Chapter 210: Spar With Greta

A transitive stance was one that could shift seamlessly between defense and offense, allowing a swordsman to turn a defensive movement into an attack or transform an offensive motion into a guard without interrupting the flow of their swordsmanship. Rather than relying on a predetermined sequence of movements, it used the opponent’s rhythm against them, turning every action into an opportunity to strike.

Over the next few days, Elias continued learning magic under Monica’s guidance while refining his swordsmanship under both Stellas.

Meanwhile, Natasha had begun learning how to sew from Greta.

Although Elias made considerable progress with his swordsmanship, the same could not be said for his magic. Every day, he attempted to form an Earth Elemental Chakra, but gathering even a single element felt like filling a bathing pool with a spoon.

No matter how carefully he concentrated or how thoroughly he contemplated the nature of earth, the scattered particles refused to gather into a stable ring at any reasonable speed.

Despite possessing an SS-grade affinity for the Shadow element, Elias refrained from attempting to cultivate its Elemental Chakra because he had no practical use for it.

There were no known arcane studies concerning shadow elements or shadow magic that he could learn from, and his recent struggles had made one thing abundantly clear: he was no magical genius.

Fortunately, his swordsmanship was progressing much faster, largely because the two Stellas approached his training from entirely different perspectives.

Young Stella helped him understand the connection between himself and his sword, guiding him toward a style that reflected his own nature rather than forcing him to imitate someone else’s. The other Stella, on the other hand, tested the practicality of his ideas, repeatedly exposing flaws in his movements and forcing him to refine them until his stance and attacks could flow naturally into one another.

Eventually, the day arrived for Elias to spar against Greta and test his newly developed sword style.

Inside the cavernous training ground, Elias stood opposite Greta with Lastbane held loosely in his hands. He wore a relaxed smile, seemingly unconcerned about the impending fight, while Greta watched him with a stern expression and both daggers ready at her sides.

"Are you ready?" Elias asked.

"I am always ready to take what is mine," Greta replied, her eyes drifting toward Lastbane.

Elias shook his head and muttered, "How delusional."

He settled into his transitive stance, keeping his shoulders relaxed and his sword positioned in front of him without committing his weight to either an attack or a defense. His posture appeared almost careless, leaving openings that seemed far too obvious for a swordsman preparing to fight.

Greta stared at him for several moments before gritting her teeth and muttering, "Are you mocking me?"

Elias furrowed his brows. "Why would you think so?"

"That stance makes no sense," she said, her irritation growing as she struggled to understand whether he was deliberately insulting her or simply had no idea what he was doing.

"You are not here to give me a lecture on my swordsmanship," Elias stated, his relaxed expression gradually turning serious. "Stop standing there and come at me."

Greta’s eyes glinted sharply, and she immediately lowered her center of gravity before gathering yellow Aura around the soles of her feet. The energy surged beneath her boots, propelling her forward with a sudden burst of speed as she crossed the distance between them in an instant.

Yellow light gleamed along the edges of her daggers as she swung both weapons toward Elias, one cutting diagonally toward his shoulder while the other swept toward his abdomen to prevent him from escaping along the same line.

Elias moved without hesitation, shifting his weight onto his rear foot as he raised Lastbane to intercept the first dagger.

Metal struck metal with a sharp clang, and the impact traveled through his arms as he angled his blade to deflect the attack away from his shoulder.

At the same time, he turned his torso and drew his sword across his body, allowing the second dagger to pass harmlessly before his abdomen.

Greta tried to capitalize on his movement by pressing forward, forcing her daggers against his sword in an attempt to pin it between them and open a path toward his chest.

However, Elias had already anticipated her response, and rather than resisting her pressure directly, he loosened his grip just enough to let her push his blade aside before stepping into the opening she had created.

His rear foot pivoted against the stone floor, and his sword swept back across Greta’s exposed side.

The flat of Lastbane struck her ribs with a heavy thud, disrupting her balance and forcing her to stumble backward.

Before she could recover, Elias followed with a rapid sequence of attacks, first cutting toward her shoulder and then reversing his blade toward her waist before bringing it around in a short horizontal sweep.

Greta raised her daggers to meet each strike, but the relentless rhythm forced her to retreat, her boots scraping against the stone as she struggled to maintain enough distance to keep Elias from overwhelming her.

Every time she tried to regain control, another attack arrived from a slightly different angle, leaving her with little opportunity to launch a counterattack of her own.

’How is he so fast?’ she wondered, gritting her teeth as she blocked another strike.

She had expected Elias to rely on raw strength or perhaps a few tricks, but his movements were far more deliberate than she had anticipated. His attacks flowed into one another without the slightest hesitation, and his stance changed with each movement, allowing him to defend himself while maintaining constant pressure.

Greta finally found an opening when Elias drove Lastbane toward her shoulder, and she gathered yellow Aura along the edge of her right dagger before knocking his blade away from her body. The force redirected his sword to the side, creating the brief opening she needed to escape his reach.

However, Elias’s lips curled into a faint smile.

He had been waiting for precisely that response.

Allowing Greta to redirect his blade, he followed the momentum rather than fighting against it, turning his wrists and shoulders as he stepped forward.

Lastbane swept around in a broad arc, and the lightness of his previous attacks abruptly gave way to a much heavier strike aimed at her upper body.

Greta’s eyes widened as she raised both daggers to intercept the incoming blade, but the impact forced her arms downward and drove her several steps backward.

Her weapons trembled in her hands, and before she could settle her footing, Elias adjusted his stance and launched another heavy attack from the opposite direction.

She tried to deflect it with her left dagger, using a thin layer of yellow Aura to guide Lastbane away from her torso, but the pressure behind the strike was far greater than she had expected.

Her arm shook as she struggled to redirect the sword, and although she managed to prevent it from striking her directly, the force dragged her weapon across her body and left her stance badly compromised.

Greta’s expression darkened as she realized she could not afford to keep meeting his attacks this way.

She could reinforce her daggers with more Aura and use the additional power to counter his strength, but the thought made her hesitate.

The yellow energy she wielded was not something she could safely unleash without restraint, and drawing too heavily upon it risked pushing her closer to the madness that had claimed others who pursued power through forbidden weapon paths.

If she lost control, she might become nothing more than a mindless killer.

That was a price she could not afford to pay, even to reclaim Lastbane.

Forced to rely on her limited Aura, Greta shifted her tactics and began using her daggers to redirect Elias’s attacks rather than block them outright. She angled one blade beneath his sword to guide it past her shoulder while using the other to threaten his wrist, hoping to discourage him from committing fully to his heavier strikes.

For a brief moment, the strategy worked, and she managed to slip sideways as Lastbane passed her.

However, Elias adjusted just as quickly, rotating his hips and stepping into her new position before she could escape his reach. His sword reversed direction in a smooth motion, and the flat of the blade struck her upper arm, forcing her dagger downward.

Greta grimaced but refused to retreat immediately, instead driving her other dagger toward his ribs in a desperate attempt to make him withdraw.

Elias turned his torso just enough to avoid the point, then brought Lastbane across her weapon and pressed downward, pinning her dagger away from his body before she could pull it back.

Her eyes widened as she realized that he had once again turned her attempt to counterattack into an advantage for himself.

Before she could disengage, Elias released the pressure on her weapon and stepped back just far enough to create the illusion of an opening.

Greta seized the opportunity and lunged forward, gathering what little Aura she could safely spare around both daggers as she aimed for his chest.

Yet the instant she committed to the attack, Elias shifted his front foot and angled his body aside, allowing her weapons to pass along his flank.

He then pivoted on his rear foot and brought Lastbane down in a powerful diagonal slash.

Greta barely managed to cross her daggers above her head, catching the descending sword before it could strike her. The impact rang through the training chamber, and her arms buckled under the sudden weight as the force traveled through her shoulders and down her spine.

She tried to hold her ground, but Elias continued pressing forward, keeping his blade firmly against her crossed daggers while gradually driving her lower. Her knees trembled, and the stone beneath her boots scraped as she struggled to resist the pressure without drawing upon more Aura than she could safely control.

For several agonizing seconds, Greta fought to maintain her footing, her teeth clenched and her arms shaking as she searched for a way to redirect his sword.

But Elias gave her no opening.

He shifted his grip, adjusted the angle of Lastbane, and pressed down with a final surge of controlled force. Greta’s knees finally buckled, and she dropped onto both knees with a sharp gasp, her daggers still crossed above her head as Lastbane forced them downward.

Before she could recover, Elias withdrew his sword and lowered its edge beside her neck.

"You have lost," he stated calmly.

"No..." Greta whispered, her expression dark.

"What?" he muttered, bewildered by her response.

She looked at him with sharp yet heavy eyes and muttered, "I cannot give up. I would not. That sword is my destiny! You cannot take it away from me."

He stared down at her for a long while. Then he lowered his sword and walked away.

"Is it your destiny or a destiny that someone else forced upon you?" His departing words echoed throughout the chamber, accompanied by his calm footsteps.

Greta’s expression hardened, and she lowered her head.

"You know nothing..." she whispered.

He returned to his room, Lastbane already stored in his Inventory, and his gaze fell on Natasha, who was sewing something.

He settled beside her, and she glanced at him before returning to her work.

He planted a kiss on her cheek, causing a faint smile to appear on her face. Then he sprawled on the bed and mumbled inwardly, ’How can I heal Natasha?’

[Daily Query detected!]

[Query: How can Natasha Sephila be healed?]

[The query does not relate to the day.]

[Daily Query failed!]

His expression soured, and he remarked, ’Useless.’

Fortunately, he had other methods to gain clues about how to heal her.

Natasha’s status screen appeared before his eyes, and he focused on her three destinies.

[Destiny]

[ –Breaker of Divine– ]

[ –Master of All Demons– ]

[ –Seeker of a Forlorn Dream– ]

He focused on the second, and an orange screen materialized.

[Simulate: –Master of All Demons–?]

[Yes] [No]

’Yes,’ he answered inwardly.

Darkness swallowed him.