Two Methods? New Companion?

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"Crack—!"

With a crisp, clean sound of shattering, Noah's Knight Sword drove straight into the ground not far away. The sharp blade kicked up quite a few bits of gravel, making it easy to imagine what kind of fate would befall anyone actually struck by such a sword.

"This is over!"

Erza's lips curled into a smile as she thrust her Knight Sword forward without hesitation.

Her target: Noah's neck!

Given Erza's skill, she should be able to stop the weapon perfectly, with its tip hovering about an inch from Noah's throat, controlling it with ease!

Yet, just as Erza was fully convinced the battle was over, Noah suddenly lifted his head. His left hand, wrapped in bandages, lashed out, and a streak of Shadows flashed into being, slamming heavily into the tip of Erza's thrusting Knight Sword.

"Ding—!"

The next second, a sharp clang rang out from between Noah and Erza. Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, Erza was stunned for a moment—until a force traveled up through her Knight Sword, forcing her to take an involuntary step back. Only then did she understand what had happened.

In Noah's other hand, there was still a weapon he could use.

The scabbard!

The scabbard he'd been holding in his other hand all along!

Just now, Noah had wielded the scabbard in his left hand like a sword, meeting Erza's Knight Sword head-on. He deflected her surefire strike, turning the tide of the battle!

Gazing at the utterly astonished Erza, Noah stamped his foot hard against the ground, his form flashing like lightning as he appeared before her.

"It's too early to call it over!"

Under Erza's slightly narrowed gaze, Noah, gripping the scabbard tightly, used the momentum to spin half a turn in midair. In a bizarre twist, he slipped into Erza's guard, paused for an instant, and then—with a sharp sound that seemed to tear through the air—smashed the scabbard viciously toward Erza's chest.

Feeling the force bearing down on her, even Erza couldn't help but change her expression. Magic flared around her body.

"Requip—!"

A dazzling silver light bloomed in front of Erza.

It was the signature glow of Requip Magic.

When the light faded, a silver shield the size of a washbasin had materialized before her.

Seeing this, Noah couldn't help but pause for a moment.

A shield?

Over the past three months, Noah had seen Erza's Requip Magic many times, and he'd witnessed all sorts of weapons she had stored away. But this was the first time he'd seen her use a shield.

Did this mean the situation had become urgent enough for Erza to resort to a shield?

The thought crossed his mind, but Noah's movements didn't hesitate in the slightest. The force behind his scabbard strike only increased, slamming heavily into the silver shield.

"Thud—!"

A dull impact spread outward like invisible ripples of force from between Noah and Erza.

"—!" Erza felt the blow against her shield didn't hurt her, but the pushing force remained, breaking her already-backward momentum and sending her stumbling several more steps.

After retreating nearly twenty paces, Erza finally managed to steady herself.

But at that moment, she stopped moving.

Because before her, a figure had already appeared, the tip of a scabbard hovering an inch from her throat, pointing directly at it.

This scene—back when she'd sent Noah's Knight Sword flying—had also played out in Erza's imagination.

Only then, the roles in her imagination should have been reversed.

"Now this is really over!" The scabbard's tip aimed at Erza's throat, still not fully recovered from her shock, Noah laughed heartily. "Erza, you let your guard down!"

Erza had indeed let her guard down.

Not that she'd been holding back the whole time. But after knocking Noah's weapon away, she'd assumed victory was hers, and a hint of complacency crept in. She hadn't anticipated Noah counterattacking with the scabbard, catching her completely off guard.

If not for that, given Erza's combat reflexes and reaction speed, this fight wouldn't have ended so quickly, and Noah wouldn't have won so easily.

Staring at the scabbard hovering before her throat, Erza dropped her arms in resignation, a hint of displeasure flickering across her delicate face. "Using the scabbard to counterattack—how sneaky."

"Right back at you." Noah rolled his eyes, detached the scabbard, and walked toward his Knight Sword, which was stuck blade-first in the ground not far away. "You used magic and a shield too, didn't you? We're even."

Over the past three months, Noah and Erza had sparred like this almost every day, but they'd always stuck purely to swordsmanship, honing their techniques.

This time, Erza had first used magic to seize the upper hand decisively, then Noah had caught her off guard with the scabbard, and finally Erza had pulled out a shield. Compared to their previous training-oriented bouts, today's fight felt much more like a real battle.

Of course, being able to have a serious fight left both Noah and Erza quite satisfied.

But serious as it was, only the two of them knew just how much of their true ability they'd actually revealed in this match.

At the very least, Erza knew that Noah still had two more tricks up his sleeve that he hadn't used in this fight.

The first method was Noah's proudest asset—his magic power!

Over the past three months, Noah had not only honed swordsmanship capable of catching even Erza off guard, but his magic control had also improved significantly compared to three months prior.

And three months ago, Noah could already control an amount of magic power equivalent to several dozen mages at once to activate the Lake of Rituals. Now, the amount he could control at once was certainly no less than that.

If, in the earlier fight, Noah had used his magic power like Erza to enhance his physical abilities—even without using all of it, just within his controllable range—the boost he could achieve would far surpass Erza's, and the battle would have been far more advantageous for him.

The reason Noah didn't use magic power and kept saying he couldn't use it casually was simply due to his own concerns.

Erza had often heard in the guild that, back when Makarov first adopted Noah, his emotions had been so intense that his magic power went berserk, nearly destroying the entire guild on several occasions.

Given that, it was only natural that Noah would be cautious in every aspect until he could fully control his magic power.

Moreover, his opponent was Erza—not an enemy, but a companion for mutual improvement through sparring. So, Noah subconsciously refrained from using magic power in their fight.

As for the second method...

Erza's gaze shifted to the Knight Sword Noah had just picked up, gleaming like ice. Sensing the faint traces of aura emanating from it, she recalled the first time Noah had truly wielded that sword in front of her. She let out a wry laugh and began to change the subject.

"I never thought that three months ago, you couldn't even follow the trajectory of a casual swing from me, and now, three months later, you can not only keep up with my speed but even defeat me..."

"Giving up already? That doesn't sound like you, does it?" Noah swung the Knight Sword in his hand, looking at Erza with a challenging glint. "How about it? Another round?"

"Of course, no problem!" Erza replied firmly, then shifted her tone. "Though I'd love to say that, I actually stopped by the guild first. The Guild Master told me to call you back."

"Back?" Noah was taken aback. "What's wrong?"

Erza smiled brightly and said just one thing.

"We have a new companion!"