No matter what, Mary started special training for the members of the special unit, teaching them battle magic that had been long lost by the Church Court. The Sword of Damocles was one of them.

"Watch out! Super Flying Dive!"

Meanwhile, another duel was unfolding on the rooftop of the inn in the Lower City, in full swing.

Ethan leapt high, launching a textbook flying tackle towards his opponent Lindong. However, this sure-hit strike was effortlessly handled by Lindong. She stepped back, pivoting her body to neutralize Ethan's impact.

"Impossible!"

Ethan was shocked to his core. Before he could distance himself from Lindong, she had him tightly locked from behind, then tripped him, and both fell to the ground. She skillfully used her legs to pin Ethan in a jujitsu move.

Less than a minute into the fight, Lindong had taken the battle to the ground.

Ethan was greatly astonished.

This was pure energy absorption and naked choke at its finest!

He had no idea where Lindong had learned these techniques.

"When I was teaching at the academy, a wandering martial monk visited, and the principal was conducting research on how some of the monk's techniques could improve meditation efficiency."

Lindong's tone was gentle, yet she kept Ethan's arms and legs tightly restrained, "I trained with her in martial techniques for a period."

Ethan felt a blackout before his eyes.

His plan for the second day of "tiring the cat" had just begun, yet suffered a major setback. He underestimated Lindong, assuming this to be a battle of rookies pecking at each other, but it turned out he was the only rookie. Although Lindong wasn't strong, her technique was impeccable. In contrast, his "Super Flying Dive" was a spur-of-the-moment name, shouted out to boost his attack's momentum.

"My martial monk friend also told me some basic concepts of close combat. She said those like you, who leap high at the start of a battle, are most likely novices ignorant of martial skills. In a duel, it's as good as admitting defeat."

Lindong whispered near Ethan's ear, her breath fragrant like orchids, "Did you invite me to the rooftop alone just to lose to me?"

As she spoke, she leaned forward slightly, and Ethan could feel two soft mounds pressing against his back.

The progress of things was entirely different from what he imagined!

To give Lindong a better "tiring the cat" experience, Ethan designed many interesting little scenarios. After all, they couldn't just sit on a street bench and eat all the time, right? So today, as soon as he returned to the inn, he used Mary's special training as an opening to naturally invite Lindong to the rooftop for a while.

He had even stayed at Mary's training session for a good while. According to his understanding, Mary's guidance was a mix of physical and magical techniques. To put it simply, it was about condensing magic power into a weapon for direct combat.

To Ethan, it was highly enlightening, because theoretically, Mary's spells transcended the path boundaries. Anyone with magic power could replicate them once they understood the principles.

Even within the Life Divine Teachings, Mary's combat style was the most unique.

No wonder that with Mary's passing, battle priests from the Church Court became extinct, and over the next millennia, they took up supportive and healing roles entirely.

Having deep expertise in magic power theory, Ethan quickly grasped the principles of Mary's spells and at one point even felt somewhat invincible.

"Super Flying Dive" was a product of this concept.

Ethan deftly infused magic power beneath his shoes for a leap over two meters high. On a basketball court, he could slam dunk.

He also keenly observed Lindong's human weaknesses. Those familiar with Lindong knew she was not one to admit defeat easily. According to his plan, today's schedule would be spent with Lindong continuously challenging him after each defeat. By night, she would naturally be exhausted and fall asleep as soon as she got back to the room, with no energy to think about anything else.

However, all of Ethan's dreams were mercilessly intercepted by the "Lindong Interceptor Missile."

"Come on, were you purposely losing to me?"

Lindong continued to mock him relentlessly from behind, "Just like those female knights in stories who lose on purpose to the enemy, your next line should be 'Ugh, kill me,' right?"

Outrageous!

As the saying goes, a man can die but must not be humiliated. How could Ethan, a spirited young man, withstand such mocking?

"This round doesn't count!"

He struggled and shouted, "It snowed last night, and the floor was slippery just now. I couldn't stand steady; it doesn't count!"

These were entirely objective reasons.

"Fine, today I'll make you lose convincingly."

Lindong smiled, releasing Ethan's arms and legs, and the two drew apart. She stood there, looking full of openings in Ethan's eyes.

This time, Ethan had gotten smarter and taken the unknown martial monk's advice. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Indeed, he had been hasty. Even in a fighting game, jumping around from the start is just asking for trouble... Right, a fighting game!

Ethan's eyes lit up, and he suddenly had a plan.

…

There are no walls that do not leak.

The first to discover the inn's commotion was Little Dark. They spent the previous night playing bridge with a big fish that appeared out of nowhere. With the big fish joining, she was finally not the weakest one at the card table.