I'll definitely get the win here if I give chase, Eugeo thought, but before he could regain his mobility from the posture of having swung his sword straight down, a loud voice rang through the practice arena. "That's enough. This duel shall be a draw." The owner of those pompous words was of course, Raios Antinous, with his red lips formed into a faint smile. Having finally regained his stance, Humbert shouted while looking unsatisfied. "Ra-Raios-dono! For me to draw with this barbari- no, this rural swordsman is...!" "Humbert." The head swordsman-in-training merely called his name out calmly, but the second-ranked quickly lowered his head. Switching the sword to his left hand and pressing it against his waist, he sloppily knocked his right fist against his chest in an gesture to show gratitude as a knight and turned his back against Eugeo without waiting for him to return the expression. With Humbert accompanying behind him on the left, Raios smiled as he took a glance at Eugeo and brought his hands together in mock-applause as he spoke. "I have greatly enjoyed that curious trick of yours, Swordsman-in-training, Sir Eugeo. What are your opinions on gaining employment in the Imperial Acrobatics Troupe after graduation?" "...I am very much in your debt for the concern you have granted me, Swordsman-in-training Antinous." He tried omitting the «Head» and «-dono» as a rebuff at the very least, but Raios showed no indication of minding it and returned a composed nod before he started on the walk towards the entryway. Humbert who followed after him glared at Eugeo with the corners of his eyes lifted as high as he could manage. With his soft leather shoes used for practice squeaking as he walked, Raios stopped when he passed by Eugeo who was still standing in the middle of the practice arena and murmured in a deep voice. "I'll show you the true power of a noble next time." "...I don't mind it even now, though." He was frankly totally exhausted after four hundred practice swings and the unexpected duel, but Eugeo still replied so, half through stubbornness. However, Raios gave a snickering grin before starting on his way once again and spoke in an even more faint voice. "Merely swinging swords around isn't much of a fight, peon without a surname." Behind the head swordsman-in-training, who left a hoarse snicker, followed Humbert with a menacing expression. But he passed by without saying a word and the sound of the door opening and shutting soon echoed from behind. In the midst of the silence that finally arrived, Eugeo let out a deep breath of air and brooded. Strength originating from the «pride of the nobles». That, which he had experienced sword-to-sword for the first time, possessed a pressure beyond his expectations. If he had continued on with that Slant, he would have likely been forced back and gotten his right shoulder broken. As his sword had taught him, there were disadvantages in parrying a sword slashing downwards from below, but that wasn't all there was to it. Humbert's nature of showing contempt and looking down on Eugeo as a lower class person constrained his sword and body like a curse.