240 It's Just A Greeting Spar

"WAAAAHHH~ I LOVE YOU EMILIA!!!"

I hugged the Nekomata and spun her around excitedly.

"Nnngghhh!! I… I get it, Lady Aster…. You… You can put me down now…"

I did as she asked and went towards the three boxes that were filled to the brim with different assortments of sweets.

Emilia managed to fulfil her promise of getting me the crates of sweets that Merrick failed to deliver, having some shady looking people deliver them here early in the morning.

I see cookies, pastries, chocolates, puddings, even boxes of ice cream and other varieties of sweets too~

I took a moment to peek at the others, "Umm… Does anyone want to try any?"

One of the Amraps looked like she wanted to step forward but Ardi raised her hand to block her from moving any further.

Everyone else shook their heads and I let out a yelp of joy as that meant that all these three boxes of sweets are mine~

I started digging into the sweets with relish, enjoying every single delicacy that was packed into those three boxes.

As expected of Emilia who was also a connoisseur of sweets, everything she picked was top quality and absolutely delicious.

Just look at these pastries~ I didn't even know there was a bakery here and they're all hot and fresh~ Unless the boxes itself was enchanted to keep them fresh but whatever, I'm not complaining~

Then there's the puddings~ There were so many flavours and colours it's like I was looking at a rainbow~ Eating them also made me feel like I was riding on a rainbow too~

Don't even get me started on the different flavours of ice cream there were~ They were even perfectly chilled as well with all the kinds of flavours you can think of! They don't really taste the same as the ice creams that I was used to eating in the old World but they were still great nevertheless!

And the chocolate!! Ahhhh!! She not only got the ones that melt in your mouth, but also the ones that were solid and crunchy too~ I even went ahead to mix them together with the other sweets in the other sweets she got me to enhance the flavours~

Last but not least… The cakes!!! Oh, the cakesssss!! They were absolutely perfect in every way!! There were black forests, strawberry shortcakes, cheesecakes, fruitcakes, angel food cakes, pound cakes and even pancakes dripped with different kinds of sauces~

I was experiencing heaven~

But once again, all good things must come to an end as I grudgingly threw the last piece of cookie in my mouth and chewed slowly, enjoying every bit of it as much as possible before letting out a contented sigh.

That was when I finally came back to my senses when a loud cheer erupted from around me.

Looking around, I realised that there was a large number of Amraps gathered around me.

That wasn't the weirdest part as I realised we were already out at sea and the sun was high up in the sky, telling me that it was at least noon and a few hours had already passed since I started.

Was I really that engrossed in the sweets that I didn't even realise any of this was happening around me?

Putting that aside for now… Why are they cheering?

Delmare came up to me, "Aster really likes sweets I see…"

I started to lick my fingers, "Mmm… I guess I do, why?"

"Well, most of us believed that you wouldn't be able to finish all three boxes of those sweets in a single sitting and they even made a bet out of it. Seems like even though most of them lost, the sight of you enjoying the mmmmfff!"

Before she could finish saying what she wanted to say, a pair of hands clamped over her mouth, preventing her from saying anything more.

Looking up, I realised the perpetrator was none other than Odeta who was scowling at her, "Don't say unnecessary things!"

Eh? What unnecessary things? What is going on?

I then felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned to see Ardi grinning at me.

"Now that you've had your fill, what do you say about having a spar with me for old times sake, eh?" She asked.

Several Amraps gasped when they heard her words.

"Head Trainer is sparring with Dragonslayer Aster?!"

"We get to see little Aster spar!"

"Fifty Decreas on Little Aster!"

"Two Creas on Dragonslayer Aster!"

"Ten Decreas on Head Trainer!"

I didn't know the Amraps were a gambling bunch… But I suppose this is one of the things they do to keep themselves entertained since I also know first hand how boring life at sea can get.

Well, I'm also interested in seeing how sister Ardi had changed so I guess it wouldn't hurt to do it.

I nodded, "Alright~ Let's have a simple spar!"

"Ahahaha! That's what I like to hear! Give us some space!!"

Her crew formed a circle around us and I stood at the edge while Ardi went to the opposite side of me, cracking both her neck and knuckles intimidatingly.

I was sorely tempted to check her status but decided against it since I also wanted to try and use this chance to test how well I would fare against her without any prejudices about our stats.

Ardi took out a coin from her pockets and I understood that it would serve as a signal to start our spar, the Amrap flipping the coin in the air the moment she saw me nod at her.

Instead of looking at the coin, the both of us immediately locked eyes, ready to fight.

The moment the sound of the coin hitting the floor reached my ears, I immediately rushed forward in an attempt to punch her in her abdomen.

Unfortunately, my attempt was stopped when she twisted her hand to catch my punch in her palm, stopping me in my tracks.

Unsure if her strength stat was higher than mine, I quickly pulled back my hand before her fingers could curl around my fist, letting her catch empty air instead.

I then spun on my heel and delivered a kick against the arm she had used to block my hand, forcing her to skid towards the edge of the circle.

She recovered just in time to duck under my roundhouse kick, using that moment to deliver a jab at my exposed thigh to destabilise my stance.

I had to leap back to avoid another jab she threw at me but that also gave me enough space to attempt a left hook towards her jaw, catching the older Amrap in surprise as my speed far surpassed her expectations.

She did manage to tilt her head back just enough for my blow to only graze her chin, but that was enough to break her stance as she had overextended herself too much from the surprise.

I decided to capitalise on that mistake by clenching my other hand into a fist and punching straight into her abdomen, this time landing a solid hit on her.

The air in her lungs was forced out through her mouth and she was pushed even closer to the edge of the circle, her crew having to take a few steps back to avoid her crashing into them.

I tried to advance on her to attempt another left hook again, but I was a second too slow as Ardi had already recovered and used her arm to hook over mine to stop me.

She then kicked at my feet while pulling her arm back, tripping me to fall on my back and onto the ship's deck.

I looked up to see her raising her fist in preparation to punch at my face which really made me question if she was going to do it for real. But I managed to come back to my senses just in time to push my knees up and under her to flip her over my head instead.

While she was trying to push herself up from the ground from where she had landed, I had already leapt up on my feet before jumping towards her, tackling her back onto the deck as I straddled her waist to move to the same position as she was attempting before by raising my right fist in preparation for a punch.

She tried to raise her hand to block my attack but she quickly realised that I had specifically positioned myself to pin her arms to the ground with my knees, preventing her from raising them at all.

I punched downwards, only to stop my fist an inch away from her face as a way to signify the end of the spar.

"Wahaha! I yield! I see you've not only managed to remain in the lead, you've also improved significantly, sister Aster!" Ardi laughed, not at all upset that she had lost.

Well, truth be told, after I managed to learn how to fight properly from her during her stay at Mother's house in Dragon Sanctuary, my [Machine Learning] had been really helpful in improving my skills so quickly that Ardi wasn't able to win against me ever since then.

Thus, her loss was actually not that big of a surprise to the two of us but it certainly looked like there were a lot of people who were surprised by it among her crew.

That atmosphere was quickly broken when Odeta called out while waving her hand, "I wanna spar with Aster too!!!"

Pretty soon, even more Amraps were raising their hands and asking the same thing, everyone rushing up to me with expectant looks on their faces.

Waahhh… Emilia! Save me!! Give me more sweets!!