Chapter 23

The wind blew softly on the silent practice grounds as everyone was stunned by her statement.

House Fuego was one of the four Marquis houses of Elleveire Kingdom and was also a well-known powerhouse of gifted fighters. They are known to specialize in flame abilities. Their red hair and fiery personalities are their distinguishing characteristics. Many of their men became high rank generals and commanders, just like the eldest son of the current head. The head of House Fuego, Victor Sirvil Fuego, is the current Grandmaster of the Royal Knights while his eldest son, Victor Leon Fuego, is a general of the Order of the Flaming Fox, protecting the East boarder of the Kingdom.

A slow smile crept up my face as I saw the determined look in her eyes. She must be something to have come from such a powerful family. I waved my hand at Sebastiene in a sweeping manner to indicate for the test to continue. The audience started to murmur softly while looking at Marionne walking down the ring and sat in a chair with the other examinees.

Sebastiene went up to the middle of the stage, which now was party destroyed and has burned marks from the past fights, before floating in the air. He raised his right hand, the level of his chest and a small black sphere appeared above his palm. He threw the black sphere into the broken ring and it was restored immediately. It is awesome to see Sebastiene use one of his ability, restore, which can restore anything that is broken. He first showed us this ability on his first day of work where he restored all the things destroyed during the attack including the employee's residence, the knight's quarters and training grounds. The garden was also destroyed but we had everything there remade from scratch as gardening became our mothers' hobby.

"Now, everyone, let us call on our next fighter." Sebastiene smiled as his feet touched the ground. "Number six, please come on stage."

"I-I surrender." He nervously raised his hand. "Im sorry."

"I see." Sebastiene smiled. "Next examinee please come up on stage."

Number seven to number nine all surrendered without a fight.

"Number ten?" Sebastiene called.

A gigantic man with a bulging belly came up the stage. He was only wearing tattered pants made of fur and an ox skull hung on his neck. His belt was made of small animal skulls sewn together. He was bald with round face and small eyes, he has no beard but a huge scar ran across his left cheek to his right. He looks viciously fierce holding his big spiked club.

"Show me my enemies so I can destroy them!" He shouted at Sebastiene, spewing saliva all over Sebastienes face.

Sebastiene calmly took a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped his face before smiling at the man.

I leaned forward in my chair when his opponents appeared on stage. Athy actually summoned Gorya the leader of the high orcs and Alvera Elquine together. To call on two of her strongest summoned spirits, Athy definitely does not want to make this guy pass the test.

Sebastiene signaled for the fight to start and the round-faced man dashed towards Alvera with his club while screaming. I clenched my hand tightly on the edge of my seat as I excitedly wait for the first attack. The man dashed straight, and with a strong force, swung his club down. Alvera made a side step and hit the round faced man right in his face with her left fist. The man flew back to the other side of the ring and hit his back on the barrier before falling flat on his face unconscious.

One move.

I place my hand across my face in second hand embarrassment. I can't believe that he was defeated in one move.

Father shook his head and my sisters were holding in their laughter at what happened. Alvera turned her head towards us and shrugged.

While we found it hilarious that he was defeated in a single blow, the other examinees were filled with nervousness. When Sebastiene called for the next examinees, number eleven to number fifteen all surrendered.

Then came number sixteen.

He was an attractive man with long wavy blond hair that was tied in a low pony tail, and bright blue eyes. His face was clean shaven and his movement was graceful, like a ballet dancer. He wore a white knight's uniform without an armor, red boots and a red furry cape. He also has a red plumed hat with red roses decorating it.

"He looks like that Cabbage guy in the pirate anime we used to watch back on Earth, doesn't he?" Athy commented in our old dialect while looking at the fancy dressed guy.

"He does." Uriel replied.

"I wonder if he is as strong as that one." Athy asked again this time, with a smirk.

"I wonder too." Uriel agreed.

We watch as the match started and the fancy guy made his stance in defense instead of attacking the spirits. His Rapier, a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged blade with a protective hilt was unsheathed. The hilt have vine-like rings extended forward from the crosspiece and is designed to protect the hand wielding the sword. He held his sword in a vertical position as if on standby, waiting for the opponent to attack first.

Seeing as their enemy has no plans to attack, Alvera took out her weapon, which coincidentally was also a rapier but a less tacky one. Alvera went to the middle of the stage and also positioned her weapon in a vertical position, a stance of challenge or a one-on-one battle.

They both stood still in silence until the wind blew softly and the murmurs of the crowd ceased. In a heartbeat, the two warriors thrust their swords towards each other. They both dodged each others attack. Alvera made a lunge but the fancy guy blocked her weapon by moving his sword in a circle to catch the tip of Alvera's sword and deflect it away then made a counter attack that caused Alvera's abdomen to be hit.

Alvera backed away and re-positioned her sword vertically again before admitting defeat.

"That was a fencing match, wasn't it?" Uriel asked.

"I guess so?" I replied unsure. This world does not have the concept of "fencing" but I guess they have a similar one. It was a beautiful sight to see a fencing match but I don't really think it will be useful when fighting people who uses axes or claymores.

Athy sighed and shook her head while Anderson just let out a soft chuckle.

"Is the fight done?" An onlooker asked the person beside him.

"I think so." He answered. "The knight disappeared just like the other defeated ones did."

Unfortunately, the fight wasn't over since Gorya was still standing and the rule was to defeat all opponents. Fancy guy got on his defense position again and waited for Gorya to attack.

He did not wait long, Gorya charged at him like a bullet being shot. The fancy guy took a step back and swung his sword creating blades of wind to attack the high orc. Gorya used his arm as shields against the wind blades as he continues his approach. Fancy guy enveloped his sword with wind and made a thrust at the incoming Gorya which the latter evaded. Gorya then rammed his fist unto fancy guy's abdomen which caused him to spew blood. Fancy guy jumped back before Gorya's second punch hit him in the face. He was using wind to move around quickly before Gorya could reach him. Unfortunately, Gorya has an ability called bloodlust, it increases Gorya's speed and strength twice than the normal for a limited time. Gorya used bloodlust after missing to punch fancy guy a couple of times. Gorya caught fancy guy by the cape and slammed him on the floor. Gorya did not end his attack there, he threw a couple more punches before hearing a sharp pleading cry coming from fancy guy. He was protecting his face throughout the attack.

"I surrender!" Fancy guy shrieked. "I concede!"