Chapter 85 (2/2)

Fii felt a little fidgety for some reason.

“Then I’ll go scout them out now!”

“Yeah, you do that.”

With that, Fii happily bounded off towards the Eastern Dormitory. It was time to scout the enemy.

And that was how Fii found herself observing the Eastern Dormitory training grounds.

“Oi, what the heck is…”

“One of the guys from the Northern Dorm? Why is he here…?”

On a thick branch, high up in the trees, stood Fii. She was incredibly conspicuous.

As for why she was in a tree, it was because she couldn’t see very well from the ground.

She was short, after all…

“Pay it no mind. He’s probably here to scout us out,” said Rizil to Kerio.

The two of them were currently in a match.

“Scouting…!?” Kerio exclaimed. “Shouldn’t we stop him…?”

Taking advantage of Kerio’s distraction, Rizil sent his sword flying.

“It’s fine. Just the floundering of the weak,” he smiled.

Although Kerio had been left out of the top 5 while Doug was here, he was still an incredibly skilled fighter in his own right. He was absolutely confident he could take down any average apprentice.

Still, even Kerio merited nothing more than a smile of confidence from Rizil.

The difference in their ability was obvious.

At any rate, none of the other five paid Fii any mind either.

Thus, Fii continued to watch on without censure.

Just as the Northern Dormitory often did, the boys of the Eastern Dormitory were sparring.

Unlike the Northern Dormitory however, there were a number of judges carefully enforcing match rules. There was even a clock there to keep track of how long the matches lasted.

Clearly a lot of effort was put into this.

Fii had been staring at Luca.

(He’s strong…)

she thought frankly.

Boys who weren’t chosen for the team were fighting him one after another.

His current opponent had tried to strike from above, but Luca parried it easily before bringing his sword across for his own attack.

The match was ended with a clean blow to the abdomen.

A perfect grasp of orthodox swordplay.

Speed, power, technique – he had it all in spades. A balanced fighter with no real weak points.

A talented, orthodox fencer.

Having said that, his orthodoxy showed no real disadvantage against more eclectic fighters, and he capitalised on his opponents idiosyncrasies to cleanly overwhelm them.

Doug’s attacks were explosive and powerful, while Gorms fought with brute strength. While Luca lacked any advantages like this, it also meant he lacked any real weaknesses.

Fii just couldn’t think of anything that she could take advantage of. It just didn’t look like he had anything like that.

And even though Fii had been watching him the whole time, Luca showed no signs of bother, simply continuing his matches with an even expression.

He was awfully confident, but Fii was painfully aware that he had all the reason to be. Well, Doug was still stronger though.

Still, Fii continued to watch him intently.

A new opponent had stepped up, and they were now exchanging blows. Luca’s overhead strike had just been barely parried, so he smiled confidently and leant forward to whisper.

“My, that was a nice block. But… you still have a ways to go.”

Swinging his sword out from behind, his opponent had his sword flung into the air without a chance to react.

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