'I... I managed to hurt him!'
Alysia's eyes widened, and her heart screamed in triumph. She had actually landed a strike on her father. However, despite the slash on his chin, Zane wore a faint smile, which made Alysia feel uneasy.
'Don't celebrate just yet. You've only grazed him. You haven't won.' Alysia thought to herself. She tightened her grip on her sword's hilt and assumed her stance.
"Good job. You managed to wound me," Zane said. From this distance, Alysia couldn't see it in Zane's deep green eyes, but he was staring at her with a proud look.
However, Zane wouldn't say that to her. It just wasn't in his nature to express his feelings.
"But you don't think you've won, do you?" Zane said.
"No, Father. I'm far from winning this," Alysia replied.
"Good," Zane nodded. "You managed to land that strike because I let my guard down, I underestimated you. It could be an advantage, but I hope you won't use it. You must defeat your enemies with your own strength, not by appearing weak and catching them off guard."
Alysia nodded in response, although deep down, she had a different opinion. Wasn't catching your enemies off guard a pretty good strategy for winning, especially in life-and-death situations?
"I'm coming," Zane charged towards Alysia with incredible speed.
Alysia, surprised by his speed, widened her eyes for a moment. But she reacted quickly.
*CLANG!*
Her sword clashed with Zane's, creating small sparks in the air. The force behind Zane's sword was so strong that Alysia was pushed several steps backward. She retaliated and raised her sword to push Zane's sword back.
Once she had enough space, Alysia seized the opportunity to swing her sword. She intended to deliver the most powerful and fastest strike possible to her adopted father while the window of opportunity was still there. She knew she wouldn't often get this chance.
Zane could easily read her intentions. He deflected Alysia's attacks with ease, wearing a calm expression. This time, he wouldn't let Alysia have another chance by underestimating her. She was more capable than he thought.
The two of them exchanged techniques and strength. Alysia absorbed everything she could from Zane and tried to execute it well.
Amid the sword swings and the desire to defeat each other, Alysia didn't realize that Zane was looking at her with a proud gaze. Right now, all Alysia had in her heart was a determination to defeat her father.
After a while, they began to use their family's inherited technique, the Azure Tempestblade technique. Alysia and Zane's bodies were shrouded in mist and azure lightning. Their senses and muscles multiplied several times, enhanced by their Mana.
Their movements also increased several times over. However, of course, Zane wouldn't use all of his Mana to match Alysia. Nevertheless, Zane used around 30% of his total Mana, which was already a significant amount. Alysia managed to keep up, although she was starting to struggle.
Sweat poured down Alysia's face, even though she had only been using the technique for a minute. The burden of fighting her adopted father was immense.
"I have to end this as quickly as possible before I run out of Mana!"
Alysia used the technique she found most useful at the moment. She transformed her body into blue mist and enhanced her movements with lightning throughout her body.
Alysia disappeared from Zane's sight and circled him while he focused on attacking her. In the blink of an eye, she was behind Zane.
"I can win! He hasn't turned around yet!"
Fueled by triumph, Alysia swung her sword toward Zane's back.
However, Zane managed to dodge by lowering his body at the last moment before Alysia's sword reached his body. He didn't even transform his body into blue mist to avoid Alysia's attack.
Alysia was dumbfounded. She had made a mistake. Zane's strike from below, which hit her chin, propelled her several meters into the air until she landed on her back on the ground.
She let out a groan, wincing in pain. When Alysia opened her eyes, her vision was still blurry. If she weren't using her Mana right now, she would have been knocked out.
Zane approached and stood beside her, a tall and menacing figure looming above her.
"You were careless at the last moment. You should have controlled your mind before doing that," Zane said. "I could read you like an open book with that attack."
Alysia could hear him. Even though her mind couldn't focus at the moment, she knew that Zane was pointing out her mistake, a mistake she shouldn't have made.
'Now, I'll be even further from his expectations,' Alysia thought.
However, Zane said something different from what she expected.
"Despite your mistake, you did a great job today. This first test shows that you're already worthy enough to hold the Larkspur family title," Zane said. "But this is only the first step. You still have a long way to go."
After that, Zane walked away, leaving Alysia lying on the ground with a blurry vision.
'What? Did I succeed?'
Alysia remained in that position for a few moments, letting the results of the test - which had seemed almost like a life and death battle - run through her head.
She lost. But she had lost against an S-Rank Hunter with decades of experience as a Hunter. She also heard Zane say she was worthy of the family name.
"Well, I guess I'm not completely lost."
~~~