My Servant System

Chapter 684 683: Good Stretch

"And... I think that's checkmate, no~?"

Leone smirked at me as she slid her remaining Bishop forwards, trapping my pieces in a perfect zone of lethality as each move I was able to make would only leave them ready to be reaped by the denser, solid pieces of ice that shimmered a pale blue.

My own white pieces were locked in place, and the most obvious of it all was the King, who stood alone next to two pale blue pieces, its Queen and Rook now resting on the side of the board, watching on from 'beyond the grave'.

"That is checkmate indeed..."

Sighing, I tapped the King and watched as it fell forwards, shattering against the icy board and signaling my defeat as I leaned back into the chair, reaching forwards and lifting my wineglass to help ease my woes.

The fruity flavor slid down my throat smoothly, and I let out another sigh as I looked up at the violet and orange sky, the sun slowly setting in the distance.

We had been outside for well over an hour already, and each minute had been spent engaging in a battle of the mind as well as debating our minds as well, providing explanation and understanding for the reason we utilized our magics the way we had been, articulating our decisions and making the other understand why we used our spells the ways we did.

It was something that the two of us believed in deeply and felt worked quite well; having to give reason for why you did something and prove that your method was valid and the most efficient.

Debating your techniques and understanding only worked to deepen your understanding of the topic, at least if the person or people that you were debating with wanted to be respectful and a decent person to you, giving you the time to speak and only speaking when it was their turn; arguing and debating were different, and too many people thought they were the same thing...

Since we had deep respect and love for one another, we obviously weren't arguing this topic, and instead enjoying the different perspective that our partner had on what we were doing; I made my spells far too crowd control oriented while Leone didn't combine too many different elements into her spells, making them rather 'bland'.

"Well, I think I learned a good bit... And it's odd to say, but honestly... I want to spar. It's been awhile, and I feel rather stiff and pent up."

I gave her a quick, odd look which made the Vampire blush and shake her head quickly, saying "Not like that!"

"Good... I was about to say, with how much we did it earlier, how would you still~ be pent up~? Only Jahi gets like that..."

Her blush deepened as she heard that, and I chuckled as I waved my hand, letting the chessboard melt away before sending the water into the grass, leaving behind little trace of our match - both because I had to, and also because I wanted to wash away the shame of losing... because I can be petty sometimes too.

Draining my wine glass, I let that melt as well before standing up and stretching, watching Leone mirror me before I gestured towards the Palace, saying "Let's spar in the training grounds then. Should we use our normal weapons or sparring blades?"

I grabbed the bottle of wine and began to walk back towards the Palace, Leone beside me as we left behind the gentle, cool breeze of dusk for the regulated warmth of the Palace.

"Sparring blades, please... I don't want to be hurt or hurt you anymore than is necessary. Besides, like you said, this isn't something I am too talented at; I just want to let loose and get rid of this excess energy. Feels like we've spent more time traveling than actually doing anything physical... though that's a good thing."

Letting out a hum of agreement, I led us towards the training grounds, not wanting to change into proper gear for this since it would be a very casual spar; besides, we were both dressed in our normal physical wear anyways; pants and a shirt alongside some boots.

It was just what was near the bed when we got finished with everything...

The bottle of wine came with us as well, which I left off to the side as we grabbed some basic blades and moved over towards one of the empty spaces away from everyone else, making sure we were out of everyones ways and not hindering any Knights or Squires from having the space they truly needed.

Of course, we could see the two Demons on the other side of the training grounds sparring casually, a blue and a red slowly increasing the pace as their swords clashed together, the both of them to absorbed in their spar to notice us.

Getting a feel for the heft of the blade, I lowered my stance and watched as Leone did the same, the Vampire taking a deep breath as she stared at me before lunging forwards, stabbing her sword forwards and aiming for my heart.

I stepped into the thrust and redirected her blade to the side, causing her to stumble as her momentum carried her forwards, which allowed me to push her blade down and bring my blade to bear, though Leone used her stumble to her advantage as she pushed me back.

Resetting my feet, I lunged forwards this time and brought the tip of my sword towards her shoulder, only to get a taste of her insane reflexes as she tilted her sword to the side and caught my thrust on the flat of her blade, blocking it.

The reverberation traveled through my arm uncomfortably, but I ignored it as I retrieved my sword and slashed towards her side, using my speed to my advantage.

Leone took a step back to avoid the slash, her sword rising in response and pinning my sword to the sand, which allowed her to get a swing in before I could bring my sword back up.

Our spar began in earnest, and each movement felt great as we exerted our muscles and began to work out and train.