The Iron Maiden

Part 7

"Hehehe..."

Raiden let out a sadistic smile as he applied more force on the sword. Lia knew that she wouldn't last long like this, so she slowly adjusted her position and maneuvered her blades in a way that deflected his sword

"Oh?"

Raiden said in a monotone voice as his sword was parried to the side, he immediately saw that she was going for a counter with the knife in her left hand so he quickly put some distance

Lia let out a relieved sigh as she returns to her former stance

A single applause then came from the spectators who belonged to Aithne. She was happily cheering on from the sidelines which made the servants look at her with a disdained expression, they wondered why on earth was she cheering for a deadly battle between two children

Lia embarrassingly turned her attention away from her master and focused on the situation at hand

She stared at Raiden who was showing her a sadistic smile

'Is this kid trying to kill me?! you should at least learn to hold back a bit on a lady!... Grhhhh...I could try to take the lead now since I know his moves from the novel  but it might seem different in actuality so I need to be careful and observe for now'

Though Raiden was smiling he felt an uneasy feeling inside his mind

'As I thought, She's very skilled. To be able to block that blow without the use of magic and with the most minimal of movements is no easy feat...and those knives...Though not nearly as good as mine, I could sense that it was enchanted'

Weapons in this world could be enchanted with the use of magic in order to improve their effectiveness. An enchanted weapon is more sharp, durable, and light compared to ordinary weapons. 

A lumberjack that is using an ordinary ax could chop down a fully grown tree for about fifteen minutes at best. But with an enchanted one, it would only take about five at the very least

There were also some enchanted weapons that could be used to perform magic like Raiden's sword, but he determined that the ones that she's using weren't that fancy

"Looks like I really can't underestimate you...Interesting!"

Raiden charged once more and Lia prepared herself

They both began exchanging blows with Raiden on the offensive and Lia being as passive as possible. She would dodge every attack that was slow enough and would skillfully parry the one's that she couldn't

This exchange continued for a while, And the spectators were absolutely dazzled by it. The deadly exchange that the two were having seemed like a well-rehearsed dance. The way Lia would jump out of the way and dodge is similar to the movements in ballet, and the way she parries akin to a teacher who  is letting the student take the lead in order to create a beautiful motion

Raiden started to be a bit annoyed by this so he cast a spell once more and strengthened his body even further and continued in their exchange

'Why?!'

Raiden continued to barrage Lia with more slashes but nearly nothing changed. He tried to catch her off guard by grabbing one of her arms when she was trying to parry but it seemed like she expected this so she gave him a strong kick to the stomach which sent him back

'Tch! I should have the upper advantage in both power and speed! She isn't even using magic yet so why?! Why can't I break her?!'

Raiden tried once more but his slashes were deflected just like last time