Chapter 159: 159. Sparring With Dahlia 2.
Orion channeled his aura towards his feet and the magic circle underneath his feet began to glow brighter than it did before.
The magic circle which had been engraved on the floor was only glowing with a faint light. However, the moment Orion began channeling his aura into the circle, it became activated and their surroundings slowly began to change.
The circle was capable of creating illusions, thereby altering reality to create an ideal training environment for any student who stepped on the huge magic circle.
The spell usually lasted for a period of five to ten minutes, and this meant that Orion and Dahlia had at most ten minutes to determine the winner of their little spar.
Looking around, they were no longer on the training ground but in a very different location which seemed like an open field with darkening skies and a big red sun that was climbing down from the sky.
It looked like everywhere was slowly turning dark, and Dahlia was really happy to see this.
It was the ideal environment for her to use her abilities and she couldn't wait to get started.
With a grin on her face, Dahlia dashed forward while moving her daggers in a swift and precise arc.
Orion swiftly parried her strike with ease, then he counterattacked with a swift swing of his sword.
Unlike when he fought against Adrian and the others, Orion didn't make use of his tier four aura combat technique.
In fact, he wasn't interested in making use of magic during this battle either; his primary objective was to use the training to slowly improve his knight rank.
This was the reason why he used swords against Adrian and the others rather than cast a spell.
His sword sliced through the air but Dahlia evaded the attack before activating a bloodline ability.
The moment she activated her ability, her shadow, which was on the ground, suddenly transformed into a pitch-black sphere underneath her feet.
The huge spherical mass of darkness looked like a black hole housing countless numbers of monsters, demons, and unknown creatures, but none of them leaped out of the large scary shadow; instead, countless numbers of dark silhouettes erupted from the sole of her feet, before swirling around her like living darkness.
Upon closer look, the silhouettes were like countless clones of Dahlia, storming towards Orion.
The clones charged at him with their daggers stabbing wildly in his direction, but Orion spun around and weaved through their relentless attacks, effortlessly dodging the attacks of Dahlia's clones.
He continued to dodge all of Dahlia's clones. However, the real Dahlia then seized the opportunity to strike him from behind while using one of her clones as a shield. Her real wooden dagger was poised in the air as she aimed towards Orion's exposed back, but he spun around just in time to block the attack with his sword.
The force of the impact sent ripples of shock down Dahlia's arms, but she swiftly recovered herself before leaping away from Orion, to keep a safe distance between the two of them.
Even though she was breathing heavily, she had a smile on her face. This was the first time Orion had promised to do anything she wanted, and Dahlia didn't want to waste the golden opportunity to have her wish granted.
This was the first time Dahlia had summoned hundreds of her clones for an attack, which meant that this was currently her strongest attack; but it also happened to be consuming a lot of her mana as well, which is why Dahlia wanted to end this fight as soon as possible.
Dahlia tightened her grip on her weapons and Orion noticed her eyes blazing with excitement. It was easy to see that the vampire elf had a trick up her sleeve.
Her smile widened even more and Dahlia summoned strings of dark energy, which instantly popped out of the huge spherical shadow to bind Orion's sword arm.
The string constricted and tried to immobilize him, but Orion channeled his aura to his arms, thereby allowing him to easily pull and snap the strings around his arms.
He then swiftly made his counterattack, but Dahlia dodged his attack with incredible speed.
Meanwhile, everywhere was slowly becoming darker by the minute and Dahlia's shadow magic affinity allowed her to easily blend in with the surrounding darkness.
A shadowy tendril lashed out and tried to ensnare Orion, but he swiftly leaped back to avoid the trap, not knowing that Dahlia had reappeared behind him with her dagger aimed to make a deadly strike.
However, Orion dodged her attack once again, and the battle between the two continued for some more time, with each of them exchanging blows.
Dahlia's clones continued to swarm Orion, forcing him to adapt and improvise to counter the attacks she kept making.
Within a brief moment, Dahlia noticed an opening and she landed a grazing blow on Orion's cheek.
"Yes!!!" Dahlia exclaimed triumphantly.
Meanwhile, Orion grinned at her excitement, impressed by what he had seen so far. "Well done, Dahlia. You've earned your reward."
As she tried to catch her breath, Dahlia's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "When will you teach me the technique?" She asked.
Orion smiled mischievously, before saying. "I will, but that will be right after you tell me what you want me to do for you."
Orion had noticed how Dahlia wanted to win so badly, and this made him curious to find out what she wanted from him.
However, there were so many things she wanted to do, so it was difficult for her to decide on one.
'I still can't believe I actually landed a hit on him.'
'I know His Highness is very strong, and he probably allowed me to win, but I'm still so happy that I did.'
'He's the best.'
'And to be honest, I-I wouldn't mind sitting on his lap again.'
'I really like how he touched my ears and cheeks.'
'Should I ask him to do that again?'
'Maybe I should, but I also liked the way he held my hand a few minutes ago. So should I ask him to do it again, but this time, it should be a lot longer than he did before?'
'I don't know if I really want this, but I think a hug will be fine.'
'I would like a date as well, but wouldn't it be weird for a maid to be asking a prince something like that?'