Anabel didn’t ask Leonidas about what had suddenly changed, but she could feel that his mood had taken a turn. This much was enough for her to rest the weight on her chest.

Following Leonidas’ instructions, she led them toward Lady Eve’s home. Leonidas didn’t seem to want to talk, so she obliged, giving him the space he needed.

Little did she know that Leonidas’ mind was working through all sorts of scenarios, thinking through how best to use this information his mother had given him.

This revelation had far more heft to it than one could imagine in just three words.

Lady Eve’s home was much smaller than that of the estates they had walked by. It was located in a lone corner, very near the same sheer cliff shared by many of the nobles.

Just walking up the pathway to her mansion, you could see the ocean’s view up ahead, looking far bluer than it usually did.

Anabel wanted to lead Leonidas to the door, but the latter’s ears had already picked something up, causing him to divert their path and wrap around the back of the home.

Soon, Anabel saw what Leonidas had heard.

Lady Eve swung a sword relentlessly, her body covered in beads of sweat.

Confident and in her own home, she wore nothing more than a band across her chest and skin-tight shorts that rode up her thighs and groin much more like underwear would.

Her outfit revealed much of her explosive strength, the toned outline of her near six-pack, the powerful striations of her back, and especially the thick strength of her thighs.

With the backdrop of the cliff and ocean, it was quite a beautiful scene and one would be hard-pressed to say that this woman was already past her prime.

Leonidas’ gaze shifted to Lady Eve’s sword.

He could tell that it was far heavier than her usual choice and her movements were much slower and more deliberate.

There was a counterweight on the tip that forced her wrists to work hard and she pulled strength from every fiber of her body to keep herself steady.

She should have long since noticed their presence, but she ignored the two completely, finishing her final round even as she gasped for breath.

Without a word, she chugged several potions resting on a tree stump.

Steam flew from her pores, her body temperature skyrocketing before her beads of sweat froze over, becoming ice droplets that dotted her skin.

The cycle repeated again and again for over an hour, her jaw remaining clenched the entire time. Not once did she make a single sound.

Soon, her breathing calmed and her body settled back down. It would take her a few hours to get back to tip-top shape, but afterward, she should be a small margin stronger…

The same small margin she had been chasing after for decades already.

“Have you finished pouting now?”

The words were sudden.

After hours of silence, for these to be the first things said, let alone Lady Eve, Anabel became a startled rabbit, scurrying behind Leonidas and slightly hoping she had heard wrong.

Lady Eve opened her eyes, her gaze landing on him.

In truth, she was a bit surprised that Leonidas had waited here so patiently. He stood there as though he had nothing better to do than stare at her all day.

For Leonidas, who had curated every second of the last several months toward getting stronger, this was, indeed, an anomaly.

“I don’t have time for the nonsense,” Lady Eve replied coldly. “I still have to eat and rest for the day. You can see your way out.”

“Actually,” Leonidas looked toward the house, “you’ll be moving in with both Anabel and me. Take the stuff you need. We’re leaving for the Church soon.”

“Excuse me?”

Lady Eve had already turned away, pushing at her knees to stand up. But, she reacted like a cat that had had her tail stepped on.

If Leonidas thought this was funny, it was very much not. For a woman who had spent her whole life ripping every shred of independence she could back from the world, Leonidas’ commanding tone made it sound like he was trying to throw her back into a cage.

“Did I stutter?” Leonidas asked perfunctorily. “Pack your things, we’re leaving.”

Lady Eve rose to her full height. Though this wasn’t much, she still managed to appear like a raging lioness despite the fact her expression was deathly cold.

“Do not test my bottom line, Leonidas. You wouldn’t like what’s waiting there.”

“Is that so? Why is it that I don’t feel very afraid?” Leonidas asked.

Lady Eve gripped her fists tight, any fatigue she had had vanishing with the wind. She wanted nothing more than to tear Leonidas’ flesh from his bone.

“Anabel.”

“Ah! Yes, Lord Leonidas?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“You’ll be having a little sparring session with Lady Eve right now. I’ll give you 20 moves. If you cannot defeat her within 20 moves, I’ll strip you of your right to be my Paladin.”

Both Anabel and Lady Eve’s eyes widened in shock.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Lady Eve barked.

“I know you humans don’t have hearing as good as mine, but it can’t be this terrible, right? Anabel.”

Anabel bit her lip hard but she still stepped forward.

Leonidas nodded, his gaze shifting up to Lady Eve.

“I can see that you’re still a bit tired, but you have more than enough stamina to burst with your full potential for 20 moves. A Level 2 Apostle wouldn’t lose to a Level 1 Paladin, right?”

The words “Level 2” seemed especially grating on Lady Eve’s ears. It felt like Leonidas was ripping her heart out and stomping on it repeatedly.

Lady Eve’s chest heaved, her glare slowly shifting from Leonidas to Anabel.

All of Anabel’s nervousness and apprehension seemed to have vanished. Her ears rang with Leonidas’ words as she rose her fists into a fighting stance.

She refused to lose her position. Even with all the respect she had for Lady Eve, she wouldn’t allow it to hinder her.

Seeing this scene, Leonidas inwardly nodded. Anabel’s mental fortitude was good. He knew well that the nervous, prattling and shy woman she often was around him wasn’t her real self. It would take time before she came into her own, but this much was enough for now.

Seeing Anabel’s serious expression, though, Lady Eve was so enraged she laughed.

Tossing her training sword to the side, she, too, brandished her fists. She was hardly thinking rationally anymore. Since someone had given her something to punch, she would use it.

Both women exploded forward, the grass beneath their feet flattening before ripping out and raining down from the air as they rushed forward.

It was clear almost immediately that Lady Eve was the more skilled party. Despite the headlong charge, her first punch was a feint, allowing her to easily slip Anabel’s first attack and follow up with a hook right to the liver.

The blow was devastating and would have crumpled even a man twice her size to the ground.

Lady Eve’s sneer was deeply etched onto her face. Defeat her in 20 moves? This little girl couldn’t even last one.

However, to Lady Eve’s astonishment, rather than falling to the ground, Anabel only stumbled back a few steps.

Lady Eve suddenly realized that the sensation on her fist didn’t feel right. Why had it felt as though she had just pushed a wall of jelly?

Anabel’s gaze steeled, stopping her backward momentum with a strong stomp and stepping forward again.

Lady Eve met the punch with her own, but her wrist ended up being bent awkwardly, a sharp pain rushing up her spine.

Her eyes couldn’t help but widen. How long had she been training? Her wrists were probably one of the strongest parts of her body. Even without wrist wraps, something like this shouldn’t have happened.

But, in that moment, it was as though she had not only faced Anabel’s punch, but also some of the strength of her own.

Anabel took advantage of Lady Eve’s weakness, pressing the latter onto her back foot.

Lady Eve retreated to her fundamentals, blocking where she could and eventually using some leg kicks to maintain distance.

Anabel, though, was relentless. Knowing that Lady Eve had a useless fist, she layered assault after assault on that side, her attacks becoming quicker and more fluid as though she was charging up momentum with every exchange.

BANG!

Lady Eve rose her injured wrist to protect her face, but Anabel’s kick was too strong, making her mind spin as shin connected with jaw.

Lady Eve lost her balance, falling onto the soft grass, blood leaking from her lips.

Anabel’s chest rose and fell, much more due to adrenaline than fatigue.

She had done it. She had won.

Watching Lady Eve try to struggle to her feet, only to fail and collapse again, Anabel felt a bittersweet sort of triumph.

“Get up… Get up, dammit!”

Lady Eve’s voice spoke to herself, her commands not transmitting properly to her legs.

On her fourth attempt, she almost made it entirely to her feet, but she collapsed once again, her head almost crashing into the tree stump she had previously been sitting upon.

Just when it seemed like she would suffer a much more egregious injury, Leonidas caught her before she could.

“Don’t touch me!”

Lady Eve reacted instinctively, pushing back and falling onto her butt.

Her sweat-matted hair fell over her face, their short strands just barely covering her eyes. However, what they couldn’t cover was the torrent of tears that followed soon after.

She had lost. She had lost to a Level 1 Paladin. She had lost to a little girl who had never even experienced true hardship before.

Was this all that her training was worth? All her hard work, all her effort… Was this all it amounted to?

Leonidas knelt down before Lady Eve, reaching out a hand.

Lady Eve used what strength she had left to try and smack it away, but Leonidas grabbed ahold of her wrist, forcing her to stay in place.

“Let me go! Just leave me alone!”

“Look at me.”

Leonidas’ forceful voice boomed, lacing the command of War Cry within.

In her vulnerable state, Lady Eve snapped to attention, her tear-filled eyes looking toward Leonidas as though she could murder him any moment.

“You are weak,” Leonidas said lightly.

Lady Eve’s lower lip quivered, her eyes reddening. But, she had nothing she could say in return.

“Being weak is fine,” Leonidas continued, “however you have to learn when to acknowledge it and when to understand that you should take a different path when something isn’t working.”

Lady Eve didn’t respond, her tears still silently spilling forth as she choked back sobs.

Leonidas’ gaze shifted over to the potions Lady Eve had emptied.

“You’ve probably been drinking those same potions for years, swinging the same sword for even longer, repeating the same training regimen again and again.

“Or maybe I’m wrong and you’ve already tried many things before, exhausting all the options you’ve had… And for what?

“To lose to a newly Promoted Paladin?”

Lady Eve bit her lip hard, drawing blood. The trickle of crimson fell down her chin, dripping to the ground.

“Hard work and determination are important, but placed in the wrong direction, down the wrong path, it becomes useless.

“I know for myself, so long as it wasn’t an affront to my dignity, I was willing to do anything to gain power. If I hadn’t had the talent to become a Mage, I wouldn’t have hesitated to become a Fighter. If I couldn’t become a Fighter, I would become a Healer. If I had talent for none, I would become the only Class that would allow me to claw back the talent I was missing from the world in the future.

“However, what are you doing? You’re here, every day, chipping away at a Class you know doesn’t suit you, all so that you can seemingly protect yourself. But, if you can’t even defeat Anabel, what sort of ‘independence’ do you think these decades of efforts have netted you?

“Just look at the Rardin family. They don’t have a single Deacon and yet your brother doesn’t dare to lift a finger against them casually, all because they’re led by two Healers.

“What kind of impact do you think you would have had choosing that path instead of this one?”

Leonidas released Lady Eve’s hand and it fell limply to her side.

He rose to his feet, looking over her.

“I guess I still have to thank you, though. If not for your foolish decisions, I would have never had a chance to grasp the power I have now.

“If that’s your only goal—to grant others what you wish you could have yourself—feel free to continue down this path. Just stay here and rot out the rest of your existence swinging that sword.

“However, if you want to actually grasp real power in the future, to stay by my side as I rise to the highest mountain peak there is, then come to the Church.”

Leonidas turned and began to walk away.

Anabel cast another glance toward Lady Eve before rushing after Leonidas.

“Wait.”

Lady Eve’s voice caused Leonidas’ footsteps to pause. But, before she could say what she had to say, the blaring sound of horns rocked the village.

Leonidas looked up and into the skies, his gaze narrowing.

The last time these horns sounded, he hadn’t even been born yet. This was the warning of a Lower Ogre raid.