"Come at me!"
The sound of Manuel's words had barely begun to echo when Leon shot forward in a streak of purple light, his fist lashing out faster than any ordinary eye could track.
He launched a straight jab at Manuel's midsection, but Manuel caught the punch effortlessly and absorbed the force with the same ease before redirecting Leon's arm to the side with a casual shove.
Leon immediately stepped back to regain his balance, then launched another punch aimed at Manuel's ribs.
The older man leaned back just enough for the strike to miss, his boots skimming across the courtyard floor. Leon followed up with a low sweeping kick, lightning trailing from his legs like a whip, but Manuel hopped over it with ease, hands crossed as he spoke.
"Don't telegraph the sweep with your shoulders. Your whole upper body's yelling, 'I'm about to go low.' Hide it better."
Leon didn't respond as he launched another quick three-hit combination, a jab to the face, a hook to the jaw, and an elbow arcing to Manuel's side.
Lightning coiled down Leon's arms and legs in jagged pulses, each surge lending extra speed and power to his strikes, but Manuel's defence was flawless.
He moved efficiently, taking half-steps, quarter-steps, or the smallest lean necessary to evade a blow.
Leon feinted a right straight, then snapped a left hook toward Manuel's ribs. The man blocked with his elbow, absorbing the impact, then immediately moved his other arm to deflect the follow-up uppercut Leon sent toward his chin.
"Your weight's too far forward," Manuel commented, his hand flashing out to tap Leon's shoulder and knock him slightly off balance. "You're throwing yourself into the punch too early. Redo."
Sighing and taking a step back, Leon readjusted his stance before charging in again. He repeated the same combo, and like before, Manuel easily caught it.
"Better. Do it again. Same combo, but don't let your torso lean ahead of your feet."
Leon moved in again, beginning with a right-hand feint, and immediately following with a left hook aimed just beneath the jaw and then rolled into an uppercut with his right.
This time, his balance didn't shift too far forward, and his body stayed aligned with his stance, allowing the full sequence to flow smoothly without overextending.
Manuel raised his arm to block the final blow and gave a short, approving smile.
"There you go. Now it won't take a breeze to knock you over."
Leon silently jumped back and lunged forward with a barrage of punches, quick jabs and straights, then two rising uppercuts in succession. His fists were blurs, purple trails arcing with each movement, each one aimed to either break through Manuel's guard or force an opening.
But despite his flurry of attacks, Leon frowned, not because Manuel easily blocked most of them with his forearms or deflected the rest with open palms.
'It's tough…'
Sweat lined his brow as he concentrated, struggling to rein in the purple lightning that wanted to lash out uncontrollably.
Just then, Manuel's voice reached him once more.
"Your speed's excellent, but don't let the lightning carry your rhythm. It's your power. Make it obey you."
Leon launched a rising kick toward Manuel's side, energy concentrating around his foot. Manuel blocked it with his elbow and pushed forward, forcing Leon to jump back with a lightning-assisted hop.
His feet barely touched the ground before he dashed forward again, fists raised.
But just as he closed the distance, Manuel changed his stance and muttered.
"Alright then, time to stop being passive."
"!!"
Leon had barely a moment to react before a fist came whipping toward his face, the air itself splitting with the force behind Manuel's strike as it dangerously close past his right ear.
Without hesitation, Leon pressed his left hand against Manuel's extended arm, still beside his head from the punch, and used that stable leverage to shove his body sideways to the left.
He knew Manuel's arms were strong enough that even if he pushed with his full strength, they wouldn't budge, and he used that immovability to gain distance.
Leon's boots scraped the ground as he slid and landed, and Manuel, naturally having noticed the manoeuvre, chuckled, clearly amused by the ingenuity.
He immediately lunged at Leon again, prompting the teenager to change his stance.
Leon's right hand parried Manuel's strike, while his left hand countered, sparks bursting from his fist as he punched.
From that point on, not once did he attack with his right, and not once did he defend with his left. His movements mirrored those of an arena gladiator, like a spear-and-shield combination.
Occasionally, he shaped his left hand into a knife-hand and made slashing motions, sending curved bolts of lightning slicing through the air.
Manuel easily tanked the blasts that most knight squires would be hard-pressed to block head-on, his powerful body weathering each strike without pause as he pressed forward.
The longer they exchanged blows, the faster Leon got.
From the sides of the courtyard, the murmurs began rising from the spectating knights.
"Whoa…"
"That technique…what was it called again?"
"Right palm, left fist?"
"No, you dolt. He's not using his right palm."
"Is that seriously what you're focused on? How about the fact that he's twice as fast as he was last week?"
"We were all ignoring that because we're just as confused as you are…"
None of these words reached Leon's ears, however, as he was fully immersed in the rhythm of the exchange.
They continued this flow of combat, fists meeting arms, knees brushing past ribs, punches blocked or redirected, and counterblows flying the instant a window opened.
Manuel launched attacks with both hands, each one a test of Leon's adaptability. Sometimes, he used one attack to bait out a reaction and immediately followed with a second blow meant to punish it.
Leon returned every block with a counterstrike, his left hand lashing out again and again.
Manuel, after deflecting one of such strikes, threw a right hook aiming for Leon's ribs, fully expecting Leon to raise his right hand to block like he'd been doing for several minutes now.
But instead of reacting that way, Leon pulled back his left arm and used it to intercept the punch mid-swing, absorbing the force against the side of his elbow and shoulder.
Barely a second later, Leon's right hand, previously guarding, snapped forward, driving a punch aimed straight for Manuel's face.
Manuel, seeing it coming, bent his upper body backwards, shifting his centre of gravity so his face moved just out of melee range. But as Leon's fist reached the outer limit of its reach, a crackling burst of purple lightning exploded from his knuckles, the current extending the attack just far enough that it slammed right into Manuel's face.
Half of Leon's magic power was consumed in an instant, resulting in a magnificent burst of deep purple lightning that crackled violently and stretched across the entire arena, streaking high into the air and even reaching the stands where the knights were gathered.
The recruits and squires instinctively flinched or backed away from the strangely coloured lightning, while the senior knights didn't move an inch, seemingly unbothered.
When the intense light finally faded and the arena quieted once more, the completely unharmed figure of Manuel was revealed. His hair had been pushed back from the blast, a few lingering sparks trailing through the strands, but his body bore no damage at all.
Just as he opened his mouth to speak, a slow clap echoed through the courtyard, drawing all attention to the direction it came from.
Every head turned, and eyes widened as they landed on the dark-brown-haired woman at the edge of the courtyard.
At the sight of her, all the senior knights instantly dropped to one knee in perfect unison. The recruits, though momentarily stunned, caught between the awe of her beauty and the shock of seeing someone so famous in person, quickly remembered their manners and followed suit, dropping to one knee as well and offering a formal greeting.
"""Your Grace."""
Lucia responded with a calm voice. "You may rise."
As everyone stood again, she stepped toward the centre of the courtyard. Manuel bowed as she approached, and she acknowledged his greeting with a small nod, her focus then turning to Leon, who had just pulled his arm back, wincing slightly as he waved his hand through the air.
The burst of power he had just released left his entire arm throbbing with pain.
"Oh, right. Your Grace," Manuel spoke. "Are you ready to head to the meeting with the President now?"
"No. That's been postponed until the evening."
Lucia responded to Manuel's inquiry as she grabbed Leon's arm, and immediately, the pain of the strain from forcing out half of his total magic power in one burst began to fade.
"Your magic circuits have only just expanded, Leon. Don't push them too far, or you might cause permanent damage," she warned.
"Yes, Mother."
At Leon's response, the serious look on Lucia's face dissolved into a gentler expression, her smile returning as she gazed at him.
"Still," she added, "you've improved far more than I expected."
"It's more than I expected, too."
Leon had just replied when a calloused hand ruffled his hair, accompanied by a hearty laugh from Manuel.
"Aha! You have no idea how happy I was to see that purple lightning!"
Lucia nodded silently, a hint of joy in her expression. She had only intended to check on Leon, but the moment she sensed that familiar power, she found herself hurrying over without thinking.
And when she finally saw it for herself, the joy she felt was beyond measure.
"Your father will be jumping for joy when he hears about this."
Right after she said that, she turned to Manuel and quickly added, "Don't tell him, okay? Let's surprise him when we get back to Russell."
Understanding her intention, Manuel chuckled and nodded.
"Over twenty years, and you two are still the same as ever."
Lucia shrugged lightly. "People don't change that easily, do they?"
As the two of them continued speaking, Leon's gaze shifted slightly, falling on his mother's personal attendant, Kelli Harrell. The woman, who had been silently standing nearby, met his eyes and gave him a graceful bow.
Leon then turned his gaze downward, staring at his open palm as arcs of purple lightning danced lightly across his fingers.
'So this is Bronto's true power, huh?
The fact that my lightning had turned purple just like the Leon in Deity Rising, who also awakened purple lightning after recovering…'
Leon sighed, running a hand through his hair.
'Well… that's one clear sign that the events from that game aren't something I can afford to ignore.'
While he was lost in thought, the arcs of lightning crackling around his fingers steadily intensified, his subconscious excitement and curiosity feeding more power into the skill without him noticing.
Just as the crackling reached the point where a spark could easily jump in the wrong direction and jolt into his arm, the sudden tingling across his skin made his hair stand on end, and he instinctively shut the skill off.
'…that was close…'
He heaved an internal breath of relief, reminding himself that his Trait, Voltaic Instinct, gave him Lightning Resistance, not Immunity.
'I've got a long way to go before I get Immunity, so I need to be careful not to shock myself.'
Back before Leon's recovery, when his lightning was still white, he had above-average power control, enough that he would never shock himself unless he did it intentionally.
But now, the quality, power and efficiency of the lightning Bronto generated had increased. Everything about his lightning was stronger now, except his control, which hadn't grown alongside the rest.
That was one of the reasons he'd chosen to spar with Manuel, besides confirming if his lightning had turned purple.
He wanted to test it in the heat of combat, to gauge just how much control he retained.
But Leon knew he had a long road ahead. One training session wasn't nearly enough to fully master this newfound power, not when a single lapse in focus could result in him hurting himself.