Chapter 264: Team Spar I

"This is the first time the two teams are formally meeting, right?" Marzana could not help but ask as she looked at Regis, who was seated right beside her.

Regis smiled as he nodded, his eyes not leaving the situation in front of them as he replied, "That’s right."

"Then why let the two parties fight all of a sudden?"

The elven girl was filled with confusion.

Aside from the preliminary investigation she had ordered for Regis to know exactly who he was, she refrained from doing any further investigations regarding his past and even the people around him, except for Aurelia.

As a result, she did not know the specifics regarding the two parties of young men and women before her.

An hour ago, everyone had just finished catching up with each other.

Although the members of Exemplar and Gotun were all familiar with one another, considering the past that they had gone through, they did not know each other’s capabilities when it came to fighting, as they operated independently.

Of course, this did not mean that they were not close to each other.

In fact, it was the opposite.

Their closeness was the main reason why they were able to skip the formalities and head straight to a friendly spar to test each other’s strengths.

This was also in preparation for the corporation’s upcoming establishment.

After all, when it came to fighting as a party, they had no problems.

However, there would surely be cases in the future wherein the members of the parties would be shuffled together depending on the situation.

This was not only a preparation, but also some sort of bonding that the children of the former demonic suicide squads have shared as they grew up.

Thus, Regis, feeling that mere words would not be enough to explain all the reasoning behind the current situation, decided to pick one out of the many reasons instead.

"Well, this would help you get to know more about us." Regis said with a smile.

Hearing his response, Marzana thought of many things, ’The way he said ’us’ seems to imply that their relationship is much deeper than I had imagined."

’Well, I guess thinking too much about it would do nothing. I might as well just see things through.’

The elven girl then decided to focus all her attention on the scene before her.

Currently, Exemplar and Gotun are about to have a team spar, with Killian standing between the two as the match’s arbiter.

He was in full metal armor with his longsword by his side.

It was unknown whether he was intentionally showing off to the others, but even Killian’s blonde hair was neatly combed, making him look like he was a prince charming from fairytales.

Killian calmly looked to his right, seeing the four-member party of Exemplar led by the Zild, he could not help but squint his eyes.

All four members wielded a wooden longsword.

If he did not know any better, he would have mistaken them for some young knight order.

Killian then looked to his left, where the six-member Gotun also stood with their wooden weapons ready.

Looking at Lesfera’s humongous build as she held something that looked to be a mace in her hand, he could not help but be curious, ’Why is an obvious melee fighter in the back? Is this some kind of strategy?’

Notably, Exemplar was composed entirely of young men, while Gotun was made up solely of young women.

Nevertheless, he decided not to wait any longer and immediately spoke after making sure that the two parties’ conditions were good.

"Let the spar between Exemplar and Gotun... "

Killian raised his right hand as he spoke, then brought it down sharply, signaling the start of the spar.

"Commence!"

He retreated to the side as the two parties clashed.

Zild raised his long sword and struck down as he dashed, but he was obstructed by a shield.

The shield belongs to Gotun’s Sera, who wielded a sword and shield.

Despite her dainty arms, she was not bulging despite being in a contest of strength with Exemplar’s leader.

However, the trembling of her body was beginning to become obvious as she could not help but smile.

"You’re still so strong, Zild! Even back then at the camp... you’re always one of those who were only behind by Brother Regis."

Zild smiled, "Thanks for the compliment. But you know as well, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he began to use more of his strength.

Feeling that she was being pushed back, Sera clicked her tongue, "Tch, I can’t handle him alone! Help!"

"I got it."

At this moment, a shadow was cast above both Zild and Sera.

The two could not help but look up as their sights were greeted by a pink-haired figure in mid-air.

It was none other than Gotun’s Morgana.

She launched into a high front flip, spun in mid-air, and converted the momentum into a devastating axe kick.

Unlike the others, who held wooden weapons in their hands, she was wearing leather gauntlets and leather combat boots.

Seeing the leather boot hammering towards him, Zild had no choice but to dash backwards.

He glanced to both of his sides to see his team’s situation.

Exemplar’s Hans was busy dodging Gotun’s Rumi, who struck consecutively with her two daggers.

Exemplar’s Sora was in a deadlock with Gotun’s Kara, who wielded a huge war hammer in contrast to her lithe body.

Finally, Exemplar’s Dabi went straight for Exemplar’s archer, Palma, who was currently aiming at Zild.

This action confused Exemplar’s leader, ’She’s still aiming at me despite Dabi closing in on her?’

However, what happened right after made Zild’s eyes go wide as Morgana, who had just been in front of him a few moments ago, leaped and kicked Dabi’s face.

Almost at the same time, Palma’s hand let go of the bowstring as three rubber-tipped arrows shot through the air.

In that moment, Zild faced a direct onslaught from Sera while Palma’s arrows shot toward his flank from the left.

Furthermore, the arrows flew through the air like swallows.

Meanwhile, on the spectators’ side...

"A pugilist? That’s rare." Marzana commented.

Even Regis could not help but be a little surprised, "Although I looked at their profiles prior to this meeting, seeing a pugilist is still surprising."

Pugilists were another profession for those who chose the path of aura.

They were like the mix of the agile swordsmen and tanky warriors who focused on using their bodies as weapons.

However, due to the innately weak physique of humans, such a profession was hard to come by.

It was more common for beastkins and dwarves to have pugilists among their midst.

Marzana’s eyes turned towards the young man with dark blue hair, "That human’s swordsmanship is quite good."

However, there was one more thing that bothered the elven girl, ’What did that young woman mean by ’back at the camp’? Just what kind of place is that...’

"I agree. Well, that’s the minimum if he wants to be the Boss’s sword."

It was not Regis who answered, but Killian instead.

Aurelia’s lip twitched as she asked, "Why are you even here? Aren’t you supposed to be the arbiter of their spar?"

"Relax." Killian replied with a carefree smile, "Besides, I can see more from this position, so I’ll be able to respond if anything happens."

Not paying him any attention, Marzana commented once again, "Looks like that human swordsman is done for..."

Regis smiled, "That’s what I would’ve thought too had I not seen his profile."

"Why, Brother? Does he have an amazing gift?" Pandora spoke for the first time in a while.

Regis glanced at her as his smile deepened, "Well, it’ll be faster for you to see."

Killian eavesdropped on their conversation as his eyes squinted towards the young man with dark blue hair.

At this moment, Zild’s eyes subtly shone as his gift activated.

The colors of the world faded from his sight as red lines began to appear in his vision.

These red lines came from the three arrows from Palma, as well as Sera’s sword.

Then, as if in a trance, Zild’s sword moved in a strange manner, as if following a ’path’ of some sort.

From the outside, everyone saw that Exemplar’s leader successfully broke the three arrows before blocking the wooden sword that aimed to strike his neck.

"Tsk, your gift’s really annoying!" Sera felt annoyed as she charged forward with her shield.

However, even this seemed to be read by her opponent, who simply leapt aside.

Zild broke into a smile, "I didn’t think I’d use it this early though..."

Silver-grade gift: Trajectory Reading.

This was the gift that he had awakened back at the human camp, but unlike Vanessa’s Platinum-grade Hand of Dominion, or Brutt’s Gold-grade Blood Craze, his gift was merely a Silver-grade one.

As a result, the demonic human leader at the time paid little attention to him, as his gift was neither flashy nor was it something that gave him a boost in power.