'Shit... Maybe the bastard knows nothing at all about training, but his words make sense... The most important thing to me is to be the most important partner of Gisle, just like Gladius is to Wain...' Vexa internally muttered as she bit her lip down to the blood, 'Gisle... Damn, he actually had a million opportunities to trade me for something more worthwhile, will I really continue to feel sorry for myself?'

Whooooooooooosh.

Vexa's wounds fully recovered as she got to her feet and prepared for battle. She knew she wouldn't win anytime soon and her opponent would make her go through a lot of pain, but it was all worth it to get stronger.

"Hm? Did you get up that fast? I'll be honest I thought you'd be lying on the ground for another five minutes." Gladius said nonchalantly exhaling a massive puff of smoke that was bigger than himself, "Well, that's good. I'd be sorry if Gisle, had a useless weapon, but it looks like you still have a chance to show you're not."

Gladius was perfectly calm as he hadn't yet used one of his hands to fight, he was just smoking and seemed to enjoy the smoke wafting around him.

"Hey, I have a question." Vexa clenched his hands into fists.

"Talk."

"Can I use energy? What are the rules anyway?" Vexa waved her hand with narrowed eyes.

"Energy? Agh... Girl, you can use whatever you want, you can even pray to God if it helps you repel one of my punches. However, I'd rather not rely on gods as I usually cut them to pieces. Hahaha." Gladius chuckled evilly, revealing a wide grin.

"Well, it was your choice!" Vexa exclaimed as she let out a huge amount of energy. It was her space, so the amount of energy was almost infinite, but in this case, it was the quality that was far more important.

"Just meet the condition." Gladius shrugged before stepping forward, disappearing in a dark flash.

A moment later, Gladius appeared above Vexa, bringing his foot down on her with tremendous speed. Vexa didn't dodge as she folded her arms in front of her and channeled energy into them creating a dense wind barrier.

'Fine, things are going to get a lot easier now. He'll probably be able to break through my barrier, but the wind flow inside will throw him aside then I attack him. That will be enough to pass the test.' Vexa pondered as a slight smile appeared on her face, but suddenly her face twisted and there was a painful scream.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

Gladius' foot passed through the protective barrier with ease as he met a sharp stream of wind, but it couldn't even put out his cigarette let alone toss it aside, so his foot collapsed with full force onto Vexa's shoulder.

Legs were always stronger than arms, it was a physiological fact, so Vexa's shoulder instantly cracked and eerie waves of pain went through her entire body causing her eyes to go wide.

"Not a bad idea, but aren't you capable of more than copying from Gisle? He used the same technique against Wain, you just repeated after him." Gladius said calmly with icy eyes, "Hmmm... I guess I see what the problem is."

Whoooooooooosh.

Gladius narrowed his eyes, grabbed Vexa's arm, and threw her forward, then he bounced off the ground and raced towards her with great speed literally outpacing her while she was in flight.

'What's going on? What's he going to do?' Vexa inwardly muttered looking at Gladius who was already standing in front of her while she was still flying away, then her eyes went wide as her heart clenched in fear.

Gladius stooped forward with lightning speed, balled his hand into a fist, and punched Vexa in the stomach as hard as he could, bottom to top.

The sharp pain Vexa felt then was hard to describe as she felt that this blow should have exploded her, but since it was her space, such a thing was impossible.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.historical

Vexa fell to the floor, splashing blood on the sides that streamed from her mouth. Her eyes were wide open while her body twitched in flashes of pain.

"You know, I thought you were just inexperienced and completely unable to use your powers as my instincts told me that you were actually a fairly capable kid." Gladius said coldly, stepping slowly forward as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

He exhaled a cloud of smoke and continued, "However, when you used that barrier I realized it wasn't that you couldn't and needed to be taught, it was that you didn't want to."

Vexa struggled to lift herself off the ground, spat out a clot of blood, and looked at Gladius, "I don't want to? What the fuck are you talking about?! If I had the chance I'd tear you apart!"

"Hahaha, I believe you, but only about what you'd do to me. Say, Gisle's pretty good, right?" Gladius asked with a sly smirk.

"What...? Why can't you ever ask a normal question? What has Gisle got to do with...? He's my master, so obviously he's good!" Vexa exclaimed with a sincere look.

Gladius shook his head slightly smiling as if he'd heard what he wanted.

"Master, right? Hah, listen to me carefully. You actually have the ability to repel my punch, but you're subconsciously blocking them, just not using them because you think you're worse than Gisle." Gladius pointed at Vexa as his eyes became serious, "You think you're worse than Gisle, just not worthy for someone like him, do you?"

Vexa wanted to object, but she just couldn't say anything as if she had become speechless. Vexa had seen everything Gisle had been doing all this time and it was obvious that she thought of herself as just a weapon in his hands.

'No... is he really right? But, how can I... a mere katana be equal to a real ruler like Gisle?'