attack.

However, to Kai's horror, Ezekial lifted his hand ever so slightly, then pushed down on the body of the wooden blade with a single finger, resulting in Kai somehow getting knocked off balance and falling forwards.

Then, Ezekial used his other hand and flicked Kai on the forehead with his middle finger.

"Ow."

Kai went to lift a hand up to his forehead, but Ezekial quickly reacted and flicked Kai's forehead again.

"In a fight, a swordsman should never let go of their weapon, not until the fight is over.

And they should never react to pain. Emotions are a strong thing in a battle, if your opponent sees that you are hurt, they begin to attack more, even more adrenaline fuelling them."

Scowling slightly, Kai resisted the thumping in his head in favour of gripping onto the wooden blade, lest Ezekial flick his forehead again.

"Fine, I get it, but what am I meant to do?"

Ezekial lifted his hand up as he began to speak.

"Your mental strength is above average, and so is your mentality, which are both commendable stats. However, both your battle experience and strategic mind are extremely lacking, both of those you will have to work on in the future.

As for what you have to do now?"

Ezekial smirked slightly as he gestured for Kai to attack him once more.

"Try again."