“Here, catch!” Layla threw a sword toward Arthur. He barely managed to catch the blade by its handle, holding his breath in fright. “Shit! Luckily I did not catch its blade!” he cursed in his mind.

“Excuse me, Sergeant, why did you give me this sword?” he asked.

“I’m not giving that to you, I let you borrow it for this assessment,” she said before materializing another sword out of thin air.

“Weren't we supposed to use training swords for this? I recall you said that we are only allowed to use wooden weapons without edges,” he bit his lips in frustration.

“Did I? Well, no worries. I can handle myself. You should not be able to hurt me by mistake,” she said with a smile.

“I’m not afraid for your safety! I’m afraid for my safety!” he screamed in his mind, barely holding back by grinding his teeth together.

Of course, it did not go past Layla's notice. The sergeant was delighted by his reaction!

“It's okay; I will suppress my cultivation to your level. I’m also using a sword instead of Katar, my main weapon. Of course, I will not use any Martial Technique, so you can rest assured,” she said lightly.

Layla summoned a pill before swallowing it, “There, my cultivation is suppressed to mortal boundary. Are you satisfied?” she asked.

Of course, Layla suppressed her cultivation and gave Arthur a real sword for a reason. She wanted to push him to show his true colors; she could break the pill suppression at any point when Arthur finally tried to kill her and reveal his true intentions.

"With such a big chance, I refuse to believe you will not take this chance to kill me since I already suspect your identity! If you don’t take the bait, then I will force you to take it!" she thought.

"She is planning something! And winning is out of the question for me! I've never used a sword before!" Arthur thought as he weighed the blade given to him. It was heavier than his expectations.

"My bond with Rat gave me quite a bit of strength, but I’m not strong enough to swing this sword," he contemplated, as his arm was too thin from prolonged malnutrition and lack of training.

“What's the problem? Are you dissatisfied with how I do assessment? If you are, then you can resign from the military,” Layla said.

“No ma'am. It's just that this sword is a bit too heavy for me. Can I have something lighter?” he awkwardly said.

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“Fine, do you need anything else?” she nodded before materializing a thin dark sword with one curved edge.

“Actually, I do... do you have anything light and that can be used for protection? Preferably something that can be used on my arm,” Arthur asked nervously.

From what he saw in the previous fights, having the option to use both arms individually could get him far in a fight. But sadly, he did not know martial arts, so he was thinking to use his other hand for defense.

“I would have given you a shield, but since the sword is too heavy, then how about this,” Layla materialized a pair of metal bracers.

Arthur took the katana and bracers, he swung it a few times, testing it. He was satisfied with it. He put the bracers on the ground and slashed at them with a vertical strike. Seeing the bracers hold together after the strike, he put them on before turning toward Layla.

“Are you ready?” she asked, to which he nodded.

“The pill suppressing my cultivation will last another ten minutes; if you can hold on until the pill potency runs out, then you win,” she said with a grin before materializing a coin.

“We start when the coin hits the ground,” she told him before flipping the coin into the air.

Arthur held the borrowed blade with both hands ready for Layla. While he put his full focus on it, his stance was amateurish at best.

“He is still acting; let's see if he can keep it up when I’m chopping off his head,” Layla thought. Arthur could see her eyes glinting sadistically.

The moment the coin hit the ground, Layla disappeared from Arthur's sight! His first thought was to find her, but something within him told him it was a mistake and he should move before it's too late.

Trusting his gut feeling, Arthur jumped back. He could feel a gust of wind brushing his nose as he finally found the cause of it.

Layla had somehow moved to his right and cut at where his neck was just a moment before Arthur moved.

She did not stop even when her attack missed; she closed the distance with a quick dash, rotating her blade and slashed toward Arthur’s neck once again.

Arthur could see her coming straight toward him, but he was not ready to intercept her blade with his katana, so he clumsily threw his body to the side, rolling and fumbling on the ground while flailing his sword.

The roll saved him from Layla’s blade. It irritated Layla to think Arthur dodged two of her attacks while acting all jumpy.

“Fuck! I need to calm down,” he thought, half kneeling on the ground.

“Luckily I did not drop my sword.” He used his sword to help him stand, but it was a mistake as he found the tip of Layla’s sword coming toward his left eye.

Arthur's left arm let go of his blade as he reflexively tried to knock the sword aside. “I’m not going to make it," his rationality said.

To his surprise, his hand moved with such speed and precision, knocking the blade just enough for it to only scratch his cheek.

“I need some distance and time to make a plan,” he thought.

Arthur could feel the wound on his left cheek sting, but he did not have time for being in pain, as Layla kicked him on the chest, pushing the air out of his lungs.

He tried to duck back to avoid the kick, but he was too late. Yet it actually worked in his favor as he jumped back, and the force of Layla’s kick caused him to land a dozen meters away.

Arthur tried to breathe and think, but Layla crossed the distance within a second, only allowing him to inhale once.

“Quit acting, you prick!” she roared, believing that Arthur was not taking her seriously, instead of having his butt kicked and just barely able to dodge some of her strikes in desperation!

“Your mom is acting, your ancestor is acting!” Arthur cried inside.