---------------------------------- Leona’s View

“Therese’s eyes changed once again… I never saw her like that, she really saw something in that boy” Thought Leona seeing Therese’s reaction, but to her surprise Therese went to normal right after it.

“I see…” she said to the boy before turning around and getting back to the table, followed by Leona.

“What happened? I have never seen you show that much aggression towards anyone before…” Said Leona sitting down at the table with Therese who seemed distant.

There was no response from Therese, she just looked the other way with her elbow on the table, resting her chin on her hand.

“Therese?” Asked Leona again, completely puzzled by the lack of attention of her master.

Therese’s mind was elsewhere. Leona looked back at the boy seriously who was also looking at them.

“Why would Syldis protect him? If Therese’s reaction was that strong, the boy must be a problem” She thought while looking at him.

Leona knew Syldis was not from the clans, but even she should be able to tell that.

A moment passed and Therese moved, she seemed back to her normal self. Leona tried again.

“Why were you so angered with the boy? What happened?” She asked.

Therese looked at her “It was not anger” she said calmly.

“What do you mean? I saw your eyes and your face… They changed and you were about to attack the boy” Said Leona rapidly.

Therese just smiled faintly, Leona was lost.

Didn’t take long for Syldis and the boy to approach their table, he didn’t approach them until Syldis did so first.

“I see you calmed down Therese… I know you mean well but that was reckless, what would you do if you had injured him?” Said Syldis frowning while putting a big plate filled with stacked pieces of roasted meat on the table.

Therese smiled brightly for the first time since she entered the tavern “It’s good to see that you haven’t changed a bit Syldis… and I apologize, I was indeed reckless. That will not happen again.” Said Therese in her calm tone.

Syldis nodded and sat down beside her and pointed to the spot by Leona for the boy to sit.

The big woman smiled once again. “Let’s eat, then Riou we can talk about the swords” She looked at Riou who was showing uncertainty on what to do.

Therese was looking at the meat while Leona and Syldis looked at Therese.

On the clans, the strongest always eat first. And as a disciple, Leona had to wait for Therese to take the first piece, it was a sign of respect. It was a very old tradition, like in the wild, the strongest has the right to be first to choose the food it wants to eat.

Syldis having spent a long time amongst the clans knew of such tradition very well and also waited for Therese.

A few moments passed and Therese showed no signs of moving. Leona glanced at Syldis, the big woman wasn’t sure why she was acting like that as well.

As no one else was showing any intention to eat, Riou reached with his hand for a very small piece by the side of the dish closest to him.

Leona frowned immediately while Syldis smiled “It’s customary with the beastmen for the strongest in the table to have the first serving” She said looking at Riou that was clearly unaware of the tradition.

“Oh, I’m sorry… I didn’t know that” said the boy returning it.

But right after he touched the piece, Therese moved and picked her portion, right after him.

Leona looked at her surprised, Therese didn’t seem bothered in the slightest about the boy’s lack of manners, she didn’t even wait for him to return the piece of meat to the table to pick her. That was very unlike her.

While eating, Leona noticed that the boy seemed distant.

Something was definitely bothering him, and judging by Syldis' expression while also glancing at him, she was concerned as well.

“You know, Riou and Maximilian were the ones to bring the living metal ingots to the blacksmith, perhaps they could help you to get more so you could craft the sword you wanted Therese.” Said Syldis in a cheerful tone trying to lighten up the mood.

Therese looked at the boy expectantly for the answer.

“It’s possible... but we need Max's help for that” Answered the boy not too sure how to proceed with such a request.

“So it’s true what the blacksmith said… I can’t believe they were able to create the metal, the blacksmith sold everything in a blink of an eye, we arrived too late. But now we may be able to get some of it”

She turned towards Therese. The Lioness didn’t question anything, she just nodded accepting his word. Indeed a Magus knowledge would be essential to create such metal. But Therese’s behavior towards the boy was rather strange in Leona’s eyes.

So the disciple was curious, something happened to Therese’s since she touched the boy’s head.

“Maybe I should try sense it for myself”

Suddenly Leona spoke out of the blue in the middle of the lunch.

“Riou, isn’t it? May I…“ She turned her body in his direction, raising her hand up towards the boy and waiting for his response.

The boy looked at her suspiciously leaning back from her hand. He was clearly not so fond of the idea after the first time. He glanced at Syldis that just smiled back at him.

Still unsure, he seemed to come around the idea and slowly complied with Leona’s request, approaching his head allowing her to touch it.

Leona focused her senses.

Her mind went blank and all her attention was on her instincts. The wolf was paying attention to what her body and senses could tell her about him.

Leona’s hand lowered and touched his head.

Therese smiled to herself and promptly picked up the mugs from her side of the table, holding them up, one in each hand.

Leona snapped, sheer terror assaulted her whole being.

The air escaped her lungs.

She sees herself immersed in a starless dark night amidst a never ending field.

But she was not alone. There was someone… or something in front of her, hidden in the dark

Her hair stood up on end throughout her whole body as she felt that presence so close.

She bared her fangs and growled towards the unseen beast in front of her like a scared dog at a corner.

She could not see it, but it was close that she could feel its hot breath blowing over her.

Focusing her sight she was able to notice a mouth. From it sprouted out giant menacing fangs.

It was so big and so dangerously close to her that it could eat her whole in one bite without even chewing her.

She felt powerless, knowing that there was nothing she could do to escape such an immense beast. She had no choice but to instinctively look for it’s eyes and see its intentions.

It’s body was shrouded by darkness, its format or it’s length was unknown to her, afraid, her eyes looked up, searching for the beast’s eyes above that massive jaw.

Two giant glowing eyes looked at her from far above, shining in a dark blue glow amidst the black veil in the sky.

To her relief, the beast was not even looking at her.

Watching them, she saw something she didn’t expect. They were not the eyes of a killer. They looked around, lost, as if searching for something or someone.

Within those eyes she could sense anxiety, confusion, uncertainty… but above all, sadness. Which Leona knew all too well.

“He’s lost… something happened and he is longing for his home” such a feeling left a strong impression on her.

His eyes were serene and calm while looking into the distance.

She knew she wouldn’t be attacked, he had no hunger within him, he didn’t even acknowledge her presence there.

Once she realized that, the tension vanished completely.

Her breathing became normal, she now understood his nature.

It took but a moment after touching the boy’s head for Leona to calm down completely.

She was a different person afterwards… her serious expression vanished and a lingering sadness seemed to have taken its place.

She looked at Therese that nodded at her, very satisfied with her disciple.

----------------------- Riou’s view

The moment she touched his head she had a muscular spasm that rocked the table and knocked down Riou’s mug to the ground.

Leona bared her fangs at him and her body hair stood on end. She growled menacingly while moving her head instinctively away from him.

She was ready to defend herself to death if necessary.

But that didn’t last, a moment later she calmed down and promptly released the boy.

Her eyes were wide and very surprised, recovering her consciousness she immediately looked at Therese who just smiled towards her.

“These women are crazy… What the hell is going on here? Is this really necessary every time?”

Riou thought to himself looking at them before turning to Syldis for an explanation to that reaction.

Syldis looked puzzled at him, she was clearly unaware to why Leona acted in such a way, probably even the bear herself never saw such a strange response before.

Leona’s behavior changed immediately towards Riou as if a switch was flicked. She did not look at him directly anymore and even tried to avoid his gaze.

He waited for some explanation, but they clearly didn’t want to talk about that subject and a silence followed the incident.

Syldis was the first to speak after a few moments of silence.

“So, Therese and Leona were at the academy to the south, lecturing on sword fighting when they heard about the swords being sold in the capital. That’s why they came, do you mind showing it to them?”

Riou saw no problem with that and drew his blades putting them on the table.

Therese’s eyes widened as she looked at the metal working. She leaned forward and looked at Riou. “May I?” gesturing she wanted to hold them.

The boy nodded.

Therese took the longsword and looked at the metal, the lines and balance… It was a terrific sword.

Riou noticed the desire of having one of those in her eyes.

“If you find the Magus… would you be able to forge this metal?” Said Therese looking at the sword with great interest.

“Yeah… probably yes.” He answered unsure if it was ok to say he could do it by himself, in any case he thought it was better to add a constraint to the equation.

“I heard from Syldis that he is missing and that you were looking for him” Therese said, putting the sword down back to the table.

Leona was looking at the blades the whole time, but did not dare to touch them.

Riou looked at Syldis… even for her friends, Syldis was following Max's indication faithfully.

“Yeah, I’m still looking for him.” He said looking at Syldis.

“That’s unfortunate… but we’d like to help you with your search if you don’t mind… it is very important for me to acquire this metal.” Said Therese lowering her head.

Syldis eyes gleamed with excitement.

“Oh crap… This is the same situation that happened with Viktor. I don’t want nor need an escort again… I will say yes before Syldis starts to talk crazy stuff.”

Riou smiled forcefully “Sure… no problem” he said. “Now I need a diversion”

“But before that, I need to take care of some matters at the castle. I don’t know when I will be able to resume my search” he said forcefully.

Therese nodded and looked at Leona “We will follow you then, we need to go to the castle as well.” Said Therese standing up from the table.

“This is unexpected… but oh well, the castle is big, I will be able to sneak away if needed” He thought to himself while smiling at them.

Leona pushed her chair back and went by the greater length to leave the table, making sure to not pass near Riou who was sitting beside her near the corridor.

The two women went upstairs to prepare for departure.

Riou was left with Syldis at the table. The big woman was looking at him concerned “Now that they are gone… tell me, what happened child?” she said.

Riou was caught off guard “What do you mean? Nothing happened.” he said.

Syldis frowned.

“I know, I know… the lie thing right?” Riou sighed.

“It’s just… I don’t feel quite myself for a while now. Today was worse. It’s just… it’s not like me to get all flustered up like this. You know? Things aren’t supposed to work out like you fantasize, but still…you know? It gets you anyway. You know what I’m saying? Like, when you see it happening and then you get mad. But you shouldn’t. Then reality hits you like a train and you find yourself all messed up for something that should had nothing to do with you in the first place, it’s mind boggling”

Syldis just smiled, as if she hadn’t heard a word he said and just replied “It’s a girl isn’t it? You are in that age after all” but then her smile was replaced by a concerned expression “is it who I think it is?”

Riou sighed and nodded “I didn’t even know when it happened… to be honest it shouldn’t be like this. I swear I was paying attention to avoid it. But it was so nice talking to her… she laughed at my jokes. She was smiling all the time And she is so smart, focused and driven... shit… I shouldn’t have known better and just stayed away.”

Syldis nodded and smiled tenderly.

“Well, I knew this would happen the moment I saw her dragging you around, a young boy like yourself can’t resist a powerful and beautiful woman like her, it was bound to happen”

In a motherly tone she continued “I don’t know what happened, but you must understand that the princess chose the path of the maiden. It granted her a way to escape a political marriage… so the princess is not interested in romance, it’s not because you are young… no, no, no. You are a fine young man now, but you will get even better once you grow a few more years, and eventually you will find a good wife for yourself. Give it time”

Riou had to laugh at himself after such a comment.

“Don’t worry so much dear, you are young and supposed to feel these things at this age… give it time and you will see you will feel better tomorrow”

“She does sound like a mother… I wonder why she is like this” he thought, forcing a smile and nodding. “I guess you are right…” he said, forcing a smile.

“Take your room upstairs. Try to rest for a bit while the two prepare. You will feel better when you wake up, you will see” She said, stroking gently his hair on the top of the head.

Riou nodded and went upstairs, he could use some rest, it was a rough day.

Upstairs, he was in the room Syldis had reserved for him. No one else would use it as Max had left a hefty sum with her to help with any expenses that the boy might have.

In the room, having an idea, Riou put one half of the portal crystal on top of the table, and pointed it to the wall near the window.

“This could be a good exit spot… it will save a lot of travel time for when we get back from Thanes, I just need to make sure Syldis will not mess with it .” He thought to himself before laying down in the bed. He was tired and it felt good to lay down and rest on a decent bed for a change.

He slept for a bit until someone knocked at his door.

“It’s open…” he said out loud sitting down and still a bit drowsy, his bad feeling was back, he felt his head burning and his muscles aching. Seemed like sleep was not a good idea after all.

--------------------------------------- In the throne room that morning

The king was concerned. The knights were present with the exception of Copperford and Bhalrom. From the mages, only Ursula was there.

Together with them was a messenger.

“Yes my king… from the forest, north of Brigantium… our scouts estimated an army of 3000 goblins and a 1000 orcs but that’s only what we could see my lord, we estimate more hidden in the woods by the north of the city.”

The king looked up “Will we not catch a break? It’s one thing after the other” Said the king clearly tired of bad news.

Ursula stepped forward “My king, I know it’s a dire moment, but I do not think this is a random chance, the timing is too perfect, we cannot exclude the hand of our enemies in this matter. That’s why it was a wise move to send the first, Bhalrom, Lilly and Serena’s in advance. We need to be on guard my liege.”

The king nodded “A shadow organization helping Argos… that is indeed disturbing. Have you discovered anything else from the prisoner, Rodrick? Did he know what happened to that boy?” Asked the king.

Rodrick bowed “No my lord, he is under interrogation but he denies having seen anyone but the soldiers that captured him. I don’t think he knows anything else.”

------------------------------------------------ Back to Eileen’s View

“Riou went to the Tavern, I’m sure of it” She felt an urge to find him immediately and this time nothing would stop her.

She couldn’t understand why she was so compelled to see him, but using the official badge she left the castle and went to the Drinking Bear Tavern all on her own.

When she finally arrived, the princess quickly went towards Syldis by the counter while she was cleaning some plates.

The big woman saw her but continued her work as the princess approached.

“Is Riou here?” Eileen asked eagerly.

Syldis took a good luck at her and sighed deeply “Upstairs… last door to the right” She said without interrupting her work, not very pleased with the princess’ presence.

Eileen noticed her reluctance but thanked her for the information.

“Poor boy… can’t catch a break” Said Syldis out loud to herself.

Eileen stood in front of the door and knocked. Riou’s voice came from inside

“It’s open…”

She took a deep breath and entered it.

Riou jumped off the bed surprised.

Eileen closed the door behind her. She felt the need to have some privacy.

She looked at him, something was clearly bothering him.

A few moments of unpleasant silence filled the air. She couldn’t find the words she wanted to say not that she was in front of him again.

Riou finally spoke in a calm, slow voice “So… from before, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you and your friend” said the boy awkwardly.

Eileen's expression changed instantly, the calm expression of the princess became a furious one “That man is no friend of mine, he is despicable and honorless. He had challenged me by the rites and then came uninvited to my training” she swallowed hard, averting her eyes from Riou. A mix of indignation and hatred filled her as she continued “I knew he was up to something, but I’d never thought he’d use such cheap and honorless tricks”

She was in a turmoil of emotions that she didn’t know how to handle, that was also unlike her, to get so affected by such a thing. But when she remembers that he saw her in such a weak state, tears began to form on her crystal blue eyes while her face maintained a resolute expression finally looking at him.

It’s been a long time since she had shed a tear, now they wouldn’t stop flowing, despite trying her best to restrain it.

She looked at a seemingly calm boy.

But his eyes were strange, they were wide open but his gaze became distant as his focus was elsewhere.

Suddenly, behind the princess, the door was kicked open with extreme violence, to the point of shattering towards the room. The princess turned, scared by the noise and positioned herself to defend towards the attackers.

She saw two women with big swords in hand rushing inside the room.

One was blond with golden eyes with vertical pupils. The other had long brown hair and a scar on her right eye.

Eileen was surprised as both came in menacingly. And what she found stranger was they were pointing their weapons at her.

“Who are you?” Said the blond woman calmly while pointing her sword at her..

The princess tried to recompose herself wiping the last tears from her face and elegantly standing at the tip of the sword.

“I’m Eileen Strongheart”

She lowered her weapon.

The brown haired woman interjected looking at the blond one “He is going west… the castle perhaps? Very fast” The blond nodded confirming it without taking her eyes from Eileen.

Syldis rushed into the room after hearing the noise, she saw Leona and Therese with weapons drawn and the door of the room shattered. The big woman quickly put herself between them and the princess

“Therese! Put the weapon away… First you almost kill the boy and now you are threatening the princess!? What’s got into you today? Stop this already!”

Therese and Leona sheathed their weapons looking at Syldis “Is she an acquaintance of his?” Syldis nodded as it was an obvious question “She is a friend, they train at the castle together for a while now.”

Therese nodded “I apologize, I thought...” She paused before continuing and followed another line of thought “Can you explain what happened?” She asked, looking at Eileen.

Eileen was confused “We were talking…” she turned around towards where Riou was a moment ago, but to her surprise he was now gone.

Therese seeing the lost princess searching for the boy, sighed “He went to the castle”

She turned to Leona “Let’s go, we can’t lose him now” she said moving out.

---------------------------------------------- Askjell’s view

“She was more resistant than I anticipated. But she definitely can’t go against my strength now and I think I got into her head… during the challenge her resolve will break. She will have no other alternative than to concede the duel to me” he thought walking towards the guest rooms.

“She will pay for the humiliation… she should have been mine 10 years ago. She made me a joke in the north, losing to a younger girl. But now, now I have the means to make her mine.”

He looked at the rapier he was carrying from the training hall “This is remarkable work. It is probably a gift from the king to the princess… She sure is spoiled. I don’t know how good this metal is, but I bet this would fetch a high price in Thanes after we move there” he thought as he arrived at his room.

Going inside he threw the sword on top of the table near the door.

“Perhaps I could use this sword as a way into the princess bedroom tonight. She is naive enough to let a man inside her chambers... if I say I only wish to return her sword, she will certainly allow me in… from there I could try another hand at breaking her. Even if she resists and screams I could always draw the attention. After all, she was the one that allowed a man in her chambers in the middle of the night… her reputation will be ruined, her honor gone… and the king will ask me to take her from his hands” He thought to himself looking at the sword and smiling.

Someone knocked at the door.

He went to open it and noticed a boy by it. After a better look at him, Askjell recognized him “It’s the one from this morning” he thought smiling to himself “I will play a bit with him as well” Askjell allowed him in.

“I saw you this morning. I didn’t know you worked for the castle,” Said the noble full of himself.

The boy simply smiled.

“We weren’t expecting anyone to appear… but Eileen never mentioned your name, what is it anyway?” completed the noble in a mocking tone.

The boy seemed uncaring to the remark, walking inside the room he went straight for the sword on top of the table.

“That? That is the princess' sword as you may know… she said she will be coming to get it tonight… later tonight... but I don’t think a boy like you can understand it, women can be insatiable sometimes” he said with a lustful tone.

This time the provocation clearly had an effect on the boy, he was twitching and clearly trying desperately to control himself.

“I can’t believe this wimp was allowed to challenge her… he is about to snap just from that”

The boy approached the sword and said in an uncaring tone that seemed to hide a deep anger within.

“I must confess… I’m very tempted right now, no silly presentations, no talks. Just erase you from existence, send you into oblivion. It would be so easy, nobody would even know. But I’m a civilized man, I realize now I shouldn’t have come here” Said the boy in front of the rapier on the table.

Askjell laughed “A civilized man you say? That’s just great!”

Riou took a deep breath “You shouldn’t test me, especially today… I’m not quite myself”

Askjell laughed at him “He is mad because of the fact I will be taking his princess away… He is such a naive boy, does he think he can win against me, he has gone mad with envy!”

The boy was desperately trying to control himself “Even if I make you disappear now, she would know it was me. And I’m in no position to fight her battles.”

Askjell was amused by the boy’s threat.

He continued “I don’t care about your customs, rites or whatever. If you pull another shit like the one you did this morning, nothing will save you from me” Said the boy with a dark and serious tone.

Askjell just forced a smile, masking the shivers he felt down his spine, the boy was way too serious. But it didn’t take long for his pride to kick in. A boy servant daring to threaten him could not be tolerated.

Riou took the sword from the table “This sword is mine” and continued towards the door.

“Ho, so the sword is not hers? Did I oversell it? No matter, he is already furious! This boy is too easy to read, he is desperate trying to keep the princess to himself. He is in love with that block of ice… and now he is trying to scare me off, so predictable. But he messed up by coming here to threaten me” thought the noble.

“I doubt a commoner like yourself could have the coin to buy such a sword, you are stealing it! And know that you are threatening a noble, your head will roll if I say a word to the king” He said, trying to impose himself on him.

“You are warned... mess with her again and you are done for” Said Riou already leaving the room..

“This damn, cocky kid… I will make you eat your words, you will bleed and I will take that sword from your cold body””

The norse forced a smile that quickly vanished “I heard you tried to challenge the princess and lost… you have no chance of winning her over and are desperate now. I understand, I’m a good man, so state your apology and I may not kill you” said Askjell clearly angered.

Riou just laughed out loud “And who is gonna kill me? You?”

“You are dead” thought Askjell with a smile.

----------------------------------- The Trio going to the castle

Therese, Leona were followed by Eileen while rushing to the castle.

“Why do you think he went back to the castle?” Asked Eileen.

“I sensed his presence in that direction a while ago, but it's vanishing now” Therese answered.

“What do you mean, can you feel someone’s presence?” Asked Eileen again.

“No… not normally and not like this, only when he is angry. What did you do to get him this mad?” Replied Therese trying to understand what could have triggered such a response. But before Eileen could answer something caught Therese and Leona's attention.

They were at the entrance gates getting a carriage to go up to the castle when suddenly a stronger surge came from the castle catching their attention. She and Leona simultaneously looked at the castle.

“How can a boy that small have such a presence?” Asked Leona “It feels like he is about to level the castle’s plateau to the ground” She commented.

“Seems like he found what he was after, but he is calming down now” said Therese. Eileen tried to understand what they were talking about, but it made no sense for her.

“He is certainly mysterious” Said Therese to Leona.

Turning to Eileen she continued “Where did he come from Princess?” Asked Therese.

The princess was taken by surprise “From the south, I think? Or was it from overseas in the north? He didn’t actually say… nobody really knows where he came from. All that was said was that he was not from these lands” she answered recalling what she heard when the boy was found.

“How did he end up in Allard?” questioned Therese.

“I, I don’t know,” She said.

“How was his home called? Who was his master, his family?” Therese asked.

“I… I don’t know…”

“What can you tell us about him?” Therese insisted.

The princess didn’t know how to answer that either, she realized how little she knew about him.

Eileen never cared to ask details of his past life. All she did was use him to improve herself.

That realization left a sour taste in her mouth.

She questioned herself. Was all the interest in the boy because of his prowess and skill?

Questions and doubt assaulted her mind, was she concerned for his well being or because she wanted to continue her own training?

Uncertainty filled the Princess' mind to which she didn’t have a clear answer.

But now, thinking about Riou, she could be certain of a few things.

That for the first time in many years she enjoyed someone’s company, he made her laugh and was always a joyous moment to be with him. Talking to him came easy, there were no second guesses or hidden intentions with him. She knew he was authentic and himself all the time. He was completely different than anyone else she had ever known.

She went silent for a moment, he must have gotten angered with what happened that morning and rushed to the castle because of her.

The thought of him concerned about her made her happy and even smiled to herself a little.

“Princess?” she asked again, bringing Eileen back from her own thoughts.

“Why are you going after him?” Questioned the princess intrigued after recovering from her thoughts.

“He said he could help me with something and I have a feeling that he will disappear if I don’t keep an eye on him at all times.” Therese replied looking at the castle’s entrance.

Eileen nodded, she understood well what she meant, she felt the same way at that moment.

Finally arriving at the castle main gates the princess led the two inside.

Didn’t take long for the group to notice a commotion towards the arena in the garden.

They knew it could only be him and went to the arena.

On top of it they found Riou with a serious face and arms crossed waiting for a blonde man to prepare on the opposite side. All the guests were cheering for the man, calling his name.

“Askjell! Askjell! Askjell! Askjell!”

He was using a big round wooden shield and a sword that was not very long and matched the shields lengths. He also was wearing thick woolen clothes designed to withstand slashes and a helmet that covered his whole head except the front where his eyes and mouth were.

Leona looked at Therese “Want me to stop this?”

Therese looked at the arena “No. I’m curious to see how he handles this” Therese glanced at the princess.

Eileen was confused about what was going on, but seemed not worried of the possible outcome.

“At least she has good senses, despite not knowing him too well, she knows he is very strong. Syldis could learn a thing or two from this girl” thought Therese looking at her and smiling faintly, her impression of Eileen improved.

The fight was about to start. Therese's attention was focused on Riou.

“Are you sure you don’t need a shield? I don’t want you crying afterwards” Askjell said to Riou, but the boy didn’t move nor replied.

“Very well then, This commoner dared to question my honor! I hereby claim the right to fight him to death!”

Eileen widened her eyes in surprise of the request.

Riou unsheathed his sword and pointed it to his adversary who was holding his shield to his left side while the sword was free on his right side.

Riou rested his sword on his right shoulder mocking the shield bearer.

As the Askjell frowned and advanced towards him and the crowd cheered loudly.

He brought the shield in front and the sword to his right side, ready for a swing as he approached the unprepared opponent. Once he was close enough, Riou began to move, circling him in the direction of the shield.

“Why is he circling the opponent like that?” Asked Therese testing her disciple.

“The sword on the right hand will not be able to reach him if he moves towards the shield’s direction” she answered promptly. It was a clever technique. Eileen listened to them and began to think on how she’d act if she was the one fighting the norseman.

Askjell didn’t like that and tried to bash him with the shield. Riou just kicked him back with strength before he could swing the sword in his direction. The kick was stronger than Askjell anticipated and had trouble maintaining his balance while stepping back.

Riou continued walking without looking directly at him with his sword at his shoulder, continuously circling the man.

Askjell rushed at him and by opening his defense he tried to swing horizontally at the boy. Riou quickly elevated his sword and attacked very quickly aiming the cutting edge specifically at the middle core of the man’s sword.

As they clashed, the iron sword was cut in half.

“Yes! That’s truly the Legendary metal!” Said Therese excited

“An impressive performance… pinpoint accuracy, the angle of his sword with the opponent’s, truly precise” Complemented Leona. Eileen just heard their remarks impressed by his performance.

The man was looking at the half sword in his hand. It was not uncommon for that to happen, but it was just too fast and the boy’s sword seemed unaffected.

He tossed it aside and looked at one of his men. As Askjell reached out his hand towards him and the norseman promptly threw his sword to the noble in the arena.

Riou waited until he was armed again.

Askjell advanced once more, Riou shortened the circling going in angle towards the man’s shield.

With a series of quick swings at the shield, Riou forced him to defend himself, limiting his vision as he was behind a shield. Riou then began to thrust with the tip of his sword at the shield’s border. The push forced it to turn in its axis,moving towards the man’s chest, pinning it down and blocking Askjell right hand movements over the shield.

That resulted in Askjell being completely exposed on his left side.

Therese eyes widened as if not believing what she was seeing.

Riou quickly stepped towards the man’s shield and strongly hit it with his right shoulder freeing his sword from the lock of the shield.

He then turned and cycled the man towards his exposed defense. Riou showed him and everyone that the fight would have ended if so he wished. His sword passed dangerously close to Askjell’s open defence and intentionally didn’t hit the prince..

Leona looked at Therese “What technique was that?”

“It’s a way to fight against shield bearers. It’s rather tricky to pull off… the shield becomes a hindrance when it’s held against the opposite side. The Norse does not have the strength to counter the opponent's in that position. He should have dropped the shield and moved away as soon as Riou got inside his defenses right after the first trust… he didn’t do it and ended up with his entire side being exposed to attack. If this was a real fight the man would be dead by now” Said Therese without taking her eyes off the fight.

Eileen saw the movements and heard the explanation from Therese… The Lioness sure was knowledgeable in sword fights and the fact she was explaining Riou’s movement on the go made them much more impressive.

Riou once again trapped the norse in the same position. The norse man’s sword was desperately trying to reach the boy, but the locked shield prevented it from happening.

Suddenly Riou applied the same technique and his sword came up on Askjell’s unprotected side, it was aimed at his neck.

When Askjell felt the cold piercing pressure on his neck he froze.

Riou pushed him backwards and forced the man to finally drop the shield.

As he stepped back and let go of the shield, Riou kicked it out of the arena.

There were no words, Rious eyes were serious. Askjell could see that the boy was really pondering about ending his life right there.

He had greatly underestimated the boy.

The crowd in the arena was completely silent.

Suddenly and without a reason, Riou stepped back from the noble, giving him space. The man's first reaction was to bring his hand to his neck and looking at his hand up he saw blood.

Riou took a few steps away and stood there waiting for Askjell's next move.

The norseman was mad, he was made a fool once again in front of the other warriors. Without his shield and with just a sword in his hand he pointed it at Riou menacingly.

“You had your chance… don’t regret it now.” Askjell said loudly.

Therese noticed a change within the man’s body, very weak and unrefined mana manipulation. He was improving his physical abilities to overcome the boy skill.

Leona looked at Therese surprised, noticing it as well.

Eileen wasn’t understanding why Leona seemed so surprised. “What is it?”

Lioness did not take her eyes from the arena. “The norseman is using mana to enhance his body capabilities.”