Luke looked around, the arena was quite spacious. In addition, it had a grandstand for the public.

"Is this place to host tournaments?"

"No, this arena is a new building that has not yet been opened to the academic public, and it was built to host student duels in the near future. The tournaments will take place in the main arena of the city as usual."

The academy uses the main arena in the city for holding tournaments between students, it is not property of the institution, but it is the imperial family that gives the place for the event.

Tournaments heat up the city's economy, bringing tourists from other kingdoms, many nobles, and the kings themselves occasionally come to watch.

"Since the arena is new, won't it be a problem if we use it? I mean, even though it's a training match, it should do damage."

"Don't worry about it. Now, let's get started."

"OK."

Luke pulled his sword from its scabbard. Then he removed the scabbard and threw it on the floor so as not to interfere with his movements.

Cecilia, watching Luke get ready, smiled.

On her finger was a storage ring. From within it, a giant hammer emerged, very disproportionate to her body.

Seeing the huge hammer in Cecilia's hands, Luke's eyes widened. He never saw his cousin train and didn't even know what her fighting style was.

Something that caught Luke's attention was that the end of the hammer's handle was sharp as a spear. In addition to the power of destruction, this weapon had the power to pierce the opponent.

"No more wasting time."

Cecilia said, and hit the ground with her hammer. When it collided, the ground cracked, and she used mana to be able to lift a piece of stone that made up the ground.

Then, she slammed the hammer into the stone, sending it flying towards Luke.

Seeing the chunk of rock approaching, Luke leapt to the side, dodging.

Cecilia took a few steps and approached Luke.

Quickly, she moved the hammer vertically from top to bottom, looking like she was going to hammer a nail.

Luke moved his sword to defend himself, he chose to hit the hammer handle instead of the head, it was very likely that the sword would break if he hit the hammer's head.

Harvestz had to use all his physical strength and hold the sword with both hands to defend himself.

The attack was so powerful that it made Luke fall to his knees on the ground.

Cecilia continued to press the hammer down on top of the sword.

Luke, feeling the enormous pressure on him, began to despair. If the hammer hit him with the force Cecilia was using, he'd go straight to the infirmary.

Suddenly, he remembered the spell he had cast this morning against Josedh.

This time, instead of fire, he used an ice spell.

Two magic circles appeared on Luke's soles, generating magic and freezing the surrounding ground.

Cecilia, seeing the ice approaching, had to back off. She didn't know what would happen if the ice hit her, so she made the safest decision.

"I never imagined you to be strong, Luke."

Cecilia was extremely surprised, like most people, she knows of Luke's fame in the past.

Recently, she heard rumors among the students that her cousin had changed.

She got curious and decided to see such a change. Taking advantage of the fact that her companion had injured, Cecília invited him to a training session.

"Is this how you train with your friend?"

"Usually, yes."

"No wonder, she went to the infirmary."

When Luke agreed to train with Cecilia, he thought it would be light. But now he realizes that he runs serious risks of being sent to the infirmary to keep Cecília's friend company.

Luke closed his eyes and concentrated, determined to fight as if he were against his grandfather.

Cecilia was curious about Luke's strange attitude, so she decided to keep her guard up.

In a blink, Luke closed the distance.

[Star Flash]

A simple, ancient technique that Josedh left to Luke.

Luke moved his sword five times as if he were drawing a star.

Cecilia tried to parry the attack using the hammer's handle, but Luke's attack was so fast it left two gashes on her body.

Luke has repeated this technique several times over the last few months, his movements becoming so natural that they are executed at an unnatural speed.

[fireball]

At the end of the sword attack, Luke released a fireball.

Cecilia couldn't react in time and ended up receiving the magic.

The fireball hit her abdomen region, sending Cecilia flying across the arena.

'I never thought Luke would leave me in this state. He is a tougher opponent than Valentina, besides fencing, I also have to worry about magic.'

Valentina is the vice president of the student council and the girl who often trains with Cecilia.

"I think you're going to have to buy another uniform."

The fireball tore a hole in Cecilia's uniform, leaving her smooth, white skin exposed. Obviously, she didn't care.

Now, she was fully focused on the fight.

This time, it was Cecilia who closed the distance.

[Triple Hammer]

She moved the hammer three times in a row at sonic speed. Luke managed to protect himself from only two, the third one hit the side of his leg, causing his body to jump in the air and fall to the ground.

[mega hammer]

A simple but very powerful bottom-up move. Luke, sensing the amount of magic power in the blow, rolled to avoid the attack.

When it hit the ground, the hammer made a huge hole.

'Hey, hey, wasn't that supposed to be training?'

Things got serious and Cecilia started to attack with the aim of winning. However, her attacks started to get more and more dangerous, making it look like she wasn't training.

Seeing Cecilia's aggressive posture, Luke tried to analyze the situation.

'I only have mana for two more spells.'

Luke's magic power is still E-rank, which means he has little magic power. Knowing this, he plans to finish it as soon as possible.

Cecilia once again hit the ground with her hammer, removing several medium-sized rocks. Then, she hit each of them by shooting in Luke's direction.

Luke found himself cornered, this time he couldn't just dodge, moving to the side.

In either direction, there was a rock approaching.

Moving the sword, Luke began to cut the stones.

Seeing her cousin dodging, Cecilia moved quickly.

As she approached, she used the end of the hammer's handle to hit Luke.

The boy, noticing Cecília's approach, kicked the ground, trying to avoid the attack.

The point cut Luke's skin lightly, creating a small wound. After seeing that the attack had failed, Cecilia swung the hammer horizontally and struck the side of Luke's body, who used his arm to defend himself.

Luke's mouth filled with blood as he received the hammer's blow, although he used his arm to smooth the collision, his body suffered severe damage.

Instinctively, Luke dropped his sword and grabbed the hammer's handle, then pulled Cecilia toward him. Cecilia wad startled as she was pulled, she never thought Luke would dare try to hold her gun.

The idea of ​​having the hammer stuck never crossed the girl's mind.

As Cecilia's body approached, Luke kicked her in the abdomen.

Even taking the kick, she didn't let go of the hammer. Before she could recover from the blow, Luke heated up the hammer's handle.

The handle is made of iron, a material that propagates heat. Knowing this, he generated a small flame in the hand that held the knob.

Feeling her hand burn, Cecilia had no choice but to drop the hammer, which was then grabbed by Luke.

"See how good it feels to be hammered in the body."

As he said that, Luke swung the hammer and hit the girl in the side. Like Luke, her mouth filled with blood.

Cecilia wad thrown two meters to the side.

When she hit the ground, Luke's voice entered her ears.

[Ice Arrow]

She got up quickly. Looking up, she saw six white arrows coming towards her.

Despite battle fatigue, Cecilia gave her all to dodge.

Only one of the arrows wounded her, slashing her cheek.

In the end, she looked to where Luke should be.

The only thing she found was her huge hammer.

"Where is he?"

"Behind you."

Luke moved quickly as Cecilia dodged. While she was fully focused on dodging the arrows, she didn't notice that Luke had picked up his sword and moved.

She fell for the old strategy of shifting the opponent's focus.

"It's my loss."

The only thing Cecilia can do is admit defeat.

Luke dropped his sword and fell to the ground, he had used up all his magic power and was exhausted from the battle.

Cecilia also fell to the ground.

"I don't want to train with you anymore."

"Cousin, you are amazing."

Honestly, she never imagined that Luke would evolve in such a short time. She was extremely shocked by his change, it seemed like just yesterday she witnessed Luke running away from his parents' proposed training.

"As of today, you are my rival."

"What?"

"The score is 1-0 for you. Starting today, we will have a lot more fights."

Cecilia was saddened by the defeat, but happy to have found a new opponent.

"If it will make you happy."

"Hehehe, you're the best."

Luke accepted, believing that this rivalry would make him and Cecilia grow.

"Aaf~ I'm tired." said Cecilia.

"Me too. But, I feel good."

Closing his eyes for a moment, a feeling of happiness and satisfaction washed over Luke. That feeling was totally different from this morning when he was with Josedh.

It was the feeling that only victory, after a hard battle, gives.