"Are you sure you want to take us both on by yourself, young Lord" Roderick questioned, concerned by my sudden proposal.
"I'll be leaving for some urgent business a week from now, I have to ensure You're ready for what's to come " I lied, knowing fully well that my departure was more of a punishment than actual business to me.
This was also the only chance I'd have to train before leaving, since Milo's mom was overly protective of me recently.
"We've grown stronger since last time young Lord, I'd advise you take us seriously this time" Poderick added, unsheathing his blade as he tossed aside the scabbard.
"Duly noted. Now less talking, more battling" I hushed, unsheathing my own blade also.
I had sparred with them the day after rescuing Sabrina, as a last confirmation of my strength for the twins, winning a one sided victory, as their swordsmanship left much to be desired.
Hoping to continue the streak, I decided to stay on the attack the entire fight.
Roderick led the first attack, swinging sideways towards my gut as I intercepted the attack midway.
His grip was strong and I could gradually feel the force of his attack rattling my blade. Poderick followed suit, launching a frontal strike directed at my face.
I pushed back from Roderick, creating a small gap between our blades and brushing off the flow of his press in that instant, leaving me face to face with Poderick's impending strike.
Unlike his brother, Poderick's lackluster attack barely startled me but his swift movements afterwards almost caught me off guard.
The succeeding attacks was dominated by a clash of blades constantly, with Roderick prioritizing strength over speed and Poderick doing the opposite.
Between the ranks of swordsmanship, there existed seven stages of class. Beginner, amateur, adept, vanguard, ward, grandmaster and finally ascendant.
Individually, their talents where a far cry from even adept, but together they scaled close to vanguard class.
The synergy they possessed while wielding the blade, complimenting each other's strength and compensating for their individual weaknesses, was proof that they could grow to something outstanding in a short while.
Originally I had planned to have them level up on their own, but my present fight with them drew a bridge regarding that decision.
"I told you we were better than last time" Poderick stated, pausing to catch up his breath as his brother attacked relentlessly.
The clash of our swords sent sparks flying endlessly in all directions, as ripples of mana waves formed from my cloaked blade.
I had previously resolved to withholding my sword skills but recent developments didn't afford me such luxuries.
Roderick joined the fight again, using his brothers stike as cover for his surprise attack but my perception was far too advanced to fall pray to such childish tactics.
As he approached me, brandishing his strike unbelievably close to my face, I swung my body backwards, kicking Roderick's blade to the ground and pulling his brother's shirt from behind.
I flung the destabilized Poderick towards his brother, watching them crash to the ground, covered in dirt.
I could feel my mana surge as I neared the peak of my battle prowess.
According to the laws of mana in this world, the longer you used a magic spell or skill instantaneously in a battle, the more mana reception you could achieve.
Right now, since my activated eye was constantly consuming bits of my mana, I had to turn on my aura blade skill to reinforce my reception for mana.
The twins readied for another round of attack, switchingg positions as they tried surrounding me.
Poderick pounced first, his swift swordsmanship cutting through the wind itself, then Roderick followed behind jumping from side to side to distort my train of thoughts.
I casted a low-level smoke screen spell, masking my presence as I avoided Poderick's swing, Roderick now blinded by the immediate smoke decided to thrust his blade and clear it but that was his downfall.
In the blink of an eye, i had already closed the distance between us, barely a feet from him as my blade came so close to reaching his face.
However, a beam of light rushed towards me from behind, causing me to discharge the attack.
I retreated to a safe distance, pondering where the light spell had originated from and was immediately stunned by the scenery that matched my inquisition.
Like an interloper making an appearance, Poderick crept out of hazy smoke, his blade glowing by his side.
It was as if everyone around me was constantly trying to bend the meaning the word 'genius' as they racked up mind racking accomplishments faster than even me.
As I stared at the glowing blade, it became painstakingly clear that he had replicated a technique conceptually just by observing it.
Sword aura was something that took me days to fully visualize and even a week to actually fully craft it. And at that I could barely keep it stable for a minute.
The skill, in and of itself wasn't relatively hard to accomplish but the fact that he had done that amid fighting, proved that I had contracted a genius swordsman, and that Milo was not a genius swordsman.
I looked towards Roderick who was staring reverently at the handiwork of nigh perfection that his brother had accomplished at first try.
"From here on out I'm not holding back. Let's see if you can copy this too" I blatantly chastised, folding my palm over my blade, starting from the guard as I slid gently, changing the form from longsword, to broadsword in an instant.
"Is that weapon evolution!" Poderick screamed, amazed by the feat I had demonstrated.
His hunch was right, proving once more that he wasn't just gifted but knowledgeable.
Weapon evolution was a skill that allowed its user to change or alter the form of their weapon unarbitrarily to whatever suit their imagination, temporarily or even permanently.
It was a skill only adept rank mages or swordsman could achieve.
'I better wrap this up now I've used this form' I thought to myself, getting ready to one shot my opponents.
Poderick relaxed his stance, shouting at the top of his voice as he urged his brother to stand.
"Are you going to sit there all day, get up brother!" He bawled, jumping towards me in an instant.
I clenched the hilt of my sword tightly, sending all the mana I had left into the blade, causing it to glow, brimming with energy.
We locked gazes together, as Poderick's blade dropped towards my face, but it was too late for his retaliation.
Nothing could escape the slash I was about to perform.
A deafening ring was heard first, before a massive explosion accompanied it.
BOOM!!!
Everything in my eyeline was completely burnt, as smoke oozed out of the burning branches and tree logs.
Roderick had eventually pushed his brother out of harm's way in the last moment, both surviving the blast of energy.
Although it looked like it had caused irreparable damage to the field we stood on, the skill was not designed to harm anything imbued with mana, meaning I had won completely using my wits and cunning.
I crashed to the floor on one knee, supporting myself with my blade, pierced deep into the ground.
Both brothers laughed at the realization of their defeat, sitting up immediately as they criticized my pattern of victory.
"I could sense that the attack wouldn't deal damage, but some how i was still scared of it" Roderick admitted quietly, staring at the sky above him, almost out of breath.
"All in all, your sword skills were quite commendable" I replied, congratulating them mildly.
Sabrina brought us towels soon after, offering to help me clean up, but I flatly declined her advances.
I then discussed the course of our plan in the succeeding six months, clarifying the details repeatedly as I mentioned our form of communication.
After that, I left for the estate, providing them with enough coins for their upkeep which they rejected initially.
The cool winds pressed against my face and chest as we rode back, enveloping the entire carriage solely in its whisper.
The thought of my overwhelming luck recently filled my mind, causing me to gloss over the possible cause.
If this was a fantasy novel with a system window, I would probably be smiling as I stared at my luck stats.
'I guess my luck stats are maxed out here huh?' i thought to myself, relaxing for a short nap.