Chapter 425: Lacking
(56 Days Before the Fight, Leo’s POV)
When Leo asked Charles to train him as hard as he could, he did not expect the Monarch to directly challenge him to a friendly sparring match, where he was asked to go as hard as he could to try and land a blow.
*SHING*
*SHING*
Leo’s daggers clashed against a crooked piece of scrap metal, something Charles had picked up while casually walking through the military base, not because it was special, but because it was there, and because even a piece of junk in his hands became a lethal weapon.
They sparred in the heart of an active military zone, surrounded by thousands of soldiers and staff, many of whom had stopped mid-task to witness the bout, their attention completely drawn to this violent dance, ignoring the distant artillery strikes echoing in the sky above Juxta as if this duel unfolding on the ground mattered more than the war itself.
"That’s him, isn’t it? That’s Leo Skyshard, one of the two Dragon candidates."
"Hah, look at him being thrown around by Commander Charles. The kid can’t even make him move half a step."
"Of course he can’t. The Commander is a Monarch. Even if every soldier on this base charged him at once, I doubt we’d manage to make him retreat."
The crowd murmured in hushed awe, their words flowing over one another, some with admiration, others with skepticism, as they tried to see just what one of the two Dragon Candidates was potentially made of.
"Slow."
"Weak."
"A two-year-old with blurred vision could have seen through that feint."
Charles criticised without holding back, his tone sharp and direct, as he blocked everything Leo threw at him with laughable ease.
This was their first real day of training, and Charles simply wanted to get a sense of Leo’s combat abilities and overall level so he could guide him more effectively, but what he had seen so far left him visibly disappointed.
He let Leo burn through every ounce of stamina, every burst of mana, every last variation of technique, before even considering the idea of counterattacking.
As Leo, drenched in sweat and struggling to catch his breath, tightened his grip on his blades, his mind racing through options that had already failed him a dozen times in the last forty minutes.
No matter how he moved or what combinations he used, whether it was Blade Switch transitioning into Dark Blade, or Astral Hook Bind linked through Stormflash Traverse, or even Mirror World paired with Vanish, nothing seemed to break Charles’s defence.
Nor did it seem to even come close.
It was as if Charles could see beyond illusions and feints alike, as if he could read Leo’s thoughts before they ever translated into motion, and strike preemptively by sheer instinct honed over a thousand battles.
Leo grit his teeth, a bitter realization blooming in his chest as fatigue dulled his steps, and his mana reserves started to run low.
The gap between them was too wide.
Too absolute.
Too unfair.
He could not touch Charles. He could not even shake him. And hence, when he started to run out of tricks to perform, it was Charles who finally got bored and decided to end the fight.
"Alright, I’m bored now. Time to knock you unconscious." Charles declared, as he charged towards Leo with the intention to hit the pressure point on his neck, his expression calm and unimpressed, as if even the act of ending the fight wasn’t worth much effort.
Yet the moment his feet moved, Leo’s instincts screamed at him to back off. He knew what was coming. Knew where the strike would land. Knew that Charles was aiming for the pressure point on his neck, and still—
Still, there was nothing he could do.
Leo raised both arms in defense, keeping his forearms tucked in and his daggers angled inward to guard his throat, using the classic defensive posture that relied on tight spacing and predictive movement to create a small but iron-clad window of protection.
And Charles saw straight through it.
As instead of going for the neck, he went for the elbows first.
*Bam*
A sharp flick of his wrist, and the edge of his scrap-metal weapon clanged against Leo’s outer elbow joint with just enough force to rupture the balance of his guard.
Leo’s arms trembled and twisted out of formation, his muscles buckling from the impact as his daggers staggered wide.
And then came the follow-up.
Before Leo could even re-adjust his stance, Charles’s hand was already on the move, two fingers curled together like a miniature spear, aimed straight for the side of Leo’s neck.
*Thwip*
The hit was surgical, clean, and precise, striking the cluster of nerves just beneath the skin.
Leo’s body froze mid-motion.
His legs gave out half a second later.
The world tilted sideways.
And the last thing he saw was the faint smirk curling on Charles’s lips, not smug, not arrogant, but quiet and knowing, like a craftsman who had seen this play out a hundred times before.
Then everything went black.
—------------
"WOHOO! LET’S GO COMMANDER!"
"Hahaha, the Dragon Candidate is still too green. In the end he’s no match for the Commander!"
"That was a great finishing move, Commander!"
The soldiers erupted in cheers from the sidelines, their voices echoing across the military complex, as Charles gave them a brief wave and a warm smile before slinging Leo’s unconscious body over his shoulder with practiced ease.
Yet, despite the relaxed grin on his face and the casual chuckle that followed, Charles felt a deep weight pressing down on his thoughts, his mind consumed by concern for Leo’s future.
There was no denying that Leo possessed an extremely high battle IQ, paired with a level of agility and reflexes that bordered on the unnatural. His ability to read situations, adapt on the fly, and strike with precision was nothing short of impressive.
But his flaws were just as glaring.
His raw attack power and defensive durability were sorely lacking. He depended too heavily on speed and tactical ingenuity, often dancing around brute force rather than confronting it head-on.
While that strategy could work against opponents of similar or slightly superior level, Charles could see how it would crumble against someone with overwhelming power or an impenetrable guard.
’Two months is not enough time for me to completely patch the holes in your fundamentals, son,’ Charles thought, pausing to light a cigarette as he walked.
He took a deep drag, inhaling nearly a third of the bud in one breath, the familiar burn doing little to ease the storm of thoughts in his head.
’So we’ll need to double down on what you already excel at, and sharpen those tools until they’re so refined that they can pierce through even higher-tiered defences.’
He exhaled a long stream of smoke, eyes narrowing slightly as his thoughts circled in on a single possibility.
"The only viable path I see for you to win this fight is if you complete the first stage of the Sevenfold Revelation Codex and ascend from the realm of colors into the realm of intent.
That’s the only way you’ll gain the tactical advantage you need to bridge the gap in tiers." Charles mused to himself, as although the solution became clear in his head, so did the obstacle.
"But how do I show you green and help you comprehend the last color?"
He took another long drag, finishing half of what remained of his cigarette, the ember glowing bright as he stared blankly ahead, caught in contemplation.
"The most straightforward way would be to push you to the brink of death and hope that your willpower responds with green... but that’s a method even I hesitate to use, simply because it’s too cruel and extreme...."
His steps slowed for a brief moment as he looked down at the unconscious boy on his shoulder, the weight of the responsibility to help him improve at any cost necessary settling in his bones.
"Do I really need to go that far just to help you complete the first stage of the Codex?" he wondered aloud, flicking the cigarette stub from his lips and grinding it under his heel with a sharp stomp, the smoldering tip snuffed out in silence, as he tried to make up his mind on just how far he needed to push Leo, to finally help him see Green.