“What? Am I not right? Father always tells us that Gabrielas are snakes but Duke Gabriela was a python and more poisonous than the rest of them and just now, he acted like one, did he not?” Maxwell asked innocently.
“But you still should not have said those.” Maxineirah said in a low and frustrated voice.
But still, Franzus heard their whispers and he felt like he was stabbed for the second time, his soul was ready to pass on.
Grenchant sensed his father and said foolishly, “Dad! Do not die!”
“Brat! I am just hurt but I am not dying!” Franzus held his strength and hit his rude son’s head, enough for Grenchant to feel pain.
“What is happening here?” Maximus came together with the Captains and Vice Captains.
“Maximus. Your kid was too harsh.” Franzus complained and even leaned at his friend while holding his chest as if he was really stabbed.
Which he should not have done.
“Dad! Grent said he likes my Maxine!” Maxwell butted in.
Everyone’s head flew towards the innocent Grenchant and glared at him except for his father who was sweating non-stop beside him.
“Why are you all looking at me like that? My Daddy asked Maxine first if she wanted me!” Grenchant felt like he was accused wrongly.
Everyone’s glare changed from the boy to Franzus.
Maximus’ eyes got fiercer. His friend was not even a mage but why could he see his friend’s eye burning while looking at him?!
Franzus wanted to disappear. He perspired a lot that everyone would think he just finished bathing.
“Uhm, so… This… that… is u-uh-…” his teeth were chattering, he did not know what to say.
Franzus has always been afraid of his own friend whenever he gets angry because he was truly frightening to see, moreover, when his rage was directed at him. He wanted to piss on his pants but he would not dare because, of course, that would be too embarrassing.
Maximus could not wait any longer to hear his friend’s useless reason and asked in a deep and intimidating cold voice, “Do you want to die?”
Franzus shivered, his face darkened before his eyes rolled, and finally, he collapsed on the ground.
“Dad! Are you really dead this time?!”
“Oh, my Frite!”
“Duke Gabriela has collapsed!”
“Call the doctor!”
The people of the Estate were stirred because of the guest’s fall and the sparring match was delayed because of it.
Before the small competition for the children started, the adults, or the spectators, set up a few rules.
All four of them would have a chance to face each other, having six matches overall.
For every win, tallies to five points and a tie only mounts to three points, so the highest score that there would be, if there was no defeat, would be 15 points.
The points that they would accumulate would be their rankings.
They also decided to finally use real swords that would suit their age that only weighed a little heavier than the wooden swords they previously used.
Added to the serenity of the match, the Knights and servants who served as the audience were prohibited from commenting and being noisy at the start of the match but were only permitted at the end of it.
First round was Maxwell against Drenschville.
“Greet.” Hushker said. He was the Adjutant of the Zachrono Knights so he was picked to be the referee of the sparring matches.
Maxwell and Drenschville both meet at the middle of the training ground, in front of the referee.
They both have their tilted swords raised in their middle while looking at each other competitively.
“Back to the corners.”
The two of them went to the opposite sides and half-faced each other with their swords lowered beside them.
“Ready…”
They positioned themselves ready to attack.
Maxwell moved his left foot back apart and raised his sword in front of him using his right hand and supported his stance with his left arm.
Drenschville parted his feet, brought his left hand to his back and pointed his sword in a thrust.
“Fight!” After Hushker muttered those words, the fight started.
Both of them rushed forward at an amazing speed. They have come face to face and their swords clashed, creating a thin but reverberating loud sound.
They did not stop at that and that was just a mere greeting for them.
Drenschville was the one to quickly move on from their simple sword greeting. He stepped one foot back before attacking again.
His sword changed its trajectory and aimed for Maxwell’s left rib but Maxwell was just as fast as Drenschville.
Maxwell was able to block the attack by simply twisting his sword. Not just that, he was also fast on the counter attacking after that and aimed for Drenschville’s head after shoving his sword away.
Drenschville was to block and made his counterattack that did not just stopped with one move but able to create two more attacks, he did not gave Maxwell the time to finish his move so Maxwell did not had the chance to fight back but all he did was to deflect the enemy’s attacks instead.
Maxwell was pissed off from seeing Drenschville’s small grin between the attacks after making him retreat for several times in a row.
“I really do not like you and that grin of yours.” Maxwell gritted as he stepped back purposely, bent to his back a little, all his weight relied on the foot, to evade the attack instead of blocking it, and this time, he was able to attack him back.
Maxwell used force to his swings.
The audiences gapped in awe because they thought that he would get slower because his swings got heavier but contrary to what they expected, as he swings heavier, the more he gets faster.
The sound of the swords clashing also became heavier than before so that the audiences could feel how heavy Maxwell’s attack was just from the sound.
Drenschville had difficulty evading and blocking his attacks since his sight was clouded with Maxwell’s after shadows because of his quick movements.
Drenschville was grazed on his cheek but he did not notice it not until he retreated back in a big pace to create a distance between them. The wound stings and that was when the blood came out and gushed down to his chin.
The both of them were panting with a sharp gaze on each other, scrutinizing every single move their limb makes.
Their hair was drenched with sweat that fell down without realizing it.
Maxineirah thought they both did better than she had anticipated.
Maxwell and Drenschville were, as expected, talented but the outcome of the first match was already decided when…
Once again, they charged towards each other and fought hard.
Maxwell used his technique once again because he saw and believed that it worked for Drenschville previously but he did not expect that Drenschville would have come up with a strategy in that short amount of time to counter his heavy blows.
On Maxwell’s second set of attacks, Drenschville deflected it all and on the last attack pattern of the set, he put on a heavier force to block it but it was not just for that sole purpose.
Drenschville changed the direction of Maxwell’s sword towards the boy himself and when he was taken aback, he used that moment to rotate his sword before thrusting the handle on Maxwell’s chest.
Maxwell fell on the ground with his back first and Drenschville rotated his sword back.
Before Maxwell could stand and attack, Drenschville pointed his sword towards the enemy’s neck and Husker went into the middle to stop the fight.
“Drenschville Ystradgynlais’ win!”
…Drenschville was also from that time.
The first round ended and Drenschville got his five points.
The second round started with Grenchant and Maxineirah in the middle of the training ground this time.
“Greet.”
“Back to the Corners.”
“Ready!”
“Fight!”
The fight started and it was Grenchenmt who charged first while Maxineirah kept her position on the ground. She did not change her stance and instead tightened the hold on her sword while she waited for Grenhant to reach her place.
“I am sorry Maxine, but I want to win.” Grenchant said before their swords clashed.
Maxineirah stood firmly as she blocked Grenchant’s attack concisely.
She smirked and replied, “That is fine with me because I also want to win.”
Maxineirah counterattacked.
“I do not have any plan on going easy.” Maxwell fought back.
“I did not say anything. I want to have a fair fight.”
Maxineirah and Grenchant exchanged attacks but they were able to evade and block each other.
Grenchant wanted to finish the fight early but he did think he could not do that because his opponent was also strong.
Maxineirah on the other hand, wanted to prolong the fight, she wanted to tire out Grenchant before she brought out her card.
She was able to read Grenchant’s pattern and felt that his attacks got a tad bit weaker than before. It was what she was waiting for as she remembered what Creston told her.
“You are a woman and young at that. Many say that you should not prolong the fight if you are in the disadvantage but say, if you attack to finish the fight, what will happen if you already gave your all on the first attack but your opponent was able to avoid or block and do counterattack after that? You would lose your position, stance and balance, and you would get defeated.”
“So instead of finishing it in one move, exchange attacks with them, prolong the fight, attack with just a little force to conserve your energy, read the patterns and if you felt that their attacks got weaker, no matter how much weaker it is but it goes consecutively like that, change your pattern and finish the fight.”
After five attacks from Grenchant got weaker, Maxineirah finally changed her pattern and aimed for his opening.
Grenchant was startled at the sudden attack, he lost his balance and retreated two steps but everything ended when a sword was pointed to his throat.
“Stop!”
“Maxineirah Zachrono’s win!”
The audience was so excited that they made a loud noise from their seats, for they were Maxineirah’s unofficial(?) fandom.
“Whoaaaa!”
“My Lady!”
“My Lady!”
“My Lady!”
“Whoooo!”
They all chanted. The audience was banging.
They had a ten minute break before the third match in order to give rest for the children.
The maids brought out snacks for everyone to enjoy since it was only a friendly sparring match.
As of now, the rankings were:
Maxineirah and Drenschville with five points, and Grenchant and Maxwell with no points.
The children all went to one bench to sit on.
“You just got lucky.” Maxwell, who could not accept his defeat, told Drenschville who was sitting on his left side.
“Bitter much?” Drenschville teased with a slight grin on his face.
Smoke almost came out from Maxwell’s ears because of irritation. He wanted to kick Drenschville but stopped himself and stomped his feet on the ground angrily.
“Mutt! See this brat?! Do not trust him, never, okay? He is a traitor?”
“What traitor are you talking about? Should I have given you some consideration?”
“Are you looking down on me?”
“Then why are you calling me a traitor?”
“He just could not accept the result.” Grenchant butted in before drinking the water from the glass -his maid gave him.
“Why are you butting in? Are you emphatizing because you also got defeated?” Drenschville teased.
“I intended to make Maxine win so I held back!” Grenchant defended himself from the ridicule.
Maxineirah shook her head during their conversation.
"Milady! Are you okay?" Kathelina asked worriedly as she gave her Young Lady a glass of cold water.
"I am fine, Kath." Maxineirah gave her a reassuring smile when Creston stole her attention from afar,
"That was odd, though. You were still defeated by a girl younger than you." Maxwell mocked Grenchant.
"Like I said, I handed her the victory because she is so cute. Who would not?" Grenchant said proudly and the two boys fell for his reason.
The spectators could not leave their places to maintain fairness of the results they had been gathering from the fight. So, even if Maximus wanted to support her daughter, he could not do it outwardly or his daughter might be branded as a cheater even if they just invited people they know to be the onlookers.
It was better to avoid any kind of misunderstandings if possible.
"Well, you are right, I would also give her victory if she does cutesy while fighting." Maxwell agreed.