Back when Leon was in the Library of Astral Tale, he had received swordsmanship lessons directly from history's greatest sword master, Lumina Elizabeth Dare.

Though their training lasted only a couple of days, Leon still managed to learn Lumina's as well as Shin's Sword Art and their respective techniques. He even came up with his own original technique.

Although he was nowhere close to Lumina's skill, she was able to drill one or two important concepts into Leon's mind.

This included basic stance, step movement, breathing technique, and analysis.

Leon had mastered a few of them in some aspects, and he was very confident that he could take on a weaponmaster up to stage 4.

There were seven Weaponmaster stages, which varied by different weapons. Starting from Stage 1 all the way up to Stage 7.

A weapon stage of an individual depended on multiple factors such as mana core rank, number of affinities one could use, stats, mana throughput, density of mana, as well as the rank of weapon style and techniques.

Leon, after learning from Lumina, was now a two-star stage-4 weaponmaster.

Ren, on the other hand, was a four-star stage-2 weaponmaster, and he was about to break into stage-3.

Those who reached stage-3 could channel and resonate their mana with their weapon of choice.

Leon took several steps back and stopped roughly a hundred meters away from Ren. With one hand, he casually held his unsheathed Moonblade.

Ren gulped as he saw Leon looking at him with an uninterested gaze.

Because of Command of Grace, Ren would think that he accepted all of Leon's conditions with his own free will. His mind would not even question it.

With trembling hands, Ren looked towards Rowan. Rowan was glaring at him with fury in his eyes.

Layla held Leon's coat tightly against her chest.

Darius simply crossed his arms and looked ahead with pure interest in his eyes.

This was the first time they were having a duel between them, and as a matter of fact, Darius already knew his son would lose. He just wanted to see Leon in action. He wanted to see what actually made this boy ranked second in Eclipse, and what made a literal princess take a stance for him.

Leon glanced at Ren's shaky stance and let out a soft breath.

"Relax. If you shake that much, you will drill a hole in the ground."

Ren blinked. "H-huh?"

Leon smiled lightly and said, "Begin."

Ren clenched his teeth, pushed off the ground, and ran forward. His silver blade was held in perfect position, with perfect posture and momentum.

His technique was correct, but the execution was slow. Much slower than what Lumina used when she trained Leon.

Behind his glasses, Leon's eyes tracked the micro-movements in Ren's arms. His [Mana Sense] skill mapped the flow of mana inside Ren's body, highlighting the areas consuming more mana.

From the shift in his center of mass and the surge of mana in his right shoulder, Leon calculated the trajectory instantly.

Ren was preparing a right-to-left diagonal slash, aimed directly at Leon's chest.

"Too slow."

Leon tilted his body slightly.

The sword missed him by a wide margin.

Ren stumbled past him in pure confusion.

"Eh…?"

Leon sighed lightly. "You shift your weight before every swing. Fix that."

He looked at Rowan at the same time.

"Is this the temporary stress bag you were proud of?"

Rowan's mouth hung open. He could not believe what he had just witnessed.

'That easily?!' he yelped inside.

Rowan knew Leon could dodge it, but the way he executed it made it look like he was brushing dust off his shoulder.

Layla's eyes widened as she covered her mouth to stop herself from making a sound.

On the other hand, Darius simply stood there, arms crossed, carefully observing Leon's movements.

"Oh, that was interesting." It was Veronica who said this.

Layla yelped and turned to her left toward Veronica. "Huh?!"

Her side was empty a moment ago. When did Veronica come here, and how long had she been standing there?

Leon did not even bother fixing his stance. His posture stayed relaxed, shoulders loose, and one hand still on Moonblade.

"Again," he said casually.

Ren swallowed hard, lifted his blade, and charged once more.

And once more… the blade cut nothing but air.

Leon was still in the exact same spot.

He has not taken a single step.

He hasn't taken out his blade yet.

Ren attacked again, and again, and again.

Every strike was either dodged by the smallest tilt of Leon's head, or a shift in his foot, or simply by Leon leaning an inch to the side.

Leon dusted his sleeve calmly. "Don't lift your heel when you launch. It will make you lose momentum."

Ren gasped, "Y-you're talking while dodging…?!"

Leon tilted his head, almost disappointed. "Should I not? You are slow enough, so I don't mind giving you a proper lecture."

To Ren it looked impossible.

To Rowan and the others, it looked unreal and insanely reflexive.

As it continued, Leon told Ren to stand up again, and again, and again….

"Hufff. Huff…. Huff…. Haaah…."

Ren's breathing grew sharp. His arms trembled and his legs felt heavy. Sweat ran down his face, mixing with dirt and dried blood from earlier.

"Why… why can't I land a single hit…" Ren whispered, his voice cracked with frustration.

Leon sneered lightly. He did not try to hide it.

This was entertaining for him.

To everyone watching, the gap between Leon and Ren was clearer than daylight.

This was not a duel, but a demonstration.

It was a reminder for them of what Leon had become now.

Is this Leon the same boy who barely used to hold his stance a couple of months ago?

Was this the same person who was mocked, belittled, and considered the weakest in the family?

Was he hiding his strength all this time?

Ren pushed off the ground again with a loud shout. "HAAAAA–!!!"

This time he was faster than before. His mana surged violently throughout his body. He aimed at Leon's head with a clean and fierce arc.

Leon's eyes tracked the mana shift instantly.

Just as the sword reached his head, the flow inside Ren's body changed. The mana that gathered in his shoulders rapidly moved down toward his waist.

'To my abdomen!' Leon noticed at e last moment.

Ren changed the arc of his blade, redirecting it downward in a last second attempt to catch Leon off guard.

It would have worked.

But…

Leon took a single step back.

And with a calm expression, he lifted the hilt of Moonblade and thrust it into Ren's chest.

"GhaaaHH!!!"

Ren's breath exploded out of him as he was launched backward.

Though it looked slow in Leon's vision, to the others it looked like someone had fired a white flash of arrow straight into Ren's chest.

Ren crashed onto the ground, clutching his ribs, groaning in pain.

Leon blinked slowly and scratched his cheek.

"Ah… My mistake," he said, completely unbothered.

But inside, Leon noted something.

'Ah damn, he improved.'

Ren had been analyzing Leon's movement this entire time. And he actually managed to force Leon to react with something other than a dodge.

Leon clicked his tongue.

He knew his reaction time was a bit dull. He had not been training properly lately. The fight with demons, the Tiara Incident, the ceremony, the trip to the royal palace… he barely had time to adjust to his new body.

The Seed of Limitless had changed his muscles, his nerves, his mana flow several folds.

But, Leon still needed practice to fully adapt to the enhancement.

He looked down at Ren silently for a moment.

Then his gaze shifted to Rowan.

He pointed at Ren with his thumb and said calmly.

"I heard he looks up to you. You have my sympathy."

As Ren groaned on the ground, Rowan, Layla, and Darius remained completely stunned.

That attack just now… the way Leon struck Ren's chest… it was too fast.

To them it looked like Leon's hand had teleported forward at impossible speed. It was as if he was seeing the future of each hit.

And Leon did not even look like he had taken out his blade yet.

Everything happened so suddenly and so quickly that none of their eyes caught the movement properly.

None except Veronica.

"Heh." Veronica sneered lightly, her lips curling into an amused smile. "That is one ridiculous way to use a skill."

She snorted softly, almost chuckling, as she applauded in her own quiet manner.

Layla looked at her instantly. She knew Veronica understood exactly what Leon had just done.

"What was that?" Layla asked without thinking.

Veronica tilted her head. "Hm?"

Then she answered casually, as if explaining something very basic.

"In simple words, Leon was tracking Ren's movements by analyzing the mana density circulating through his body. Using that, he predicted Ren's trajectory by calculating the force, the arc, and the momentum all at once."

Layla froze.

Leon was doing what now?

That sounded impossible unless someone could perform all those calculations in a single millisecond.

Layla's lips parted slightly. "Is that… even human?"

Rowan and Darius heard it as well.

They had the same thought.

It did not make sense.

But after watching Leon move, none of them could deny it either.

Layla looked back at the field and saw Leon approaching Ren slowly.

Ren was still lying flat on the ground, a small line of blood and saliva trailing out of the corner of his mouth.

Leon sighed at the pitiful sight.

"Good work," he said calmly. "That last attack almost got me. Do not forget the bet though."

Then he turned away and walked toward Layla's side.

Leon blinked when he noticed Veronica standing there too.

"Oh, sister. You were watching," he said lightly. His eyes gleamed behind his glasses. "How did I do?"

He was expecting praise.

He did overpower Ren cleanly, and judging by Veronica's face earlier, she must have been impressed.

But Veronica simply crossed her arms and stated bluntly.

"Your reflexes are dull. Your movements are good, but they lack polish. You are also not used to your overall strength yet."

Leon froze in mild disbelief.

Veronica continued mercilessly.

"You lean too much on prediction because your body cannot fully keep up with what your mind is calculating. If Ren had just a bit more speed or had sharper mana control, he could have forced you to use your sword."

Leon felt his brow twitch.

She was spot on.

Veronica glanced at him with a flat expression.

"And one more thing. You keep relying on that skill to read trajectories. That is good, but it makes your movements predictable once someone understands your pattern."

She paused. "In short, you are strong. But sloppy."

Leon's lips parted slightly.

That was… not the praise he expected.

But Veronica finished with a small smirk.

"Still, for someone who used to collapse while holding a wooden sword a couple of months ago, you did somewhat well."

Leon exhaled.

He was not sure if she complimented him or insulted him.

Ren groaned softly and tried to push himself up. The maids helped him up.

Rowan finally snapped and muttered for everyone to hear his frustration clearly. "Tch… I told him not to accept."

Darius, however, chuckled under his breath.

"Impressive. That last attack was phenomenal, I thought Ren finally landed a hit. Well, anyway, he pushed you far enough to make you react, Leon. That alone is already a feat, he will remember it the next time he holds a blade."

Leon smiled at him, and then adjusted his glasses and looked at Ren calmly.

"In the Valentine household, there is no room for weakness," he said. "But you have potential. Pain only means you learned something today. Stand properly next time."

Ren lowered his head, breath shaky. "Y-yes… elder brother."

"..."

'Elder brother huh?' This made Leon smile faintly.

Leon nodded once.

"Good. Go wash up, the ceremony is near, I am itching to get that Elven Core."

Ren averted his eyes, but nodded, "I understand."

Leon doesn't know why, but he felt like a third-rate villain, who bullied someone weak to him today.

"Feels nice." He muttered.

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