'This is the first time that I have dodged a sudden attack since the start of this trial.' Howard St. Claire recalled and a strange fire rose in his heart.

Until now, he had been on the offense, and having to defend himself from her attack was completely new for him.

His expectations had risen for this trial and so had his speed.

The boy who was five feet away from his sister was seen rushing forward in her direction.

Yvonne had realized that she had awakened the sword junkie's spirit in him and he would not hesitate to go all out of her.

This realization did not scare her as an energetic smirk appeared on her face.

She did not jump out of the way of his attack this time and stood her ground with the sword tight in her grip.

Their eyes clashed and she could feel the pressure oozing from his body which had been absent until now.

While the excitement was bubbling up in her heart as to what might happen next in this trial, the people watching from the sidelines could not believe what was happening right now.

"He is enjoying this!" Taylor exclaimed as he had seen that look on his best friend's face when the two would spar back at the Academy.

His eyes remained wide open since he had noticed that smile appearing on Howard's face.

This statement brought surprise and fear in their hearts as they had heard of how competent this young boy was with his sword.

Among those present there, the most worried one was Rutherford St. Claire.

'What does he think he is doing!?' He glared at the boy who was seen advancing towards the little girl at full speed.

Not only had his speed increased by a considerable percentage, but the pressure that was surrounding the boy was also a clear indicator of the fact that he had gotten serious with his efforts now.

"I need to stop this." He announced as he rose from his seat.

Taylor was the first to nod his head in acceptance as there was no way that a little girl like Yvonne could handle his pressure for much longer.

"Shut up and watch!" A roar was heard which halted everyone's thoughts.

They turned towards the source of the voice only to find that it was coming from the Captain whose eyes were fixed on the training field.

This prompted them to look in that direction as well only to find something strange occurring over there.

There they found the sword in the hand of the boy which was moving straight towards the girl's head was surprisingly blocked by her sword.

Yvonne gritted her teeth when she felt his pressure and her feet dragged against the sand on the ground as she was being pushed back thanks to the force he had used.

'You dare to attack me with such force?' She glowered at him and dug her feet into the ground, stabilizing her position.

The two swords were in contact with each other and they shoved back and forth due to each person's strength.

Howard was quick to observe that they were at a stalemate and withdrew as he jumped backward by a couple of steps.

Once the pressure on her was gone, Yvonne huffed as she tried to catch her breath.

'This brat doesn't look like it but surely has some strength in his bones.' She remarked and decided to stay alert from her on.

Even when she was enjoying this little sparring match with him she had to take into account that she was younger than him and had a weaker body when compared to him.

She had only been training for a month while he had been training for more than five years so she needed to be wary of him.

Howard had taken a moment to catch his breath after which he returned to attacking her.

The two bodies moved to and fro and their swords clashed against each other every so often.

This time, Yvonne had taken the initiative to go on offensive mode as she began attacking him.

'Find a weak spot…' She reminded herself as she swung her sword at his waist.

Tucking his stomach in, the boy evaded her attack while his sword struck her calf.

A muffled groan left her lips but she did not stop as she jumped away from him to buy herself some time.

Howard shook his head when he noticed that there was a limp on her left leg which he had attacked.

'She could have moved the sword towards the side and blocked me.' He clicked his tongue and understood that there was much that she had yet to learn.

Not wasting this golden opportunity, he ran towards her with the entire intention to end this trial once and for all.

Yvonne's amethyst eyes darkened when she saw his hasty movements until her bright orbs turned a dark hue of violet.

The people watching the show were afraid that she had frozen in fear when they found her standing in the same place without taking a step away from the charging boy.

Damien's forest-green eyes darkened when he noticed that she did not have any intentions of moving as she stared at her brother.

Taylor on the other hand had leaped into his uncle's arms and hid his face in Marquess Samed's arm, refusing to see that adorable girl receiving a beating from his horrible best friend.

'He truly has no heart!' He cursed his friend for being so brutal towards his little sister.

Rutherford had once again risen from his seat to rescue his daughter but in the next moment, his jaw dropped when he saw what had taken place.

Howard, who was rushing ahead towards his opponent was suddenly without a target to attack, causing him to lose his balance.

His feet came to a screeching halt when he realized that just when his sword was about to be aimed at her forehead once again, she had twisted her waist and hopped out of harm's way.

Using the sword as a supportive cane to not fall flat on his face, he narrowed his eyes and turned towards the direction she had escaped in.

There, he found his sister with an arrogant smile, proud that she had managed to trick him.

'He kept charging just like a bull so all I had to do was dodge.' She thought of herself to be the matador in this short bullfight with the bull named Howard St. Claire.

"Brute strength won't be of any use without the assistance of this." She enlightened him as her finger raised to her temple, gesturing towards her head where the brain resided.

Taylor had been waiting to hear the terrified scream of the girl but instead he heard her lecturing words.

His head whiplashed towards the ground only to find that she was safe and at a distance away from Howard.

Pushing his uncle away, he returned to watching the trial and cheering for his favorite in this contest, the lovely little girl.

Marquess Samed glanced at his nephew who had just tossed him aside after making use of him in his moment of need.

"Don't mind him, Uncle." Topher sympathized with him as he too had been subjected to that greedy boy's nature too many times.

Sullivan sighed and the two went back to watching the interesting turn of events that was taking place before them.