shiva who was silent this whole time observing faes and sky finally reacted. his lips raised slightly shocking everyone present. they had never seen him even show some interest not to mention smile. their gazes turned respectful and interested as they watched faes.
"looks like you know some details! since you know i am the battalion leader then you might know i can directly take your test and allow you to join the battalion?" albert asked interested in faes
faes nodded. this all information was given to her by her father along with the system. she didn't have to worry about joining the battalion faes was confident in her abilities!
"fine then lets take your test now! i will ask some questions that you will answer after that you will fight one of the soldiers to test your skills"
"lets begin" albert didn't waited as he began asking questions about the world, kingdom altai and many other things. faes and sky who were already taught by king aiden, king ladon queen nuri and their brothers adrian and blake easily answered the general knowledge questions. even the questions that were rare and were part of confidential information were easily answered by the two girls.
yes sky also gave the test! how can she leave faes to a place alone? it wasn't like she was much behind faes; in terms of knowledge regarding history and herbs she was slightly better than faes herself! sky merely focused more on alchemy than fighting.
the crowd which was hoping to see the two girls crumble under the pressure and make a mistake saw the two girls answer the questions effortlessly, they were even better than them; the elite and core knights!
"your knowledge is good both of you" albert exclaimed astonished. with just the knowledge these girls can join any battalion as informers and spies!
"knowledge isn't enough you need skills and decent cultivation to become a knight!" shiva suddenly spoke bringing everyone's attention to his slightly surprised and smiling face.
"sir shiva you can test our skills and cultivation" faes smiled back confidently not bothered about the aura and pressure the two were emitting.
when shiva saw faes smile and sky nodding excitedly his smile grew as he turned to the knights following them. the knights were frozen standing still under the pressure and didn't dare to move even slightly in case they angered even one of the leaders.
'the girls even knew who shiva was!' albert curiously glanced at the girls trying to figure out how they were so knowledgeable despite their young age.
"john and mike step forward!" shiva ordered in a stern voice as two knights stepped forward from the group.
"you two will fight these two. whoever will win they will directly become my personal disciples!" shiva announced taking everyone by surprise.
the group was shiva's personal core members and alberts battalion's most strongest knights. they all knew shiva's secret and were not in the least weaker. even albert who was noble establishment stage was weaker than few of the shiva's soldiers.
not to mention the two that shiva choose were his most talented core knights! both were king establishment stage 1 cultivators at the age of twenty and were considered geniuses in their generation. they were rumoured to become shiva's direct disciples and even one of them might become his heir! hence even albert treated them cautiously.
asking the two girls to fight the two was insta kill! albert curiously glanced at shiva trying to understand his motive but let go in the end.
soon the remaining knights made a temporary ring right outside the battalion gate while john and mike glanced at faes and sky in pity. soon sky entered the ring first followed by josh.
"this duel is strictly to test your physical skills hence no magic is allowed" shiva explained the rules "until either one passes out, exits the ring or surrender the fight will continue"
"no problem" sky replied smiling as she called her shortsword "though sky prefer to use magic sky can still beat them up with my strong fists and sword"
hearing sky many gave her amused looks; the little girl wasn't nervous at all! they even found her cute and lovely making them feel like they need to protect her innocence and confidence.
"since you two are so young we will let you attack first" john said as he stood with his saber. meanwhile sky who had called her short sword grinned at josh
"you wont go back on your word will you?" she asked
"no i wont" john replied assuring but sky's next words made him choke
"then it will be a good idea to fight both of you at the same time wouldn't it? what do you say sister faes? just one of them isn't enough!" sky even glanced at faes who chuckled in return.
though sky was peak king establishment stage cultivator she was not far from breaking through, her strength and other skills were even on par with faes herself! after fighting many beast and even legendary ranked beast fighting two initial king establishment stage cultivators will be a piece of cake!
to answer sky faes just nodded as she glanced at shiva
"we are used to fight higher ranking beast in the forest. fighting two king establishment stage cultivators is easier" she spoke softly so that only shiva who stood beside her can hear. shiva gave her a curious look but nodded
"both of you fight together"
hearing shiva everyone was shocked even john and mike. just fighting one of them will be challenging not to mention two of them together!
but after glancing at shiva's serious face along with faes and sky nodding they had no choice but to do as told.
mike also entered the ring holding his sword as he stood beside john.
"is your offer still valid? that i can strike first?" sky asked and john and mike exchanged glances nodding.
"excellent!"
"alright the match begins now!" albert announced as sky ran towards the two. she seem too slow but right before she got a meter from the two she slashed her sword horizontally. mike stepped forward to meet the strike with his sword but his expression changed once the two collided.
mike instantly lost his footing and stumbled several steps backwards before catching himself meanwhile the sword light that sky had sent at him had been blocked but his hands were numb even his sword vibrated slightly.
even john who noticed mike's condition turned serious instantly not taking sky slightly but when he turned to where sky was, there was no one. john instantly felt a chill rise in his spine as he dodged to a side barely missing the short sword which cut through his shirt sleeve.
"tsk!" sky clicked her tongue as she slashed her sword again and again at the two. mike and john who were pitying sky and faes were forced to defend occasionally getting injured while sky who was continuously attacking felt even bored completely fine.
"i am bored! lets take this seriously and end it in the next move!" sky said as she paused distancing herself from the two.
mike and john looked miserable their eyes bloodshot and yet holding fear as they glanced at sky. during the few exchanges they clearly knew that the kid was stronger than them! this made them feel humiliated and ashamed. if word got out that a kid defeated the two of them fighting together then they will become a laughing stock in the army!
"lets give it our all then!" both of them took initiative to attack sky who kept her sword in its sheath on her back and grinned at the two. john stuck her with his saber while mike slashed his sword but sky easily dodged their attacks using her small frame and jumped using her fists to hit their sternum and ribs.
despite having the advantage of attacking the two ended up beated by sky's tiny yet powerful fist and soon they blacked out falling on the ground. they had several bruises on their body blood flowing from various wounds.
the others who witnessed this short battle were shocked silly glancing at the tiny figure in a daze. if it were them in the two places they wont even fare better!