He can only be partially mollified even if he gains his freedom today because he has gained that freedom only because he jumped through the hoops she ordered him to jump through before he can leave.
That control over this life is frustrating to say the least. Her treatment of him and his pride as a grown man has made him vow to never allow anyone to control his life anymore.
So he was full of determination as he rode Ruff to the backyard. He jumped to the ground and took off his clothes, leaving only his trousers.
Brooks was already waiting there for him. The man was still wearing an apron.
Brooks smiled and said, "I hear that I have to repeat my humiliating defeat at your hands, young master."
His demeanor was calming and soothing. It made Arthur calm down a little.
He said, "Take it as payback for all those times you stopped me from getting all the bread on the platter."
Brooks laughed as he took off the apron and washed his hands. Then he grabbed the wooden sword that Arthur threw to him out of the air.
He said, "I guess I had this coming. But even if I lose today, I will still come out on top because of how many losses you've had in the past."
Arthur grinned and said, "I can only start from somewhere."
Brooks waved the sword around and said, "Be careful, young master. I won't hold back today."
He said with confidence, "Bring it on."
Lady Vena and Ruff were standing to the side watching them. Ruff was cheering him on with barks, but Lady Vena silenced him.
"Quiet."
Ruff slumped to the ground and whimpered.
She took her eyes off of him and interrupted their banter. "We don't have all day, ladies."
"And show me the best that you've got, because if you don't and what you show me is not satisfactory, I won't allow you to leave."
Arthur felt some anger because of her words. His eyes became fierce again, and he breathed in deeply. Then he held his breath as he lowered his body into a fighting stance.
He held the wooden sword before him with his two hands. Then he exhaled abruptly as he dashed forward, swinging the sword at Brooks.
His speed was explosive. It was as if a coil spring within his body had been unleashed.
He crossed the distance between them in one leap. Brooks also did the same, so they met at the center of the fighting ground.
Their wooden swords clashed and clashed again. The two of them danced around each other, slashing and cutting. They were so fast that all that could be seen was a flurry of strikes.
One of them was skilled with the sword. His movements were refined, and his attacks tricky.
The other was fast and powerful. His attacks were so blindingly fast that they could not be dodged. They were also so strong that blocking them was a bad idea.
Unfortunately, Brooks had no choice in the matter. The attacks were too fast. He could only block skillfully.
The cook used his advantage in skill to neutralize the power of those attacks. But only part of their power could be blocked. The rest had to be borne by his body.
His body was weaker than that of Arthur, so if the battle continued without a change, he would become tired first. Brooks knew this, but there was nothing he could do to stop it either.
The fighting technique they were using prioritizes pure speed over skill. With Kelvin's advantage in power, he could make more attacks per second than Brooks.
So even though Brooks could use his skill to block, he was too preoccupied with blocking. He didn't have the spare power or skill to counterattack.
He will continue to remain on the back foot as long as he continues to use the same fighting technique as Arthur. For the sake of fairness, he is restricted to this technique.
If he used a fighting technique that prioritizes skill over power, he would be able to defeat Arthur. But that would be using his many years of experience to cheat a boy of eleven years old.
However, Lady Vena had other plans in mind. She called out to Brooks, "Is this all you're capable of? I know it is not. Why don't you fight him like you want to kill him?"
Brooks sighed and switched tactics. He blocked and used the force of the backlash together with his own power to counterattack. So his attack was more powerful and faster than something he is capable of innately.
Arthur was familiar with this technique. It is the second part of the fire mana fighting technique.
He had won it as a reward from Lady Delia. It is the second fighting technique he learned.
It is an advanced fighting technique, so it is powerful and more difficult than the basic one that instructor Canes taught him. He has only been learning it for a year while Brooks has learned it for at least 30 years.
Unlike the basic fighting technique, which only focuses on neutralizing backlash and using it to ignite strength in the body, the advanced technique also uses the backlash to enhance power.
It does this by refining some of the power of the enemy for his own use. He knows this, but he is not so proficient in it. But he doesn't have a choice in the matter. He had to use the technique now.
To not use the technique is to let Brooks turn his power against him. He couldn't let that continue, or he would be ground down by his own power.
So he absorbed some of the power of Brooks's counterattack and used it to enhance his own counterattack. This caused his power to increase even more.
The fight became intensive immediately. But this increase didn't stop. The two of them became stronger and faster as time went by.