Knight and Wand

Chapter 246 Mind
"Leon?"

Facing the crowd's calls, Olivia looked for instructions.

"Let these friends who have come from afar see what you are capable of, and go and restore some glory to Avalon." Leon smiled and agreed.

Olivia's eyes suddenly lit up with a competitive spirit, she drew the blunt sword from her waist and stepped into the arena.

Faced with these unfamiliar masters, the girl was also very curious about the martial arts of the knights-errant.

Zabron, who was walking back to the crowd from the field, passed by and couldn't help but whispered, "Miss, that gentleman is left-handed, be careful of his side stabs."

Olivia nodded, but did not immediately correct the uncle's misunderstanding.

She could see that the opponent was not left-handed, but could switch between both hands freely, specializing in left stabs, and was just reminding Uncle Zabron to pay attention to the unfamiliar attack direction.

In the arena, Derek looked at the sword-wielding girl who came to the opposite side, and looked around the atmosphere in confusion. He found that even Baron Leon was crossing his arms without stopping, and he couldn't help but perk up a little.

In any case, these knights would not allow a girl with no martial arts skills to come up and ask for advice.

Which noble girl comes from a family with a strong martial arts tradition?
Derek had seen noble ladies who liked to practice martial arts before, but most of them only learned superficial skills for self-defense.

It is indeed rare to see someone of this age, with such a small stature, wearing such heavy armor.

"Cairnburg, Derek."

The Wolf Hunter raised his gun and saluted, introducing himself to the new challenger.

He could see the lion's face emblem on the other person, and even if he didn't know the origin, he knew that this girl with blonde hair and golden eyes had the status of a knight no matter how she got it.

"Olivia, from Selva."

The girl wore a helmet and held a long sword in front of her.

"Ms. Olivia, you should change your weapon. Or, do you want to compete with me in swordsmanship?" Derek reminded.

He didn't care, as he knew how hard to strike. However, he was still worried that the opponent would look too ugly when defeated in a long-range fight. After all, even if he wanted to play with the opponent, he couldn't let a woman lose face and dignity in public.

Olivia smiled and shook her head, putting on her helmet and buckling her visor.

"Thank you for your concern, Lord Derek. I will just use the sword. Please show off your martial arts skills."

Derek was helpless and raised his eyebrows and laughed.

This little girl is quite proud, so it wouldn’t hurt to play with her for a bit.

Raising his hand, the wolf hunter was about to ask his servant to take away the spear and replace it with a similar sword.

The smile on his face slowly disappeared as the girl held up a sword in her eyes.

Olivia's body structure was open and slightly tilted.

Derek instinctively sensed some danger, and stepped back, wielding the gun in his hand with a swish as he blocked the attack.

The sharp gun blade struck the empty air.

Greenthorne, who was outside the circle, opened his eyes wide and couldn't help but tug at his beard with his fingers.

He looked at the field where the breeze was blowing. Although he was not facing it, he still noticed the shadow that flashed by like a dream.

Behind the visor, Olivia smiled slightly.

Previously, the only one in Avalon who could possess this "consciousness" was Lord Larian, and even Canis was much slower.

This knight-errant is indeed an extraordinary martial artist.

But this is just a scare tactic after all.

".what is that?"

Derek held the gun, moved his feet in suspicion, and took a half step back.

At this moment, there was even a real and illusory vibration on the tip of the gun.

witchcraft?

No.

He rejected his own guess. The necklace under the armor did not vibrate. There was no magical response from the caster at all.

"Get ready, Lord Derek, the real sword is coming next—"

The voice fell from the lion-patterned helmet, and the steel boots stepped out as if they had no weight.

In an instant, the figure of the young female knight in a gray robe and silver armor looked like a flying swallow across the water.

Derek put away his confusion and no longer looked down on others. He swung his gun and rushed forward.

--call!

In an instant, the two men engaged in several exchanges of blows.

The fluttering cold light all turned into a tangled breeze.

The phantom of the spear seemed to be bitten by a ferocious beast, with the sword blade grabbing it tightly and chasing it with dazzling stabs.

Olivia did not allow the other party to have even a moment to breathe during the intense fight.

Ding ding dang dang, they exchanged positions several times and their weapons clashed dangerously.

The metallic sound could not catch up with the glare reflected by the sharp blade.

The young knights and soldiers watching tried their best to keep their eyes on the two men, but it was difficult for them to catch sight of their weapons which were almost disappearing.

Leon stared at the wonderful contest, and the illusion he tried to see made his brain feel slightly tired.
I don’t know if the little lion has become stronger or if it has let go of its strength when facing a warrior of a higher level.

In any case, Leon could see that the girl was no longer the same as before.

If she were to return to Selva at this moment, even without the Death Claw, Olivia would probably be able to kill through Doson's guards and cut off his head.

After fighting for more than twenty rounds, there was a dull golden sound, and the wolf hunter used the force to escape. His feet did not touch the ground, and he slid straight out of the circle until he stopped his feet and stopped the force.

There was no pursuit.

Olivia stepped in a circle, eliminated her posture, raised her sword in salute, and thanked him with a double meaning:

"Thank you for your patience and guidance, Sir Derek."

Derek outside the circle relaxed his body and was speechless for a moment. He held his spear and raised his visor, looking a little sad.

"I started learning martial arts at the age of six and have been wielding spears and swords for thirty years. Knight Olivia, today you made me feel that most of my life has been lived in vain." The wolf hunter was convinced and no longer addressed her as Ms.

Witnessing their champion knight defeating the powerful ranger, the surrounding soldiers cheered and shouted loudly.

Like the champion in charge, Olivia turned around, stood in the middle of the field with her sword in hand, and accepted the rangers' continued challenges with a smile.

With the lessons learned from the previous experience, several warriors who were eager to show their skills couldn't wait to go on stage, but no one underestimated the seemingly weak girl in front of them, and they all showed their true abilities.

Leon stayed on the sidelines and watched the show, but he was not worried at all.

He could see that the rangers, with their long weapons, double blades, and broadswords, came from all over the world and had very different styles of martial arts, which made the fight of his little lion particularly enjoyable.

Neither the remote Selva nor the former Avalon had ever gathered so many masters.

However, this martial arts exchange did not last too long. After all, it was a competition rather than a duel. Several people stepped forward one by one, and soon the winner was decided in a stop-gap manner.
——Bang! !
The weapons suddenly clashed, and Greenthorne, frowning, steadied the long pole and suddenly felt a change in the force.

Realizing his opponent's intention, he fought back with all his might, and as a result, in the fierce struggle, the burly old knight was pushed out of the circle by Olivia with his feet staring.

Lockhak on the sidelines couldn't help scratching his head. Was this Olivia's way of taking revenge for him?

The old ranger staggered back, took off his helmet, waved his hand in surrender, feeling regretful. If he had the extraordinary strength of the young girl knight to help him, perhaps there would have been fewer casualties in the process of defeating the water monster.

"If you live longer, you will see everything. Miss Olivia, is there a dragon stuffed inside your tiny body? Where does your strength come from?"

Olivia took off her stuffy helmet and shook her hair. After fighting against such a powerful ranger knight for a long time, even she had sweat on her forehead.

However, the girl with a rosy face seemed to be enjoying it very much.

"You're exaggerating. I just did farm work since I was young, so I ate more and grew stronger." Olivia couldn't tell what her ancestors' constitution was, so she could only joke. "Haha, the food in the Gray Shirt Valley is really nourishing. I'm going to try more of yours to see how it differs from that in Ostania." The old knight didn't ask any more questions and laughed heartily.

As the sparring session came to an end, several rangers returned their training weapons and came before Leon to apologize for interrupting them.

Of course Leon didn't mind. Allowing them to practice against his soldiers would be of great benefit to the soldiers' martial arts.

But until the crowd gradually dispersed and the training ground returned to calm, he still felt a little regretful.

Why didn't any of those rangers come to challenge him? He wanted to show off his skills, but his own Golden Lion Knight was the only one who challenged him.

Olivia took the wet towel handed to her by Treya and wiped her neck. She said with a smile: "You are seriously injured and have not recovered yet. Wouldn't it be asking for trouble to compete with you in martial arts when you are injured? What's more, you are the lord of Avalon."

Leon shrugged. That was right, but he still picked up the blunt sword and walked into the field.

Although the injury has not healed completely, it does not hinder sparring with her lover. Leon knows that Olivia can control her strength.

However, looking at the girl sitting on the chair and taking a short rest, Leon recalled her performance just now and became curious: "How did you do that move just now? Why haven't I seen it before?"

"Which move do you mean?" Olivia returned the towel to Treya and turned around to ask.

"The sword move you made before the fight with Lord Derek was like an illusion." Leon gestured.

"Can you see it too?" The girl was surprised to hear that.

She stood up with the blunt sword in hand, but after thinking for a moment, she spread her hands and explained, "That's actually a technique to scare people. I simulated the momentum of swinging a sword through my body shape and posture, but it has no other effect except to scare the opponent by surprise. Moreover, if the opponent's understanding of martial arts is too low, he will not be able to sense this hint, and it will be even more meaningless."

"Try it on me, it's really fun."

Regardless of whether it is useful or not, Leon finds it very novel and is quite interested in this skill invented by his lover.

"Okay. But you must remember to block it."

Olivia reminded, "I've tried it with Lord Larian. If you can see it, if you're really hit, your body will feel phantom pain."

Hearing this, Leon became even more excited and immediately raised his sword to signal.

Seeing this, Olivia had no choice but to raise her sword and decided to perform a simple sword move.

Seeing the girl's posture, Leon took a deep breath, trying to find the way of thinking he had when he was dying.

Concentrate your attention and focus your mind on the girl in front of you.

Watch Olivia's actions carefully and construct her actions in your mind.
Light, sound, flowing breeze, the perception slowly extends
The faint tinnitus passed through my mind like an electric sound.

The falling dust seemed to stop, and my five senses were pulled, flattened, and slowed down.
The outlines of the surroundings were blurry, unlike the clarity of that day, but I could still sense some movement.

He saw it among the shapeless tracks.

The outline of Olivia was clearer. She walked towards him slowly and slashed him down with a sword.

This was not a foresight, but seemed to be just a prediction of possibility, because he could see that the girl was still standing there.

But as the sword approached like a real thing, Leon couldn't help but instinctively try to raise his sword to block it.

His shoulders and body moved slightly, and he found that in the action he controlled, the vague outline that separated from his body swung the sword to attack.

Step forward and slash horizontally.

Invisibly, two illusory sword blades collided with each other, and in the blink of an eye turned into chaotic dust with dots, lines, and surfaces intertwined.

It was just a moment, less than half a breath.

Leon didn't move.

Olivia didn't move either.

".Eh~?"

The girl blinked in surprise, her eyes flickering.

"Leon, so you can do this too?" Olivia asked in surprise.

She caught a glimpse of the momentum with which her lover had just struck down her.

The other party was indeed just like himself and had not actually taken any practical action.

This is something that even Lord Larian couldn't do after trying.

Leon sighed, slightly loosened the hilt of the sword, and shook his head at Olivia: “.No, it feels different. It’s more accurate to say that you can ‘see’ it rather than that I can do it.

With my level, I am definitely far from being able to actively let others sense my aura and hints."

Seeing the girl tilting her head, trying to understand what he meant, Leon waved his hand and stopped dwelling on it.

"Forget it, let's start sparring. I want to try out the new skills I've learned." Leon got into position again.

He hasn't forgotten why he brought Olivia to the arena.

"New skills, is that the surprise you mentioned a few days ago?" The girl didn't ask any more questions and returned to the field.

After putting on her helmet, Olivia said something to be careful about, and then she took the initiative to attack as she would in any sparring match.

With a clang, the swords collided. Leon frowned and stepped back, urging:
"Not enough, Olivia, show the same momentum that you used to knock down Lord Greenthorne!"

Although she was worried about hurting the other person, Olivia had to speed up her sword moves when she heard her lover's slightly dissatisfied voice, which didn't seem like she was trying to be brave.

Stepping forward, the dancing silver wheel passed by. The girl caught a glimpse of Leon twisting his figure past her, and suddenly realized that things were different from the past.

Since teaching each other martial arts.

Did she misjudge Leon's reaction for the first time?
No——.Not only that!

Three completely different judgments suddenly appeared in my mind.

——A diagonal cut from the lower left.

——Hit the handle directly at the face.

——A backward counterattack.

Every possibility is almost the same? Olivia's golden pupils slightly faded in this momentary distraction.

The surprise did not slow the girl's actions. She stepped back and dragged the sword, keeping half a body distance away, choosing to prepare for a defensive counterattack in the safest way.

The expected pursuit did not come.

When Olivia saw the other person, she kicked the ground without any reluctance and jumped away.

"call"

Leon steadied his breath and maintained his posture, his eyes full of excitement.

There is really no loophole in catching up with him. There is no chance of winning at all.

"Leon? You seem to have become much stronger!" Olivia exclaimed sincerely.

She stopped, put the blade back, and changed to the lower variation of the hidden sword style.

"Of course, Master Leon is very different now, just do your best." Leon grinned under his mask, still having the leisure to proudly respond to his lover's compliments.

Olivia's smile was filled with relief and pride.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have underestimated you."

The girl put away her smile, straightened her expression, and her eyes suddenly changed.

She decided to respond to her lover's request seriously.

Leon's pride froze at his lips.

The originally blurred outlines and trajectories turned into indescribable waves.

If he saw countless clear death spirals when facing Yassen.

Then, he was facing a flood of illusions from which there was no escape.
(End of this chapter)