Sherly was clearly shocked, unable to believe she would spar with Ethan, the Vice Leader of LionArk and the legendary figure whose old userna was EthanAsh666.
The woman doubted she could beat Ethan, especially with such a huge gap in their levels. Ethan laughed when he heard that. He had an idea for the training match with Sherly.
First, he wanted to see how well Sherly matched with the Paladin class. The training to test that was to see what her durability looked like.
If Sherly could withstand Ethan’s attacks for more than ten minutes, then it would be certain that her CONS was effective and that Paladin was the right class for her.
Second, he wanted to test Sherly’s compatibility with the Magic Swordsman class. In this case, Ethan would focus on defense while Sherly focused on attacking with ranged-attack skills.
If Sherly could crack Ethan’s sword barrier in less than ten minutes, then her INT would be proven superior and Magic Swordsman would be the right choice.
Ethan explained everything to Sherly. The woman listened the whole ti, even though her heart still couldn’t believe Ethan was willing to be her ntor. It felt like a dream co true.
"Do you understand?" Ethan asked, and Sherly nodded.
With full confidence, Sherly believed she could withstand Ethan’s attacks and defeat him. Sherly then asked sothing else about a third possibility.
"If I can endure it and beat you, what kind of advanced class should I take?" Sherly asked.
"That’s easy."
"We just choose whichever training goes the best. That will be your choice," Ethan answered.
"I understand."
After everything was clear, Ethan and Sherly walked out of Ethan’s office. They went down the stairs, passing many LionArk staff who were working.
They saw Ethan and smiled, lowering their heads as he walked past. Sherly followed behind him.
Their destination was the training field. Unfortunately, all the training fields were already being used by mbers for practice. Hanss was there with his staff.
When Ethan arrived, Hanss turned and walked toward him right away. He greeted Ethan warmly with a smile.
"It’s not like you to co check on the other mbers’ training," Hanss said.
"They look like they’re training well," Ethan replied.
"Right. They’re the people I prepared for the city security team. Before going into the field, they need to train seriously," Hanss said.
Hanss looked at Ethan, curious about the reason for his arrival at the training grounds. Ethan stared back and explained his purpose.
He turned to Sherly while explaining that he wanted to do a sparring session to decide her Class Advancent.
Of course, Hanss was willing to prepare a training field for them. The closest one was training field number one.
A staff mber under Officer Hanss told everyone in training field one to step aside for a mont, giving Ethan and Sherly space to spar.
Hanss helped arrange them, telling the new mbers to watch from the edge of the field. Ethan’s spar against Sherly would be a valuable chance for the new mbers to see Ethan’s true abilities.
On the other hand, Ethan kept watching Hanss. Before Sherly ca to his office, he had t Hanss and asked about Class Advancent. Hanss and Sherly had talked a lot about it.
"Your field is ready, Sir Ethan," Hanss said.
Ethan looked at Hanss. "What’s your individual level, Hanss?"
"? Sixty-eight, Sir Ethan."
"What’s your Class Advancent?"
"Knight Templar."
Ethan smiled. Then he suddenly announced that the sparring match would be between Hanss and Sherly. Ethan would stay outside the field to read Sherly’s attack patterns and conclude the match.
Hanss was clearly surprised, and so was Sherly. Hanss knew Sherly well, since they often t because Officer Hanss was under Ethan’s responsibility as Vice Leader of the Guild.
"Why is he my opponent?" Sherly asked.
"My level is way too far from yours. The evaluation would be biased. But Hanss is different. At least you and he are both around level sixty," Ethan said.
"His ability is stronger than yours, but you’re almost equal in level. So I think Hanss is the right choice to fight you," Ethan explained.
Ethan glanced at Hanss, lifting his hand and patting his shoulder lightly, as if reassuring him about sothing.
"So? Are you ready?" Ethan asked.
Hanss looked at Sherly for a mont. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, clearly saying he was ready to face her.
Sherly had no choice but to follow Ethan’s orders.
They stepped into the field and stood at a safe distance from each other. Sherly and Hanss summoned their swords. Ethan briefly explained the rules of the first training session.
To test Sherly’s physical endurance, she had to withstand every attack from Hanss for ten minutes. Sherly would be considered surrendered if she waved her hand toward Ethan.
Hanss understood the rule. Ethan also told Hanss not to hold back when attacking Sherly. It was important for Ethan to see Sherly’s strengths and weaknesses clearly.
"Sparring session... start!" Ethan declared.
Hanss moved quickly and dashed forward, swinging his sword at Sherly. Ethan was a bit shocked at the way Sherly defended.
She didn’t rely on defensive skills, but instead used attacking moves to defend herself.
In short, both of them attacked, blades clashing again and again. Even so, Ethan could clearly see that Hanss’s strength was overwhelming compared to Sherly’s.
Hanss charged and swung his sword, hitting Sherly’s stomach. Sherly was thrown far back, stabbing her sword into the ground to stop herself as pain spread through her body.
"D-Did that hurt?" Hanss asked.
"Not at all!" Sherly insisted.
Five minutes passed, and Sherly was still enduring each Knight Templar skill attack from Hanss. Even though Hanss had the upper hand, from Ethan’s eyes it was clear he was holding back for Sherly’s sake.
His expression was always worried and tense. Hanss found openings in Sherly’s defense many tis, but instead of using skill attacks, he relied more on physical strikes.
For others, it was just a normal fight where Hanss was stronger than Sherly. But in Ethan’s eyes, it was sothing else entirely. This was a fight that didn’t want to hurt.
Why didn’t Hanss want to hurt Sherly? You could call him wise if the reason was because Sherly was a woman, but you could call him rational if the reason was because he loved her.
Right in the last seconds of the first training session, Sherly started showing signs of exhaustion.
Hanss didn’t show any. But he didn’t press the attack and instead chose to let Sherly rest and catch her breath.
The first session of the sparring match ended. From Ethan’s observation, Sherly wasn’t suited for the Paladin class.
That was because her idea of defending was attacking, and because her natural physical endurance wasn’t enough.
"Sparring session over," Ethan said as he stepped into the field.
He took out HP Potions and handed them to both of them. Sherly and Hanss drank them right away to recover their stamina and HP.
"Over? What about session two?" Sherly asked.
"There is no session two. Your Class Advancent choice is Magic Swordsman."
"You’re not suited for the Paladin class, Sherly."
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