The Water Magician

Once again, let's rewind a little bit.

Zack Cooler vs. Amon.

Knight vs. Swordsman.

A perfect sword fight...?

From the very beginning, the sword fight between the two became intense.

The offense and defense switched multiple times.

Amon dodged Zack's horizontal slash and followed up with a series of thrusts.

Zack deliberately deflected one of the thrusts with his left bracer, breaking Amon's balance, and went for a crosswise strike.

Amon avoided it with a body lean.

Zack stepped in further to pursue.

In response, Amon also stepped in.

They were in a close quarters battle, closer than the range of their swords.

Zack's left fist was aimed at Amon's right side... but Amon blocked it with his right elbow.

Amon then aimed for the inner side of Zack's right thigh with his right foot, but Zack jumped back significantly, resetting the fight.

"As expected of two aces..."

"It's a fierce battle."

Ryo was astonished, while Abel laughed.

"Even though it's a fight between a knight and a swordsman, they're throwing punches and kicks."

"That's normal for melee classes, right?"

"Is it?"

"Adventurers often engage in bare-knuckle fights. Knights also learn to fight without weapons during their training, so I think it's fair to say it's normal."

"I see. There might be times when the Royal Knight Order has to protect someone like Abel without any weapons."

Ryo understood Abel's explanation.

He had an image of knights being clad in armor and fighting with swords and shields, but indeed, such conditions are not always met.

They fought by closing in for punches and kicks, then distancing themselves for sword exchanges...

The battle between the knight and the swordsman oscillated between close-quarters combat and melee combat.

"Ryo, you just said Amon will surpass my sword, right?"

"Yes, I did. Not right away, but eventually. What's up? Are you feeling jealous of Amon?"

"No, as Ryo said, he is strong."

Ryo teased, while Abel looked at Amon with a serious gaze.

"The first time I was certain of that was during the fight with the skeleton king."

"Skeleton? You mean a skeleton?"

"Yes. It was an incredibly strong skeleton with a sword. It made me think that he could have been an unparalleled swordsman in his living days."

"Did you mention that before? I seem to remember hearing it."

Abel nodded slightly.

"Amon defeated that skeleton king one-on-one."

"Oh?"

"At that time, I thought he would eventually surpass Abel..."

"But?"

"While traveling through the Eastern Nations, Abel has also become stronger."

"Me? Have I become stronger?"

Ryo praised honestly, and Abel blushed.

Abel will always be shy.

"For Amon to surpass Abel, he may need to go through more life-and-death experiences."

"Life-and-death experiences... If you die there, it's over."

"Exactly. I realize just how difficult and challenging human growth is."

"I don't understand why Ryo feels that way."

Ryo shook his head with a serious expression, and Abel also shook his head, not understanding.

It seems that things are quite complicated.

After watching Zack and Amon's fight for a while, the two shifted their gaze to Scotty and Nils' battle.

They felt something was off.

Just by looking for a moment, they realized the nature of the discomfort.

"Nils' movements seem off?"

"It looks like he's injured his left shoulder."

"Left shoulder?"

Abel accurately pointed it out, and Ryo looked at Nils' left shoulder.

There was a shoulder guard, but...

"Is the shoulder guard broken?"

"During the last fight with number four, he deflected a sword with it. That must have been when it happened."

"So, the damage was inflicted by number four..."

Number four had already been freed from the ice, and his right arm was restored, watching the mock battle beside Ryo.

His gaze was calm and appeared composed.

"Well done, number four. It seems you accepted your defeat and are calmly observing as a step to move on."

"R-Really?"

"This kind of mental aspect might have been learned in the Royal Knight Order."

"To think of mental aspects regarding a golem? That's a world I can't understand."

Ryo was somehow moved, while Abel was understandably puzzled.