"Can I spar with him" A sweat voice came from behind Hera causing everyone to shift their gazes.
Being raised by a single mother, Athena quickly got a good head on her sholders. Growing up she wanted nothing more than to please her mother. She put in the extra time in her training, excelling in sports and competitions this had made her cold. She focused on her training and joined the military, soon after she got her very own squad.
Seeing her daughter act this was made Hera slightly sad, she obviously knew what was going on in her mind. Being a military General she naturally became cold and distant, this made her neglect her daughter. A few years later when her daughter applied for the military she understood her mistake, this had made her sad and depressed she blamed herself for the way her daughter turned out. Her daughter had assured her that she was fine but as a mother she instinctively knew. She had been trying to rectify her mistakes ever since, a few months have already passed but she still had hope.
"Athena that's rude, this isn't the military. I'm sorry for he-" Hera quickly reprimanded her daughter, although she didn't want to disappoint her, she knew that this wasn't the time or place for such actions. Normally she'd let have have her way.
"Ha ha no it's fine, you don't have to apologize. Young blood does boil at a high temperature. what do you?" kento laughed and and turned towards Henry.
"Sure" Seeing everyone looking at him Henry had no choice but to accept. He didn't want to disappoint kento since he already let him in his family. He didn't know how his skills compared against people his age.
"Alright than" Kento got up and guided everyone towards an open area in the garden.
"You can use a weapon if you want to" Athena said as she drew her sword. When it was hinted earlier that Henry might have a good aptitude for fighting she saw the look of surprise on her mother's face and thoughts of her beating up Henry had surfaced in her mind. She didn't know why but her goal was to beat Henry in the most overwhelming way possible.
"Na I'll use my hands" Hearing Henry say that, she threw away her sword and cracked her knuckles through the armor. Not that Henry was showing off but he just didn't have a weapon.
The two got ready and after a few minute of sizing each other up the two got ready.
Despite being shorter Athena rushed towards Henry with no fear. As the two got closer to each other, she kicked at his head at a fast speed. Henry had also thrown a kick at her.
*Bam*
The kicks collided and both parties were sent back a few meters, Athena was shocked but reacted by jumping high, she dropped down with a strong kick. Henry took a step back but an axe kick came up and struck down on his shoulder. He evaded it and threw a punch.
*Bang*
"Hmp I've faced much stronger people" she thought, her abdominal was slightly sore, her armor slowly stopped vibrating. After failing to attack her opponent, Athena was sent flying a few meters back.
Henry looked at the spot he had hit her and was surprised that he didn't leave a mark. He shook his head and rushed forward to attack.
Just as Athena stood up her instincts fired alarms and she jumped back. She saw a turning kick fly inches away from her face. She was initially susprised but quickly recovered, she jumped forward with a punch but didn't find her target, she followed with flurry of punches but non connected.
The battle continued on, Henry dodged all of her attacks. Henry would occasionally attack, besides a few body shots that didn't have much force he didn't get anything because of her tough armor that had no dents even after a few hits on the same spot. So he changed his strategy and started aiming for her head but her shorter stature made it difficult for him.
"He must be getting tired" After a while Athena noticed that Henry had stopped deflecting and blocking her attacks and was only dodging.
"I can do this, just a little more" This revelation had sparked a fire in her. She ignored her fatigue and her breathing became steady, her attacks became more fierce.
Henry was surprised by the sudden change, her attacks became fast and more fierce, despite that henry dodged her attacks. He stared at her blue eyes as her blond hair flattered in the air, beads of sweat formed on her beautiful face, he felt like he could handle this much.
*Sigh*
Henry sighed and countered her incoming attack, both parties got sent back again. This time Athena was quicker to recover and jumped back at Henry. She quickly closed the distance and prepared to attack when something unexpected happened. A bouquet of flowers covered her vision. After a moment she reacted with a sweep with her right hand.
"Huh" She was confused when a large palm landed on her face. A force pushed her back and before she could find her footing, her legs got stuck on something as her body tilted backwards. The force from the palm increased enormously as her head hit the ground.
"That's not fair" She muttered those words as her body lost her strength and she passed out.
The others were shocked, Hera's mouth opened so wide that you could fit an egg or two in her mouth. She quickly glanced at Hue and understood the situation.
"Your quite strong are you sure that you haven't started cultivating?" She said as she walked to Henry and picked up her daughter.
"You flattere me" Henry said with a nervous smile. Although he believed that the armor had slowed down his opponent and that she would have been better, he still thought that the results would have been the same.
"Thank you and I'm sorry for the way my daughter behaved" Hera said looking at the boy with interest. She was somewhat glad that her daughter had lost. Athena was a good fighter and because of that she didn't meet alot of children her age who could beat her thus made her look down on others. She would often train with older people and this had caused her to be slightly arrogant.
"Congratulation to the Lotus family for gaining a capable one. I'll come around tomorrow for what we discussed" Hera said looking at the group.
"You should send her to the acedemy, Keeping her in the military won't solve your problem" Uncle Hue spoke up to Hera.
"Hmm I'll think about it, thank you for the advice" Hera nodded before saying her goodbyes and left.
"Sorry about the flowers" Seeing Kento looking at the flowers on the floor Henry said with a helpless expression.
"I can't wait to see how you'll make it up to me" Kento couldn't care less about the flowers, he was happy with the outcome of the fight and more importantly he was happy to see the shocked expression of his grandchildren.
"Than I'll be turning in first" without waiting for a reply Henry turned around and left.
The three youngsters looked at him in disbelief, Korah had a complicated expression on her face.