Crushing

Since he had been at the 'pinnacle' of the Advanced Rank for quite some time, Paul had no trouble besting four opponents in quick succession. One of the biggest weaknesses of traditionally trained Swordsmen, even those who ventured all the way to the Sword Sanctum, was their general lack of experience. They were too used to executing their techniques under ideal conditions, and though sparring was commonplace, they customarily held back to avoid injury.

With people like Ei, Jean, Augusta, and Reida teaching him to 'never' hold back, Paul was a monster that defied the 'common sense' of Swordsmen who had spent much of their life inside a dojo. He also had actual combat experience and people and monsters, experiences that had ended in the deaths of more than twenty people.

In the original series, Eris was able to trounce even the Saints within the Sword Sanctum using nothing more than her fists. She had only been at the Advanced Rank of the Sword God Style at the time, but thanks to the experiences she had accumulated fighting to survive for three years, she was able to soundly defeat even the Saint Ranked daughter of the Sword God, Nina Farion. Adding insult to injury, it only took a single punch.

Though he didn't believe he was anywhere near the level of Eris at the time of her arrival at the Sword Sanctum, Paul had become increasingly confident in his abilities. Reida hadn't actually taught him too much, but the act of plowing her for more than five months had given Paul a pretty massive confidence boost. It had also improved his Mana capacity quite a bit, so much so that Paul was pretty sure he could fodder the version of himself from six months prior.

"Not bad, kid. Not bad at all. Win one more, and I'll grant you the right to refer to yourself as a Saint from that moment onward."

Hearing what their Master said, nearly every student present drew in a sharp breath. They had all clearly heard Paul introduce himself as a 10-year-old. If he attained the title of Sword Saint at such a tender age, that would make him the youngest in history.

Surprising the group even more, Paul shook his head and said, "That isn't for you to decide."

Though he had a massive grin on his face, Gal asked, "Who the hell do you think you're talking back to, brat...? I am the Sword God, Gal Farion, Ranked Sixth of the Seven Great Powers. Do you think Reida has greater authority than me when it comes to deciding Ranks?"

Shaking his head a second time, Paul did his best to quell the not-so-subtle trembling of his body as he carefully replied, "The most important thing is how we view ourselves...until I can master Touki and reach Saint Rank in the Sword God Style, it would be arrogant to refer to myself as a Saint..."

"Hmmm..."

Retracting his bloodlust, Gal eased back into a more comfortable posture as he said, "Hear that, you little glory hunters? This brat's only ten years old, yet he has things figured out better than the lot of you. Rank, status, fame, wealth, men, women...unless you possess 'real' power, such things are completely meaningless..."

Without giving his words time to settle, Gal directed his gaze towards the young woman with cat ears, a tail, and a veritable mane of spiky grey hair as he said, "You're up, Ghislaine. If you lose, you'll have to skip breakfast and tomorrow's lunch."

Though she had previously been watching the spars with a bored look on her face, a fierce glimmer flashed across Ghislaine's red eyes when she heard Gal's words. There was no way in hell she was going to go without one meal, much less two, so she immediately lurched forward on all fours before the match had even begun.

"Holy shit...!"

Underestimating just how fast Ghislaine was, Paul barely managed to sidestep and pirouette out of range of her claws. She was only a Sword Saint at the present moment, but her status as a member of the Dedoldia Tribe, descendants of the Beast God, provided her with super strength, speed, agility, senses, and reaction speed.

Despite missing her initial lunge, Ghislaine arrested her momentum with her hands before pushing herself toward Paul. She didn't even bother to go to the side of the hall to retrieve a weapon. Instead, she smashed her fist in the flat of Paul's blade, shattering it as she shouted, "I'm not going hungry...!" in a defiant tone.

With Ghislaine shattering his weapon, most of the students believed Paul was out of the fight. Instead, surprising even Ghislaine, he rolled onto his back in timing with her lunge, his feet compressing against her abdomen before kicking with enough force to send her, upside down, towards one of the hall's pillars.

While most people would have crashed into the pillar, suffering broken bones in the process, Ghislaine demonstrated a degree of flexibility and spatial awareness comparable to an actual cat as she effortlessly flipped over and impacted the pillar on her hands and feet. Then, like a bronze-skinned bullet, she launched herself towards Paul with fangs and claws bared.

Though he had promptly rolled back to his feet after sending Ghislaine flying, Paul barely managed to turn around by the time she tackled him. Fortunately, even though she was able to mount him, the only thing she knew how to do was punch, claw, and tear. These would have been very effective under normal circumstances, but Ghislaine had been prohibited from maiming, biting the throats, or gouging out the eyes of her fellow students. In other words, all she could do was use her ludicrous strength to try and beat Paul into submission.

Catching Ghislaine by surprise, Paul bucked his hips at the exact moment she attempted to smash his face in. The momentum of her attack carried her forward, while at the same time, Paul shamelessly cupped his hands under Ghislaine's already sizeable breasts to push her up and away from him. She managed to hold onto him with her legs, but that was what Paul had been aiming for.

Wrapping his arms around Ghislaine's legs and bottom, Paul attempted to prevent her from correcting her posture. The moment she tried, he raised his hips and back like an arch. The movement nearly caused Ghislaine to smash face-first into the ground, so she was forced to catch herself with her hands.

Thinking he could drop his hips and force Ghislaine onto her back when she attempted to fix her posture, Paul was more than a little surprised when she prevented him from doing so by locking her legs around him like a vice. Then, despite the action causing her forehead to impact the floor, she stopped holding herself in order to choke him.

Feeling like a vice had just locked around his neck, an instinctual panic set into Paul as he grabbed Ghislaine's tail and pulled. Hard.

"You...!"

Unfortunately for Paul, while the tails of the Beast Race were incredibly sensitive, it was one of the first things Ghislaine trained to overcome. It still hurt like hell, but the only thing he accomplished by pulling her tail was making her very, very angry.

Releasing Paul's neck, Ghislaine grabbed his hair and yanked him from between her legs in a single violent motion. The action literally forced him to stand up before she reared back with a resolution expression on her face.

In a desperate attempt to prevent his face from getting smashed in, Paul jammed his thumbs into Ghislaine's armpits to hinder her movement. This helped him avoid a headbutt to the face and nose, but Ghislaine still had a death grip on his head. The moment he blocked her headbutt, an even more violent expression developed across her face as she began shaking his head like a Magic 8-ball. When she did, an overwhelming feeling of vertigo seized him as the notion he could literally feel his brain moving gripped Paul's chaotic mind. Then, as if to spite him for stopping her the first time, Ghislaine reared back her head and landed a headbutt directly to his nose...

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.

Unaware of how much time had passed, Paul awoke feeling intense pain throughout his face and head. His eyes were so swollen that he couldn't even open them, and, no matter how much he tried, he couldn't breathe through his nose. Inhaling caused extreme pain, while exhaling caused a combination of snot and blood to froth from his nearly flattened nostrils.

("That damned brute...")

Though he was in extreme pain, the thing that upset Paul the most was that most of his front teeth were missing. His Intermediate Healing could mend his face, but regrowing teeth required Shine-Healing, an Advanced Rank Spell.

"You still with us, kid...?"

Before responding to the voice of Gal, Paul raised his hands to his face and used chantless Healing to reduce the swelling of his eyes and fix his nose. When he was finished, he looked towards the roguish-looking man before immediately shifting his gaze to the grey-haired cat girl drooping her head at his side.

Adopting an amused smile, Gal asked, "Holding a grudge...?"

To Gal's surprise, Paul immediately shook his head before lisping, "Noh. If fwis had bween a weal fwigh, I would bwe dwead."

Nodding his head in approval, Gal said, "Good mentality." before abruptly smacking Ghislaine in the back of the head and asking, "See what kind of person you nearly crippled? Seriously, what was going through that head of yours when you went all out on a freakin' kid...?"

Hanging her head and ears, Ghislaine responded with a faint, "Sorry..." before meeting Paul's gaze and adding, "But he's strong..."

Exhaling a sigh and rubbing his forehead, Gal seemed to be considering something before dropping his hand and muttering, "Whatever..." before asking, "Hey, kid, what do you think about becoming my apprentice? I'm at least a thousand times stronger than that Water God vixen."

Since he knew Gal would probably have him train with Ghislaine even if he refused, Paul didn't hesitate before shaking his head. Fortunately, Gal had been anticipating this since it wasn't exactly a secret that Paul had been 'buddy-buddy' with Reida during their travels. Keeping the guests in more than a hundred Inns awake throughout the night wasn't discreet.

Snorting through his nose, Gal snipped, "Brat..." before promptly turning around and making his way towards the exit. Before leaving, however, he half-turned to stare at Ghislaine, saying, "Stay with him. He's lost a lot of blood, so the least you can do is warm him up with your body. If he dies, I'm placing you on house arrest for a month."

Furrowing her brows, Ghislaine wanted to object but ultimately remained silent. Instead, it was Paul who forced himself to a seated position and said, "Noh. Ahm fwine. Leh her gwoh back."

Squinting his eyes, Gal challenged, "You sure? If you hadn't instinctually protected yourself with Touki, you'd be dead right now. Don't let her off just because she's a girl or has big tits. I know how the members of your family are..."

As much as he wanted to cuddle up with Ghislaine and have her care for him, Paul couldn't enter the IOF and have Barbara regrow his teeth if she was around. He doubted she would tell on him, but seeing him disappear through a door was bound to make her unnecessarily suspicious.

"I vwil bwe fwully hwealed bwy mornin."

Raising his brows, Gal was tempted to ask how, but, as he didn't really care, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Have it your way." before making his way out of the room. Ghislaine stayed back for a while longer, but as she had never really been that talkative, she just muttered one final, "Sorry..." before rising to her feet and departing the room...

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