After he got released from the ladies’ antics, Sigulf stepped forward to face Lindorm.

“Sorry for the wait.”

“Worry not. I understand.” Lindorm raised his thumb.

“Ahahahahah…”

“Ooi, are you guys ready?” Laine waved her hands. “You have 300 seconds.”

“Anytime…!”

“Ookay. Then—“

Sigulf got into his fighting stance, and that’s when he finally realized something off with Lindorm.

‘His right pupil…’

It was slit, like a cat’s. Or rather…

‘A serpent’s…’

Sigulf saw Lindorm’s weapon exactly once, but it made such an impression that it was hard to forget.

‘That huge gauntlets… The multitude of swords which acts as its claws… Come to think of it. He looks less like a serpent and more like—‘

It suddenly hit him.

‘Lindorm. Linnormr. Ensnaring snake. Serpentine dragon. It’s in his name, duh…! Which means…’

Sigulf remembered two particularly powerful serpents from the old myths. The first one was Jormungandr; the Huge Monster, the World Serpent, the Sea-Thread, the Wolf’s Brother, and he who could even match the Mighty Thunderer.

Yet he’s mostly perceived as closer to conventional but gigantic sea snake instead of a dragon. Thus leaving Sigulf with the only conclusion.

‘Nidhoggr. The Malice Striker. The linnorm who tears through Yggdrasil’s roots. He who could unmake creation, and survives the fiery death of the Nine Worlds.’

It made some sense, on how the usually docile Lindorm was so severe that one time. But one thing still nags Sigulf.

‘Why him? His normal self wasn’t something you would associate with Nidhoggr, so why—‘

“—lo? Hello? Hey!”

“Wha—“

Laine’s voice pulled him back to reality.

“…are you really alright?” she sighed. “You looked very serious, I’m sure your mind was somewhere else.”

“Err, sorry about that…”

Alba had to sigh, Celina opted to chuckle, and Chelsea lets her imagination run wild, while Lindorm merely stared at Sigulf, though it was out of mild amusement rather than annoyance.

“Seriously… We’ll begin for real, okay?”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

Sigulf forced himself to regain composure.

‘I can think about it later…! Focus for now; my God Eater against his World Gnawer…!’

“Ready— Go!!”

He jumped at Laine’s cue with axes raised. Lindorm pulled his right arm back in preparation to retaliate.

‘I must snatch the early lead…!’

Sigulf got close in no time thanks to his own speed and brought down Fenrir. Lindorm was well-aware of this fact too, so he focused on striking back instead of attempting any kind of maneuver.

‘…!’

Moments before impact, Sigulf could feel an intense pressure emanating from Lindorm.

‘What the—!?’

Letting out an inhuman roar, Lindorm swiped his right claw upwards. The violent collision between Fenrir and Nidhoggr produces a loud metallic noise, and stopped Sigulf’s momentum mid-air.

‘By Loki…!’

He had to reconsider and used the blow to propel himself away.

‘That strength is insane…!’ Sigulf thought. ‘Matching his single strikes would be dangerous…!’

Even so, Sigulf charged against the approaching Lindorm.

‘That’s why I’m not going to play with his pace…! If one swing can’t break through, then I’ll make it two!’

Sigulf sidestepped to his left in time, evading Lindorm’s attack. He then spun his whole body and unleashed a horizontal slash.

‘There…!!’

“…!”

Lindorm reacted with a backfist. His sturdy gauntlets made it possible to parry Sigulf’s blow.

‘Tch…! Not yet…!’

Sigulf recovered quickly and launched a follow-up attack; his advantage in speed contained Lindorm’s offense and gave him not much option.

‘Just as I thought…!’

Sigulf’s agility and multiple swings could balance out Lindorm’s powerful single strikes. He still has to be very careful in doing so, however.

‘I might be mistaken, but his fighting style is similar to Armstrong; slow but strong. Stronger, actually. And much more feral…!’

———

5 minutes passed, and their sparring ended inconclusively.

“Good work, you two~”

“Phew…”

Slightly tired, Sigulf dematerialized his Arms.

‘We can’t go all out due to our weapons being in Safe Mode. Who knows what might happen in an actual duel…?’

He glanced at Lindorm and noticed that his right pupil has returned.

‘So it has to do with his Nidhoggr…’

Lindorm, though also a bit weary, looks rather satisfied. He approached Sigulf and extended his fist.

“Oh…?”

“Well fought, kinsman.”

Sigulf returned the gesture, bumping his knuckle with Lindorm’s.

“You too.”

“Einvigi. At autumn’s free for all.”

“Yeah. May the Norns will it…!”

“Hmm, as expected from the viking brothers…” Laine commented. “Okay, who wanna go next?”

“Me, me!” Alba raised her hand eagerly.

“Oh, okay. Then, who will be the opponent?”

“Since we are all here, why don’t you give it a go?” Celina suggested.

“Eh? Me? I don’t mind, but…”

“But?”

Laine turned to face Alba.

“We barely talked to each other, if ever, are we?”

Alba blinked.

“O, oh, certainly…!”

There was a short, awkward silence.

“W, whoa, no need to be so rigid. We heard good things about you, and you’re not on our blacklist, so let’s just take it easy and have a good spar, yeah?”

“You’re the one being awkward, though.” Chelsea pointed out while giggling.

“Ugh… Ah, well. Let’s just get started.”

The two stepped into the field and readied their weapons.

‘Alright, let’s watch and study her style.’ Sigulf thought. ‘Her Arms made me curious.’

A long harpoon with a steel chain attached to it. It doesn’t seem to be the powerful-type, but he guessed that it must have some kind of utility.

“Ready… Go!”

Just as Alba was about to advance at Chelsea’s signal, however, she sensed danger and raised her claymore instinctively.

“Wha…!?”

Alba, and Sigulf, realized what just happened few moments later; Laine threw her harpoon straight at her and yanked it back using the chain when it got blocked.

“Consider it a friendly greeting.” Laine taunted.

“Interesting…!” Alba grinned in response.

‘It is.’ Sigulf mentally agreed.

Alba broke into a dash and raised her great sword.

“Let’s go!!”

She slammed it down; Laine sidestepped just in time and countered by thrusting her spear.

“You’re open!”

“I won’t let you!”

Alba quickly pulled back and swung her blade sideways. The difference in strength made it possible for her Braveheart to knock back the older girl.

“Kuh…! Just as I thought…!”

Laine had to jump away, avoiding another swing and took some distance.

“Oh no, you don’t!”

Alba tried to give pursuit, but Laine hurled her harpoon again.

“Off you go!”

She swung upwards, trying to deflect it away, however…

“Wha…!?”

‘It returned straight to her!?’

‘It’s not normal.’ Sigulf concurred. ‘Then again, none of our weapons are…’

Laine kept flinging her harpoon over and over, forcing Alba to advance slowly, all the while defending herself.

‘So annoying! Looks like I have to force my way thr—!?‘

Alba was too used to her pattern, she almost didn’t notice that Laine’s harpoon was stuck in mid-air.

‘How…!?’

Laine smirked and she yanked the chain. But instead of recalling her weapon, it was her who launched with a flying kick towards Alba, while her chained spear remained stationary.

“Uryah!!”

“Tch…!”

Alba raised her sword in the nick of time and blocked it, but the resulting impact still staggered her a bit.

“Guh…!”

Laine used Alba’s claymore as a platform and backflipped. Landing safely, she then lunged forward.

“First blo—“

“Deyah!!”

“What the…!?”

Much to Laine’s surprise, Alba recovered quicker than she thought; she twirled to the left and unleashed a downward slash. Luckily, Laine was fast enough to jump away unharmed.

“Tch… I missed…!”

“Whoa… That was close…!”

“You know, that’s an impressive way to use a harpoon!” Alba grinned.

“Well, thank you. This mermaid doesn’t play around, you know?” Laine replied.

‘Mermaid? So she bonded with a water deity, I guess.’ Sigulf noted.

———

Few bouts later, the whole group ended their morning practice.

“Good work, everyone.” Victoria congratulated. “So, did you work a good sweat?”

“Thank you, it was a good experience.” Sigulf responded.

“Ah, that’s good to hear. So, as long as I have the time, this will be our regular schedule.”

Vigdis tensed for a moment.

“…well, as long as you teach properly AND seriously.”

“Ufufu, worry not, Miss Hrimgard. I am a woman of my words.” She chuckled. “Now, with that out of the way, would all of you mind to join me for breakfast?”

“Eh?”

“It’s on me.”

“Mea—“

Alba stopped yelling midway when she realized something.

“Wait, are we going to eat in some fancy restaurant? They don’t have munchy box, do they?”

“Oh dear, I almost forgot that you liked those. Well, I believe they don’t, but I’m sure you will find another menu you will like.”

“Hrrm… I wonder…” Alba gave a hard thought, looking quite comical in the process.

Sigulf and Celina looked a bit worried for their own reason.

‘We are supposed to go out after this…’

He glanced at her; she nodded understandingly.

“Um, Ma’am, about that…” Sigulf raised his hand.

“Oh…?”

Victoria looked at him, and then glanced at Celina, before letting out a sly smile.

“Oh, my apologies. How inconsiderate of me… So, who confessed first?”

“”Eh!?””

“Wait, what!?” Vigdis couldn’t contain her surprise. “Why didn’t you tell me—“

“N, no! You got it wrong!”

“Really?” Melanie sounded unconvinced.

“Hmm, considering last time, aren’t they the type who went on a date to know each other better before going steady?” Eliot tried to explain.

“Eh? W, well, yeah…”

“Ah, so you are going on another date.” Chelsea pointed. “Well, have fun, I guess. But don’t get overboard!”

“What, again? Don’t blame me if I end up much stronger than you!” Alba smirked.

Their collective teasing was more than enough to make Sigulf and Celina blush.

‘I know it’s impossible to hide the fact, but it’s still embarrassing…!’

Sigulf glanced at Victoria who smiled and feigned innocence.

‘She totally did that on purpose…’