Furan arrived at the swordsmanship class. She had attended the arithmetic class last week, where the teacher just droned on about problems, almost putting her to sleep, and nothing eventful happened.
Today was the day she had agreed to duel Bella. They had actually arranged it during the last swordsmanship class, but last time, it was her first time using the Breathing Technique in actual combat, and her legs turned to jelly afterward, making it difficult for her to walk back.
Although she believed this level was certainly enough to earn an excellent rating by attending class on time, she was competitive by nature. She had specifically bought a Combat Skill and practiced it to the Mastery Level, all in preparation for today.
Furthermore, practicing this Combat Skill to the Mastery Level had even increased her physique by 0.1. Her physique was now 1.5.
Of course, her biggest regret was not having practiced her Breathing Technique to the Proficient Level. She felt that if she reached the Proficient Level, three Bellas wouldn't be able to defeat her.
So far, her Breathing Technique was still at 204 Proficiency, a long way from leveling up.
A 'thump-thump' sound came, signaling that John was gathering the apprentices.
After the apprentices had gathered, John shouted:
"Two people will spar in front of me shortly, and then everyone else can practice freely."
Since the apprentices had already gone through the last sparring session, simply making them practice basic skills was no longer feasible, so John simply made this arrangement.
Furan and Bella's duel was not scheduled for the first match; instead, the first match was Mason against Mars.
Mason gripped the wooden sword in his hand, holding his breath and concentrating, vowing to avenge his previous humiliation in this fight.
Mars, however, was distracted. He kept glancing toward Furan's location, not focusing on the sparring match at all.
This attitude caused him to react too slowly at the start of the match, and he was nearly taken out by the charging Mason, barely managing to block the attack in an extreme posture.
Then, Mars relied on his superior physical conditioning, forcing Mason to retreat repeatedly. The sheer force of Mars's swings was something Mason couldn't block.
That rat only knows how to sneak attack. The near sneak attack reminded Mars of the previous incident, and his temper flared, making his assault even more ferocious.
Although he usually disdained using Combat Skills, this time he decided to use one to vent his frustration. He hadn't used one against Furan last time because he hadn't found a good opportunity to activate it.
He pulled back, giving Mason a bit of breathing room, and began channeling his strength into his arms and shoulders.
This move was the inherited family technique, [Earth-Splitting Chop]. He figured this one strike would severely hurt that stinking rat.
But things did not go as he predicted. Not only did Mason not dodge, but he charged forward, erupting with a similar aura. Before Mars's sword could fall, Mason's wooden sword struck him.
"Mars..." This time, John's tone was not one of anger or fury, but tinged with disappointment.
Following this was a series of reprimands that made Mars unable to lift his head. But when it came to Mason, John's tone shifted to pleasant surprise.
"Very good, Mason. The fact that you managed to master this Combat Skill in such a short time is excellent..."
He thought highly of Mason. Mason's improvement this time gave him hope—the hope of ranking among the top three in the class. He only had three recommendation slots available.
In his view, Furan and Bella were guaranteed to get recommendation slots. Only the remaining slot needed to be decided, though defeating Mars didn't necessarily mean much. Before Mars, there were several other children of Territorial Nobles whose foundations were much better than Mason's.
After a few more matches, it was finally Furan and Bella's turn to fight.
Just as Furan was about to walk onto the field, Bella called out to her directly.
"Furan... could you wait until I've activated my Breathing Technique before you attack?"
Bella could also activate her Breathing Technique during combat, but it had a slight wind-up, making it easy for Furan to instantly defeat her.
Bella herself might not be able to catch the opening when Furan activated her Breathing Technique; she had noticed Furan's activation was very fast last time.
If she didn't use the Breathing Technique, Bella felt she had no chance of winning.
"Sure." Furan understood the underlying meaning, but she didn't mind. She was already prepared, and if she didn't use everything she had, her preparation would have been in vain.
When John shouted "Start," neither side immediately attacked; instead, they stood still and activated their Breathing Techniques.
Furan possessed the Mastery Level Breathing Technique. This time, she utilized the Breathing Technique almost instantaneously, without needing the slight preparation time required during the last match.
Bella, conversely, slowly deepened her breathing. It wasn't until two seconds later that Furan sensed a change in the aura surrounding her.
That's a bit slow, slower than I was last time, Furan thought.
John was somewhat surprised that both of them could use the Breathing Technique during combat. This was the first time in all the classes he had taught that two apprentices were sparring while actively using the Breathing Technique.
Of course, it wasn't rare for people to know the Breathing Technique. He knew many Territorial Nobles held martial arts tournaments, and those who could use it in combat were numerous.
But it was different in Apprentice City. Here, you were required to have talent in Spiritual Power; if you didn't have Spiritual Power talent, you couldn't even think about entering, no matter how well you utilized the Breathing Technique.
This dual-talent screening naturally made members of the Sword Chant School superior to others in many respects.
After Furan confirmed Bella was ready, she instantly launched a swift slash.
This move made John notice something was wrong again. What was going on?
He noted that Furan's preparation time for using the Breathing Technique had drastically shortened. He figured Furan had been working hard here these past few days, so a shorter preparation time was normal.
Furan's initial speed was much faster than when she used the Breathing Technique last time. He could tell at a glance that Furan's physique was significantly stronger than before.
But what was happening? Had Furan only started using some Body Tempering Methods to improve her physique after mastering the Breathing Technique? What kind of training regimen was this?
The Breathing Technique only slowly increases one's physique through prolonged practice.
He couldn't quite figure out what was going on with Furan. How could she know nothing in previous classes, only to transform like this after two lessons?
Returning to the fight, Furan's first attack was blocked by Bella's horizontal sword. The hand holding the sword did not budge an inch.
Furan felt the difference in strength. Not only was her physique already weaker before activating the Breathing Technique, but this disparity was further magnified after using it.
Furthermore, my Breathing Technique mostly enhances agility, whereas Bella's Breathing Technique primarily focuses on strength. As a result, the strength disparity between the two of them became even greater.
Furan continued her rapid assault, hacking down strike after strike. Although Bella greatly surpassed Furan in terms of physique, she lagged behind Furan in agility.
Even after using the Breathing Technique, although her reaction speed and physical agility were enhanced, she could only barely cope with Furan.