Martin hardened his features, finally drawing out his secondary sword. Carried as a customary gesture, most Knights often just used their primary weapons, but it was quite common to unexpectedly lose one's weapon in battle.
Tension filled the air with an unseen force as a seemingly white coloured mana gathered and coalesced into an aura sword in his adversary's hand. Nary a ripple emerged in the light, creating a controlled output that neither flickered with excessive release of energy, nor dwindled with lacking force.
Aura coating itself was basic among aspiring Knights and apprentices, but Noah's degree of sophistication indicated a high level of attunement.
This observation alone made Martin realize that this was no laughing matter and that Noah was being serious with him. Vassal of Everbright or not, to attack a guest of Everbright in the host's presence was unquestionably wrong.
Then morally…Martin had the high ground.
That was all Martin needed to know in order to enact discipline on someone beneath him overreaching his grounds.
Blue aura coated Martin's sword in a ferocious release of mana. It was a blazing torrent far more potent and unrelenting than Noah's in comparison. Just being near the sword caused pressure to weigh down over the shoulders, let alone the flame like tendrils that writhed over the mana's surface.
Wild, yet controlled. It was a sword that couldn't be blocked as the mana would spill over and burn the adversary.
Martin's title of Little Sword Saint was no empty title.
He was a prodigy raised in the Dale family most likely to succeed his father and apprentice under the Capital Nobility's Sword Knight; the newest head of the Lambert Family, Rebecca Lambert, successor of Alfred Lambert.
Martin stood up in his annoyance, the seat behind him blown away at the ferocity of his raging mana.
Across from Martin, Noah's light stood tranquil, sharp, and pristine. The light Noah exuded over his blade gave a warmth that belied an unwavering stability.
Watching everything play out, Sophia hummed while Henri grew more and more contemplative from a foreign sense of familiarity.
Sophia made eye contact with Natalie, Natalie shaking her head and mouthing a steep discrepancy of the information provided in the reports. Due to the urgency of the meeting, Natalie had been unable to properly share her findings about Noah to Sophia yet.
In contrast, Annette and Mary were the most taken aback by developments, their hairs rising at the back of their necks as tensions continued to rise.
If it was uncertain before, now it was clear.
Noah was no mere beggar.
Although Aura Coating was basic among Knights and apprentices, it was a technique not so easily mastered. Mary herself still struggled to maintain as steady a control of her mana as Noah was displaying.
"This is really happening, isn't it?" Martin muttered while glancing at Sophia who was doing nothing. In fact, he couldn't help but grimace at the thought that Sophia could claim neutrality on the basis that an errant servant overstepped his bounds.
No matter.
Martin's focus gathered on Noah, the pretension of his actions earning Martin's ire.
"Be honored," Martin curled his lips. "I'll end this quickly."
Without much thought, Martin lashed out with a swift thrust, not at all entertaining the idea of letting Noah attack first after pointing a sword at him.
Clang!
Brows furrowing, Martin made sure he was hearing right before his expression began to harden.
Standing in place, and appearing as if he'd never moved, Noah stared right back at Martin without a change in his expression.
The flickering of Martin's aura emitted from the clash of steel, also missed Noah entirely, and was deflected to the side where black scorch marks now marred the floor.
Did he miss?
Martin was seriously considering if he'd been neglecting his training lately, but brushing the matter aside, he attacked again. Slower this time, more focused.
Shifting his stance, left leg forward, and arms chambered up into a slash, Martin flared his mana and lunged.
Martin watched Noah like a hawk, waiting for the moment he moved, and this time, Martin caught it all.
As his sword drew near Noah, the white aura sword in Noah's hands subtly flicked out with minimal movement and strength. Clashing against the edge of Martin's sword just enough to veer its trajectory off, a swirl of white light then shielded against the torrent of Martin's mana.
A textbook parry came next.
Martin's pupils dilated as he hastily dug his feet into the ground and barely twisted his neck out of strike range.
That was a death blow.
Martin felt sweat on his brow at the realization that if he'd been any more careless, he could have died like a fool. The foe before him stood with the bearings of a Knight despite his age. What was he? A prodigious Knight apprentice? He was too young.
If anything, they were the same age.
Too many thoughts clouded Martin's mind, the threat of death forcing him to cast all thoughts aside amid battle.
Taking a step back, Martin began to circulate his mana in a way unique to the Dale Family.
His title of Little Sword Saint was acquired through his extensive comprehension speed above that of all his siblings.
What Martin unleashed now, was the Dale Family's first form of sword circulation that an apprentice Knight like himself had no right to be using against fellow apprentices.
The Dale's First Sword technique: the Drill Sword.
The torrent of mana Martin kept shrouded over his sword began to twist and swirl, forming a sharp drill that boasted penetrative power to shatter a fortress wall with a single thrust. Blocking and parrying was also impossible given the nature of the rotating mana. The parrying sword was likely to get caught in the waves, and flung out of the adversary's hand.
Seeing Martin's actions, Annette pursed her lips and glanced at Mary, the two of them well aware of the Dale Family's sword techniques. Anxious, Annette began to regret bringing Noah to the meeting.
This was too dangerous!
Fleetingly, Annette glanced towards her mother and brother, but found that the both of them were hyper focused on Noah rather than Martin.
But why?! Were they intent to just watch Noah die?!
"M-Mary," Annette whispered, feeling responsible for Noah's current peril. "Mary?"
There was no response. Annette glanced at her handmaiden and saw Mary doing the same thing as her mother and brother.
What?! Were they not looking at the same thing here?!
Pitted against Martin's attack, Noah's light coloured mana began to react to his will.
Noah's body remembered, his memories of a distant past in this very world fully assimilating with the ones of the modern world.
He would not be afraid.
Through his eyes, he took in everything Martin had to offer as Martin pressed forward with an attack.
Seeing the Drill Sword approach, Noah let his body's instincts take over. The blood within his veins sung with the thrill of adrenaline and anticipation.
It had been so long. So long since it had had no choice but to repress itself in fear of drawing his Aunt's notice.
But even now, it was like quenching a droplet of water into a barren desert.
Noah did not dodge Martin's strike, but met it head on.
"Fool!" Martin grinned.
But Noah ignored it all.
Just like before, he repeated his actions to parry Martin's sword.
Light clashed with a swirling blue, and in that moment, a portion of Martin's drill was erased.
Subtly, a fraction of Martin's mana was siphoned into Noah the moment their swords crossed. If discovered, there was no concealing the consequences. Yet Noah was careful, only taking an amount of Martin's mana that was naturally offset as the energies clashed.
From there, the hole in Martin's drill enabled Noah to veer Martin's trajectory again by tapping his blade against Martin's.
Missing, Martin's sword struck the ground, and the rotating mana drilled a crater that exploded everything within a radius of ten meters into dirt.
Immediately, Sophia covered her children and vassals in a wall of her own mana, shielding them and everything behind her from the damage, but the floor of the audience hall was left ruined.
Dust and smoke filled the air, but a burst of Martin's mana cleared the view. His expression was not good.
Still standing in place on a precarious ledge formed from the floor and a crater that spanned around him, was Noah who had diverted all damage.
A shiver traveled down Martin's back as he realized that Noah had just parried his best attack. He was still learning his Family's sword techniques, and that was the only one he knew outside the basics.
Moreover-
"I see." Noah said flatly, the steadiness of the white mana on his sword beginning to shift.
From the very start, it wasn't that Noah was getting pushed back, but that Noah was observing.
Every action, every swing, and even the flow and movement of mana he absorbed, his eyes seemed to capture it all. Culminating into-
"Is this how it's done?"
The shifting white mana of Noah's sword began to rapidly rotate, creating a keening noise that reverberated through the sudden silence. Jets of wind formed a vacuum behind Noah that Martin's sword failed to do, revealing a speed of revelation far faster than Martin's own.
Martin felt his breath hitch in his throat, words unable to escape his lips.
From all perspectives, it was like the Dale Family's circulation technique was deftly reproduced without fail. No, Martin knew better than others, compared to his, Noah's was more refined, almost like his own father's.
I-It didn't make sense!
Martin gnashed his teeth and quickly reformed his aura around his sword to match Noah's.
Noah could care less about Martin's struggle, or if he could even accept the outcome.
Little Sword Saint?
Even before, the original Noah had never heard of such a title in Aletera's capital.
To begin with, all other titles were once overshadowed by his own.
The little monster of the Lambert Family with a potential greater than even Alfred Lambert himself.
The miracle child that made many Knights of Aletera question their own paths to Knighthood.
Sword, spear, bow that child was a natural prodigy in all, able to reproduce and even improve whatever technique he'd seen and understood.
'Noah Knightsbane.'