3916 Arena
"Ranis, I didn't think we would meet again soon," said Lidris as she appeared at my table.
I wanted to snort at that. Instead smiled.
"Me too, Sky Sovereign Lidris," I replied and offered her the seat in front of me.
"Lidris, please. We are both Sky Sovereigns now. There is no need to use the honorifics," she said as she sat down and ordered before turning to me.
"So, how does it feel to be back?" she asked.
"Good. I have got a suite in a fortress, which I always wanted., but this heavy security is unerring me a little," I replied, and the woman nodded.
"It is a little heavy, but seeing the spade of cultists incident, is necessary," she said.
"I know, but I hate it. I like the freedom, I used to have before," I replied.
She didn't say anything to that.
Soon, our lunch came, and we ate while talking. While I knew, she was spying on me; I enjoyed the company.
I feel lonely whenever I eat alone.
"What are planning to do today, if you don't mind me asking?" she asked. "I was planning to go to the arena for sparring," I replied.
"Me too." She said.
'Of course, you would,' I thought. I had booked a space in the arena as I was leaving the suite.
"You wouldn't mind joining me, would you?" she asked. "Of course not. I would love it, if you spar with me," I replied.
"That wouldn't be a problem," she said.
A few minutes later, we finished the lunch and walked toward the area. It took a few minutes as walked there instead of talking to the teleportation gate.
She is interested in talking and me too.
The harmless chatter will help to acclimate here. There is also a lot of information to be gained from it.
Soon, we reached the arena, and they are fights going everywhere. Some are visible, but most are private.
Click!
"Shall we?" I asked as we reached door No. 32. She nodded and walked through the door, entering a massive arena with extra strong space.
Few Sky Grade organizations have arenas like this, especially on this scale.
"We will fight with our actual weapons, right?" she asked as she brought her aura down to Initial Sky Sovereign.
"Obviously," I replied, and an armor appeared on my body.
This is the biggest test; they will have the recording of Ranis's battle. They will compare the spar with it; they will also be comparing the massive energy sample.
'Let's hope, my preparations work as I want them, and I do not make any mistakes,' thought as I stopped at the place.
"Ready?" she said, and I nodded, before blasting toward her with purple fire covering the head of my ax.
I reached next to her and attacked.
Clang!
She moved her black saber smoothly and defended against my attack.
This didn't stop me and attacked again, with even greater power.
Which she again defended.
Clang Clang Clang!
For the third attack, I appeared behind her, but she moved back smoothly and defended against the attack and attack after and the one after that.
I kept attacking, and she kept defending, till she finally attacked.
Rip!
Her sword moved fast, and she avoided my ax gracefully, before giving me a light cut across my chest.
I had tried to avoid it, but she was faster. It was hard to avoid her attack.
"I think, I had told you last time. That you keep yourself too open, in your pure offensive," she reminded.
"You did, but it helps in killing the enemies faster," I replied, going for another attack.
Rip!
"It also keeps you open and gives the enemy a chance to finish you off quickly," she said and gave me another cut.
It had barely touched my skin.
"Not if I finished them first. It works well for me," I replied. To that, she shook her head and attacked again.
Clang!
This time, I was able to stop her, but she attacked again. I was barely able to dodge the attack.
She is good, much better in skill than Ranis.
She is also right about his skills. If I had fought against an idiot like Ranis, I wouldn't have a problem killing him, even if I was slightly weaker.
I would have loved to fight this woman with my own skill. It would have been a good practice.
Clang Rip Clang!
I attacked one after another. Most of the time, she defended, but when she attacked, she would hit.
Over 90% of the time, she would give me a cut.
If it had been Ranis, it would have been 100. Here, I am showing some improvement. If I were to fight a battle, I need this improvement or I would be a sitting duck.
Minutes passed, and we continued to fight.
It was our seventeenth minute when something else came with her attack.
A tiny package of information, buried in her energy, that even she could sense, nor the one looking at my battle with the soul sense.
I could have done it earlier, but I didn't want to take the risk.
These people are looking at me, and I couldn't give them even a single chance. It would be terrible if they suspected anything; a simple doubt would throw all my plans into the gutter.
'I was right; she had been asked to keep an eye on me. Find out, whether I had been compromised,' I thought, as my clone looked through the memories of the past two days.
It made me relieved because I could focus on her. Make her believe that I am not compromised.
I am still loyal to the organization.
Minutes passed and turned to an hour; we kept fighting. I continued with my offense, but still wasn't able to deal with a single injury to her.
While there is not a single part of my body, where her saber didn't cut.
She didn't even spare my face.
Thankfully, she is cutting off the energy, right before her saber touch me.
She has a kind of energy that gives quite a pain.
"I think, it's enough," she said as she stopped. It had been two hours since we had been fighting.
It is longer than I thought. She would entertain me.
"Thank you. I had learned a lot," I said to her. "You are talented Ranis, but I hope you will dial down on pure offense. It leaves too open."
"I will think about it., I replied.
"Please do," she said and walked out of the arena while I rested for a few minutes, before issuing a challenge.
A minute later, a Sky Sovereign came in. An initial Sky Sovereign, who I beat after nearly an hour of fighting; the one after that was a draw.
He was good at defense, with that big shield of his. My constant offenses couldn't pass through it.
To be honest, the two were average. Only the girl was impressive.
Still gave me a chance to blow off the steam.
I didn't immediately return to the suite. Instead, I went to the alchemy hall and gave an order for things.
I am no alchemist, and I need things for my practice.
