"At least pretend that you are happy for them…" Betty frowned. "You can"t find many married couples that knew each other so well, you know. Unfortunately, you lost the chance to protect your sister from "bad guys.""

"… It"s easier said than done." Leon sighed. "I"m trying to be as understanding as possible, but acting like the disapproving parents of a teenager comes so naturally that I can"t help it."

"At least your sister is more understanding than you in that regard…"Betty sighed.

Both Leon and Hector weren"t stupid kids anymore, but it was still hard for Leon to recognize Hector in that regard. However, Leon was also aware that he was a bit childish too. Just like Hector tried to hit his b.a.l.l.s using Water Bullets, Leon didn"t go easy on him on the dodging training.

Anyway, after a few minutes, their sparring time finally ended. It was finally Leon"s time, but he was ready to withdraw his partic.i.p.ation. It was a bit embarra.s.sing, a.s.suming that, but it was necessary.

"Sorry, guys. But we will skip my turn." Leon said. "Without using magic, I"m not fast enough while using such heavy weapon."

"Then, use magic," Betty said. "As you said, we should cover our bases, but we shouldn"t ignore our strengths either."

"Just make sure to keep your defensive spells activated," Amanda said. "With such low health, this weapon may end up killing you."

"That"s right," Sasha added.

"Don"t give excuses and fight like a man," Hector smirked.

Leon sighed, putting Hector"s childish provocations aside, it was pain for Leon to see his friends treating him as if he was made of gla.s.s. However, it couldn"t be helped. In comparison to how much damage his friends could receive, Leon indeed seemed like he was made of gla.s.s.

"All right, then, let"s do this," Leon said.

Using some earth under his feet to increase his speed, Leon readied himself. Betty would be the first one to spar with him, and she looked like she was ready to kick his a.s.s. Betty charged aiming one of her daggers toward Leon"s stomach, Leon blocked the attack, but that had been just a diversion. He had to use both hands to wield the katana and thus to prevent the attack. Meanwhile, Betty still had one hand free.

Betty used her free hand and dagger to attack Leon"s ribcage, but he jumped backward before the attack could land… as expected, aside from the strain on his arms due to the weight of the steel katana, the spar wasn"t that difficult. Leon"s Mana Armor even was blocking the damage Leon would usually receive by blocking the attack of two very heavy weapons…

"I have to increase my strength and speed as soon as possible… otherwise, this training won"t have any meaning."

In any case, Leon didn"t have the strength to swing the katana skillfully. So, he always had to use two hands to block an attack that Betty used a single hand. In the end, neither of them received all that much damage since Leon was always on the defense. They only tired their muscles out…

"So boring…" Hector said.

"Shut up… this isn"t a spectacle." Leon sighed.

After that, Sasha and Amanda sparred. But the result was more or like the time Amanda sparred with Hector; they knew each other moves well. So, no one managed to defeat the other or even land a clean hit. Then, it was time for Leon versus Hector. But Leon could only sigh since Hector was grinning from ear to ear. His objective was obvious, defeat the man who once was his best friend but now was acting like a disapproving parent. Hector knew that with Leon"s pride, he couldn"t bring himself to cheat, so he was having the chance of his life to kick Leon"s a.s.s.

Hector charged with both his s.h.i.+eld and lance raised, Leon could fly around using earth magic, but for experience���s sake, he only used that to make him run faster in order to keep up with the same pace of the others. Still, only that hadn"t been enough. Hector tried to knock Leon out using the ma.s.sive weight of his s.h.i.+eld added with his charge, but he ended up stopping because he saw Leon moving his hands as if he would use magic. Hector prepared himself, but no magic projectile came, instead of that, he heard Leon"s approach and the sound of his voice making an effort. Leon swung his katana with all his might hitting Hector"s s.h.i.+eld, even though he didn"t have all that much physical strength, the impact made Hector tremble for a few seconds.

"Hey…" Hector protested.

"I didn"t use magic," Leon said.

"So sneaky…" Hector looked away.

"So naïve." Leon smirked.

It looked like Hector, and the others weren"t used to such tricks, it was probably because monsters wouldn"t fall for them. Still, Leon wanted them to understand that someday… monsters wouldn"t be their only enemies.

The first feint worked, but Hector was determined not to fall for the second. Leon was aware of that; he had to be more convincing. When Hector charged again, this time with his spear ready to hit the target, Leon created a Fireball above himself and made it move a little. Hector stopped and hurried to block the attack with the steel s.h.i.+eld, but once again. He only received the impact of Leon"s katana hitting his s.h.i.+eld.

"Leon really likes to play dirty, huh?" Betty said.

"I"m kind of surprised myself…" Sasha added.

"Brother…" Amanda looked at Leon reproachfully.