Day 84, Year 3000.
"Hmm. An excellent question."
Inwardly, Joan was screaming with joy. For him to ask this particular question was a testament to his character.
"So you have a solution for this?"
Her tone implied that she knew a way out.
"I don't have an instant solution, but I have a proper method to help you solve this problem over time."
That was good enough.
"I will be grateful."
"So you want to try it?"
Judging from her words, this would turn out to be a harsh method.
"I am ready."
She stood up from her chair and said,
"Follow me."
'I wonder what this method might be.'
She took him to a box that was placed on a shelf.
"From today onwards, we are going to try a different method of training."
She opened the box and browsed through its contents for a few seconds. As soon as it came into her palm, she smiled and took it out.
"Found it."
She turned around and looked at Gawain, who was speechless at the sight of the object.
"What do you plan to do with this?"
She looked at the object and then looked back at him. Soon enough, her teasing grin made an appearance.
"You will see."
'Gulp.'
He was terrified about the future.
'I shouldn't have asked.'
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
After attending her morning classes, Celia was back on her way to the house chambers.
"Gwen should be jailed for her crimes against us."
For the second year, Gwen was like a general when it came to the etiquette class. Her reasoning behind this streak of rough behavior was,
"You all are going to become red-knights next year. I won't be going easy on you."
She nodded her head in exasperation and said,
"I won't be able to train him for some time."
There are a total of 23 assignments. Unlike the first years, skipping classes for the competition wasn't a choice.
"Harder!"
Out of nowhere, a loud shriek. It was his sister.
"Ha!"
Another loud shout, this time by Gawain.
"One more time!"
"Ngh!"
The sound of effort.
"Not good enough!"
Her imagination went wild, and her face flushed red. She barged through the door and said,
"Shameless!"
Celia was well aware of her sister's nature. She had been in a relationship with Arthur for a second year, and rumors had it that they were quite intimate.
Joan turned towards her and said,
"Good. You are back."
She had a wooden sword in her hand. On the opposite hand, Gawain had a sword in his left hand as well, but in comparison, he was only wearing his shorts and was sweating all over. His breathing was rapid, and his shield hand had been tied up behind his back.
"What are you doing?"
Phew. They were training, they were training...
"Teaching him the basics of fighting with a sword."
Gawain was panting with no end in sight. Celia was worried.
"Are you alright? "
Joan answered in his place.
"He is fine. Without his shield, he is practically helpless. To match my attacks, he is expending a lot of his energy."
Gawain looked towards the ground. One after the other, drops of sweat started to drip down from his nose.
"Should we stop?"
Joan turned towards him and asked.
'Stop?'
Her voice was muffled.
"No."
He raised his head.
"Let's continue."
His head was moving continuously due to the hastened breathing.
"You won't be able to regulate your breathing any longer, you know?"
Joan was testing him.
"I..."
He paused for a second.
'I have to improve.'
"I know."
He stood straight and readied his sword.
"Prepare yourself."
He couldn't defend himself in the usual way.
He exhaled once and stopped his breathing.
'Quick feet.'
His legs loosened up.
"Here I come!"
She rushed towards him, closing the distance between them in an instant.
'Now.'
He predicted her strike and raised his sword to block it.
'Too slow.'
Her strike was almost upon him. Her words came to his mind.
"You only get to attack if you successfully block one of my hits. With every failure, I will increase my speed and power. If you feel like you can't go on, give up."
His eyes narrowed.
"This isn't the end!"
He took a step back and used his sword to slightly deflect her attack. His lack of power didn't make much of a difference, but his intuition had something else planned.
She strengthened her grip on the handle and drove it towards his abdomen.
'Not going to work.'
Slightly extending her reach, his efforts were reduced to zero.
'I can see it!'
Twisting his wrist and putting all of his strength into his left hand, Gawain met her attack with the desire to win.
'His hand will be!'
Celia was about to cry out.
'Clack!'
Joan decreased her strength. The strike reached his sword, but it was a successful block.
'Commendable.'
She thought to herself. Gawain was barely holding on.
She took back her sword.
"Your turn. Move!"
She got into a defensive stance. At her command, he moved in to strike, disregarding his fatigue.
The first hit, blocked, the second hit, blocked,
His speed was sluggish. His hand was obviously in pain.
Overhead strike blocked with ease.
"You are done."
Gawain stared straight into her eyes.
"AAAAHHHHH."
He pushed forward, but Joan wouldn't budge.
"Admit defeat!"
She pushed him back with her sword.
"You have lost-"
Slightly rotating his feet, he made his last attempt. Both of the sisters were taken aback.
"I AM NOT DONE!"
A mirror move, similar to what Joan had done back in their first fight.
'This is-'
The element of surprise didn't work. She raised her sword and blocked it without any problems. Her spirit was somewhat in turmoil, though.
"I am... for her."
His strength had been used up. The sword dropped to the ground, and he was soon to follow.
"Gawain!"
Celia grabbed him to break his fall. With the unconscious boy in her hands, she looked back at her sister.
After a moment of silence, Joan spoke up.
"Brilliant."
Her smile was oozing with boundless pride.
"I am grateful to you, Lord."
She dropped the sword and called out to her deity in prayer.
"A worthy successor. He will become the beacon of our oath."