Chapter 252 - Sparring With The Maids

CLACK!

Thud!

"Urgh!"

A wooden broadsword flew through the crisp morning air, spinning three times before landing with a dull thud on the dew grass. Nichole hit the ground hard, nearing rolling over completely as she landed on her butt.

Breathing heavily, Nichole stared down at her empty, stinging palms in disbelief. "W-What just happened...?"

Off to the side of the lawn, standing near the weapons rack, Yuna rested her hands against her hip alongside a worried Isabel and a laughing Sadie.

"Bwahahaha! Straight on your ass!"

"Nichole..."

"Don’t feel too bad, Junior Nichole. Master Rossana has yet to be beaten in a match where mana isn’t applied."

"S-Shut up!"

Nichole’s fiery red eyes snapped toward Kurt, who was lazily spinning a standard wooden sword in one hand without a single drop of sweat on his forehead. She pushed herself off the ground and yelled. "A rematch! Right now! That was just a fluke!"

"Sure. Though I’ll probably beat you even quicker this time. I got you downloaded."

Gritting her teeth, Nichole executed an athletic kip-up off the grass. She snatched her weapon back up and sank into a low, heavy stance, gripping the long hilt of her wooden broadsword with one hand.

"Hmph! Talk all you want! But this time I’ll–"

"Hold on a second," Kurt raised a hand, turning toward the spectators. "Isabel, could you grab me a broadsword from the rack too?"

"A broadsword, Master Rossana?"

"Yeah. Same as Nikki’s"

Nichole’s brows furrowed in confusion. "What are you doing? You don’t use broadswords! I’ve seen you fight!"

"That’s only because I never really had a reason to," he admitted, taking the broadsword from Isabel with a nod of thanks.

He tested its weight, letting the heavy tip sink slightly into the grass. "I’ve never been in a situation where I needed one, but here I am now fighting an expert at yielding one. So I thought I’d give it a shot."

"Wha–?! Are you taking me lightly?! A broadsword isn’t a toy – it takes years of dedicated footwork, shoulder strength, and wrist training just to learn how to hold it properly! What makes you think you can just pick one up and beat me at my own game?!"

Kurt swung the sword over his right shoulder, resting it casually. He curled his left hand, flicking his fingers in a classic ’come at me’ gesture. "I’ll have you know that I’m pretty good at adapting. Remember... no magic. Just pure skill."

"Why you arrogant..."

BWOOSH!

She exploded forward, moving with practiced perfection. When she made it to him, she swung her sword upward in a rising diagonal strike aimed straight for his ribs.

Retreating half a step, Kurt shifted his weight to catch the blow on the thick crossguard of his weapon.

CLA—CLACK!!!

’Holy!’

The force of the strike rattled up his arms, forcing him to try and adjust his center of balance, but Nichole didn’t give him room to breathe.

As she thrust down the tip of her weapon at his feet, forcing him to dodge, she utilized her heavy wood’s lack of falling motion and pivoted seamlessly on her back heel. She grabbed the hilt again and whipped the blade around in a horizontal backhand strike toward his temple.

"Whoa!"

Kurt ducked low at the last second, feeling the wind brush through his hair, and swung his sword into her exposed hip.

THWACK!

"Kh–!"

Her balance broke, but she gritted her teeth and shoved him back with her forearm.

Re-gripping her hilt with two hands, she unleashed a rapid, four-strike combo – a thrust to his chest, a slash, a downward cleave, and a sweeping low strike at his ankles.

CLACK! CLACK! THWACK! CLANG!

Wood violently smashed against wood in a rapid tempo.

Kurt retreated step by step across the lawn, his mind hyper-focused as he absorbed the mechanics of broadsword combat on the fly. He caught her thrust on his crossguard, parried the slash outward, deflected the downward cleave with a tilted blade, and leaped over the sweeping low blow.

"Got you!"

"Not quite, Nikki!"

By the fourth strike, he had her style "downloaded".

As Nichole recovered from her low sweep and brought her sword back up for a vertical execution blow, Kurt struck. He performed an unorthodox technique – mid-air, he re-gripped the hilt with both hands and executed a fast combo of his own:

A quick thrust to her slack shoulder, a sweeping side parry that knocked her broadsword completely out of her hand, and a lightning-fast strike with the flat of his blade straight to her diaphragm.

Thanks to his parry strike, her broadsword went flying into the air, spinning before landing far across the grass. Nichole staggered backward and collapsed back onto her butt, clutching her chest and wheezing for air.

*Cough!* *Huff* *Wheeze!* *C-Cough!*

"Yeesh, are you okay? I mean, I didn’t hit you that hard, did I?"

"T-That... that was a stupid, unrealistic fight anyway! No real warrior fights like that! Damn near everyone incorporates magic into their fighting skills!"

Off to the side, Sadie covered her mouth and let out a teasing cackle. "Aww, don’t start crying now, Nikki! Otherwise, you’re gonna lose face in front of your precious crush~! KAAAHAHAHA!"

"BLAAAAAAH!!! W-WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!"

Nichole’s face exploded crimson as her tsundere instincts flared up into overdrive mode. "I-I-I don’t know what you’re talking about! C-Crush?! Who has a crush?! Shut up! Shut up!"

Kurt took a step closer, raising his hands pacifyingly. "Hey, calm down, it’s just–"

"N-NO! DON’T GET CLOSE! DON’T LOOK AT ME!"

In a blind panic, she lashed out and drove her fist squarely on Kurt’ cheek in a beautiful sucker punch.

THWACK!

Kurt’s head snapped back slightly. He blinked in confusion while rubbing his jaw in quiet shock.

’Did... Did she really just...’

She did, causing even herself to freeze. Her fiery red eyes shrank to tiny pinpricks as she realized what she had just done to the master of the house.

"I-I-I AM SO SORRY!"

In utter horror, she sprinted across the lawn at top speed, her apron fluttering wildly as she vanished inside the mansion.

Sadie, as expected, collapsed onto the grass, clutching her stomach and howling with laughter.

"BWAHAHA! AHAHAHAHA!"

Kurt slowly turned his head toward Sadie. A dark, menacing smile stretched across his lips as he cracked his knuckles. "Sadie..."

"Haha..Haha Haaaa... Uh... yes, Bossman?"

"How about you step up for a spar?"

Sadie shaked her head furiously, pushing herself up and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Pass! Fighting you with no magic is pointless. You’re a literal monster."

"Who said anything about no magic? You can use magic."

Her demeanor flipped. Her light green eyes sparkled with mischievous confidence as a wild, predatory grin spread across her face. "Are you sure about that, Bossman? No takesies-backsies?"

"A hundred percent sure."

"Alright!" She slammed her fist into her open palm and stepped forward into position. "Oh, you’re so gonna regret that!"

Kurt glanced past her toward the other two maids. "Yuna, Isabel. You two join in as well. Three against one – the promising maid trio versus their master."

Yuna and Isabel exchanged a brief, surprised look before silently nodding to each other.

They walked over to the weapon rack. Yuna selected a sleek wooden sword, while Isabel pulled two lightweight wooden daggers from the slots, spinning them deftly between her fingers.

They stepped onto the field, forming a broad tactical triangle around Kurt.

"Should we explain our magic abilities to you first, Master?" Yuna asked calmly, shifting into a low, ninja-like stance.

"Where’s the fun in that? How about you tell me after I beat you?"

Sadie chuckled while bouncing on her feet. "You really know how to rile a girl up, don’t you?"

"Just keep it quick. I have to leave for my meeting soon."

"Oh, don’t you worry," she grinned, her body suddenly surging with white glowing aura. "We’ll be sure to end this in a flash!"

BOOM!

The grass exploded outward under Sadie’s boots as a boost of physical enhancement surged through her veins.

Accelerated by the affinity of light magic, she blurred across the distance in less than a heartbeat, closing the space between them in an instant. She threw a straight right hook aimed directly at Kurt’s chin.

Barely reacting on time, he raised the broad wooden blade to intercept the strike.

Just as her fist neared his blade, a searing burst of brilliant white light erupted from Sadie’s knuckles right before Kurt’s eye, accompanied by an ear-splitting, explosive shockwave that sounded like a cannon going off at point-blank range.

"Flashbang, baby!"

BANG!

Kurt’s world was instantly obliterated into blinding white glare. A sharp, violent ringing sound pierced his eardrums, throwing off his spatial awareness, balance, and sight all at once.

Before he could recover, the maid trio executed their battle formation with terrifying, practiced perfection.

Isabel slammed her left wooden dagger into the earth, pouring green and brown mana into the dirt.

Thick, thorn-covered forest vines burst from the soil beneath Kurt’s feet like striking serpents, coiling tightly around his ankles, knees, and calves. The roots dug into the ground, pinning him firmly to the spot.

Simultaneously, Yuna surged in from his left blind spot. Her body flickered with a vibration, and suddenly her silhouette split into three clones – four Yunas in total, all swirling around Kurt like a hurricane of maroon ribbons and slicing wood.

The fight was just getting started.