Fog City region, St. James's Palace.
Bang-
On a secluded, deserted patch of grass, a flaxen-haired gentleman raised a wooden knight's sword and attacked the blond young man opposite him, who also held a wooden sword.
Valente's downward slash was deftly deflected, and the blond young man immediately retaliated without mercy.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Xia Xiu's attacks were swift and fierce. An unbroken rain of sword strikes enveloped Valente, striking his knees, wrists, joints... Valente struggled to fend off such a relentless assault, while the blond young man's cutting words began pouring into his ears.
"Your reverse cuts are weak, your straight cuts sloppy, your footwork loose, and your reactions slow. Not a single move is decent, and you want to slay a dragon? You don't even know what death means!"
Smack-
With that final smack, Xia Xiu easily flicked the sword out of Valente's hand, and Valente himself fell to the ground.
"Hiss-"
Valente couldn't help crying out in pain as his backside hit the ground hard. Then he raised his sweat-soaked head. The wooden sword in the blond young man's hand rested against his neck, and sunlight fell squarely on that incomparably handsome face, which now wore a dazzling smile.
"Isn't Merlin supposed to be a magician? How come you're so good with a sword?" Valente asked with a slightly sly edge to his otherwise expressionless face.
"And isn't Arthur the King of Knights? How come you can't even swing a sword?" Xia Xiu replied with a smile.
"Why don't you let me draw the [Balmung Holy Sword], and we'll have another fight?"
"No thanks. I'm not fighting someone with a god-tier carry."
Xia Xiu shook his head in refusal and reached out to pull Valente up from the ground. He had no desire to fight a cheater