The Villainess Returns with a System

35: Rhapsody (4) [Triple Chapter 2/3]

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(Part 2)

With a speech full of fervor, the students clapped once again this time alongside the members of the faculty and the guests of honor. With that, Provost Albert Morgan joined the ranks of the VIPs alongside the guests and the Deans before signaling the Martial Performance to begin.

The first performance was of student Reginald Ashcroft who will perform a shortsword and shield fight against Richard Marshall from the second year.

Both students entered the performance court together and greeted each other with respect. This bout wasn't a duel about winning and losing but rather a show of skill from the two sides, heavily focusing on letting each other show off how skilled the other is in what can be seen as a sword dance of sorts.

While it seemed less interesting than an actual competition, it is known to almost everyone how fast and deadly a duel can be. It only takes a few instances to land a hit and defeat the opponent while a performance may last for a good few minutes.

The judges took their seats in the performance court and so the bout began.

What was most notable was when the two participants ignited their aura together, each showing off their three bronze star Aura. Two Apprentice Knights of the late stage. It was one thing for Reginald Ashcroft to be a 3-star Apprentice Knight but for Richard Marshall to be that as well, despite being a year younger than Reginald, was pleasantly shocking to the crowd.

The two young men drew their swords, each focusing his aura stars on different parts of his body. Reginald had two on his hands and one on his shoulder while Richard had one on his hand, one on his abdomen, and the last on his right foot.

This showing off of ignition was just to please the crowd but real knights don't deliberately make their aura stars radiate like that since it will expose their next move in most cases. That's why when Richard Marshall, who reinforced his right foot, started to move, he crossed the 10-meter distance between him and Reginald in a single step.

Reginald endured Richard's sword strike with his shield as he reinforced his hand to do that and tried to return an upper strike which Richard parried with his shield as he backed a step. Reginald followed up with a left, right, left, and then lower right before changing the trajectory and fainting a blunt bash with his shield that pushed Richard back.

Making an opening, Reginald went for a stab but Richard simply backed away and broke the engagement to catch a breather.

While the fight just now was careful and calculated between the two, it was nonetheless exciting as all of that only happened in the span of five seconds. It was fast-based, very accurate, and done with real sharp weapons. A martial ballet of fighting choreography.

After around three minutes of constant attacking and defending, the two participants backed out and cleared the stage for the judges to declare their judgment.

The three men simply stared at each other and a second later, Sir Gerald Fitzwilliams spoke up.

"Contestant Reginald Ashcroft, Pass!"

As the pass was declared, Richard and Reginald greeted the judges and greeted one another before retreating from the performance court. It couldn't be more joyous for the two since their performance was so good it set a standard for the ones coming after them.

The following performance was more systematic than exciting and the performers did their best to deserve a warm round of applause and did the following ones until the seven martial performances were over.