When I stepped out of the portal, the first thing I saw was a surprised looking Commander Klent. His mouth was agape and he was pointing at me.
"Commander Klent, you have returned?" I asked calmly.
Klent nodded his head, still speechless.
"M-my lady." A sweaty boy around sixteen made me turn around.
I just noticed that I am in the middle of the training ground. The knights were all looking at me who walked out of a portal in the middle of the grounds.
"What is happening here?" Came Haktor's strict voice. "My lady?"
"General." I looked at him nonchalantly. "I used my portal to come here but I guess I missed my mark since I came out in the middle instead of the front."
I pointed at the front where the generals would watch the knights train.
Haktor looked at me dumbfounded.
"My lady, you can open portals?" He asked.
"A portal." I corrected him. "I can only open one."
Haktor and the knights now looked at me dumbstruck.
"My lady." Marionne spoke. "Would you like to spar with me?"
I think she asked that to change the topic.
"Sure. If anyone of you could defeat me, I will give you a prize." I stated, smiling proudly.
The knights looked at each other with awkward smiles.
Ahh.. They must be doubtful if tgey could defeat a vessel.
"But no one is allowed to use their abilities. You may use any weapon of your choice though." I cleared.
Hearing what I said, the knights beamed with determination.
Do they think they could defeat me in a physical fight? I may be small, but training with Sebastiene and being a vessel, I'm pretty strong physically.
Marionne was the first to face me with a pole in hand. I chose a dagger among the weapons lined for sparring. This made Marionne raise an eyebrow.
"I'm not very proficient with the other weapons." I shrugged at her.
I fought with Marionne for some time before completely defeating her.
"Marionne, your fighting style is unique and the range of your attack is wide. Try not to be too cautious of your left side when moving. You always use your left foot to step forward before attacking and left foot when feigning." I pointed out. "An observant person will immediately see that pattern."
"I see." Nodded.
Starting from Marrionne, the knights came to spar with me. I defeated them and then pointed out the things they lack or needed to improve.
Haktor stood watching on the sideline, taking note of all the things the knights lack.
After defeating all the knights, I went back inside the castle to clean up. A few moments later, I heard knocking on my door.
"General Haktor, general Marionne?" I was surprised to see both generals outside my door. "Is everything alright?"
"Grandmaster, we would like to speak to you about the training of the knights." General Haktor answered.
I took them into my study and we sat down.
"So you want to change the knights training?" I asked.
"Yes, my lady. Based on their performance during the spar with you, they are lacking too much in physical training." Haktor answered.
"Do you have anything in mind?" I asked him. He looked at Marionne and they both nodded.
We spent the rest of the time coming up with the perfect training plan.
Haktor and Marionne went back to the Knights residence after we finished the plan. The new training was perfect to enhance the endurance and physical fighting ability of the knights.
I was at my room when Sebastiene knocked.
"Come in Seb." I told him from my bed.
"My lady." Sebastiene bowed.
"How was their training?" I asked him.
"We could probably make apple jam from all the apples they mashed." He joked.
"That bad?" I asked, looking up from the book I was reading.
"Not really, lady Athanasia had succeeded in letting rocks pass through unharmed." He paused before adding. "About four out of ten."
They are doing worse than me.
"What about Uriel?"
"She can open a portal but cannot let anything pass safely yet. They both want to continue training after dinner."
I thought for a moment.
"I'll train with them later. Maybe their visualization is also wrong." I told him.
Sebastiene nodded.
I continued reading while Sebastiene stood on the side.
"Have you had dinner yet Seb?" I asked him.
"Yes, my lady." I rested and bathed and ate before coming here."
"I see." I told him and stood up from the bed just in time that someone knocked on the door.
"Dinner is ready eldest lady." A maid called.
I stood up and went to the dining room with Sebastiene.
The first thing I noticed was the gloomy atmosphere in the room.
"Who died?"