33. Sparring With Odette.

"We'll see about that."

Both raised their wooden swords, and for a moment, neither of them moved.

But then, Odette struck first by closing the distance faster than Logan expected, and before he could react, the flat of her wooden blade tapped lightly against his forearm.

"You're dead."

"W-What? That was too fast."

"There is no such thing as too fast in a real battle against your enemies, young master. Let's try that again."

They both reset to their previous positions and this time Logan tried to anticipate her movements by stepping to the side the moment he noticed she moved.

But it didn't matter because her wooden sword found the side of his head before he even finished turning.

"Dead."

"How did you..."

Once again, she had moved faster than humanly possible.

Wasn't this what the gunmen had battled against when they faced Odette as her enemy?

There was no doubt about it.

Odette was truly an amazing woman.

"Focus, young master. Spacing out mid combat would get you killed."

Odette's words instantly dragged him back to reality, then he gritted his teeth and resumed his position.

Now, again. And again. And again, he kept trying to land a hit on her, but every time, Odette's sword would land on him first before he could even settle on the thought of closing the distance and making a strike.

Odette was simply too fast for him to keep up with.

So far, she's landed a hit on his leg, chest and arm and he's been unable to do the same.

He had even tried to copy the same footwork he had noticed her using earlier, but this only allowed the beautiful half-elf to dodge his attempt before slamming the flat side of her sword against his butt.

"Mmm!!!!"

"Pfft... you're dead again, young master." Odette managed to hold back a laugh for striking his butt, but her lips kept twitching cause it was the first time she had ever heard him make a yelp before.

And it was even more exciting for the half-elf cause now, Logan's face had turned red in embarrassment for the first time ever.

And this was definitely a sight the beautiful half-elf would never forget for the rest of her life.

"Hey, that's not fair. That doesn't count."

"I believe it does, young master. Unlike me, your enemies will be holding a real blade and they certainly wouldn't care where they strike as long as it kills you."

"Yeah, but most enemies aren't aiming for my butt."

"You'd be surprised, young master."

"Grrr." Logan groaned but got back into position anyway.

Meanwhile, Odette was having the time of her life.

To watch her young master feel so ashamed was a sight she would never trade for anything else in the world.

It was simply too adorable to watch.

And so, just like that, an hour passed by in a flash.

Followed by two hours.

Now, Logan could be seen panting heavily.

His arms hurt like hell and his legs felt really numb.

Even his shirt was soaked with sweat and on more than two occasions during the spar, he had considered begging her to stop the spar.

But every time the thought crossed his mind, Logan would remember the night at the ambush.

He would recall how lethal and exquisite she had been in handling all those enemies on her own.

It wouldn't be a lie if he had admitted to being jealous about it, cause he really was and he wanted to be as strong in that regard.

No, he wanted to be stronger.

'So, that means if I want to protect the people I care about, then I'll need to accept that this training isn't close to enough to reach the strength I want.'

Logan tightened his grip on his wooden sword, then he hurried back up to his feet.

Meanwhile, Odette watched as he returned to his feet and her grip on her sword tightened as well.

Of course, she knew she might be training him a bit too hard since it was his first time.

But she had her reasons.

However, watching him get beaten, slapped with a sword or struck from behind seemed to hurt her just as much as she could see it hurting him as well.

But once again, she had her reasons for being this harsh on him.

'I have to be harder on the young master than anyone else has ever been.' Odette muttered internally.

'If he ever steps outside these walls without me, I have no idea what kind of enemy he might face.'

'So if he can land a hit on me, even once, then he'll know that there should be no one out there he can't eventually beat.'

That was the whole reason behind their sparring.

It wasn't done out of cruelty.

She genuinely wanted him to grow stronger.

Rowena was, without a doubt, the strongest woman Odette had ever faced, and Odette was actively striving to reach that potential.

So if Logan can beat her, Odette was confident it would boost his morale into believing he too would be able to beat anyone he faces against.

This was just her own way of making sure her young master never ended up unprepared the way she'd once seen other people be.

She'd meant every word she said about a real enemy not caring where they struck.

This was because she had seen what happened to people who assumed the world would go easy on them just because they were kind or well-meaning.

The life of a bodyguard wasn't easy and it hurt a lot when bodyguards lose the young master they serve due to their incompetence.

Many young masters and young mistresses had lost their lives in this cruel world for being too kind and meek in the face of their competitors who were more fierce and ruthless.

Some could easily take down the weaker ones due to jealousy, and this was why bodyguards were being sought after to protect the children of several rich households.

Of course, Logan was neither weak nor foolish, but kindness alone had never once stopped a bullet or a blade.

'So if this is the only way I know how to protect him properly, then I'll be as harsh as I need to be.'

'Even if he ends up hating me for it a little, I won't mind it cause I know it's for his own safety.'

Odette fiercely reminded herself as she steeled her mind for another round of sparring.

But watching as Logan wilfully rose to his feet to resume their training made Odette realise that Logan was definitely not the same weak boy she'd known over the years.

Now, he clearly had a goal in mind, and there was nothing that could force him to quit.

Not even her.