21. DON’T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH THAT MONSTER.

The ground was sandy, and after warming up, Francis commented while yawning due to their basic training: "Yo Lewis, why don't you two fight? The newbie and I would probably enjoy such a thing."

Lewis merely shook his head before commenting: "No, I think it's a bit too early for that. One should first master how to swing a sword before trying any fights."

Francis chuckled at his answer, but Luz immediately pleaded with big eyes: "Common Lewis, do not be a killjoy. I promise that I'll follow your training strictly after the match."

Lewis glanced at Luz's big eyes before remarking: "You know that you are a grown-ass man. Such innocent eyes don't work on me, but fine. We will have one match, and after that, I'll force you to do sword swinging for the rest of the day."

Luz was immediately happy and picked up his sword and shield. Their weapons, of course, had dull and thick edges to keep injuries at a minimum. Furthermore, their leather armor would absorb most of their hits, and the iron helmet they wore limited the attack surface even more.

Luz immediately agreed as he had grown bored of simply swinging the sword, even though Lewis advised him to put more effort into it.

'How big could the difference even be?' thought Luz as he positioned himself while tightly gripping his sword and round shield whose radius reached up to his elbow.

Upon seeing how Luz was almost sweating before the fight even began, Lewis chuckled while casually strolling toward Luz.

Luz gulped while standing quietly, and before he knew it, Lewis narrowed his eyes when he was 10 meters away from him and immediately sprinted towards him as fast as possible.

Bewildered by Lewis's sudden change, Luz took a few steps back before immediately jumping towards the side after Lewis jumped towards him while swinging his sword.

As Lewis landed, Luz immediately used the opportunity to attack, swinging his sword at a 45-degree angle towards Lewis, who effortlessly blocked his attack with his shield.

A loud clang echoed as Luz's weapon bounced on the latter's shield. But Luz wasn't finished with his attack. A smile formed on Luz's face as he immediately rammed his shield against Lewis's in hopes of throwing him off balance.

Unfortunately, it didn't work, and Lewis immediately swung his sword, which Luz's barely blocked with his sword handle.

"So what will you do next," Lewis replied with a grin as he slowly pushed Luz back.

"Well, I got some cards up my sleeve," answered Luz before giving the latter a headbutt, sending the latter tumbling back.

Laughter interrupted, and Francis remarked in taunt: "Lewis, that's what you get for holding too much back."

Ignoring Francis's comment, Luz tried to use the small window of opportunity to attack. Unfortunally, before Luz could take another swing, a razor-thin layer of water immediately enveloped his opponent's weapons as Lewis's red eyes glared at him.

Luz felt a shiver and hastily commented: "Well, how about we end it here and I continue swinging my sword?"

Hearing his request, Lewis laughed loudly before stating: "I got a better idea. How about you train with Francis for the rest of the day before you continue with basic sword training?"

Before Luz could decline, Francis immediately stood up, stating: "I'll gladly duel that young lad for hours if you allow me, of course, Lewis."

Lewis nodded while walking to the side as the giant slowly went onto the field. The ground trembled slightly with each of his steps, and Luz was sure of one thing.

The man in front of him was an apex predator, and Luz will be his goddamn salad.

Gulping, Luz stared in defeat as the latter took out a two-meter tall roman shield with a goddamn club.

"Francis, don't you agree that a club would be deadly against an inexperienced newcomer like me?" Luz hastily asked while taking a step back.

Amused by his question, he laughed before commenting: "Don't worry. I'll use it gently, I swear."

But Luz wasn't really convinced by the latter's reply, and upon seeing how the menace dragged his club on the ground while walking towards him, Luz took a deep breath before rushing towards the latter while gritting his teeth.

The fight was epic and resembled David vs. Goliat, or Levi from AoT vs. that hairy monkey titan.

"You are braver than I thought," shouted Francis while slamming his roman shield onto the ground, setting the earth quivering. Shortly after, he raised his club with his free hand, ready to swing Luz out of orbit.

But Luz was not a wimp and did not let such simple actions sway him, as he immediately ran right past Francis towards the others, surprising Francis, who was hoping to curb stomp a newbie.

"Damn you," he shouted before throwing his gear and running after him.
Sprinting for his goddamn life, Luz didn't even dare to look back in fear of the giant rhino catching him.

The ground shook more and more with each second passing, and upon seeing Lewis a few meters chuckling at him, Luz shouted while jumping with open arms: "LEWISSSSS, YOU BASTARD. I'M SO SORRYYYY."

The latter widened his eyes and tried to dodge the flying Luz, who hugged him tightly.

Lewis toppled over as Luz didn't let him go.

Upon seeing the two cuddle, Francis gave up on curb-stomping Luz.

"Well, you won since you got away from me," sighed Francis before a grin surfaced on his face.

He immediately added: "Luz, these two beauties will assist you in your basic training. I still have to settle some debts with the man below you."

Chuckling, Luz immediately let go of Lewis while having an evil grin on his face while Lewis hastily shouted: "NO. LUZ, YOU ARE MY BROTHER. DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH THAT MONSTER."

Stoically, Luz replied while shedding a tear of sadness, "I appreciate that you sacrifice yourself, Lewis, so that I can enjoy myself with the girls."

Luz walked right past the pleading Lewis, who immediately got lifted by the laughing Francis, who awaited fighting Lewis for eons.

Anne immediately accepted Francis's proposal while Alicia groaned loudly in protest: "Francis, but I also wanna fight Lewis instead of teaching a greenhorn how to hold a sword."

"Sorry, sis, but you gotta wait till I'm done punishing Lewis. But till then, you could play with Luz while he swings his sword," Francis replied while holding Lewis, who had given up by now on the collar.