Chapter 150 Alice
Sometime later, Alice approached Leo and spoke, "Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Alice. In case you're wondering, I don't have a surname because I am an orphan. I am currently working at the Golden City as an instructor for the Valliere Royal Family. I specialize mostly in the sword, but I am also a magician."
Alice suddenly extended her hand for a handshake.
Leo accepted it without any hesitation and said, "Hello, Miss Alice. I am Leo, currently a student in the Four Witches Academy. I look forward to training with you."
"You can just call me Alice. I don't like formalities."
"I understand, Alice."
"Before we start, I would like to see your current level, so we're going to do a quick spar." Alice said as she retrieved a beautiful sword with a golden blade.
"Okay." Leo wielded his Blood Sword.
"We'll start things out without any magic. Attack me whenever you're ready." Alice said to him.
Leo silently nodded his head and took a deep breath.
Once he was prepared, he advanced forward and started attacking Alice.
Just like his spar with Khrome, Alice didn't attack him back for the first several minutes and would only block his strikes.
The only difference was that Leo went all out from the beginning, as he wasn't trying to defeat Alice.
Once Alice had a good gauge of his capabilities, she started attacking him, but even then, she would do so in a reserved manner. In other words, she was going easy on him.
Compared to Khrome's wide swings and powerful strikes, Alice was the complete opposite. Her sword swings were relaxed and seemed to be as gentle as a feather, but when Leo went to block her attacks, he realized how deceptive her swings were, as they were actually heavier than even Khrome's power attacks.
Furthermore, even though her strikes looked easy to dodge, Leo found it more difficult and stressful to block one of Alice's strikes than 10 of Khrome's strikes.
'She's a true master of the sword!' Leo cried inwardly as he tried his best to keep up with Alice.
'This woman is strong…' Lilith thought to herself as she watched from above.
Alice's movements appeared to be slow, but each of her movements flowed together perfectly, and there was not even the slightest pause between her attacks, so even though she moved slowly, it didn't feel like that to Leo, who was constantly pressured by her blade, feeling as though he was being haunted by it.
Sometime later, Alice said, "Okay, let's stop here for now. After a short break, we'll do another spar, but you'll be allowed to use magic this time."
"Hm? Really? Why are you allowing me to use magic even though we're practicing the sword?" Leo asked, as this is the first time he's been told to use magic while using the sword.
"Is there some kind of rule that says one cannot fight with both sword and magic at the same time? If you think swordsmanship is all about the sword, you're wrong. There are two kinds of magicians in this world. Those that only focus on their magic and those that focus on both magic and their weapon. In my case, I am what you call a Magic Swordsman. I enjoy using the sword, but if using magic puts me at an advantage, I will use that. In the end, the only thing that matters in a fight is the result— my victory."
"A Magic Swordsman, huh? That sounds pretty cool." Leo muttered.
Sometime later, Leo and Alice started sparring again. This time, Leo was allowed to use magic.
However, since he wasn't used to fighting with both at the same time, his movements at first were a bit stiff and awkward, but he quickly adapted to the style and started moving more smoothly.
'He's a fast learner. I haven't taught him anything yet and he's already improving.'
However, even with magic, Leo seemed to have trouble landing a hit on Alice. In fact, he would miss everything, and even his magic spells were being deflected with ease.
'How is this possible? She moves before I can even fully cast my magic, almost as if she could see the future.' Leo found this quite bizarre, as he was casting his magic without uttering a word and without showing the magic circle, yet Alice is able to accurately dodge and block all of his magic for some reason.
At the end of their 2nd spar, Leo decided to ask her.
"How come you can avoid my magic so flawlessly? Can you see the future or something?" Leo asked.
"As if I would have something so convenient. I can tell that you're going to cast magic by looking at your body and muscle movements. When magicians cast magic, they subconsciously move certain parts on their body. However, I cannot tell what kind of magic you're going to cast, so I have to rely on my reaction for everything else. If you don't want to be read, get rid of your bad habits and unnecessary movements."
"Do you have any advice regarding this issue? How do I fix something I can't even realize?" Leo asked.
"Simple. I will discipline you until you get it right. For the next three days, we're going to focus purely on getting rid of your bad habits."
"Okay."
They began fighting again shortly after. However, things were different this time. Every time Leo would make any unnecessary movements, Alice would strike that part of his body and warn him about it.
And everytime Alice struck him with her sword, even if it was only lightly, it felt like he was being shocked by electricity.
Three days passed by in a flash.
Leo's movement improved tremendously during this time. Although he would still have some unnecessary movements from time to time, it was good enough for just 3 days of training.
"For the next four days, until the end of our training session, I am going to teach you how to fight using both magic and sword at the same time." Alice said to him on the morning of their fourth day.
"And the best way to learn is to experience it for yourself."
Alice's body suddenly discharged sparks with electricity flying everywhere.
"This is… lightning magic affinity…?" Leo muttered in a dazed voice, as this is his first time seeing such an element.