Sparring With Lily

"Sure, why don't you start by showing me what you know? A simple spar would do. Oh, also, please seal your cultivation just in case."

"Ah, of course. I won't use my cultivation when I am sparring with you. But is your right hand okay for you to spar now?" Lily asked with concern.

"Of course, it isn't much of a problem now. I can even use my left hand to spar with you."

Lily stroked her left hand with her right as a bamboo sword manifested in Lily's hand and gave it to Damien.

Soon after, another bamboo sword appeared in her hand.

'So that ring must be one of those spatial rings. A ring with limited internal space that can store things. Pretty convenient indeed. I should try to buy one as soon as I make some money.'

He inspected the wooden sword as he playfully scoffed, "Princess, I am not weak enough to the point that I can't handle a spar with real swords. Unless you are more skilled than me, which you said you were not."

Damien knew that the reason Lily chose to use bamboo swords for training was that she didn't want to hurt Damien accidentally.

"No, I didn't choose a bamboo sword because I doubt your swordsmanship. I first wanted to see how good you are personally and understand the gap between us."

"Oh, is that so? Okay, come at me then." Damien smiled.

Lily elegantly moved forward as she swung her sword forward, aiming at Damien's shoulder, though it seemed like she was holding back.

Damien saw through it easily and knew she was holding back, probably due to his supposed crippled condition.

He easily dodged her attack and disarmed her by twisting her sword around with his before placing his sword next to her neck.

"Don't hold back. If you seal your cultivation, there is no way you can defeat me." Damien said with a confident expression.

"If you want to learn diligently, then you must go all out. Only then will I know how proficient you really are in swordsmanship and correct your mistakes."

Lily nodded and showed a determined expression, "Fine. I won't hold back, but you should still be careful."

Even if Lily sealed her cultivation, her body would still be as strong as a Spirit Ethereal Realm Cultivator. So, if she accidentally hits Damien, he would be lucky if he only suffers from a few broken bones.

'Sigh...is this girl really a saintess or what? Is she kind like this to everybody?'

Damien nodded as he chuckled, "Sure, come at me, princess. Let me see the sword mastery of the celestial princess."

Lily assumed a high guard as Damien was looking at her with a bored expression.

Seeing his relaxed attitude, Lily felt a bit piqued as she swiftly moved her feet and slashed towards Damien.

Damien lazily dodged and gave a casual counter slash.

Seeing his incoming slash, Lily frowned and evaded his slash as she thrust her sword at him.

Damien didn't get startled as Lily expected and parried her attack with a counter thrust.

Lily instantly stepped back as she saw Damien's counter-attack approaching her.

'He's toying with me. His movements are so simple, fast, and fluid. How can they be so beautiful?' Lily was impressed in her heart seeing Damien's simple but fascinating movements.

They both looked into each other's eyes as they circled around.

"Ha!" Lily quickly closed the distance between them as she threw an overhand cut.

Damien instantly reacted as he used his sword to pry Lily's sword from her hand and pointed his sword towards her neck.

"You lost, princess." Damien smiled.

'This easily?? I thought he disarmed me before because I wasn't serious. But now, I didn't hold back at all, and he still disarmed me. Is the difference between us this big?' Lily couldn't help but feel that she felt like a child trying to spar with an adult.

"Haaa...I guess the standards of the so-called first-class sword experts are really poor, as you said. Well, it only makes me look forward to seeing how the sword experts from Lancaster Empire can fare against me. Even though they wouldn't spar with me with their cultivation sealed." Damien chuckled.

"I...I can't believe it. Even when I sparred against my instructor, I didn't lose so fast, and by the end of my training, I was also able to keep up with my trainer."

"Sigh...princess, maybe it's time you looked outside your empire for a genuine sword expert. But fret not, since I am here now, you needn't expend your precious time and energy searching for one," Damien beamed.

"Actually, to tell you the truth, I don't even need a sword to defeat you," Damien said as his eyes feigned arrogance.

Lily creased her brows, "Ha...I don't believe you. That's too absurd. Without a weapon, you are basically defenseless. And even if I sealed my cultivation, you wouldn't be able to handle my blows if I accidentally hit you."

Damien raised his eyebrows, "Oh, really?" He dropped his sword as he gestured with his fingers, "Then why don't you have a go at me? I won't use the sword."

Lily's eyes blinked with surprise, "You are really serious? This is too dangerous. You don't have to do this. I know you are very talented in swordsmanship, but this is different."

"Oh, don't keep dawdling around. Or are you looking down on me because I am a cripple?"

Damien purposefully asked that to make Lily feel guilty as if she really looked down on him.

"Of course not. Then here I come."

Lily lunged forward as she threw a cut at him. Damien twisted his body towards her side as he dodged her attack.

He then instantly grabbed her held out wrist, and, using her momentum, he spun her around and pinned her towards his chest.

"Ah!"

"You lost again, princess." Damien smiled as he whispered in her ears.

Lily's ears turned beet red as her eyes widened in surprise. She had never been close to another man, let alone at such proximity.

And when Damien's hot breath tickled her ears, her mind got muddled, which made her attempt to struggle result in a feeble one because of which her butt involuntarily pressed against him.

Damien got surprised when he felt her butt provoking his sleeping dragon. His first thought was whether she was trying to seduce him.

But he instantly threw that thought out the window when he saw that Lily had a mix of surprise and disoriented expression. It was a far cry from her usual calm and graceful expression.

Lily quickly put her emotions back in order and escaped from Damien's hold as she subconsciously raised her hand over her ear. 

She hadn't exerted much energy, but her breath was rapid as if she had run a marathon.

She didn't even realize that she had involuntarily pressed her butt against Damien. Otherwise, she would have buried her head in a hole with shame.

Damien chuckled, seeing her reaction. He almost felt aroused when the 'Celestial Princess' was pressing her butt against him. But after seeing her reaction, he was amused and wondered whether he teased her too much.

But even if he did, he would do it again if he ever again gets the chance, since he enjoyed seeing her reactions and Lily didn't seem to be angry with him.

'How cute...I never expected to see this side of her.'

"Yo-You shouldn't tease me like this" Lily wanted to reprimand him, but the expression on her face betrayed her intentions.

Damien had an innocent expression on his face, "What do you mean, princess? This is training, after all. It's normal to get physical when we train, especially when sparring."

Lily wanted to retort but couldn't come up with anything. Her face had an aggrieved expression, which only made her look adorable.

Strangely she didn't feel uncomfortable or angry when Damien held her close to him. And she realized that her guard around him was basically non-existent.

But, most of all, she never expected to be defeated this fast...that too when Damien was unarmed.

"By the way, did you forget how you should address me during our training?" Damien said with a mischievous smile.

Lily looked downwards in hesitation, hearing Damien's words. Even though she agreed to his condition, she didn't realize how embarrassing it was until this moment.

Seeing Lily's downward gaze, Damien chuckled, "Oh well, forget about it then. Since you are an imperial princess, no one would blame you if you went back on this simple condition...after all calling me 'Master' might be too shameful for you."

Lily winced with embarrassment as she turned her head away, "No, it's fine. I won't go back on my words, M-Master."

Damien smiled in victory, seeing her shy expression.

If one saw this scene, it would definitely seem like a disciple was getting bullied by her master.