"Ouch!"

A loud yelp was heard in the training grounds which sent waves of distress into the hearts of the spectators who had been watching the show for a few minutes now.

"Pay attention!" The boy holding the wooden sword in his hand glared at his opponent.

'Ugh shut up!' The little girl growled as she glared daggers back at him.

The bright red mark on her forehead was beginning to darken as blood rushed to the area which had been struck by the opponent.

Though she felt pain shooting in the area that had been hit by the wooden sword, she knew that she did not have the leisure to check up on it.

The final trial had begun and she needed to remain alert and agile if she wished to succeed today.

Howard noticed how she was not giving up and neither had she thrown a tantrum when he had struck her.

'If that is what she wants then I'm happy to oblige.' He smirked and leaped forward, going on the offense once again.

With his quick and practiced movements, Yvonne was left with no other choice but to dodge and defend herself whenever his sword was raised to attack her.

The observers were silent as they watched the movements from earlier repeat themselves all over again.

The final trial had begun a few minutes ago and with its commencement, Howard did not waste time as he began testing her skills.

He had let her make the first movie which he defended just by taking a couple of steps away from his previous position.

This first move his little sister had made gave him a good idea of the strength she held in her hands and the amount of experience she had with wielding the power of the sword.

'Not too bad for a novice.' He judged her and from then onwards, he dived into action.

The elder brother advanced which resulted in the younger sister retreating.

Rutherford and Raylene watched unblinkingly as their son was charging forward to attack their daughter.

Just as he had promised, Howard did not utilize his full strength but he did not hold back his speed and his well-versed techniques.

The parents had almost fallen off their seats when they witnessed how their precious daughter's forehead was struck by their son.

They had treated their child as a precious existence in their lives and made sure to never let her experience any pain so the mark on her forehead was heartbreaking for them to witness.

Though Rutherford could discern that the impact of the strike wasn't great, he could not stop his heart from clenching in pain.

Even her loud yelp had only caused his distress to heighten and now as he saw her glare back at her attacker, he did not know whether to laugh or to cry.

'She looks like a little hamster baring fangs which it does not have.' He compared the two images and a smile broke out on his face.

His wife pinched his waist when she noticed how he was enjoying the sight of their children fighting against each other.

"I am worried sick and you are smiling!?" She scowled in a whisper as she leaned closer to his ear.

Rutherford did not feel much pain but he winced nonetheless which frightened her and she let go of his waist in an instant.

She looked at him with caring eyes and this caused him to smile down at her.

"She is fine, just like I am fine." He whispered back and held her shoulders, pulling her into his embrace.

Raylene understood that she had been tricked and refused to look at him any longer as she fixed her eyes at her beloved children on the training ground.

The Earl sighed but decided to cajole his wife after this trial came to an end.

Back on the training field, Yvonne gritted her teeth as she stared at her brother.

She had been busy trying to dodge his attacks and also trying to figure out an opening where she could attack.

In her moment of distraction, Howard had leaped closer and aimed the sword straight at her head.

He had noticed her eyes flitting around which made him have some doubts about what was in her mind.

However, no matter what she was planning, her lack of concentration on her attacker was a matter of scorn for him.

Thus, he did not hesitate to strike her forehead to teach her a lesson for being so absentminded on the battlefield.

Once he had reprimanded her, he rolled his eyes at the anger evident on her tiny face.

Not caring for the glares he was being bestowed, the elder brother got back to the sparring they had been doing until now.

Out of the allotted time, only four minutes had passed and there was still a lot of time left before the trial could come to an end.

"Lose focus one more time and look at what I do." He threatened and moved forward.

'One strike is all you get!' The little girl sneered at this overconfident brother of hers.

The only reason he had been able to land a blow on her was due to her attention which had shifted to another place for just a moment.

But he would not get another opportunity like that as she was sure that she would heighten her defenses from now onwards.

Hence, when Howard appeared right before her in the blink of an eye she jumped away, haphazardly throwing her body sideways to avoid his attack.

His sword cut through thin air making the boy turn his eyes in the direction she had jumped only to find that there was a sword swiftly moving in his direction.

Yvonne had only acted that she was going to fall due to her abrupt and panicked jump sideways when in fact, she had stabilized her body and aimed the sword at his shoulder.

'She aimed at a difficult spot to defend.' Captain Desmo Reel smirked when he observed her smart move.

From Howard's current position, to defend an attack coming from his side would be tough to shield by using the sword.

To bend his elbow in that strange angle would hurt and not to mention that the girl had taken him by surprise.

Captain's assumptions were spot on as Howard's eyes narrowed at her abrupt change in actions.

He did not try to defend himself from her attack instead he leaned his body towards the other side and succeeded in saving his shoulder from her sword.

Yvonne's attack suffered the same fate as Howard's earlier attack of not being able to hit the target.

Twisting his body, the brother was facing her one again and there was a glint of excitement that appeared in his eyes for the first time since he had begun this trial.

"Looks like this won't be as boring as I had expected it to be." He uttered with a playful tone.

Though his words sounded positive, there was a hint of sarcasm laced in them.

'So you finally know that I am not some weak caged bird that needs everybody's protection?' Yvonne raised her brows and smiled back at him.