The instructor blinked in suprise for a moment before blocking the attack, noting the strength behind the blow.
'This force..' The instructor thought, she had never once felt this kind of strength whenever they had trained togehther. Liora's blows were always weak, and unrefined.
But this time they packed enough force to send small shockwaves coarsing through her. The sword instructor pushed Liora's sword back before going in for another slash, her sword missing Liora's face by mere inches as she bent to dodge the attack.
"Looks like you're finally starting to improve." The sword instructor commented with an amused expression, a smirk on her lips.
Liora remained silent as she chose to ignore her comment and charged in again, planting her feet to the ground and thrusting her sword forward in a quick stabbing motion.
The sword instructor parried the attack, swing her sword upwards and knocking Liora's sword back, causing her to stumble as she took a few steps back to create distance.
The instructor let out a small laugh before charging at her again, attacking her with a flurry of slashes. Liora was forced to block every attack and dodge a few, barely finding any opportunity to counter attack, but whenever she did, it was blocked or either parried.
Lance and Carl stopped training with their instructors and instead watched Liora fight, Lisa stood behind them and also spectated, and their instructors also watching.
---
William was seated inside his private office, sorting out papers and signing them before sealing it with their familiy's seal. As he was continued to work, the sounds of swords clashing outside got his attention.
He stood up from his chair and adjusted his jacked as he walked over to the window and looked outside, there he saw Liora and her sword instructor clashing furiously, with everyone else watching.
"What the.." William mutteree to himself, a wave of confusion hitting him. As he continued to watch Liora fight, he noticed the grand improvement in her swordsmanship, the way she handled herself in battle made his eyes widen slightly.
'Did i make a mistake?' He contemplated, his expression turning to that of regret, but he shook it off, he was the duke and couldn't care less about the feelings of his children.
If they weren't strong and useful to him, then they're not important to him. He turned around and walked back to his desk and continued his work. As he kept on with his signing, a sudden idea struck him and he stood up from his chair.
"Alfred!" William called for his butler, walking back to the window of his office as he gazed outside.
The door swung open and a well dressed man stepped into the room, wearing the clothes of a butler, his head bald with a grey mustache on his face.
"Yes, your grace?" Alfred asked as he stepped beside the duke, his tone polite.
"Look at her," The duke said as he continued to look outside, watching Liora battling fiercely with her instructor, "She's improving with the sword." He commented as he nodded to himself with a smile on his face.
"Indeed," Alfred added, watching Liora with a relieved expression. "She can actually handle her own against her instructor's current level of strength,"
Alfred said, "But she is still holding back immensely, and looks to be enjoying herself for once. Usually she would be dissapointed with Liora's attempts to hit her, but today is different."
The duke nodded to Alfred's words, but a new matter needed to be adressed. "Alfred," The duke started as he looked him in the eyes
"While Liora's swordsmanship has improved, it's about time we find her a Beast Tamer that could mentor her and study her abilites." The duke said, as he glanced at the window one more time.
"I understand." Alfred said with a bow, holding his arm over his chest "I'll visit the guild of Bolorius and find one right away, excuse me." Alfred said before leaving the room.
----
Liora dodged another one of her instructors attacks, this time it was a low swipe amied to trip her, but she dodged it with a graceful backflip, landing on her feet and countering with a spinning slash.
"Hahaha!" The sword instructor laughed as she blocked the attack, before drawing back her sword and delivering a powerful stab, thrusting her sword forward.
Liora gritted her teeth as she blocked the attack, but the force of the attack, combined with her fatigue, sent her flying backwards as she fell to the ground, panting tiredly.
'Damn it..' Liora cursed inwardly 'I thought i could beat her this time, but i was dead wrong. This entire time, she was just going easy on me, and i still lost!'
The sword instructor put her sword back in its sheath before walking up to Liora. She bent down and extended a hand for Liora to pick her up, a friendly smile on her face, the first Liora has seen in a while
"I had alot of fun today, you're finally improving, and I'm glad to see it." She said as she helped Liora stand.
'What the heck? I thought she would be mad at me, but she's happy because I improved?' Liora contemplated as she stood up with the help of her instructor, dusting off her clothes.
The sword instructor gently placed a hand on Liora's head and rubbed it gently,
"Sorry if my training methods are harsh, but it's what i went through and helped me improved greatly.
Your family needs strong and independent people to carry on their legacy, and i believe you can do it now that you're doing much better."
Liora stared at her, confusion weighing on her mind
'Maybe i was wrong about her character, she's very similar to my Martial Arts teacher. Both were very strict and hard with their training, but for the right reasons. It's thanks to them that I'm able to fight so brilliantly, both in swordsmanship and in martial arts.'
Liora thought to herself for a moment before turning to her teacher and bowing respectfully "Thank you, sword instructor Gena, it means alot to me. And I'll continue to improve." Liora said, raising her head, her expression full of determination.
"Good to hear." Gena said, smiling before walking up to Lisa. "I have finished today's practice session, i'll be taking my leave now." Gena said with a bow and Lisa excused her.
'You're doing good Liora.' Lisa thought, letting out a small smile before turning back to Carl and Lance.
"You four! Stop watching and resume training!"