Just a few seconds after Mr. Luis spoke, Garrick darted swiftly towards Nalira. With no hesitation at all, the burly man swung his huge axe at Nalira and tried to injure her.
"Cling!"
Nalira blocked Garrick's attack with her knife. She then counterattacked Garrick, but he didn't seem to be an easy man to defeat. His hands swiftly deflected all the counterattacks Nalira launched at him.
"Interesting. You can withstand my attacks with ease," Garrick grinned. "However, I will prove that this time you will not be able to withstand it."
Instantly, Garrick's mana energy wrapped around the surface of his axe perfectly, and he immediately attacked Nalira. She tried to block the attack, but sadly, Garrick's attack was now much stronger than before, making it difficult for her to attack him.
'Brak!'
Garrick's axe strike landed with such force that it cracked the floor wide open, plunging the entire room into stunned silence. Shaan, who had witnessed it all, could do nothing but swallow hard. Fortunately, Nalira managed to dodge Garrick's terrifying attack in time. He couldn't even begin to imagine what would've happened if that blow had landed.
"Hey, hey, what's the matter, little princess? Are you starting to get scared of my power?" Garrick mocked with a cruel laugh, watching as Nalira continued to evade his strikes.
'Damn it. What now? Can Nalira even win against this guy? Shaan frowned, tension written all over his face.
But Nalira paid no attention to Garrick's taunts. She kept dodging every blow he threw at her, refusing to strike back. Her silence only fueled Garrick's rage, and with a snarl, he launched into a more savage flurry of attacks, swinging at her with brutal force.
"Argh, damn it!" Garrick grumbled in annoyance. "Why...why don't any of my attacks hit him?"
"Argh, damn it!" Garrick growled in frustration. "Why... why can't a single one of my attacks land on her?"
Gradually, his strength began to fade. Noticing the shift, Nalira seized the opportunity and launched a counterattack. As Garrick swung at her once more, she swiftly dodged and delivered a sharp, powerful kick to his leg. He lost his balance and crashed to the ground.
'Thud!'
"Ugh. Damn it. I'm going to-"
Garrick instantly widened his eyes when he saw that the tip of Nalira's sword was right on his head. He was completely speechless and immediately dropped his axe to the floor. Seeing that, Mr. Luis then announced that this sparring session was won by Nalira.
'Oh my, Nalira… She's incredible.'
Everyone in the room was amazed by Nalira's ingenuity, which was able to immobilize her opponent. From a purely physical standpoint, Garrick was undeniably stronger. His power far surpassed hers. And yet, it was Nalira who emerged victorious. The sound of applause immediately filled the room, and there were even some people who started praising Nalira's abilities. However, that didn't make Nalira's cold nature melt away. She just smiled and returned to her seat.
"Good. A very interesting battle." Mr. Luis smiled, then turned his gaze towards Nalira. "Your ability to predict the enemy's movements is very good, and if you improve more, I'm sure you can become a strong Daemonist in the future."
"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Luis."
"Garrick, your strength has grown quite a lot from before; you just need to work on your anger. I believe if you can control your anger well, I believe you can also become a strong Daemonist."
"Yes, Mr. Luis."
"Now then, let's get back to the next sparring session."
One by one, people started sparring with their opponents, and during the sparring session, Shaan did not stop shaking his head at all. He simply did not expect that all these amateur o daemonists learned to wield their weapons with surprising proficiency. But more than that, almost every one of them had awakened a unique strength of their own, granting them a level of power far beyond what he had seen before. Surely it was all thanks to the hard training done by each mentor to all the amateur daemonists.
"A very interesting match. You all seem to have grown significantly stronger than before—and that's a very good thing," said Mr. Luis, clapping his hands excitedly. "Alright then, we move on to the next sparring session. Theo and Shaa, you two are next. Please choose your weapons and enter the arena."
"Yes, Mr. Luis," Shaa stood up from his position and walked over to choose his weapon.
As Shaane searched for his preferred weapons—a pair of dual short swords—his eyes briefly shifted toward Theo, who stood not far from him. Theo, exuding quiet confidence, reached for a sword that happened to be positioned right in front of him. Without even glancing in Shaan's direction, he turned and began walking toward the arena. At first glance, the blade Theo chose looked strikingly similar to the one Nalira had wielded earlier. However, there was one clear difference—it was noticeably thicker, built for power over finesse.
"Theo already got his weapon. I also had to find where the weapon was - Ah, here it is. Finally found it." Shaan grabbed his dual short swords, then ran to the competition area to start his sparring session with Theo today.
"Ok, if you guys are ready. Let's start the session-"
'Ring... Ring... Ring....'
"Huh? Wait, wait a minute." Mr. Luis grabbed his cell phone and picked it up. "Oh, yes, alright. I'll be there as soon as I can," he ended the call and quickly stood up from his chair. "Alright, I guess we'll postpone today's sparring session for today. There is an urgent matter that the chairman wants to discuss with me now. Tomorrow, we will resume the sparring session."
"Yes, Mr. Luis. We understand." Shaan and Theo simultaneously nodded their heads.
'Gosh, it seems that luck is still on my side.' Shaan let out a long breath. 'At this rate, I still have a chance to practice my skills, and I can't afford to waste this opportunity. I must be able to beat Theo.'
Not long after Mr. Luis and the officers left the room, all the amateur Daemonists left the room. Most of them chose to go to their rooms or sit in the main kitchen, but Shaan did not think that way at all. He preferred to continue his training with the training dummy that had battered him earlier.
"No, no, I can't give up now." Shaan valiantly tried to get up after continuously failing to beat this puppet. "If I can't beat this puppet, then I have no chance of defeating Theo. I must be able to defeat this puppet, one way or another."
"Come on, Shaan, one more time." Shaan patted his cheek repeatedly. "You have to be able to -"
"Well, well, well, I don't expect you to be here at all," said Mr. Maximus, standing at the door. "You seem to be a very hardworking person indeed."
"Mr. Maximus?" Shaan furrowed his brow, seeing Mr. Maximus walking towards him. "What is Mr. Maximus doing here? Shouldn't you be with the other mentors carrying out the chairman's orders? How do you know I'm here?"
"We have completed the task," said Mr. Maximus by way of explanation. "Actually...I had no idea you're here, Shaan. When I was smoking outside, I heard a voice in this room. I wondered who was in this room, so I went in and it turned out to be you." Mr. Maximus walked over to the room. "So, why are you training alone here? Why aren't you with the other kids in the main kitchen?"
"Tomorrow, I'm going to fight Theo in the sparring session, but I don't think my current strength can keep up with him." Shaan wiped his sweat from his forehead. "At least if I can immobilize this damn doll, my chances of defeating Theo will be much greater.
"Hmmm... Theo." Mr. Maximus stroked his chin slowly. "Yes, what you said is true. Theo comes from a noble family, and noble families mostly have unquestionable fighting skills." "Yes, your words are true. "
"Yeah, you're right."
"Alright, then. Let me help you. I'll make sure you'll be ready for tomorrow's sparring session."