As Ion approached the trio, they noticed him as well and turned toward him.
At that moment, Alice began fidgeting in front of him.
"Uh, big brother... I forgot to reserve the training field..." she said while blushing slightly, as Ion had indeed told her to make the reservation.
Ion sighed, then said,
"Alright then, what—do you want to stay here all day? Just go in, we don't have much time."
Ion started moving, but Janet and Alice were a bit hesitant as they followed him, glancing at the other person who happened to arrive at the same time they wanted to train.
It was Eleanor. She looked a bit worried at Ion before gathering some courage and speaking in a soft voice,
"Uh... umm Ion, I also train here."
Ion turned to her and said playfully,
"Well, although I really want to train with a beautiful girl here, I already have an appointment as you can see. Also, you can use your status to kick some people out of other fields and have them to yourself."
What surprised the three was Eleanor's instinctive reaction,
"I am not that kind of person!"
It seemed Ion had unintentionally touched one of her boundaries—bullying others using her status...
Ion could only feel a bit embarrassed, while Alice and Janet looked at him angrily.
He quickly replied,
"Alright, alright, sorry about that comment. How about you use the other half of the field? Our training won't be intense, so we don't need the whole field... is that fine?"
Eleanor blushed slightly from her sudden reaction. Ion's comment had brought back an old memory she didn't like to recall...
"Alright..." she replied softly, then began walking forward, and the trio quickly followed behind her.
---
Alice and Janet stood facing Ion, who clapped his hands and said,
"Alright, we'll fight—you two against me so I can see Janet's style and try to think of a path for her training."
Then he turned his gaze toward Alice,
"It's best that you satisfy me with your strength, otherwise don't blame me for intensifying the training again," he said with a serious look.
Alice, his little sister, unfortunately wasn't born with a natural talent that shakes the heavens, and her talent could barely be described as average in this academy. So when the king entrusted him with his daughter Alice to take care of her during battles in their war against the Sea Demons and the evil path... instead of protecting her as the king said, he turned the battles into a hellish training camp for Alice, pushing her to her limits again and again and driving her to the brink of death countless times... What made Ion do that was to fulfill her dream of seeing the entire world, and she had made a contract with the demon Ion to achieve this... Soon, he found that Alice's willpower, despite being a princess, was as solid as stone, and with some polishing, she uncovered her deepest potential—so much so that even the academy's vice dean was moved by her strength, and that was when she was only 14 years old... Therefore, Ion never held back in training his little sister, because if he did, it would be like betraying her.
Alice nodded, then pulled out her spear... It wasn't a training spear, but one gifted to her by the vice dean.
It was a spear taller than her by about two heads, coal-colored with red jagged lines that gave it a sinister feeling. The spearhead was shaped like a dragon's head, from which the sharp tip extended, shining with a light that caused a stinging sensation in the eyes of those who looked at it.
The moment she held the spear, the aura around her changed—if one focused slightly, they could faintly smell blood.
Alice's sudden aura sent a subtle chill through Janet; it was the first time she had seen Alice in such a serious form, far from her usual cute appearance. This contradictory image almost fascinated Janet.
Even Eleanor, who was a bit far away, sensed the pressure change.
Then Janet followed as well and took out her weapon, which seemed like intertwined branches topped with a light green crystal emitting endless wood energy.
Alice said, "Support me, Janet, I'll attack first." The moment she finished, she vanished from her spot and appeared in front of Ion, thrusting her spear toward him with force.
"First move – The Dragon Charges"
Ion quickly shifted his body slightly, then struck the middle of the spear with his palm, deflecting its trajectory.
Then he focused on his spatial ring and drew his sword.
The sword was far from ordinary—it was extremely dark, as if it absorbed the light around it. It was about one and a half meters long and over 20 centimeters wide, with a purple dragon engraving covering its appearance and a small purple crystal above the hilt.
It emitted a bloodthirsty aura that made Janet turn pale—it was like a soul reaper staring at her soul, waiting for the moment to pull it in and devour it.
This heavy sword was a gift from Ion's master, and it had accompanied him in all his battles.
Janet quickly regained her composure and began channeling mana into her staff.
A green mana circle of the blue rank quickly appeared, then a long vine manifested and began attacking Ion in coordination with Alice's attack from Ion's side.
Ion enhanced his sword with aura, then drew a curve with it, releasing a crescent-shaped slash that cut Janet's vine in half before reaching her spell and destroying it.
At the same moment, Alice's spear reached Ion and pierced him.
But—
Ion's body suddenly began to fade—it turned out what she pierced was an afterimage, but it seemed Alice had anticipated this.
She stomped the ground, shattering it beneath her, and launched herself toward Ion, who was moving rapidly toward the shaken Janet, who had entered a brief moment of paralysis due to the sudden destruction of her spell.
Ion quickly reached Janet, then bent his arm, preparing to strike her powerfully to the side.
But just as he was about to swing his sword, he felt danger from behind. He quickly turned, blocking Alice's spear with his sword, while at the same time kicking Janet, who had just managed to cross her arms in front of her chest at the last moment to defend.
Alice's strike caused Ion to step back several steps.
Then she quickly called out to Janet before attacking Ion again,
"Second move – The Dragon Sweeps Its Tail!"
The moment Alice entered Ion's range, she grabbed the end of her spear and swung it in a nearly full circle.
The spear rapidly approached Ion's side. He tried to move, but found two vines had suddenly sprouted from the ground and wrapped around his ankles, preventing him from dodging Alice's attack and forcing him to block it directly.
He tightened his grip on his sword, angled it to the side, and blocked Alice's attack.
The impact forced his feet to carve a path on the ground as he barely stabilized himself—then he felt a chill above his head as his instincts warned him of danger.
"Third move – The Dragon Shakes the Earth!"
Alice was in the air, her spear heading rapidly toward Ion, who had barely regained his balance.
He smiled at Alice as he suddenly used the back of his sword.
This caused Alice's spear to slide along the back of the sword and deviate from its path. Before Alice could process what happened, the spear itself struck the ground forcefully, cracking it.
Suddenly, Ion's kick struck her in the stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs. The force of the kick sent her flying toward Janet, who had just finished casting her spell.
Alice collided with Janet, causing the latter to groan in pain.
From Ion's attack on Janet, to blocking Alice, to Alice colliding with Janet—all of that happened in just over four breaths.
Eleanor, who had just started training, quickly stopped as she watched the battle.
---
Ion approached Alice and Janet as they got back up, and smiled at Alice as he said,
"Good, Alice. It seems your affinity with your new spear has improved. It won't be long before you reach the stage where body and weapon become one again."
Alice stretched slightly and said with a bit of annoyance,
"Did you really have to be that harsh on Janet for just a warm-up, big brother? Isn't that a bit much?"
Janet froze in place as the lingering pain spread through her body.
"Huh?? A warm-up? That's what you call a warm-up?!"
Alice looked at her in confusion, tilting her head slightly, and asked,
"Yes, a warm-up—or barely one. Every time my big brother and I train, we don't stop until a training field is destroyed or we exhaust the very last drop of our energy."
Janet began to regret her earlier excitement when Ion said he would guide her...
Ion clapped his hands,
"Alright, ladies, let's stop talking and discuss the training."
Then he turned his gaze toward Janet and said,
"I think I've found a general idea for how to guide you."