The Demon King's Paladin Part 2. All Out War.

Chapter 511. Sparring With Captain Martin 2. The End Of The Match

/ Shing! Swoosh! Boom!/

" No good?"

" Nope!"

/ CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!/

" Spiral Slash!"

" That's not going to work! Full Swing!"

/ CLANK!/

" Don't break the sword now!"

" Wouldn't dream of it! This is getting fun!"

The fight has been going on for around 5 minutes, it's become a wild exchange between Captain Martin and myself, neither of us could land a solid blow to claim a win so far. I think that's pretty good considering he's a Captain here at the Western Border, more or less a 2nd in command. To protect the Border, you need to be strong, and I'm willing to bet to become a Captain, you need to be able to seperate yourself from the rest, so in my head at least, Captain Martin is most likely very strong. The fact that I've been able to hold my own against him, even in a sparring match tells me that the training I've been doing isn't a waste of time, it's just that the people around me are very special. Sarah and Anna are obviously strong and talented, to the point where I wonder if I could ever catch up to them. Ruby is no slouch herself, if it was just up to physical combat, she can tie Sarah and I'm pretty sure she's close to figuring out how to break their stalemate of draws, every sparring match between them seemed to have Ruby pushing Sarah more and more. That's no small feat considering Sarah was trained since she was a child by Warrick and Aqua. Flare, Edmon and the rest of the fighters from Paradise are also strong, to the point where I think if we had to, we could probably work effectively as Border Personnel if we were ordered to by Warrick, granted, I don't think that's ever going to happen, but it's possible, we already do a light version of that anyways with protecting the town from Monsters and the like, along with that, the Outpost Development Project is going to be an even more involved Military Project...

/ CLANG!/

" Woah!"

" You should focus on the fight!"

A sword strike got a bit too close for comfort as I was lost in thought for a moment, maybe I should stop doing that? Anyways, I need to fight back, I tightened the grip around my sword and I began to match Captain Martin swing for swing. That feeling from earlier is growing stronger within me... It's been there all through the fight since I noticed it, but I still couldn't find the right moment to use it... It's a bit frustrating, thankfully, I have the best way to exorcise that feeling in my mind. But first, I need an opening...

" Clunk! Clunk! Clang!"

" You're still trying to parry me?"

" I am a Paladin, Defense is kind of what I do."

" You're really casual about this!"

" It is a sparring match, but if you want me to press a little harder..."

/ CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!/

" That's more like it!"

Captain Martin seemed happy that I was responding to his request. Maybe it's because he hasn't been able to find a way to beat my defensive swordplay? Regardless, it was about time to start attacking anyways. I feel confident that I could see through most of Captain Martin's movements now, the only issues were when he uses a Skill like that " Full Swing" Skill he used earlier. Obviously, my confidence, that's only because we're sparring and not really fighting, but because of that, I'm pretty sure I have a way to win this fight... It's a gamble, but screw it, might as well give it a shot. First thing's first, I need to change the momentum. That means I need to push him back and make him give ground, so far, the attacking that I've been doing has caused him and I to stalemate and make us keep our footing. Let's get a bit more aggressive, with my Dynamic Vision as good as it is, it means that I can more or less see the trajectories of his sword swings, it's why I can stop him from gaining any ground from his attacks. Honestly, ever since I picked up Dynamic Vision Enhancement, it's made sparring a bit of a hassle, before my sparring partners could land an attack on me whenever I slipped up, now however. Sarah, Anna, Ruby, Alice and Charlotte now need to take me super serious to land a blow on me. That usually means I need to use Holy Heal after the sparring sessions and then I need to explain to everyone that the apologies aren't needed since it's just training. Though, deep in my head, I'm kind of proud of the fact that I'm able to get them to take me seriously as an opponent. Since I'm still a beginning to get them to have to take me seriously is proof that I'm growing. Speaking of which, time to grow a bit bolder.