"That makes me feel slightly better,

" Eldrian said, realizing now how big a difference not actively weakening oneself was. He had to admit, he had underestimated her strength. Believing he was almost as strong as her. Not respecting the fact that she had also grown stronger during her struggles.

He had thought that the biggest improvement which she had shown was only thanks to Nelida's Flame. Now he realized that he should not think that things are so simple.

In fact, Vivian was strengthened a great deal when she bonded Nelida's Flame. Even when she is using different weapons, she still held some of the bonuses she had gained. This played only a small role in her growth in the end, but it was still present nonetheless.

"Are you ready for the second round?

" Vivian asked, hoping to this time end it in one blow.

"Mmm... Give me a few seconds.

" Eldrian replied, taking a look at his inventory and all the types of training weapons he had thrown into it. After seeing them training so hard, Old Sword had offered that they simply kept a bunch in Eldrian's inventory. So that they did not need to bother others when needing training weapons. As such, Eldrian had an entire pile in his cubic inventory.

He did not wish to use a spear, feeling certain he would have no hope of coping with her speed. She would simply push past his guard and once inside, he had little hope. As he looked at the pile, he saw an arming sword and a Viking type round shield. This should help me block some attacks. He thought to himself, taking it out and causing Vivian to raise her eyebrows in question, but not actually say any words.

Before starting Eldrian also recast Accelerate on himself, as well as Anthizo to help him not run out of steam.

"Alright.

" He said once this was done and he felt ready.

This time he did not lose sight of her as she seemingly jumped past the ten meters. Eldrian quickly brought his shield up to block her leaping downward strike, finding to his surprise that she did not try and go around his shield. Slamming her blade into it instead. Eldrian's feet sunk into the ground and his knees buckled from the impact. Before he could react, he felt the wooden blade against his neck.

"Wh-what?

" He asked in confusion as his entire body vibrated from the shock and became numb. His arm that held the shield not sending any feeling back to him, and the rest of his body following suit as the shock spread.

"It's an easy target to hit. So I just... Hit it.

" Vivian giggled as she saw Eldrian confused look, the latter unable to understand how strong that attack was.

"What skills did you use?

" Eldrian asked as he slowly stood up, needing some effort to dig his feet out of the ground.

"A simple multi-boost one for speed and strength, and then a skill focused on hitting one area with all my strength. It is generally a dumb attack since I can't stop it once it fails. The power behind would pull me off balance. But against a shield or slow large targets, it works really well.

"

"You got that right.

" Eldrian joked as he threw the shield off of his arm and shook it to try and get the feeling back.

"Another?

" Vivian asked, enjoying this a bit too much. She had been quite irritated with their previous sparring matches where Eldrian did not just manage to lead it to a tie, but even win a few of the matches.

Eldrian wanted to say no right away, but seeing her brilliant smile he could not do it.

"Alright, but let me try another weapon.

" He refused to believe he could not handle more than one or two attacks. This time he decided to take a spear, even knowing the obvious weakness it had.

Standing ready Eldrian waited for her to come again, refreshing the boosts he had on him. Holding the spear with its point downward, Eldrian hoped to slow her mobility. This did not happen.

With ease, Vivian charged at him. As soon as Eldrian tried to bring the spear up to stop her, she simply wacked it aside with her sword. The impact causing Eldrian to leave himself completely open as the spear even slipped from his grip.

"Another?

" Vivian asked, smiling widely as she saw Eldrian nursing the area she had hit.

Again Eldrian found himself unable to say no. He returned to the longsword though, it had been the best weapon thus far. Though this time he did not manage to replicate the first fight where he stopped two attacks aimed at him.

Vivian knowing that he was fast enough to follow her attacks, focused more on her strength rather than her speed. Breaking Eldrian's guard with ease and then delivering the second and final blow, only the second actually aimed at Eldrian.

After each match, she would happily ask,

"Another?

" To which Eldrian said yes, getting beaten time and time again. He cycled through all the weapons he had on hand, even trying some disappearance and appearance acts through his inventory to try and throw Vivian off. This naturally did not work as she knew of his abilities.

He also never used spells, as they had no way to limit the damage it could do. While Eldrian felt she would dodge or block all he threw at her, one getting through could lead to more trouble than it was worth.

As such he simply took solace in Vivian's brilliant smile as he was continually defeated in one move, two at most.

Time passed and he became more accustomed to the beatings. He did not manage to actually fight back, but he slowly started observing the ways she would move when going for certain attacks. Eldrian hoped to somehow imitate it with time, this grace and elegance she was able to move with.

If he had to describe his own fighting style compared to hers, then his was certainly barbaric. He focused on one good hit, an all in. While this made sense as he often ended up fighting against stronger opponents, he realized it meant that he did not consider his next moves.

In most cases, he could make up for this by using spells. However, the need to make up for something was in and of itself a weakness. If he could fix this, then he should be able to drastically raise his strength as his spells would truly be free. Not a way to gain an extra advantage out of desperation, but one to take over the battle.

Through all their matches, Eldrian never entered that special mental state he would often enter in dire situations. Adding further to his inability to keep up with what he might otherwise be able to.

Soon night came and they both decided that it was enough for the day. Eldrian sporting multiple black and blue spots on his person, almost helping him hide in the darkness of night.

...

Logging out, Eldrian stood up in the room which he had become accustomed to. As he stretched and climbed out of bed he realized, again, that he needed to talk with his parent about his studies, and how he had put them aside for not. He really did not want to.

He had been putting it off and off, even going so far as to miss his weekend lunch with his sister. Though this was not much, as they could not always meet. Both understanding that things can come up, Eldrian did not really explain why he could not meet. If he missed the next, and the next after that, she would certainly start suspecting things.

I really don't want to. Eldrian complained to himself as he took his tablet and ordered his breakfast. It was quite a convenient system they had adopted. The more commonly eaten foods would be made in buffet style and if someone wanted something not part of this, they simply had to order it. You also did not need to do this each time, being able to make this a preset meal for yourself if you wished.

Getting up, Eldrian headed down and ate his breakfast. Some cereal with yoghurt, and his special order of french toast. As he enjoyed his breakfast, he thought about how he was going to tell his family the news. Imagining the worst reactions.

To try and shift his mind from his spiraling imagination, he wasted the morning doing a few random things. First going to the gym to keep up with his routine, and after walking around the premises and taking it all in, again...

As he cycled through the common living area of the premises, Eldrian found himself unable to delay anymore. Certain that if he did then he would put it off to the next day, again...

Reluctantly he headed back to his room and slowly typed in his dad's number.