In the training camps, the knights had gathered, forming a circle of open field in the middle.
Thing is, it was not the spar that was important, but the thrill of it, as the fathers of the three cadets were knights and they had placed bets in their own way, competing which of their children will be the winner.
Upon arriving, Seven walked toward where the cadets stood.
'Oh, what a competitive and dense atmosphere. Their gazes tell me that they're not taking it lightly. Is it because they have been training hard for this moment?'
Lythian, Sophie's older brother, was practicing his strikes. His eyes that were as red as the priciest rubies were reflected in the falling snowflakes.
Perci was stretching his body, he looked like the calmest one among them. Randolf was doing push-ups for quite some time, his body was soaking with sweat.
Step, step.
Edward arrived, and the three cadets immediately stopped their own tasks and stood straight, as well as Seven. He then announced the order of the sparring.
"This will be a round-robin sparring! Each cadet should spar every other cadet in turn. Every victory earns a tally, and when all matches are complete, the knight with the most tallies is declared as the winner."
Edward pointed at Seven's direction.
"However! The winning cadet would be fighting the young lord Seven in the finals. In case of losing, the reward would be given to lord Seven instead. Got it?"
"Yes, sir!"
The three cadets said in unison, but Seven raised his hand.
"So I could no longer choose who I get to spar with?"
"Exactly, young lord. I believe this is the most ideal format, as there will be no breaks. Fighting an exhausted cadet should be enough of a handicap."
"Aight. Let's go with that."
Giving the lord they serve a handicap should be an insult in itself, but not in this case because of almost a year gap in training. Besides, every single one of them knew that the lord had not yet reached the eligible age to be able to be a cadet.
Meaning, all three cadets knew they would be fighting someone a year younger than them.
Edward himself knew this would be a risk if an outsider were to find out, but he didn't seem to dwell too much into it as it was also, again, the commander's order.
'Where is that old man now?' Edward thought.
He couldn't find the old man, Aizen. Still, there was no need to wait for him.
Aizen had instructed him to proceed with the scheduled time and to never mention his identity to the young lord, so he decided the commander might have been watching from afar.
"Lythian, Perci! Both of you are up first. Step in."
"Yes!"
The two cadets stepped forward, their expressions firm as they faced one another in the open ground, encircled by watching knights.
"In your positions… begin!"
After Edward gave them the signal to start, the spar began. Seven sat atop the storage boxes, a position where he could observe the battle in such detail.
Swoosh!
Lythian immediately dashed forward and gave the first attack.
Barely being able to block it, Perci tried to counterattack but was dodged by Lythian's agile movements. They both exchanged a few clashes afterwards before leaping backwards and taking a breath.
'They're good. If these ordinary cadets who have no Zi Rings are this strong, then what makes those knights?'
In fact, the strengths and skills of both cadets in the spar were not too far apart. Whilst exchanging clashes, they still have the time to scan and calculate their opponent's next move.
Clank, clank!
And although they were both wielding wooden swords, each of their swings forced the wind to whistle.
"I give up," said Perci.
Seven smirked, assessing that it was the right choice.
If Perci had said that a second later, his wooden sword would've shattered based on the number of cracks on its surface, which would make Lythian's wooden sword crash straight into his neck..
"Winner, Lythian! Well done," Edward announced. "Next bout, Randolf— step forward. Lythian, step aside and be on standby."
"Yes!"
Now standing face to face was Perci and Randolf, their physiques were a sharp contrast; Randolf was too big for his age! His brown eyes glimmered as he smirked.
"In your positions… begin!"
Upon the signal, Randolf kicked off the ground and leapt high, raising his wooden sword overhead before bringing it down like a warhammer.
Perci dodged aside.
Wham!
The moment the strike landed, Perci stepped from behind and swung for a counter.
Without turning fully, Randolf whipped his arm back, forcing Perci to abort the strike and kick off Randolf's forearm instead, using it to leap backward and widen the distance between them.
Clank, clank!
A barrage of attacks followed through, Randolf charged again and again, jumping and smashing, forcing Perci to retreat. Each block made Perci's arms sting, and each miss shook the ground.
Perci's green eyes shone as he parried and dodged, searching for openings. He counterattacked whenever he could, but Randolf's thick muscles absorbed the blows.
Whoosh!
The flat of Randolf's sword caught Perci squarely and sent him flying backward. His boots carved a long line through the snow before he barely managed to keep his footing.
Before Perci could recover, the tip of Randolf's sword was already inches from his face.
Desperate, he kicked up a spray of snow, obscuring Randolf's vision.
In that split second of blindness, he twisted his wrist and brought his wooden sword up in a tight arc, catching the underside of Randolf's wooden sword and knocking it upward.
Randolf had put his full weight into the thrust.
Thus, with his vision blocked and balance committed forward, his midsection was wide open. Perci stepped inside the guard and drove forward, aiming a pommel strike at Randolf's solar plexus.
But…
Stomp!
Randolf slammed his foot into the ground, forcing himself to stabilize, and hauled his sword downward with sheer brute force.
"He's dead…"
Seven muttered it under his breath. There was no room left for Perci to evade, as the descending blade would crush him before the pommel strike could land.
"I— I surrender!" Perci shouted.
But Randolf couldn't stop the momentum of his sword. It was now less than an inch from Perci's chest.
A figure stepped in between them suddenly, Perci's father.
He blocked the descending sword with his forearm and pulled Perci into his chest. The impact left a dark bruise spreading across his forearm.
Randolf froze, then immediately released his grip and stepped back.
"My apologies, Mr. Fuchs," Randolf said, bowing deeply. "I couldn't stop my swing."
"It's fine, it's fine," Perci's father replied, waving his arm as if it were nothing. "No need to get so worked up. This is part of training."
"A well-fought spar," Edward announced, "but Randolf came out on top!"
Seven frowned as he watched.
Perci wasn't weak. In fact, counterattacking was his specialty, and he had proven that in his earlier bouts.
"Now for the final bout, Lythian, Randolf, step forward! With one win each, there can only be one victor."