Chapter 82 - Amy vs Elena 2
The fight continued.
The moment Elena used her Crystal Platform to avoid Amy’s lightning, Amy immediately moved again.
Lightning crackled around her body as she accelerated forward, wooden sword in hand.
Not wanting to fall behind, Elena reinforced herself with Light Mana, enhancing her speed while using her movement art to match Amy’s pace.
Clack!
Their wooden swords collided once more.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Dozens of strikes were exchanged within moments.
Amy seamlessly combined Ice and Lightning.
She launched ice attacks while coating her wooden sword with crackling electricity, making every clash more dangerous.
Elena responded by coating her own wooden sword with Light Mana, strengthening each strike while using Crystal to control the battlefield around her.
Their movements were astonishingly fast.
To an ordinary spectator, they would have appeared as nothing more than blurs.
Fortunately...
Thanks to my Dimensional Awareness, I could follow every movement clearly.
Even if my body couldn’t react fast enough...
My eyes could.
I watched every swing.
Every dodge.
Every feint.
Every mistake.
It felt as though time itself had slowed down before my eyes.
Then Amy suddenly changed her tactics.
Lightning vines burst across the arena and wrapped around Elena’s leg.
I immediately recognized the spell.
It was inspired by my Dark Vines.
The moment Elena tried to move, the vines released a surge of electricity.
The harder she struggled...
The stronger the lightning became.
Empress Aurelia watched the battle with an amused smile.
Then she glanced toward me.
"Oh?"
"You can actually follow their movements despite their speed?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
"Thanks to my perception ability, I can see everything clearly."
"But..."
"My body still can’t react if one of those attacks comes at me."
Her smile widened slightly.
"That’s perfectly normal."
"After all, they are considerably stronger than you."
"But possessing such perception at your age is already impressive."
"You have excellent observation abilities."
I simply nodded.
Then all of us returned our attention to the battle.
Lightning and Light continued clashing throughout the arena.
Meanwhile, Ice and Crystal collided repeatedly.
Neither of them used large-scale attacks.
Both understood that the other could easily defend against them.
Instead, they focused on close combat and precise control of their abilities.
The battle continued relentlessly.
Amy suddenly created a Lightning Chain around her wooden sword.
Every swing carried bursts of electricity, forcing Elena to constantly defend.
Using the opening, Amy froze Elena’s footing with Ice, restricting her movement for a moment.
She immediately rushed forward, intending to finish the match.
But at the last second...
Massive crystal pillars erupted from the ground between them.
The pillars completely blocked Amy’s path, giving Elena enough time to break free from the ice and retreat.
By now, the training arena had become a complete mess.
Ice covered parts of the floor.
Crystal pillars stood scattered throughout the battlefield.
Scorch marks from lightning covered the ground.
Then...
Amy did something that completely surprised me.
A faint blue aura surrounded her wooden sword.
The air around the blade seemed to tremble.
Even though it was only a wooden sword...
It suddenly felt sharper than steel.
With a single decisive swing—
Crack!
Elena’s wooden sword shattered into pieces.
I stared at the scene in shock.
"What..."
"What was that?"
This time, Isabella answered.
A rare hint of surprise appeared on her normally calm face.
"That is Sword Aura."
"I didn’t expect Amy to awaken it already."
My eyes immediately brightened.
"I’ve heard about Sword Aura before..."
"But I’ve never actually seen it."
"Can you tell me more about it?"
Isabella was about to answer.
However, Empress Aurelia gently raised a hand.
Isabella immediately stopped and allowed her mother to explain.
"Sword Aura is different for every swordsman."
"What Amy is using now is only the most basic form."
"In the future, as her understanding deepens, she will be able to combine it with her elemental abilities."
"Depending on the swordsman’s path..."
"Sword Aura can gain completely different properties."
"It can freeze."
"It can become incredibly fast."
"It can become overwhelmingly destructive."
"For pure swordsmen..."
"It is one of the greatest weapons they can possess."
I nodded repeatedly while keeping my eyes fixed on the battlefield.
"That’s amazing..."
Not long afterward, the match came to an end.
Amy stood victorious.
Even so...
Both she and Elena were breathing heavily.
They had both reached their limits.
The moment Amy stepped out of the arena, she walked directly toward me with a triumphant grin.
"Did you see that, brat?"
"Isn’t your amazing big sister incredible?"
She proudly puffed out her chest.
I looked at her for a moment.
There was no way I was going to feed her ego.
"Yeah..."
"But I think the word you’re looking for isn’t ’amazing.’"
"It’s ’annoying.’"
Amy’s smile froze.
She looked at me as if I had just signed my own death sentence.
"What did you just say, you little brat?!"
She immediately threw her wooden sword toward me.
I casually stepped aside before taking two bottles of ice-cold water from my Space Storage.
I handed one to Amy.
Then I walked over and offered the other to Elena.
"Thanks."
Elena accepted it with a grateful smile.
Empress Aurelia watched the entire exchange before smiling warmly.
"It seems you two really have a wonderful sibling bond."
Mom smiled faintly.
"They have always been like this."
"They argue over the smallest things."
Empress Aurelia laughed softly before turning toward Amy and Elena.
"You both fought very well."
"As always, you were evenly matched."
"If Amy hadn’t awakened Sword Aura..."
"I believe this battle would have ended in a draw."
She smiled proudly at both girls.
"You have both grown tremendously."
Amy and Elena smiled at each other before walking away and discussing the battle.
Then Empress Aurelia turned her attention toward Luna and me.
Neither of us needed her to explain.
We both understood what she meant.
Quietly, we stood up and walked toward the sparring arena.
Each of us picked up a wooden sword from the weapon rack.
Standing opposite one another, we took our positions.
The atmosphere around the training hall gradually became quiet as everyone’s attention shifted toward us.
Our spar was about to begin.