Grand Foreigner (Chapters 1- 200)

Chapter 74

Altera slowly raised her blade into a defensive posture while concentrating on the movements of the enemy in front of her.

Any wasted movement, any over-extended blows, and any opening in her stance must be annihilated. Any mistake on her part would be taken advantage of and she cannot spare a single one, as just one mistake would spell her doom. Her opponent could finish her off with one blow, of course not for good, just this round.

Altera did not take her eyes off her opponent. Even the basic biological actions of a living creature - like breathing, blinking, and sweating - were suppressed by her monstrous skill which gave her unparalleled control over her body.

The price of any mistake was so high that she cannot afford to spare any attention on such trivialities.

"Oh, is that all you can do?" Her opponent, Cainabel, began to mock Altera, smiling mockingly all the while. "A little tin soldier should be steadfast... Although, looking at you, I would have believed that you would have played the role of a ballerina in this fairy tale... Hmm, no, the ballerina was described as beautiful..."

Altera was not ignorant to human emotions, so she could determine that such words were meant as mockery without any hesitation. Though it was somewhat more difficult for her to determine the cause or purpose of such mockery, the concept of "hurting others for pleasure" was not a groundbreaking revelation for Altera. Of course, given the fact that they are currently sparring, it was possible that Cainabel was provoking Altera so that she would attack recklessly in a fit of anger. However, over the past sparring rounds, Cainabel should have noticed that such mockery would not provoke Altera in any way. Therefore, of the two possible reasons, the first was still the most possible, Cainabel simply enjoyed hurting others whether by actions or words.

"It looks like this tin soldier is broken," Cainabel sighed and then rolled her eyes. "It happens all the time with these mechanical toys, they break from any little things."

"Although they do say that everything can be repaired, even a faulty android," Cainabel smiled, and then rushed forward at such a speed that even Altera had to resort to blocking the attack head on. A course of action that she would prefer not to do in a battle against an enemy with such a monstrous level of physical strength, - "You just need to hit it even harder!"

Cainabel's attack was so powerful that the floor under Altera's feet cracked under the pressure and Altera had to strain all her muscles to remain upright and not simply crumble under the overwhelming force. Of course, the fact that the arena hasn't simply turned to rubble was due to the many reinforcing spells and barriers that were placed on the training room that was designed for sparring between Servants. Even then, the overwhelming strength of the two battling combatants still caused untold amounts of destruction to the arena. If Altera used her Crest of the Stars and Cainabel began to fight seriously, transforming herself, then the entire training hall would simply be swept up into dust by the hurricane-like forces involved.

After Cainabel's attacks were stopped dead by Altera's blade, a punch from Cainabel followed. Even though Cainabel's position, floating in the air, and lack of a firm foothold means that the force behind the punch would be greatly weakened. Still, the complete surprise over such an unexpected attack still caused Altera to dodge backwards. Such nonsensical attacks caused no end of troubles to Altera.

After Altera easily dodged the attack, Cainabel immediately followed after Altera and attacked yet again. After gaining some distance Altera was able to avoid the attack but was only able to give a light counterattack in response. Altera's counterattack was light enough that it would stand no chance in breaching Cainabel's defense, still Cainabel evaded the attack by jumping backward. Altera quickly realized that it was not because she was afraid of the attack itself, but because she simply did not want to give Altera even a chance to touch her. Perhaps this was the reason why Altera was able to spar with Cainabel for so long even though she was outmatched in the Singularity.