Mage wielding a sword?

After Isabella left, there was a moment of silence before being broken by the man.

"My name is Edmund Vandeleur, nice to meet you." He stretched out his hand towards Aldrich.

The latter grabbed it and shook hands with Edmund.

"Aldrich Edevane, nice to meet you too,"

"Before we start with the evaluation, let's see..." Edmund read Aldrich's information from the form handed over to him by Isabella.

"Hmm, 15 years old and a mage eh," Edmund muttered in surprise. He then glanced at Aldrich and said, "Alright so you're a mage. Then let's begin the evaluation. You can tell me when you're ready and we'll start the sparring."

"Okay," Aldrich nodded before walking over to the weapon rack and picking up a training longsword. He did a few swings before nodding.

After that, he took off his sword from his waist and put it on the ground along with his bag. He then walked back towards Edmund.

The latter glanced at him with curiosity, "You will use a sword?"

"Yes, are mages prohibited from wielding swords?" Aldrich joked

"Your choice," Edmund shrugged before walking to the center of the room and readying.

Aldrich followed and stopped a distance away from Edmund. He stood there, composed and relaxed. His sword wasn't even in a ready position.

He just smiled at Edmund before saying, "I'm ready!"

Edmund frowned slightly after seeing Aldrich's carefree attitude. 'This boy...'

"Huup!"

*Clank*

Without warning, Edmund suddenly appeared in front of Aldrich. The boy easily parried the initial strike before immediately countering.

"Hmp!"

The boy's sword slashed swiftly towards his opponent's abdomen. The latter reacted quickly by blocking the strike with his large sword.

"Heh, I thought you're a mage? Where's your magic?!" Edmund provoked

'I'm not a mage, that provocation won't work, kiddo!' Aldrich thought while retaining a smile outwards.

"I'm using magic right now, it's called body enhancement magic."

After all, Aldrich still came from a mage family so he knew his ways around magic. And body enhancement magic does exist albeit it wasn't used commonly as most mages saw it as a waste of time since the magic only enhanced their body strength two 2 times so for it to be effective, they needed to train their bodies

"Body enhancement eh, then let's see if you can still take this with that magic!" Edmund's aura suddenly changed as he put all his strength and pushed Aldrich away momentarily.

Then with a fast and heavy strike, he slashed his sword at the boy.

Aldrich stared at the incoming strike, calmly. Mana gently enhanced his body and sword before he took the strike head-on.

*Clankk!!*

"Hm?!"

Edmund was startled as he saw his strike was stopped by Aldrich.

"Are you really a mage, with that physical strength of yours?" Edmund was genuinely curious about Aldrich's physical strength. That strength wasn't something body enhancement can achieve.

"I trained my body along with magic," Aldrich shrugged, "-So don't be too surprised...!"

*Clink!*

Edmund was forced back by a sudden force. He stared at Aldrich who didn't continue attacking him.

"Alright, the warm-up is done-" Edmund smiled, "-but I didn't think there would be someone similar to me."

"Hm?" Aldrich raised a brow,

"Heh" Edmund suddenly bursts out with power.

'So he trained his body and focused on body enhancement magic huh,' Aldrich noted before smiling, 'It seems he is getting serious now. I should take this seriously as well.'

"Haap!"

Edmund swiftly appeared in front of Aldrich, his sword swung targeting the latter's abdomen.

*Clank!*

The sword collided but, Edmund's sword was stopped.

'Do you think a mage can win in terms of physical strength for a warrior trained in mana usage? Hmph!' Aldrich tighten his grip on his sword and with a swing, he flung Edmund away.

*Swoosh* *Skrrrr*

"What amazing strength...!" Edmund praised but was secretly shocked inside. He had trained his body for decades now along with the enhancement of his magic, it would have been impossible for most in this town to compare. Yet this 15-year-old boy easily overpowered him.

"This has been going for too long, let's end this."

Edmund heard this and involuntarily stared at Aldrich. At that moment, he felt a heavy pressure on his body. His instincts were screaming at him that a dangerous being is in front of him.

"Thank you for the spar, Mr Vandeleur."

*Swish*

Aldrich disappeared from his initial location and before Edmund could react, a sword was hung over his neck.

"Please give your evaluation," Edmund heard a voice behind him. Cold sweat formed on his forehead.

"Ha...Haha!" The sudden laughter momentarily surprised Aldrich.

"Good! Good, you passed the evaluation, boy!" Edmund turned towards Aldrich and tapped his shoulder.

"Come, let's officially register you to the association."

Aldrich put down his sword and nodded. He then walked over and returned the training sword to the weapon rack before getting his bag and sword.

Meanwhile, in the lobby of the association, the mercenaries were talking amongst each other.

"Hey, how beaten up do you think the kid is now?"

"He should have broken a few bones by now, right?"

"Yeah yeah, you know that old man, he doesn't hold back. I remember back when I registered, he smashed 5 of my ribs."

"You tell me, I broke my arm back then."

Most mercenaries here went through Edmund's evaluation and they have some lingering bitter memories from back then. So seeing a newbie going through the same treatment got them curious about the result.

Unfortunately for them, when Edmund and Aldrich came out to the lobby, the former was the one with bruises and cuts. This sight shocked all people inside.

"Huh?!"

"That's...!"

"The old man was actually the one with injuries?!"

"Unbelievable!"

A commotion started among the people. These prompted Edmund to stomp his foot on the ground.

*Bam!*

"Why are you clamouring!" Edmund shouted

The commotion stopped and the mercenaries went back to their seats.

'So that s the reason why they are disciplined haha,' Aldrich smiled seeing the sight of burly men obediently obeying a middle-aged man's order.

"Isabella, the kid passed the evaluation. And I think he can complete 'that' request by the town mayor." Edmund said

This surprised Isabella and the other mercenaries. The former calmed herself down before confirming, "Are you sure, Mr Vandeleur?"

"Yes!" Came Edmund's confident reply