Passing Clara over to Elysia, it was now time for Elanor's turn to fight Elaina.
"Clara will be fine, but when she wakes up, tell her to meet me in my throne room tonight." Elaina wanted to tell Clara who she was as it turns out they were sisters.
"Mhm." Elysia nodded her head while backing away with Clara in a princess carry.
"Now who's next." Elaina turned to the 2 remaining people yet to fight. Elanor and SIlver looked at each other for a moment wondering who should go first. In the end, Elanor decided to step forward, trying to use this moment as a way to help her confidence.
"Alright then, come with me." Elaina offered out her hand, teleporting the both of them.
'This should be quick, I can see Elanor is very new to fighting.' Elaina was able to tell from how Elanor carried herself that she was no fighter, at least not yet. However, her confidence was admirable and was needed if she wanted to go down the path she is currently treading.
"Ready whenever you are, show me everything you got." Elaina planned to be more defensive for this fight as she wanted to gauge how experienced her opponent is in fighting.
ραΠdαsΝοvεl.cοm Elanor nodded and pulled out her fans which made Elaina raise an eyebrow having never seen anyone use fans as a weapon.
"Interesting." Elaina muttered to herself, intrigued about how Elanor would fight. It also put to question Elaina's earlier analysis as the way Elanor carried herself now made a bit more sense. She wasn't a close-range fighter, but someone who fights with elegance.
Elanor took a moment to think to herself about what to do. She wasn't good at making the first move since she felt her moves were very predictable.
'Just do it, this is a mock duel and I just need to showcase what I can do.' Elanor gave herself a pep talk, building up the courage to finally attack.
A sweep from her fan and roots emerged from the ground trying to ensnare Elaina. Surprisingly they were quite effective due to the holy nature of their element.
Elaina had not recognised this aspect of Elanor's element, so she let it happen and to her surprise, it began to burn her skin.
"Argh!" Quickly incinerating the roots with her black flames, Elaina became extremely cautious. Elanor was a direct counter to any pure demon. In any other situation, Elaina would have killed such a foe on sight before they could become a problem.
Elanor herself was even more shocked at what just happened since she only thought it would affect monsters.
"Interesting, you are not a priest or anything are you?" Elaina wanted to be sure, since if Elanor was indeed a follower of god then there is no way Elaina was going to teach her.
"No? I just sort of have the element." Elanor didn't do anything special to obtain the element as it was just something she had.
"Hmm I see, keep attacking." Elaina wanted to experiment with Elanor's holy nature but it would have to wait until the one-on-one training.
Elanor nodded once again, this time attacking with her wind. Waving her fans back and forth, she created multiple tornados surrounding Elaina.
The ground also rumbled indicating more roots were on their way. This time Elaina jumped into the air and levitated. Roots broke through the ground trying to reach her, but before they could get close they were burnt to ash.
The tornados began to get closer all the while sending wind slashes directly at Elaina. Dodging with ease, Elaina let the slashes continue on their way, some even colliding with each other causing explosions of wind.
Surprisingly, Elaina wasn't expecting such a reaction, almost getting her wings clipped by the first wind explosion.
'I will throw in one attack.' Elaina was beginning to get used to Elanor's fighting style and had a proper assessment of her experience. A lot of Elanor's moves were very pre-meditated which wasn't a bad thing, but in the flow of battle if she is not used to making quick decisions then she risks being thrown off her tempo or even freezing up.
Dashing through the air narrowly dodging the tornados and their barrage of wind slashes, Elaina telegraphed a swing wanting to see how Elanor would react.
Panic was visible on her face as Elanor tried her best to think about what to do, but her hesitation cost her too much time and Elaina was forced to stop her swing before it was too late.
"Alright, we are finished." Elaina relaxed and offered her hand, but Elanor was still panicked from the attack.
"Wait what? Why?" Elanor was curious as although she didn't react in time there was still more she wanted to show.
"I would have killed you right then and there so I stopped. You do not have experience of what it is like to be in battle and struggle to make those quick decisions. For example, you should not have needed to think in order to raise a wall made of roots. You know it's one of my weaknesses, so you should take full advantage of that fact." Elaina gave her analysis which made Elanor go deep into thought.
'Damn it, I got overwhelmed.' Elanor was cursing herself as everything Elaina said was right. Hesitation was a big problem for her, but she didn't know how to go about fixing it.
"Now let's head back."
"A-alright." Elanor took Elaina's hand and the two found themselves back. Elanor walked back looking disappointed which caused Elysia and Silver to be a bit worried.
"It's okay Elysia, just a little mad at myself." Elanor could see the concern so she wanted to clear up that it wasn't anything bad.
"Now wolf boy it's your turn." Elaina wanted to move straight onto the next duel and Silver accepted, taking her hand without saying a word.
"Show me what you got." Elaina didn't know much about Silver, but still got some basic idea from the scythe he was pulling out and the style of his clothes. She gathered his role in the group was some type of assassin or rogue.
Silver didn't say anything and instead disappeared from Elaina's sight. Of course, Elaina was still well aware of where he was. Elaina's natural perception of magic was a lot more advanced than Silver's magic meaning no matter how well hidden he was she would be able to pinpoint the exact spot.
'Still impressive that he can vanish physically without a trace. If he was up against one of my elite soldiers I doubt they could find him.' Elaina gave credit where it was due, having been impressed by Silver's ability to hide without there being any kind of visible distortion.
As a bit of a tease, Elaina moved her axe, directly pointing it at Silver and continued to follow his movements. Silver quickly figured out hiding will be impossible which he half expected to be the case, but had hoped on the off chance that Elaian wouldn't have been able to tell.
With his plans of surprise over, Silver finally started his attack. He moved around Elaina in a predetermined pattern, trying to confuse her while also establishing his domain.
Using the hidden shadow space around Elaina, he summoned swords to shoot out from the ground. Silver also jumped out of the shadows and swung with his scythe right for Elaina's head.
Elaina smirked just before stomping the ground and tensing every muscle in her body. She channeled her demon essence throughout her entire body, hardening her skin. Generally, it was not effective against people who are on a similar tier, but it definitely worked against Silver. As for why she hasn't used it before, it was due to her being unable to move while in this state.
Many fights require constant movement, so it was rare when a situation came about that justified using this technique.
The shadow blades stopped as soon as they made contact and dissipated shortly after. Silver's scythe was also stopped right in its tracks, unable to cut through Elaina's neck.
"Hmm? Is this a demon weapon?" Elaina had finally come in contact with one of the many demon weapons the group has. It instantly piqued her interest as she has never seen a demon scythe in the armoury.
"..." Silver didn't know what to say as he was pretty sure his mother said not to say a thing just in case.
"I won't punish you if you tell me, I'm genuinely curious." Elaine saw the hesitation and guessed he was well aware that it was indeed a demon weapon.
"We got it from a dungeon." Silver tried to not give too much detail, but it seemed enough to tip Elaina about its possible origins.
"Ha! Your group really is something… Now keep fighting." Elaina was still curious, but questions could come later. Putting her finger up against Silver's scythe she gave it a little push which was much stronger than it looked.
Being sent back a few metres, Silver quickly stopped himself and entered the shadows.
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