"Half-step Great Knight? What kind of ridiculous title is that!" Count Merlin strode into the training grounds. "What goes through that head of yours all day?"
"Grandfather."
"Grandfather."
Russell hurriedly greeted him.
Count Merlin drew a refined steel longsword from the weapon rack and looked at Russell. "Your Battle Aura is depleted, isn't it? Can you still fight?"
"Are you going to instruct me, Grandfather? Of course I can!" Russell replied eagerly. The handsome old man before him was a Wyvern Knight.
There were so few Wyvern Knights in the entire Shadowflame Grand Duchy that they could be counted on one hand.
"This is not instruction. It is a duel—just swordsmanship, pure swordsmanship!" Count Merlin gripped the refined steel longsword, and his entire bearing changed instantly.
Like a treasured sword being drawn from its scabbard.
Russell gripped his refined steel longsword with both hands and likewise erupted with an unstoppable sharpness, facing Count Merlin head-on from afar.
In an instant.
The two collided. Their identical refined steel longswords rang out in rapid succession, clanging as they exchanged more than a dozen blows in one breath.
Viscount Meijie and Cousin Mel could barely keep up with what they saw.
But soon, the two figures grew faster and faster. The refined steel longswords struck in rapid flashes, producing not only crisp metallic clangs, but also piercing whistles through the air.
There was no Battle Aura.
This was a contest of pure swordsmanship.
It began swiftly and ended swiftly. In less than a quarter of an hour, crack—both refined steel longswords broke at the same time.
Russell and Count Merlin sprang apart at the first touch.
Count Merlin stood with his hands behind his back, his face unflushed and breath steady. Russell, meanwhile, braced both hands on his thighs and panted heavily.
"You're