"Professor Althea?" Graham and his friends didn't expect that they could easily find a Professor who would mediate for them.
After all, Graham was actually worried that no other Professor would permit his request for a match, even if it was only a sparring. After all, there was a bet involved and it could become very serious.
He was already thinking of bribing one of the professors who had been relying on his father but it seemed that lady luck was smiling upon him and had given him a quick solution to his problem without even needing to bribe someone.
"Professor…" Hayden muttered as he didn't expect that Professor Althea wouldn't mind him going against a higher-year student. It even seemed as if she had ill intent and wanted Hayden to be taught a lesson.
'Is she aware of how I passed the Orb of Trial?' Hayden was confused since he thought that it was a secret between him and the Headmaster.
Other than that, he couldn't really think of a reason why she agreed for them to fight.
However, Professor Althea just mysteriously smiled at Hayden without explaining things.
Then, she addressed the match they were about to have.
"I can permit your sparring match but it must be held in the main training yard. I will not be holding the bet money but you will have to sign a contract where you will have to pay the winner 50 gold coins."
The two immediately agreed with this since Graham knew that if Hayden couldn't pay, he could simply take them from his older brothers. That was actually something he wanted to do. He was hoping that Hayden had no money to pay him, so he could humiliate the two members of the Gray Family.
***
After some time, the training yard was suddenly filled with excitement as the crowd of students formed a wide circle around Hayden and Graham.
The two stood facing each other with practice swords in hand while Professor Althea stood at the center.
Graham was definitely taller than Hayden and everyone could tell that Graham had the advantage no one was even thinking of Hayden winning.
They all knew that it would be an easy victory for Graham. They just didn't know whether Graham would allow Hayden to last for a minute or if he planned to humiliate Hayden by slowly dismantling his sword techniques.
After all, Graham was already about to become a squire next year and would soon officially serve an Aura Knight.
His Dawn Swordsmaship mastery was already high and he also had plenty of combat experience at this point compared to Hayden.
Hayden, on the other hand, could tell that Graham was already excited and believed that he could win this match.
In any case, Hayden was also curious about the level of graduating students so he used his Ocularis Lens to analyze Graham's posture and movements to compare it to his older brothers later.
"Ready to lose, kid?" Graham taunted, twirling his sword lazily.
Hayden didn't respond. Instead, he shifted into the Ready Stance, his feet shoulder-width apart and his sword held vertically in front of him.
Everyone knew that it was the basic stance and smiled at him, seeing how he was sticking to the basics.
Seeing that both were ready, Professor Althea, raised her hand. "Begin!"
Graham wasted no time. He felt a bit annoyed that Hayden wasn't falling to his taunts so he wanted to teach him some manners.
Graham charged forward with a powerful overhead strike, aiming to overwhelm Hayden with his strength and speed!
Even if Hayden could block this attack, he believed that his arm would be a goner!
'So it's like that…'
Hayden helplessly smiled as he recognized the move immediately—it was a classic brute-force attack, relying on strength rather than finesse.
'There are several professors watching… Let's stick to the basics for now.' Hayden thought.
Hayden shifted into the Defensive Stance, angling his sword upward to deflect the blow.
Pah!
The impact of the two wooden swords reverberated through his arms, but his stance absorbed the force, and he stepped back smoothly to create distance.
Graham smirked, clearly expecting Hayden to falter. "Not bad for a little kid. But let's see how long you can keep this up."
Hayden didn't respond. Instead, he shifted into the Low Guard Stance or the sixth stance. Just like that, his sword pointed diagonally downward.
His knees then bent slightly, and his weight shifted to his back foot, preparing for Graham's next move.
"Haa!"
Graham continued to attack as he struck with a horizontal slash to ensure that Hayden would have little space to dodge.
Unfortunately, Hayden was able to easily predict his movement and step back to dodge the attack at hair's breadth.
Graham felt that Hayden was just lucky so he continued.
Each strike was powerful but for Hayde, it was all predictable. Of course, Hayden was using his Ocularis Lens that helped him project the trajectory of every swing. However, even if it was not there, he believed that it would still be easy for him.
Meanwhile, everyone soon noticed that Hayden was truly sticking to the basics.
Hayden used the Side Stance to pivot away from Graham's strikes. He didn't waste energy on unnecessary motions.
He was instead relying on small, accurate, or calculated steps to stay just out of Graham's sword reach.
When Graham attempted a thrust, Hayden finally shifted into the Counter Stance, stepping back with his left foot and angled his sword diagonally across his body.
The tip of Graham's sword grazed Hayden's blade, but Hayden's stance absorbed the impact, and he used the momentum to redirect Graham's weapon to the side!
Sir Roland, the instructor of Basic Swordsmanship couldn't help but clench his fist seeing how Hayden did such an impressive counter move effortlessly…
"This kid…"