Transmigrated as the Novel's Final Boss-Chapter 100:Practical Preparation [1]

Standing about two yards away from Scarlett in a secluded area of the outside training area, no one in the near vicinity, I examined her expression.

What was her aim here?

Was she trying to prove her superiority over me, as I had won the competition yesterday against Charlotte?

It was nine o’clock in the morning; in no way did I actually want to try.

The casual expression on her face while her blood-red eyes gazed at me didn’t help either.

Perhaps it was because of yesterday or simple exhaustion, but the fact that I needed to act like her stepping stone to superiority annoyed me.

Swinging my sword straight downward, halting my hand right before the blade’s tip touched the ground, I tilted my head and asked.

"Ready?"

Pausing and placing a finger to her eye, Scarlett questioned.

"Aren’t you going to take the eye patch off?"

When I checked my right eye’s condition after waking up, it had still been colored a pitch-black, with my vision partially distorted, so there was no way I could reveal it.

Shaking my head, I chuckled and replied.

"No need."

Shrugging her shoulders, Scarlett also lowered her sword so that its tip was facing the ground and responded.

"Just don’t complain the fight wasn’t fair later on."

As I silently nodded my head, the two of us simultaneously raised our swords so that each blade’s tips were facing the other person, indicating the spar’s start.

No abilities, no elements; just swordmanship.

Clearly, I was at a disadvantage, as my greatest power was the Time element, which had been taken away.

Though I wasn’t complaining.

I had to get used to this anyway.

Since I wasn’t planning on revealing my element, I’d have to fight without my Time element for the foreseeable future.

Seeing Scarlett’s slanted grip on her sword alongside her seemingly impenetrable defensive stance, I could already tell she had some formal training.

Taking her bait, I sprinted forward, easily closing the distance between us with two steps, with my sword hanging by my right leg.

Then, just as I got close enough, my sword surged across my body and diagonally upward at her right hand, which was holding her sword.

My whole plan was banking on the fact that she would underestimate me, and I would be able to hit her wrist, forcefully knocking the sword out of her hand.

Expectantly, though, she stepped backward, retracting her sword slightly, and a moment later, my vertical sword crashed against the middle of her horizontal wooden blade, coming to a halt.

Not skipping a beat, I picked up my right leg and horizontally swept it from right to left, attempting to knock her off balance.

Yet, before my right leg could even touch her left leg, she retreated backward, and my right leg touched nothing but air.

Not wanting to give up the momentum, I surged forward and jabbed my sword right at her chest as if I were fencing.

This time, though, before my sword could even touch her, Scarlett raised her right hand and brought down her sword with an incredible amount of strength.

As her sword crashed atop mine, I instantly felt my grip waver, threatening to fail completely, and a wave of pain flooded through my right hand.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Instead of retracting her sword, Scarlett pushed it down even further while it was touching the top of my blade.

Was she trying to cut my sword in 2!?

Faced with the decision of either pushing my sword upward, facing Scarlett in a battle of strength, or retreating backward, I rapidly made a choice.

Not only was I facing Scarlett’s strength, but the power of gravity on both our swords.

With my right arm aching with pain and trembling, I crouched and...lifted my sword up against hers.

No equilibrium was reached as she and gravity easily won the test of strength, and slowly but surely, our touching swords fell closer and closer to the ground.

Scarlett didn’t even have to get my sword to the ground completely; she just had to get it below my head.

Then, she could just raise her sword off mine and strike at my defenseless head.

My sword would be below hers and completely unable to parry the attack.

That’s why I crouched, bent my knees, and lowered myself as close to the ground as possible.

In reality, this was not a battle of strength.

It was a battle of time.

Who would give out first?

Watching my right arm, which was covered by the long sleeves of the red academy blazer, I smiled and internally commanded all my Time elemental particles to head there.

Instantly, countless grey veins, none of them visible, popped up on my arm, and my muscles began to recover.

Alternatively, the condition of Scarlett’s right arm only deteriorated as, only seconds later, her whole hand was trembling.

Her face scrunched up as she stared at our swords, which had stopped falling and reached an equilibrium, floating in the air. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

Then, a moment later, my sword began to rise and push her sword up into the air.

"How di-"

Before she could finish her sentence, I poured all of my strength into my arm and surged it upward, pushing her blade into the air.

Unprepared and weakened by our battle of strength, Scarlett’s grip loosened, and her sword flew out of her hand and into the air.

On the other hand, my sword finished its upward arc above my head with its tip facing the sky.

Just as I relaxed, Scarlett suddenly leaped into the air, grabbed her sword, and landed a few feet in front of me.

Without me even saying anything, she immediately asserted, her cheeks red and eyes sharp.

"It never touched the ground."

Titling my head, I asked with a neutral expression.

"Was that the rule?"

"Yes."

Shrugging my shoulders, I released the Time elemental particles from my arm and responded.

"If you say so."