The Duke's Passion



867 Warriors have a complicated mind.

Time stopped for everyone, with Lilou covering her lips with both hands. Charlotte, Ramin, and even Fabian widened their eyes while holding their breath.

Thud.

Law felt his knees grow weak, collapsing on the ground with a silent thud. Every single one of them kept their eyes on Samael, and then on Tilly, who suddenly tripped once again just when she got back to her feet.

"What the..." Ramin murmured, his lips almost dropping. ... I'm unsure if she got good or bad timing. That was close."

Losing her balance for the second time was unbelievably shocking, but the person who was shocked the most was Samacl.

His fect landed a few steps from Tilly, staying in his stance. He cut a few strands of her hair, frozen on the spot. If Tilly didn't fall, he was certain he had cut her in half!

"Oy, Tilly!!!" Samael roared in anger. 'Stop messing around! Don't suggest a spar if you don't take it seriously,"

"I... am being serious..." Tilly pushed herself from the ground with great difficulty until she was back on her feet. Dirt was stuck on her cheek and dress, facing Samael with minimum emotion.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Being serious?!" Samael's eyes blazed with fury. "How are you taking it seriously when I nearly cut you in half?!"

"But I survived." Her eyes shone with a slight pride as if she had achieved something she should be proud of. "I'll do my best this time!"

"You..." Samael ground his teeth in distress. Meanwhile, everyone's faces were twitching.

This was not the fight they expected.

"Nevermind! Do your best this time, ah?!" Samael yelled once again, recomposing himself in a fighting stance. "You might get hurt this time for sure!"

Samael calmed himself down, breathing in and out. He closed his eyes and when he reopened them, his eyes screamed menace.

In a blink of an eye, he disappeared from his vantage point to strike Tilly once again. However, unlike what she said about doing her best, Tilly only frowned and ran away once again.

"What the..." Disappointment and disbelief dominated Ramin's face, watching Tilly jump to the side just before Samael sliced her. Although Tilly saved herself by the skin of her teeth, she once again fell on her face.

"... this is not sparring. It's more like a cat catching a mouse," he continued, bearing the same dismay everyone wore.

"Oy, Tilly! What the hell?!" As everyone watched in disbelief, Samael's anger level continuously grew. I lis anger stopped him from giving her a heads-up, launching another attack, which Tilly miraculously survived by picking up an ant near her.

It was ridiculous. Samael was obviously enraged with her lack of seriousness, making his attacks more dangerous. If Tilly was to get hit, a limb was minimal collateral. But what was even more

surprising was Tilly's "luck"

"This is..." Law muttered, keeping his eyes on Samael and Tilly, who were more like playing a cat-and-mouse game. Samael was just chasing Tilly angrily, swinging his swords at her.

Tilly would sometimes dodge his attacks, but most of the time, she would fall. Her clumsiness had saved her countless times.

... it's ridiculously amazing," Ramin continued Law's unfinished sentence.

They all watched the spar with parted lips. It wasn't what they expected it to be, but it was still amazingly pathetic. Samael was already panting from exhaustion and high emotion while Tilly was beaten up due to her own clumsiness. Yet, there was no apparent conclusion in this fight. "This is the first time I've seen Sam be this exhausted in a fight, commented Lilou, watching how her husband catch up to his breathing whilst attacking Tilly.

"Master always fights with a cool head and confidence. His emotions toward his opponent are taking a toll on him. I'd say it was because he didn't want to fight Lady Tilly, but at the same time, her attitude toward this spar upset him." Fabian observed the unfolding chase before him. "To be fair, this is a spar that Master truly needs.

"What do you mean by that?' Charlotte turned her attention to Fabian, cocking her head to the side.

"Tabian meant Sam knows his emotions always play a big factor in his fight." Lilou answered for Fabian; she at least knew this much about her husband. "The reason Sam always makes sure he fights with a level head is that once his emotions get out of hand, it would be hard for him to control himself."

"After all the obstacles we've emerged from, Master managed to get a hold of his strength when he's in berserk without losing consciousness. This lowered the chances he would ever berserk again and hurt those he didn't mean to hurt. However, that requires unbending focus." Fabian blinked ever so slowly, shifting his eyes to Charlotte, only to see Sunny, Law, and Ramin looking at him while listening attentively to his explanation.

He smiled. "Fighting Lady Tilly plays with his emotions."

"It's just a spar, though." Deep lines appeared between Law's brows.

"Even if it's a friendly spar, once you step on a training ground, a warrior's mind immediately treats it as a battleground. Getting a good understanding of the spar between Samael and Tilly, Ramin rocked his head in understanding. "As a warrior, you expect your opponent to give their all.'

"But isn't it better if your opponent is not taking it seriously?" Sunny wondered with her finger on her chin. "You can take advantage of that and take down your opponent. It's not called cheating if your opponent didn't take a duel seriously, after all."

"That is right, but Master isn't someone like that." Charlotte sighed, setting her eyes back on the training ground. "As a warrior, I wouldn't like fighting someone who doesn't have the same resolve as I do. It would be pathetic on my part needless to say, it was humiliating. It was better to fight someone who was fighting for something even if it was the opposite of what I am fighting for, than wield my weapon against someone who was forced to stand before me.! "Ohh... warriors have a complicated mind." Sunny pouted as she sort of got a grasp of Charlotte's explanation.