She shook her head. "You're too soft on him. You will hold back and won't show him the severity of the matter."
"He must know that as soon as he leaves the Dyson family, he must be ready to fight for his life. And he must learn that as soon as he carries a weapon to fight, then he must be ready to die for what he is fighting for."
"So move aside. I'll do this myself."
Brooks could only lower his head and move away. Meanwhile, she strode forward to stand opposite Arthur.
She pointed the sword at him and said, "Give up now because I'll only show a little mercy."
Arthur roared and rushed at her with his blade swinging. He truly wanted to chop her in two.
She stood her ground and didn't move. She easily parried his attacks and managed to create cuts all over his body.
Nothing he could do could force her to move. She wasn't even using any special skill against him. She was only utilizing raw power to overpower him.
A minute into the fight and his whole body had become red just like his hair. His blood flowed down to his feet and made him leave blood footprints in the ground.
"Is this all you're capable of?" she asked him.
Then she yawned. "I wish I knew this was going to be so boring, or I would have brought a pillow."
"If this is all you're capable of, then you forget about leaving."
"Do you hate me for controlling you? Well, tough luck. You just have to bear with it."
She said those things as she cut him over and over again.
The cuts were shallow. She was precise like a surgeon, so she didn't damage anything critical. She only wanted to make him feel pain and make him quit.
Actually, Arthur also wanted to quit. But he wasn't tired yet. Since he wasn't completely tired, he had to give it his all.
It is the mentality he had learned from his four years of daily intensive training. If he doesn't reach his limit, then he can't stop. Not even pain can make him give up.
Lady Vena said, "I gave you the sword technique so that you will learn to kill. But you're not showing me your resolve to kill."
"Think about the technique. What does it entail?"
He thought about it and replied, "To move forward constantly."
She nodded. "You are to be on the offensive always. Never take a step back. Always press onwards. But you've been taking steps back ever since this fight started."
What she said was the truth. He realized that he had indeed been avoiding her blade. He had been dodging, which reduced the intensity of his attacks.
But he had no choice in the matter. He didn't want to get skewered by her blade, so he avoided it.
Even now that he knew what he was doing wrong, he was still avoiding her blade and blocking it instead of focusing on pressing his attack.
She was just too strong for him. He can't manage to counterattack no matter what he does.
Lady Vena was disappointed when she saw this. She sighed and said, "What do you want?"
He said through gritted teeth, "Freedom."
She asked, "When do you want it?"
"Now."
"How badly do you want it?"
"At all costs."
She shouted at him, "Then show me what price you're willing to pay for it. Stop saying you're willing to do everything and yet don't do everything."
His eyes became red, and he roared, "Kill."
He wanted to cut her down there and there. Unfortunately, he was too weak compared to her. She neutralized her attack and even managed to counterattack easily.
Her eyes lit up in approval. She said, "That's good. But you need to do more."
"Show me your resolve. Hold nothing back and let nothing hold you back."
She said that but didn't hold back as she nicked his chest. Her sword passed through his guard towards his chest. That's when he showed his resolve.
He knew that she would counterattack after each block. But this time, instead of avoiding the blade, he leaned into it.
Lady Vena cocked an eyebrow at the sight. She could withdraw her blade, but she wasn't going to do that.
It was just like she said to Brooks; if she was to teach him a lesson, she couldn't coddle him. So she let the blade sink into his chest.
The sword entered his chest, pierced his lung, and came out through the back. That happened because he had pushed himself forward against the blade in order to get close to her.
With her sword stuck in his chest and him being so close to her, he finally got the opportunity to counterattack.
He swung his sword at her with all his might. He didn't hold back at all. He truly wanted to cut her down.
But then her palm smashed into his chest. He was sent flying immediately.
He smashed into the ground and plowed it for a long distance, leaving a trail of blood and skin behind. When he finally stopped, he coughed up blood and began to wheeze.
He couldn't stand up no matter how hard he tried. In fact, he found that his consciousness was fading.
He was too injured to continue the fight. The injury caused by the blade puncturing his lung is the least of his concerns. The fractured rib cage caused by the palm strike is his main problem.
Through the haze covering his mind, he heard Lady Vena say, "Excellence requires full dedication to the goal. You must be willing to do everything in your might if you want to be great. If you're not willing to do all that you're capable of, then you should resolve yourself to be mediocre."
"Hold nothing back and let nothing hold you back."
He became unconscious then. His whole world became dark and he lost sense of his environment.