The brief buzzing sound that came out as Neil swung his sword of aura in succession created a rhythm inside the basement of Kyoritsi Cake Shop. A rhythm that made the brainwaves of the two people who currently were in the middle of sparring practice keep increasing every second.
The joyful expression that had always been on Neil's face were now replaced with a serious expression. And from his expression, there was no sign of fatigue or anything like that, instead it seemed like Neil was getting more and more excited to get Navile into a corner.
On the other side, his opponent Navile was starting to look frustrated. After almost an hour of sparring, Navile could not properly reverse Neil's punches and sword slashes. He could only dodge and block Neil's attacks. Tired. But he didn't want to show it to Neil. Even though his breathing was getting ragged and sweat drops were pouring down his body.
The strong stamina from the training he had been doing all this time had no effect when facing Neil. Even though he had faced Neil many times, and his fighting skills had improved, it seemed like Neil's skills were quite a several tiers above him.
"Is this the kind of person who claims to be just an ordinary cake seller?" Navile's inner voice, which sounded like a grumble, spread to his face. Usually he fought with a cool head and a calm unemotional face, but when facing Neil, his expression changed and showed a look of disbelief most of the time.
How not to be impressed. The Neil he was facing could move aggressively despite wearing traditional Japanese clothing-kimono. When Navile threw a low attack, Neil could counter by throwing an even lower attack. Likewise, when Navile attacked strongly from above, suddenly Neil was already a few centimeters above his head while pointing his fist that was covered in green aura.
" Is Uncle really a human or a robot? His stamina is limitless, even though I've just watched him fight in that outfit and I'm tired."
As he watched Neil's movements become more agile and his speed did not decrease, a memory of their training suddenly came to him, the moment when Neil had taught him how to fight back then. Navile could clearly remember what Neil had said back then. That every attack must have a limit, no matter who or what is attacking, there must be a limit. There was nothing in this world that did not have a limit.
The more powerful the attack, the tighter the amount of attacks will be. For example, a pistol can only fire a few bullets and a cannon can only perform a deadly attack within a certain period of time.
With Neil's words in mind, he was sure that his uncle must also have a limit, but Navile had not found that limit until now. His attacks were too random and haphazard. The only thing Navile knew was that Neil would throw a powerful punch in the middle of his attacks.
Although the aura in Neil's right hand was now formed into a sword, his uncle still slipped in punches with his left hand as well as kicks with both feet in turn.
A limitation. No matter how hard Navile watched Neil's movements, he still couldn't find it. That was probably one of the advantages Neil had.
""Wait... shouldn't I be looking for a break in?"
Navile flinched at his own thoughts. He should have looked for a break in Neil's attacks that seemed to have no limits. If he was really thinking about it, Neil always swung his sword from the right, giving light blows as their distance narrowed with his left hand before he suddenly gave two powerful kicks in quick succession. Then, the power of the next blow would slightly decrease.
"Yes... there was an opportunity back then," he thought.
Navile strengthened his fist, the aura covering him became stronger as well. He had finally got used to the things he had just learned. The aura covering his body had become stable because of the high level of concentration he had engaged in.
" If I remembered correctly, Sachi can also do magic even if she doesn't use Elysion's wand. Huffft... I'm so behind her."
After letting out a sigh of dissatisfaction to himself, Navile began his new plan. With a single stomp of his foot, Navile shortened his distance to Neil. As expected, his uncle started with a sword swing from the right. Navile twisted his body instead of blocking Neil's attack. In no time he was behind Neil, delivering a blow to the weakened right shoulder.
Navile's irises widened as he realized that his quick-thinking action had failed miserably. As he attacked from behind Neil, the pale green aura that enveloped his uncle's body instantly strengthened and formed a solid transparent shield. Not only stopping Navile's attack, Neil instantly repositioned the aura sword into his left hand and swung it towards Navile.
Navile's jaw tightened. "Truly the hardest match I've ever faced." He really did not expect that Neil could change as he wished the form of the aura that covered his body.
Seeing that, Navile made a quick move, doing a somersault through the air and past Neil, making the most of the short time he had to attack. However, Neil moved no less quickly. He instantly turned around again and changed his sword of aura back to his right hand.
Without waiting for Navile to fix his posture, Neil swung the sword of aura in his right hand horizontally.
"Uncle is very agile and his speed hasn't decreased in the least. His response is also very fast. But... what the hell is that? Moving the sword-shaped aura in an instant like that?"
Navile sighed harshly. "If this keeps up, I might lose because I'm running out of energy."
"Don't worry, there's a recovery pool over there," replied Neil who heard Navile's whisper that sounded like a complaint
" You are right, if I'm tired I can just take a bath, right?"
"Yes, of course, if you want I can send you there right now."
Neil's joke sounded serious, but it also sounded like he had a point. And, Neil proved it right away. He increased his speed, the distance of about 10 meters between them was reached by Neil in a fraction of a second. The sword of aura in his hand disappeared, but the aura on his two legs was strengthened.
Neil swung his legs vigorously without waiting for Navile to figure out the situation. The change in aura that covered Neil's body made his concentration weaken. Fortunately, Navile was able to protect his body with both hands, but his body was still pushed several meters away.
Neil dashed out again, really not wanting to give Navile a chance. He swung his legs with all his might again, narrowing the distance between Navile and the recovery pool. He finally delivered a light blow that sent Navile into the recovery pool.
Byurr!
Navile, who had no willpower to fight back, could only surrender as he was sent into the recovery pool with Neil's blows. Isn't the last thing one can do when fighting is to give up? Giving up and then coming back when the time was right. Maybe he would get the secret to Neil's explosive power if he gave up now and pretended to be an ignorant protégé.
Byurr!
Neil jumped in after taking off his favorite green kimono. Although he always kept a low profile and said he was just an old man selling cakes. His body, which displayed the results of years of physical training, had not yet slackened and sagged. Instead, his appearance was completely like that of a fighter.
" How was it Navile? Did you get anything out of this morning's practice?"