Summoned and Unwanted

[Koss told us how Russo was quickly enrolled in the army. Now we know the reason why. Controlling all the elements is probably one of the strongest traits someone could possess.]

[But I wonder what would happen if Russo was a mage.]

Vincent agreed with Kazumi, and his interest in Russo increased.

Vincent wanted to have Russo protect the mansion as his strength would put his mind at rest. Moreover, Russo was slightly stronger stat and skill-wise than Ollie.

Vincent paused for a moment as he remembered the dilemma he was in. After recalling the state Rudik left the fighting area, Vincent felt it would be problematic if he used all his power.

In other words, Vincent had to win without causing too much bodily harm to his opponent. Sunday’s time was a precious commodity to Vincent. He didn’t want to postpone the meeting for another day if Russo had to be sent to the infirmary as well.

‘I think I should start slow.’ Vincent decided. He went to the weapon stand and looked for a pair of gauntlets.

Russo extended his hand to grab a sword when he noticed Vincent choose a peculiar item. “Gauntlets? Are you going to fight with armor on?” He asked curiously.

.....

Vincent wore the gauntlets. He looked at them and opened and closed his hands. A frown shortly appeared on his face. “No, these are going to be my weapons. But it sucks when they are loose. Mine are fitted, and they move as I want them to move.”

Russo chuckled. “I hope that will not be your excuse for losing.” He said while grabbing a second sword. Russo might have learned Koss’s two sword fighting moves Renn loves to imitate.

“Who says “I surrender” first is the loser. What do you think?” Vincent suggested. He believed the spar could have a winner without a badly injured loser this way.

“Not a bad idea. ” Russo responded.

Russo placed the two training swords in his belt and continued, “But I hope you can show me why teacher Koss chose to teach you when you aren’t a soldier. Show me why the Taskmaster Koss broke the rules to give you a soldier’s training regimen.”

“Sure.” Vincent accepted.

“Is the captain going to fight for real? He never spars with two swords.”

“The noble who married into nobility thinks he’s a hotshot, so I bet our captain will teach him a lesson. Poor Truthful Lion. His widowed daughter might be blackmailed to remarry as the rumors say.”

“Captain Russo is the youngest captain to have ever received a promotion. He is one of the top talented geniuses of our era. There is no way a silver spoon-fed noble can win.”

Sofy was starting to get annoyed at the comments the soldiers were speaking about Vincent. She whipped the ground to attract their attention and said, “No wonder my Master is the best human I could ever meet. You guys are blind, aren’t you?”

The soldiers felt they were being mocked, but they couldn’t haphazardly antagonize Sofy after she broke Rudik in front of everyone. They could only frown at Sofy for her light mockery.

“No response, huh?” Sofy pointed at Vincent and continued, “Why did we come here on Sunday, and why is my Master, Lord Vincent Lionheart, wearing the Lusterfall Noble Academy uniform?”

The soldiers didn’t take long to realize how Vincent was a student with a special pass. A special pass was so rare it could be considered a legendary item. An item this rare would make many forget it ever existed.

The soldiers stopped looking at Vincent as if he was an ordinary spoiled noble.

Their eyes moved on to Vincent. The soldiers focused their gaze on understanding what was so special about the noble challenging the youngest of the twenty-eight captains. What did he have that others didn’t.

The referee raised his hand. “Three, two, one, fight!”

The fight started, but the two combatants didn’t move. They looked at each other and took their own fighting stance casually.

Russo looked almost like a copy of Koss and Renn when he imitated his father. On the other hand, Vincent’s CQC stance made the soldiers realize that Vincent might not be a weak person.

The soldiers became impressed that Vincent’s CQC stance looked flawless. They considered his stance was on the same level as the veteran Royal Soldiers participating in the yearly Soldiers Vs Royal Soldiers tournament that takes place every May.

[Do you need help, Vincent?] Kazumi asked when she understood Vincent wanted to try fighting with the new power he gained because of the two special times with Sakura.

-Thanks. But I want to try going solo for now. I will decide later if I should use Overheat or not.-

Vincent and Russo took a step forward.

Russo expanded his intimidation intent, but Vincent looked unaffected. Russo smirked and signaled with his hand to bring it on.

Vincent smirked and released his intimidation intent. To his surprise, a bead of sweat appeared on Russo’s forehead. Vincent’s intent was slightly stronger than Russo’s intent.

The soldiers gulped when they saw this happening. A few even ran to bring others when the exchange amazed them. ‘This is a fight that couldn’t be missed.’ Almost all the soldiers thought.

Vincent and Russo rush forward at the same time. They exchanged blows relentlessly while barely trying to dodge an attack. In the eyes of the audience, it was unusual not to evade attacks, but to the two combatants, it was something else.

Vincent and Russo were getting used to each other’s power and movement. One would attack, and the other defend in turns like a real-time turn-based fight. Only when one of them decided to move back or sidestep and lose ground would the close exchange of attacks reset.

“Look! The Lionheart noble is a brawler. I bet he was a thug before he became a noble.”

“Who cares about the noble. Look at our captain’s movements and his relentless attacks. I can’t believe he is attacking with both the swords and the hilt to compensate for the disadvantage of the short-range.”

“The noble would have already lost if our captain used real swords. But on that note, why isn’t our captain using his gift?”

The soldiers commentated on what was happening. Enough to close one’s eyes and listen. Similar to radio, one could visualize what was happening in their mind.

*Whistle* Russo jumped back and complemented Vincent for keeping up with his attacks. It had been quite a while for Russo to spar with someone strong.

Strong vice-captains wouldn’t join the training area and waste their time sparring with weak soldiers. Furthermore, captains can’t spar with each other as they could get hurt. Regrettably, nor could captains participate in the yearly competition. Only soldiers and vice-captains could.

Russo always wanted to become stronger and improve his captain rank from seventh to sixth. He had never expressed how thankful he was to Koss for excessively training him to the point of awakening.

In Russo’s eyes, the Gift Of Elements trait was all because of Koss instead of his inner potential.

Vincent stood still and took a long breath. As he opened his mouth to exhale, he sprang forward and continued the stalemate. However, to the onlookers, both the combatants were happy to learn from each other.

Vincent threw a one-two punch while Russo used the hilt to block the first strike and sidestep the second. The momentum changed, and both started sidestepping each other’s combo.

Many soldiers and vice-captains arrived to see what the exciting commotion was all about. Their hearts became filled with excitement when they looked at the two combatants sparring in the combat field. The sounds of the wood and metal clashing against one another made their hearts race with adrenaline to join them.

Minute after minute passed, yet the two combatants didn’t show a sign of weakness.

Vincent used his experience against the Demonic Nok Ape to tilt his body when blocking a blow from Russo. His strength was less than Russo’s, but after spending hours alone with Sakura, he got used to contending with those far stronger than him.

On the other hand, Russo was amazed by Vincent’s movement, unwavering gaze, and relentless determination to keep fighting even when at a disadvantage.

It made Russo recall how Koss would constantly complain how the young generations are so used to peace that if an emergency would ever happen, many soldiers would lose their lives because of their laziness to remain where they were.

“Stop to take a rest. Fifteen minutes have passed.” The referee said.

Vincent and Russo went to a corner and sat down. Sofy brought Vincent a cup of water to drink, while Russo had a couple of soldiers bring a cup of water.

[This is starting to look like an official fighting match. Look around you. There are so many soldiers looking at your match. I don’t think we will ever need to make ourselves known ever again after this spar is over.]

Vincent looked around, and it was as Kazumi informed. “I will finish the fight in this round.” Said Vincent after he believed it was best to end this quickly.

“Break’s over. Please take your places.” The referee announced.

Sofy wiped Vincent’s forehead. ” Please don’t get hurt.” She said with a slightly shaken voice.

After watching how Russo was strong without using his power, Sofy feared Vincent was in for a rough fight.

Vincent gave Sofy a head pat and reassured, “Don’t worry, Sofy. I will try to win before my uniform gets damaged.”

Sofy nodded and watched Vincent leave. She went back to her place and hoped Vincent could win.

“Russo, how about you start getting serious?” Vincent suggested.