It had been a few hours since Alum and the others arrived in Yuflan. For the most part, things ran smoothly. But for whatever reason, there was an elf asking for a spar in the evening sun.
Thus, he and Luna found themselves walking toward the guild's training facility that Sarah had rented out just a moment ago.
Although he knew Alum knew he'd probably be beaten to a pulp, he wasn't sure about Luna. And besides their difference, Alum wasn't thrilled by the idea of tearing himself up with unstable telekinesis either. Besides, it was too weak for him to consider it—he'd only be able to catch people off guard, but that wouldn't work on those with naturally high resistances.
It wasn't as though he hadn't noticed, but the more mana someone possessed or the condensation of it, he'd have a harder time directly applying telekinetic pressure; instead, he'd have to rely on indirect manipulation.
He glanced at Luna, who seemed bored. But since it was the payment Sarah wanted, she had no choice but to comply. Not only that, Sarah seemed to be trusted—
"Oh, Sarah, good work the other day!" a party would say as they passed. Or, "Thanks for that time," with a casual fist bump. And… "Hey, let us treat your party to something later, kay?"
Sarah would say, "Easy peasy!" then, "You're welcomee~" while grinning or, "Thanks, make sure it's some strong liquor!" while winking.
She sure is well-liked, Alum thought.
He glanced at Luna, who lightly shrugged. Seems that way, she replied.
..
When they arrived at the facility, Sarah turned to the two, cracking her knuckles. "Ready?" she asked.
Alum and Luna lightly nodded. Then, a facility worker handed them a sparring badge, pinning it on the fabric of their right shoulder. Sarah crossed her arms, one eye closed as she looked at Luna.
"Alright, now that that's out of the way… I don't see a sword, Selene—are you planning on using your divine instrument? In that case, I'd be honored."
Luna only cast her a brief glance, "What nonsense? My sword's currently being maintained," she replied.
"That so? I was actually hoping to see it." Sarah heaved a big sigh. "Very well, I won't be using mine either. Oh, what about you, Ailz?"
"Mine's a blade—counterintuitive for a mage, isn't it?" Alum voiced, shrugging slightly—he couldn't exactly reveal Depth Cutter to be military tech.
"Hm… does that mean you're a swordsman?" she inquired, raising her eyebrow, her head tilted slightly. "Sorry if I misjudged."
Alum shook his head. "No, you are correct. I mostly use it for self-defence in CQB." Though he didn't really need that either, since he was already decently good at martial arts.
"That soooo~?" Sarah glared at him with half-lidded eyes, not buying it. "Sigh… Either way—standard rules, all's fair till the badge breaks."
"…" Alum and Luna sighed.
"Oh, and of course no divine instruments, te~heeh~"
"…" Both Alum and Luna frowned, thinking—this is troublesome…
..
Inside the training facility, an elf with vermilion hair and clear blue glass-like eyes drew her sword. Her opponents were the siblings she'd met at the guild. The moment she interacted with them, she knew—I really want to fight these two!
There was an unquenched burning flame in her chest. She knew that the two didn't seem to be into it like she was, but—I'll just make them, she thought.
With this burning flame in my heart, I'll blaze the spirits within you two, Sarah declared.
"But are you sure? Two versus one doesn't seem fair," Selene taunted, her expression smug.
"…" Sarah couldn't help but softly chuckle. "No problem—rather, it seems more fair that way, wouldn't you say, Ailz?"
Selene glanced at her brother as if to ask something, but they communicated wordlessly as she'd predicted. Selene frowned a little.
Sarah drew a practice blade, as did Selene. A judge then raised their arm. "Go!" he exclaimed.
In an instant, Selene's mana rushed to her feet. In an explosive lunge, hers and Sarah's blades clashed. Metals screeched as she loosened the grip, letting the blade slide along one another as she formed a mana dagger with her left hand, going straight for the badge.
Going straight for the badge, are we? Sarah smiled, amused, but she'd predicted this.
In that moment, Sarah let go of her sword, causing Selene to almost stumble forth—she adjusted, grabbing Sarah by the wrist, sliding along the floor, trying to trip Sarah when she was about to deliver a punch to Selene's face.
Instead of falling face-first, Sarah flipped, Selene with her, almost slamming her onto the floor just before Ailz's barrage of bladed ice was bout to hit her. Selene burst into black-silver flames, leaving Sarah no choice but to release her and throw her into the air.
Sarah grabbed her falling blade, which had yet to hit the floor, using simple footwork as she deflected and redirected the ice toward Selene.
This is fun…
In an instant, guided by a burst of wind, Sarah slowed down as she closed the gap towards Ailz while Selene dealt with the ice. She waited for Ailz to react so she could attack. But before that even happened, Selene appeared before her—TIINGG!
Their blades clashed once more. Both recoiled. Selene, with swirls of bland and white wind beneath her feet, delivered a powerful kick, causing the air to rupture. Sarah, who'd slashed the rushing winds in half, slid back casually from their previous engagement, unaffected, while Ailz caught Selene.
Sarah whistled, "Hwee-hwew~ nice underwear. Very sexy—trying to seduce Big Bro, are you?" She grinned, adding, "You're one thirsty girl~, aren't you? Nuh-uh, naughty-naughty!"
"Lying with a straight face, are you? Besides, I have shorts underneath," she stated plainly.
Sarah winked at Ailz, "She's lying~," she added teasingly.
Selene frowned, briefly staring at her brother. "I am not," she said.
"I… don't need to know," Ailz replied, resigned to the situation.
"Fine, fine, I'll tell you the truth. Selene's not wearing anything! She's trying to seduce you!" Sarah exclaimed energetically as she giggled.
"…" Ailz quietly sighed—even though his face was inexpressive, people could tell he was disgusted by the remark.
Selene's eyes twitched, glaring at Sarah. She pointed her sword at the elf, "Fine, you get your fight, you perverted elf," she said, her tone went from indifferent to annoyed.
"Oh, now you're taking it seriously—wait, I'm not perverted!?" Sarah asked.
"Shut up, pervert, you looked up my skirt! Also, I was serious!" Selene exclaimed.
"Ah, well, it's not like I could see anything since you wear shorts. But that's besides the point, you didn't put that much effort into it, did you?" Sarah countered.
"…"
Selene hadn't put much energy into the duel to begin with, hence trying to end it as quickly as possible. Her grip became firmer, her blade inbound with black and white flames. Her silver eyes locked onto Sarah like prey.
"As you wish," she calmly said.
Sarah smiled… no, she grinned, intrigued by what's to come—Interesting… fire, is it? She used wind earlier, dual attribute? Oh well… I like surprises anyways.
"Thanks," she replied, her blade burst into blue flames.
"…" Ailz couldn't really but in, perhaps feeling like the third wheel.
..
It had been a while since Luna felt this annoyed. Last time was probably Noel and his antics, but that didn't get under her skin. This elf, however…
When I'm done with you… Luna thought; her eyes darkened. I'll make you into free labor…
But in mere seconds, they'd traded hundreds of blows. Alum had created sheets of [Abyssal Depth] for them to platform on, but neither managed to get a hit in. Both used wind and fire, but it was going nowhere.
Sarah thrust her sword, launching a powerful cone of flames and cutting winds as Luna countered with a [Swirl Thrust] of her own. Sarah came in low, slashing upwards. Luna slid her blade along hers, then spun close to the ground to sweep Sarah's feet.
Swift on her feet, Sarah jumped and turned her body, landing upside down on one of the blue mana sheets, propelling herself as Luna followed up, leaping toward her—EEeeeiiIIIK!
The metal screamed as the mana they'd imbued in the blade was torn off with each clash—both swords were practically blunt at this point. But it didn't matter to them as they'd just crystallize mana into a new edge.
She's so persistent—urgh…
Luna dropped her blade completely, letting herself dash straight at Sarah. Naturally, Sarah sidestepped as Luna passed. They both elbowed each other and bounced. Now there was some distance, Luna conjured a [Mana Blade], it crackled with black silver lightning, [Lightning Trace].
Sarah's eyes widened as soon as she saw the crackling sparks—THOM, it thundered. But… she'd instinctively leaned her body to the side just enough when she saw Luna using lightning, causing the blond girl to miss her badge by a strand of hair.
Luna was surprised herself, her eyes shaking as she realized she'd missed. Then, she received a powerful knee to the gut, shattering the [Mana Armor].
"Urgh!?" she gasped, readjusting mid-air as she landed on one of the plates, holding her stomach as her vision blurred for a moment.
But Sarah was relentless and followed her. Just as their blades were about to clash again, a hot ray of incinerating plasma caused Sarah to surge mana into her sword, cutting the beam in half. Then, Alum finally collapsed [Abyssal Depth] that had been masquerading as a facility barrier to surprise Sarah.
Caught completely off guard, she stared at Luna—at this point, they both were going to get crushed. But… void magic ran along Luna's [Mana Blade], cutting a small rift for her to escape.
She's full of surprises, huh? Sarah thought. Her mana burst, blue flames erupted, rupturing the barrier instantly.
The practice sword had completely disintegrated from her flames. Like Luna, she'd crystallized a [Mana Blade]. Its edge glowed blue as waves of flames danced. Her body was completely engulfed in flames, red hair flowed in the blue, flickering flames.
"…"
Luna's eyes narrowed, her mana surged, her blade crackled, her blonde hair turned inkish black and white, akin to two violent floods crashing.
"…!?"
The staff looked petrified, unsure if their facility barrier was going to hold. But like the rest of the crowd, Alum stared. He couldn't get his gaze off the color of their beautiful mana.
He, unlike Luna, didn't care about winning. All he cared about was the results; it had been that way ever since he could remember. Though he now somewhat cared about the process to achieve those results, if it was something he deemed meaningless, like this duel, he wouldn't have minded it going whichever direction.
But now…
He clasped his hands, feeding more mana into Abyssal Depth just to contain the two from causing any collateral damage—THOMB!
Their clash erupted, sparks of blue, black, and white flashed everywhere inside the barrier. Sarah slashed vertically as Luna parried—their knees met in an explosion, blowing each other away.
Luna warped behind Sarah and was met with a spin kick to the abdomen. Luna sidestepped, adjusting her blade as she went for a horizontal slash.
"…!?"
Sarah dodged and used her blade to redirect the attack. She spun, hand landed on the floor. Her legs tensed; they were bursting with energy. Then, she lunged at Luna. Luna made a quick 180°, meeting her low-angle strike with a vertical slash.
—BOOM!
They'd both recoiled again and again, getting into a rhythm. From the outside, trails of lightning bounced within the barriers, and the explosions were where they stuck. But finally, Luna went for the usual clash, and Sarah would match as expected—until Luna's blade completely bypassed her blade.
Her crystalized sword hadn't been cut into, nor was it breaking—Luna's blade just went through like an illusion. She leaned back so as not to get hit. Luna ducked and dodged Sarah's blade, spinning as she swept Sarah's legs off the floor, followed by delivering Sarah a gut punch, shattering her [Mana Armor].
"—Kuhg!?" Sarah gasped.
The micro stagger was all Luna needed. In a flash, Sarah's badge was slashed in half.
"…" Sarah blinked, staring at Luna. "Kuhg… ha…ha…ha…Really…?" she unconsciously said, gasping as a smile crept up on her.
"Nnh… haaa… so?" Luna panted, sweat trickling down her face, neck, and between her collarbones, her casual clothes fully drenched, clinging to her frame. "Urk… Now I'm all sweaty," she added, reaching her hand out to Sarah.
Equally as exhausted with clothes sticking to her, Sarah took Luna's hand, then said, "Well, doesn't your Big Bro like it?" while grinning. Her other arm was under her chest, puffing them up a little suggestively as she glanced at Alum.
Luna's eyes narrowed as she then squeezed Sarah's hand.
"Ow-ow-ooow!" Sarah cried, her eyes teary and flustered as she whimpered. "S-Selene, Selene! My hand!"
"I'll kill you! You stupid! Stupid perverted elf!" Luna exclaimed.
"…"
Alum scratched his cheek, staring at them with half-lidded eyes. The others were in disbelief as he was. Thus, concluding the battle.