Ashley followed behind Lara as they walked outside of New Grenton into the open fields. Ashley could pretty much guess what Lara wanted to do. It wasn"t a secret that Lara"s bloodl.u.s.t was directed at Ashley. The sword princess already knew the relations.h.i.+p between her and Ren based on Nezzard"s information. This stoic woman must"ve figured out what Ashley would ask of Ren. "She"s strong, but not as strong as him. I can see that she"s at my level, so there"s no need to worry." The sword princess had a very rare ability that could accurately gauge a person"s mana. With this ability, she could also guess the person"s personality, quirks, and weaknesses.
The moment she laid eyes on Ren she knew that death would be the only path if she were to cross him. On the other hand, Valdel"s mana told her that as long as you don"t push him to the brink he would forgive all as long as they were sincere in asking for forgiveness. Those two were undoubtedly strong, Valdel was only second to her father in strength, but Ren was something else entirely.
Then there"s Lara, being childhood friends with Ren and Valdel meant that she was somewhat strong enough to keep up. She was indeed strong, but because she was always together with Ren and Valdel her strength wasn"t as noticeable. But now that she was walking in front of her, Ashley could see just how strong Lara was.
The stoic maiden had a mana capacity that was near Ashley"s very own mana. The way it fluctuated indicated that Lara was a very emotional person, but her facial expression tells a different story. While Ashley was thinking about the mystery of Lara"s stoic look, Lara who was walking in front of her stopped.
"This place is good enough," Lara spoke while holding her bow.
"I guess it is," Ashley nodded her head as she drew two short swords from her waist.
"Based on your actions no further explanation is needed, is there?"
"No need, a maiden in love is quite easy to understand," Ashley responded with a slight smile on her face.
...
While the two maidens were talking, a bit further away from them were Valdel and everyone who was in the meeting. After the meeting concluded the group decided to watch the fight between the two maidens. Mainly because they wanted to stop the fight if it went too far.
...
"Who do you guys think will win?" Rachel asked while looking a bit excited.
"I have heard numerous rumors about the Sword Princess"s prowess in battle. But I have seen first hand Lara"s abilities and I can honestly say that Lara might have an advantage in pure power." Natasha responded seriously while remembering Lara pounding a bone dragon with her fist.
"I"m voting for Lara as well. The Sword Princess has an almost legendary reputation as her beauty and skill with a sword were considered otherworldly. But now that I look at her that reputation seems to be grossly exaggerated. Though she is a beauty it isn"t as much as what has been said, maybe her sword skills are the same." Rachel gave her answer, which made Lara mockingly smile at the holy maiden of the War G.o.d.
"Oh, jealous that she"s more beautiful than you?" Hearing Natasha was able to notice her true feelings and started to tease her about it, Rachel decided to change the subject.
"So what do you think Galius? Since you"re the one who has the most battle experience among us, surely you have an opinion regarding who would win."
The old man smiled at Rachel before answering.
"In my opinion, the fight could go either way. In terms of raw power, Lara has the upper hand, but in terms of skill, the princess holds the advantage. Though Lara has a wider array of skills from bows to fists and even using magic, the princess has more experience in actual battle. So like I said the fight could go either way, it all depends on who is able to see an opportunity and take it."
Being able to successfully stop Natasha"s teasing, Rachel continued to ask others about their opinion on how the fight would go.
"How about you Val?" Rachel looked at Valdel and was already expecting him to answer Lara.
"I haven"t seen the princess in battle, so I can"t really tell who would win but... Based solely on how she carries herself I can somehow estimate a bit of her strength. So I have a similar impression as Sir Galius, I think the fight could go either way."
Hearing Valdel"s answer surprised Rachel for a bit, but she quickly accepted the answer as something he would say. That"s just the way Valdel was.
"I can already guess that you would ask me as well, and my answer is Lady Lara," Stephan answered without waiting for Rachel to ask him.
Rika who was listening at the side was a bit infuriated. None of the people present had voted that the princess would win. Some did say that it could go either way, but the others directly said Lara would win. She has seen a bit of what Lara could do and though the stoic maiden was strong she wasn"t that strong.
"And you who do you think will win?" Rachel finally asked Rika.
"Without a doubt, the princess would win," Rika answered without hesitation. Rachel was already expecting such an answer, seeing how gloomy Rika looked as the others voted for Lara. As the group were talking the conversation between the two maidens finally came to end.
Lara and Ashley raised their weapons and pointed it at one another. Lara had one arrow ready to fire and held a dozen in one of her hands. Ashley who had taken out two swords started to juggle them, and then she took out another two and started juggling those as well.
Both of them looked at each other observing every detail of their opponent"s movement. Lara was eager to strike and her bloodl.u.s.t was already at its peak. Still, she waited for the right moment to strike.
Ashley, on the other hand, was calm and composed as she waited for Lara to attack. The two simply stared at each other for several minutes before Lara released her arrow and Ashley defended by throwing one of her swords and das.h.i.+ng forward.
The fight between the two had finally begun.