Chapter 439 – Fanatic
“With me?”
“Yes. After sparring with Noah and Ninya, I… I felt like I wanted to spar with Rent as well. The hero of Platan. I’d like to experience the skills of Rent, the only S-rank adventurer in Platan who overcame the flood.”
In Lelia’s eyes, there was an anticipation and a combative spirit, similar to Noah and Ninya when they were about to spar.
In other words, they were the eyes of a vibrant and attractive woman.
Receiving such a gaze, I had no thought of refusing.
And Lelia had also kindly given advice that was helpful to Noah and Ninya.
If what Lelia wanted was a spar with me, I would gladly oblige.
“Alright.”
Lelia and I went to the center of the training ground and created some distance between us.
As I took my stance, Lelia put her one-handed sword and shield into her inventory.
“Huh? You’re not using your sword and shield?”
“I thought there was no point in using a shield against Rent.”
“Well… I’m going to control my strength too.”
“Yes, I’m sure you will. But since this is a glorious opportunity to spar with Rent, even if it’s not my most confident weapon…”
A slightly thicker and longer two-handed sword appeared in Lelia’s hands.
“I want to spar with the weapon I’m second most confident with.”
If that was the reason, there was no more room for argument.
“What kind of spar do you want, Lelia?”
“Are there options?”
“There’s the type where I control my strength and we exchange attacks… and the type where I control my speed and we narrowly dodge each other’s attacks.”
“Indeed… So that’s why Ninya and Noah’s movements have such unique tendencies, because you mainly sparred with them using the latter method.”
Hmm, I feel a little guilty, like I’m being criticized for raising them in a bad way.
“Honestly, I’m curious how much my attacks will work on Rent… This isn’t arrogance, but I pride myself on being one of the best in Solario.”
“Yes, that’s why you became the captain of the knights.”
“That’s right. I have confidence and pride in this position, and gratitude to the High Priest who gave me this position.”
Though she cursed the High Priest plenty when she was drunk.
“Therefore.”
Lelia gripped her two-handed sword strongly with both hands and took a stance.
“I have a little hope that my attacks might work on Rent. So, I’d like to ask for the former method at first.”
Lelia said with a slight, combative smile.
“Lelia, the captain of the 13th Knights of the Solario Holy Knights. I will now give it my all.”
In response to Lelia’s words, I also uttered something that sounded plausible.
“Rent, the S-rank adventurer and dungeon crusher of Platan. I will accept Lelia’s sincerity and give it my all.”
Ah, for some reason, I feel a pang in my heart at this chuunibyou-like line.
『Rent really likes this kind of thing.』
My heart always wants to stay young.
“Here I come!”
Whoosh!
In an instant, mana circulated throughout Lelia’s body.
A clear, blue mana enveloped Lelia’s entire body, and the moment it concentrated on her feet, Lelia kicked off the ground and charged at me.
In terms of instantaneous speed, she was even faster than Ninya.
Lelia swung her sword diagonally upwards from below.
Whoosh!
With the sound of cutting through the fierce wind, Lelia’s two-handed sword came down on me.
If this were the same method as Noah or Ninya, I would have dodged the sword and thrown a punch at Lelia at a close speed.
Clang!
I created a gauntlet with Mana Weapon and blocked Lelia’s slash.
“As expected, you block it easily.”
“Now it’s my turn.”
I could grasp Lelia’s strength from that one blow.
I clenched my fist and then kicked upwards with my right foot at a speed that Lelia could react to.
“Ugh?!”
Clang!
Lelia immediately reacted to my movement, retreating and using the side of her two-handed sword to deflect my kick, flying in an arc.
Lelia, who had flown away, immediately performed a roll and landed on the ground, looking at her two-handed sword.
“You’re amazing, Rent. Even this was obviously… you were controlling your strength, right?”
“Yes.”
Since Lelia knew my nickname anyway, there was no point in lying.
I thumped my chest and said to Lelia.
“Lelia, you can attack even stronger.”
I couldn’t believe that the last blow was Lelia’s full power.
“Hoo… I understand. It was a mistake to think that I was just testing the waters at first.”
Saying that, Lelia gripped her sword again and said.
“Rent, please tell me honestly. Do you think my attacks will work on you right now?”
“…I don’t think they’ll work at all.”
“I see. Then, accepting your words… I would like you to change the sparring method. From now on, I will do my best to create the conditions for the highest speed and face you. Please face me as you did with Noah and Ninya.”
“Okay.”
I released the gauntlet I had made with Mana Weapon and took a stance.
Right then.
“Mana Release.”
Whoosh!
The moment Lelia said those words, mana began to surge from the two-handed sword Lelia was holding.
To be precise, mana flowed out from the blue gem embedded in the center of the sword, surrounding the sword.
“Lelia, that’s…”
“It’s a method of using a weapon called a Mana Weapon, used in Bridan. It releases the mana contained in the weapon, increasing the weapon’s power and the user’s physical abilities. And…”
Thump!
Lelia stomped the ground hard with her right foot and said.
“Domain Expansion!”
A barrier of mana enveloped the entire training ground, centered around Lelia.
“This is my trump card. It’s a skill that expands a domain filled with my mana, enhancing all my physical abilities within this domain.”
“Ooh…”
The Mana Weapon and skill that Lelia showed.
They were all… techniques that stimulated a man’s heart.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve used these two at the same time… but even this might not be enough against Rent. But this is my full power. So…”
With a serious expression, Lelia pointed her sword at me and said.
“Please, show me your strength!”
And Lelia kicked off the ground at a speed that was incomparable to before, closing the distance between us in an instant and swinging her sword.
◈-Lelia’s SIDE
Sparring with Rent.
To put it simply, I realized his overwhelming strength.
I had released the Mana Weapon two-handed sword that I had been given after becoming the captain of the knights, and even deployed my trump card, the domain skill.
The last time I had created such a situation was two years ago when I was subjugating Behemoth.
At that time, I felt like I could barely win on my own, but…
“Haaap!”
Whoosh!
No matter how much I swung my sword, I couldn’t see any prospect of being able to beat Rent.
I could feel it.
Rent was accurately and calmly grasping the speed and trajectory of all my attacks.
Not only that.
“Hup!”
Whoosh!
“Ugh?!”
A sharp punch was thrown out at the same time as dodging my sword strike.
Its power felt even more threatening than the claws of Behemoth.
It had the power to shatter my head and body in an instant if it hit.
But it was limited to a speed that I could barely dodge.
I knew it.
Even if I couldn’t dodge, Rent would stop halfway.
But my body, which had performed countless missions, was instinctively screaming at me to dodge with all my might.
That’s how powerful Rent’s attacks were, attacks that I could barely dodge even when dodging with all my might.
Certainly, if I kept receiving these attacks, I would develop a habit like Ninya.
Attacks that were too much like testing one’s own limits.
Every time I received those attacks.
I felt the urge to go further… to push my limits even further.
It felt like I was being taught where I still needed to go.
This was Rent.
This was the S-rank adventurer of Platan.
The great hero who ended the disaster of the dungeon flood.
To have such skills at such a young age, still only 20 years old.
While I thought the world was unfair, the fact that such a legendary figure existed in the world made my heart flutter.
I knew that there would never be a moment when I could land a blow on Rent.
Then…
“Haaaaaaaaaaah!”
Let’s squeeze out all my strength and challenge my own limits.
My heart had already strayed from the spar for checking my skills with Rent, and a desire for improvement, like the time when I came to Solario to train to become stronger… was coursing through my entire body.
◈-Rent’s SIDE
The spar with Lelia continued for 30 minutes straight.
Lelia was constantly circulating mana throughout her body, swinging her two-handed sword more fiercely and quickly than Ninya’s spear play… no, at a speed comparable to Jason.
She not only swung her sword, but also sometimes launched surprise kicks, and immediately corrected her posture to swing her sword again.
But all of her movements were balanced, and there was always a hint of preparation for a counterattack.
In other words… she felt like a true veteran warrior who had been through all sorts of hardships.
Although I could see all of her movements, Lelia’s movements were so clean and beautiful that they could be called artistic.
Even when I increased my speed a little and threw a punch, she immediately reacted and judged what movements she needed to make to dodge my punch, and her dodging movements were truly artistic.
“Haa… haa… Thank you, Rent…”
But that time ended when Lelia retreated and planted her two-handed sword into the ground.
Lelia was sweating profusely all over her body, and she wiped the sweat from her face and said.
“It was a good learning experience.”
Lelia had a very refreshed expression.
Personally, I found the face of a woman who made such an expression after sweating from exercise very appealing.
Ninya and Noah had that kind of feeling after sparring with me.
“I enjoyed sparring with you too, Lelia.”
“You enjoyed it… I’m glad. I was worried that my skills might not meet your expectations and that you might be bored.”
“That’s not true. It was so beautiful that it could be called art… it was really amazing.”
“Yeah, yeah~♪”
Then, Ninya came to us and nodded her head.
“Lelia, you were really amazing. You’re the first person I’ve seen move so fiercely while sparring with Rent. The way you showed your mastery in every movement… it was a great learning experience for me too.”
“I’m glad I was helpful to Ninya.”
Following Ninya, Noah also came to us and put his hands on his head in admiration.
“Wow~ I felt it during the spar, but Lelia, you’re really strong. Hey, Rent. Who was the strongest opponent you’ve sparred with so far? Is it Lelia?”
I answered Noah’s question honestly.
“Hmm… Considering everything, I think Lelia is the fastest and most flexible.”
“I’m honored that you say so.”
“Hehe♪ Then, since the spar is over, let’s go wash up.”
Lelia, Ninya, Noah, and I finished sparring and washed up.
Of course, I went to the men’s shower room.
The three of them went to the women’s shower room.
Tikya and Elsie, who had been watching, waited for us for a while.
After that.
At Ninya’s suggestion, we decided to have a simple meal at the Adventurer’s Guild.
Even though we had already eaten, Ninya suggested that we eat for Lelia, who had gone through three spars, including the spars with Noah, Ninya, and especially me.
Of course, even though it was called a meal, it was just having some snacks and drinks while not being too hungry until dinner.
“Isn’t it great to drink after moving your body so vigorously?”
Under the guise of a meal, Ninya seemed to want to bond with Lelia while drinking.
“Indeed… I agree with that. Especially a drink after finishing a mission… it’s special.”
Since Lelia agreed, no one refused.
I also thought that it would be good if not only Ninya, but also Noah, Elsie, and Tikya got along better with Lelia.
However, I had forgotten one important fact.
“Waaahhhhhh!!! What am I going to do with my lifeeeeeee!! Waaahhhhhh!!!”
That Lelia became very drunk and rowdy when she drank.
