Chapter 259: Training.

The silence that formed within the training room carried a different tension than that which dominated the mansion. It wasn’t the passive silence of waiting or vigilance, but the kind of stillness that precedes movement, the moment when two people analyze each other before taking the first step. Damon remained standing in the center of the tatami mats, relaxed at first glance, but with his attentive gaze fixed on Ingrivid. She, in turn, slowly approached one of the weapon racks leaning against the wall and ran her fingers over the wooden swords lined up there, choosing one with the naturalness of someone who had already repeated that gesture countless times.

She raised the training sword and tested the weight of the wooden blade with a short flick of her wrist. The dry sound of air being cut echoed faintly in the silent room. The wood was solid, well-balanced, and clearly made to withstand constant impacts without breaking easily. Ingrivid twirled the weapon once between her fingers before looking at Damon again.

“If we’re going to train, we need rules,” she said calmly.

Damon walked to the same weapons rack and picked up another wooden sword without much ceremony. He raised it with one hand and made a similar movement, testing its weight and balance with a quick spin that produced a short sound in the air.

“Rules?” he replied, with a slight smile.

“Yes.”

She assumed a firmer stance now, positioning her feet precisely on the tatami.

“No qi, no magic, and no intent to kill.”

Damon let out a small nasal laugh as he slowly walked to the center of the room.

“You already know me well.”

“I know you well enough.”

He twirled the wooden sword between his fingers one last time before gripping it more firmly.

“Just technique then.”

Ingrivid tilted her head slightly.

“Just technique.”

Damon stopped about three meters away from her and assumed a relaxed fighting stance. Her guard was down, almost too casual, as if she were facing a far inferior opponent. But her eyes were alert, observing every detail of the knight’s posture.

Ingrivid noticed this immediately.

She adjusted her feet slightly on the ground and raised her sword in a defensive position, pointing the tip of the wooden blade toward Damon’s chest.

“Don’t underestimate your opponent,” she said.

Damon tilted his head.

“I never underestimate someone who accepts to fight me.”

Silence returned for a moment.

Then Ingrivid attacked.

She lunged forward suddenly, moving with surprising speed for someone wearing light armor. The wooden sword cut through the air in a swift arc aimed at Damon’s shoulder.

He reacted at the last instant.

His blade rose in a short movement and intercepted the blow with a dry crack of wood against wood. The impact echoed through the room as the two weapons clashed.

Damon took a small step back immediately, absorbing the impact without losing his balance.

Ingrivid didn’t hesitate.

She twisted her wrist and changed the direction of her attack, sliding her sword down in a fluid motion aimed at his ribs.

Damon blocked again, this time twisting his body to match the movement and deflecting the blow with a quick twist of the blade.

They both retreated almost simultaneously.

Their eyes met for a brief instant.

And then they advanced again.

The second confrontation was quicker.

Ingrivid attacked first with a sequence of three consecutive blows, each coming from a different angle. Shoulder, rib, and leg. The sequence was clean and efficient, clearly the result of disciplined military training.

Damon blocked them all.

The wood of the swords cracked repeatedly as the blades clashed in the air. Each impact produced a dry sound that reverberated off the walls of the room.

He took two steps back before counterattacking.

His sword described a swift arc toward Ingrivid’s waist, a simple movement, but executed with enough precision to force her to react immediately.

She blocked.

The impact was strong enough to send her arms recoiling a few inches.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“You’re holding back,” she said.

Damon smiled.

“You too.”

She advanced again.

This time the combat became more intense.

The two began circling the room, moving with quick steps across the tatami mats as their wooden swords clashed repeatedly. Blows were blocked, deflected, or transformed into new attacks in an almost continuous sequence of movement.

Ingrivid fought with military discipline.

Her attacks were direct, efficient, and designed to create specific openings in her opponent’s defense.

Damon fought completely differently.

His movements were more fluid, almost lazy at times, but always in the right place at the right time. He dodged blows with small body rotations, blocked attacks with minimal movement, and responded with quick counterattacks that forced Ingrivid to remain constantly alert.

Her breathing began to quicken slightly after a few minutes.

Damon, on the other hand, still seemed relaxed.

They exchanged another quick sequence of blows before parting ways again.

Ingrivid exhaled slowly as she repositioned her feet.

“You’re annoyingly hard to hit,” she said.

Damon shrugged.

“Experience.”

She observed his posture for a moment.

“You’ve fought many swordsmen.”

“More than I can remember.” She nodded slowly.

Then she attacked again.

This time she changed her strategy.

Instead of direct strikes, she began using faster, more unpredictable movements, alternating between high and low attacks in rapid succession. The wooden blade cut through the air in short arcs as she tried to break Damon’s defensive rhythm.

He responded by increasing his own pace.

The sounds of impact began to echo through the room more frequently now. Wood against wood, quick footsteps on the tatami, controlled breaths that gradually became more intense.

In one particularly quick moment, Damon managed to deflect a side blow and respond with an attack that almost hit her shoulder.

Ingrivid retreated at the last instant.

A small smile appeared on her face.

“Almost.”

Damon twirled the sword in his hand.

“Almost doesn’t count.”

They advanced again.

Now the movements were even faster.

The fight had ceased to be just casual training and had transformed into a true test of skill. Each tried to find a flaw in the other’s technique while maintaining their own defense intact.

Ingrivid advanced with a powerful vertical strike, strong enough to echo through the room, which Damon blocked.

He deflected her blade to the side and responded with a quick body spin, attempting to strike her back.

She spun along with him.

The two swords collided again.

The impact was strong.

For a brief instant, the two blades were pressed against each other as the two fighters measured their strength and balance.

Their eyes met just inches apart.

“You’re not just a guest,” Ingrivid said between controlled breaths.

Damon smiled.

“I never said I was.”

She pushed his blade away and leaped two steps back.

Then she attacked again with even more speed.

Damon responded in kind.

Now the two moved around the room almost like swift shadows, their swords clashing repeatedly in a dance of attack and defense that demonstrated true skill on both sides.

After several minutes of continuous combat, the two finally separated again.

Ingrivid was breathing a little heavier now.

A small strand of hair had come loose from her ponytail and fell across her face.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

“I’m beginning to understand why Lady Morgana asked me to respect you,” she said.

Damon rested his wooden sword on his shoulder.

“She said that?”

Ingrivid nodded.

“She said you were dangerous.”

He smiled slightly.

“She’s right.”

She raised her sword again.

“One more round.”

Damon adjusted his stance.

“With pleasure.”

The two advanced at the same time. And this time the combat became even more intense.

They both advanced simultaneously, and the initial impact of their wooden swords echoed through the room like the dry crack of branches breaking in a silent forest. The clash of blades was strong enough to vibrate through both their arms, but neither of them immediately retreated. Damon slid a step to the side as he dodged Ingrivid’s next blow, turning his body fluidly and allowing her sword to pass just inches from his shoulder before responding with a swift slash aimed at her side. Ingrivid blocked at the last instant, moving her wooden blade to intercept the attack with a firm crack that echoed through the ceiling beams.

The pace of the fight intensified even further after that. The relatively small space of the training room forced the two to move carefully, constantly adjusting their steps to avoid bumping into the weapon racks or the hanging sandbags. Still, neither seemed truly constrained by the environment. On the contrary, both seemed to enjoy the space as if they had been fighting there for years, each step calculated, each turn precise.

Ingrivid attacked again with a rapid sequence of diagonal strikes that alternated between left and right, forcing Damon to block in an almost continuous rhythm. The wood of the swords cracked repeatedly as he deflected the attacks with short wrist movements and small body rotations. At one point, he took a half-step back, letting a blow graze past his face before counter-attacking with an upward movement that forced Ingrivid to leap back to avoid impact.

She landed softly on the mat, maintaining perfect balance as she repositioned her feet. Her chest rose and fell a little faster now, but her eyes remained focused, assessing Damon with increasing attention.

“You fight like someone who learned in many different places,” she commented between controlled breaths.

Damon twirled the wooden sword in his hand, relaxing his shoulders for a moment before assuming his guard again.

“Because that’s exactly what happened.”

She nodded slightly, as if that response confirmed something she already suspected.

Without saying anything more, she advanced again.

This time, the attack began with a quick feint towards Damon’s shoulder. He reacted by raising his blade to block, but realized at the last instant that the movement was a trick. Ingrivid changed the direction of the strike mid-air, skillfully rotating her wrist and directing the sword towards his legs.

Damon needed to react quickly.

He leaped back, lowering his own sword in a swift motion, intercepting the blow just inches from the mat. The impact made both blades vibrate again.

“Good,” he murmured.

Ingrivid didn’t respond with words.

She spun on her axis and attacked again, taking advantage of the moment Damon was still adjusting his stance after the leap. The blow came swiftly, aimed at the side of his head.

Damon leaned back in an almost lazy movement, letting the wooden sword cut the air where his face had been a second before. Then he took a step forward and pressed his blade against hers with enough force to slightly unbalance her.

She took two steps back to regain her balance.

For a brief instant, the two stood still again.

Their breathing was now audible in the silent room.

Ingrivid discreetly wiped the sweat that was beginning to form on her jawline.

“You’re still not fighting seriously,” she said.

Damon raised an eyebrow.

“You want me to fight seriously?”

She raised her sword again, adjusting her feet firmly.

“I want you to stop treating me like I’m playing around.”

A small smile appeared on his face.

“Alright.”

Damon then slightly shifted his stance.

The difference was subtle, but Ingrivid noticed it immediately.

His guard became firmer, his feet better positioned, his weight more evenly distributed. The aura of casual relaxation almost completely disappeared, replaced by a much more focused presence.

She inhaled slowly.

Then she advanced.

The clash of swords happened almost instantly.

This time the rhythm of the combat clearly changed. Damon was no longer just reacting or testing her skill. His movements were now more direct, faster, and each strike carried a precision that forced Ingrivid to concentrate completely to keep up.

She blocked two consecutive attacks before attempting a counterattack with a side slash. Damon deflected the blade with a short movement and spun his body, bringing his own sword in a downward arc that nearly struck her shoulder.

Ingrivid quickly retreated.

The impact of the blade against the tatami produced a muffled sound.

She immediately noticed the difference.

“Now that’s more like it,” she murmured.

The combat continued.

The wooden swords clashed repeatedly as the two moved through the room. Damon now pressed with more constant attacks, forcing Ingrivid to retreat and block in rapid succession. Still, she was no easy opponent. Her technique was disciplined and precise, and even under pressure she managed to find small opportunities to respond with quick strikes that kept Damon on his toes.

At one point, she managed to evade a direct attack and slid to his side with an agile movement. The wooden sword came towards his ribs with surprising speed.

Damon blocked reflexively, but the impact was strong enough to make him take a half-step back.

He smiled.

“Finally.”

Ingrivid didn’t let the opening slip away.

She immediately advanced, trying to exploit the slight imbalance she had created. Her blows came in rapid succession, forcing Damon to take two consecutive steps back before regaining his rhythm.

The training room now echoed constantly with the sound of clashing swords.

The sandbags swayed slightly with the displacement of air caused by the rapid movements of the two fighters.

After a few more minutes of intense combat, Damon finally found a clear opening. He deflected a vertical blow from Ingrivid and spun his body in a fluid motion that brought his blade towards her arm.

Ingrivid tried to block, but she arrived a fraction of a second too late.

Damon’s wooden sword touched her forearm with a dry crack.

It wasn’t a strong blow, but it was enough to make the outcome clear.

They both stopped.

Silence returned to fill the room.

Ingrivid looked at her own arm for a moment before raising her eyes to Damon.

She took a deep breath.

“One point for you.”

Damon rested his wooden sword on his shoulder again.

“That was a good fight.”

She let out a small sigh, but there was a discreet smile on her face now.

“Better than I expected.”

Damon began to reply when a distant sound echoed down the hallway outside the room.

Footsteps.

Ingrivid turned her head immediately toward the door.

She recognized the rhythm of those footsteps.

A second later, the training room door opened. And the figure that appeared there made Ingrivid immediately straighten his posture.

“Morgana.”

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