"Not bad." Veliona commended. So far Aldrich had been able to defend himself from her attacks quite nicely. But that was all he had been doing, defending. "You're going to need to actually take a swing if you plan on getting anywhere in the tourney. Actual knights are not going to go half as slowly as I am right now."
Aldrich grunted in response, mostly focused on keeping Veliona's battle axe as far away from his face as he could. For her small frame she had a surprising amount of strength. Putting his back into it, he pushed back swiftly causing her to stumble backwards a bit.
She regained her footing quickly, changing the top heavy axe into her preferred dagger. "I was wide open just then, why did you not do anything?"
"Well uh,..." Aldrich's words trailed off, unsure of how to say it in a way that wouldn't make her mad.
But his silence told Veliona what she needed to know. "You're holding back because I'm a girl aren't you."
"N-no! Well, maybe. But also because you are the princess..."
Veliona rolled her eyes and lunged at him, swinging her dagger upwards in a slicing arc. It clanged against the metal of Aldrich's sword which he was blocking with. Then, quickly switching to a dual grip to add as much force as she could, she brought it down as a zweihander. Aldrich had not been prepared for the sudden shift in attack force, his sword was ripped from his hand and fell to the ground. With another quick movement, she kneed him in the stomach. Really hard too, the air was knocked from him as he was pushed back a few meters.
Veliona raised the zweihander pointed right at him. "Unless you start fighting as hard as you can, you aren't going to last long against knights with virtues you aren't even familiar with. Now..."
She kicked his dropped sword up from the ground with her foot and caught it with her free hand, then tossed him back his relic morphed back into its regular form. He took his hands off his stomach just in time to catch it. She took out her special dagger.
"...Your trial period is over. You're gonna find out just how much harder fighting against a virtue is." She smirked confidently. "Come at me with all you've got! Or I kick your ass."
Aldrich looked back at Levi across the field. Levi gave him a reassuring thumbs up. He would take care of any injuries.
Aldrich sighed. But the princess was right, he had no idea what he would be up against in the tourney. If he couldn't even handle this... then maybe his father was right about him. He imagined himself winning against all odds even with his obvious lack of power. A smile cracked over his face at the thought.
He gripped his curved sword tightly. Winning would feel so good, he wanted... no he was going to win. And it would start right here. "Alright then! Let's try this again."
x
Aldrich winced as Levi's hand passed over his bruised shoulder. Veliona had really decided not to hold back at all, especially with Levi and his virtue close by.
"Who would have thought the princess was such a skilled weapons master." Levi commented as he closed a gash on Aldrich's arm. Slowly the severed skin sew itself back together leaving no trace of the injury.
"Yeah. She's just full of surprises, isn't she?" Aldrich replied. He retracted his arm and tried moving it around. The pain from a second ago had completely disappeared. Levi's healing ability seemed to have gotten even stronger.
Two more weeks passed the exact same way, with Veliona sneaking out of her castle to train with Aldrich in the field. She had to admit his rate of improvement was almost commendable. Almost. But her dagger's ability alone would definitely not be enough to prepare him to face whatever kind of Virtue all the knights who would be participating held.
She was starting to see where his father was coming from. But she kept it to herself, she wasn't here to tell him to give up on his goals. And besides, he had managed the situation back in Shinkoku quite well. He was nothing if not resourceful when it mattered, he could probably hold is own for a while. And maybe even win a fight. She smiled.
"What are you smiling at?" Aldrich asked, puzzled. He had his sword pointed down at her on the ground. The tip of the blade a few inches from her face. He had managed to knock her down.
"Just at how great of a teacher I am." She replied. She shut her eyes, taking in a few deep breaths. Then she swiped away his sword with her dagger, opening a rift under his feet before he could recover from the surprise.
He fell through it, and came tumbling out of the exit rift a few meters in the air. Landing face first in the dirt. She jumped back to her feet and dusted herself off, then with a quick flip, sheathed her dagger at her side.
Aldrich groaned as she walked past him. "And that, my dear student, was my final lesson. Never let your guard down, you never know what kind of trick your opponent has up their sleeve."
"Noted..." Aldrich's muffled voice replied.
Levi jogged over and offered Aldrich a hand. "You've improved so much in just two weeks."
Aldrich took the hand. Once he was up he wiped some of the dirt off his nose. It was now the last tenday before the tourney began, his time was almost up.
[Barely, Abaddon scoffed. Two weeks is hardly enough time to make up for such a glaring lack of power.]
"Abaddon..." Levi chided under his breath.
[What? It is true. Abaddon said. But at the very least it is going to be entertaining to watch him try. It has been dreadfully boring these days after all. We should be out there, finding the rest of my soul fragments.]
Levi closed a few of Aldrich's cuts quickly. "The king said he would tell us if any of your energy flared up anywhere."
[Bah, I wouldn't trust that sinner as far as I could throw him right now. He's been up to his neck in lies for a while now. Abaddon grumbled. ]
"What are you two talking about?" Aldrich asked. He'd become quite used to Levi's long silences, which usually meant the dragon was saying something.
"Nothing." Levi answered, waving it off. "We should get going, Veliona's already left and it's getting late."
"Yeah." Aldrich agreed. His father was probably wondering where he had been going off to everyday for the past weeks. He had kept it a secret because Alastair would try to dissuade him from bothering. That and he would kill him if he knew he had been secretly fighting the princess of the kingdom.
He yawned, covering his mouth with his palm. There was only over a week left before the tourney began. He was nervous, but also kind of excited. He wondered what kind of people he would meet.
He looked over at Levi as they walked. "Are you quite sure you don't want to join as well? I think you would do pretty well in a fight."
"Oh, no no. I'm good." Levi replied hurriedly, waving his hands for emphasis. He smiled nervously. "Plus the king also advised me from getting into situations that could potentially aggravate Abaddon and get him to unleash his power. Because then if it got out of control he might have to kill me."
"Oh." Was Aldrich's only reply. He was surprised at how nonchalant Levi was about that last part.
[These common knights aren't worth my time anyhow. Abaddon announced proudly. When I do deign to release my full power, he better be ready because he's first on my list.]
Aldrich escorted Levi back to the city gates where they parted ways for the night. Then he took a nice long stroll by himself back home. It was a full moon that night, which meant his father was probably peeling Sir Andrius off the floor of a tavern somewhere in the city.
He took in a deep breath and then exhaled. "Just watch me dad. I will make you acknowledge me."