Celeste walked into the Grand Master's place with a calm look on her face. She had been called by Alaric. She wanted to know what the fool wanted to discuss with her. It had to be important though. If not, she would walk away while the man is still talking. She never liked listening him. When he started opening his mouth, it was all about Lukedonia and she disliked it. He never stopped preaching about their laws. If there was an award, he would surely fill a cabinet with them given to him by the stupid Council for his oustanding work.

When she arrived, she saw Alaric standing at the center. Beside him was his Sergeant. He held a Commander's crest on his right hand. Celeste raised a brow upon seeing this. It was certainly for her. The fool wanted her to wear that again. But she had already told him that she would not accept it. What more did he want?

"I had already told you, Alaric. I had no interest in wearing the useless thing again." Celeste's tone was hard. She had a blank look on her face as she walked towards them.

"Yes, you have." Alaric nodded to emphasize that he already knew.

Celeste narrowed her eyes. Just looking at him, she knew that there was something going on and she was not going to wait for that to happen.

"What is..."

She never got to finish as Alaric drew out his blade. In a blink of an eye, he was already in front of her, swinging his sword to her torso. Out of pure instinct, she blurred away from Alaric's reach and appeared a few distance away. She was not cut by the blade nor even touched her. If Alaric wanted, he would have had to do better than that. But she was sure that the he was aware of the fact that something like that would never harm her.

Alaric did not look like he was going to attack again as he sealed his blade and went back to stand beside his sergeant. He then eyed her dangerously. "You are weak." There was a clear belief in his words. It was apparent with the look of his face and the tone of his voice.

"Do you really believe so?" Celeste giggled playfully. This was interesting. She had not calculated Alaric to play a dangerous game. But she already expected this. The old man always did try all his best to get her under his palm. He never understood that she was beyond his control.

"A long time ago, you would simply caught my sword. But this time, you ran away from my blade." The Grand Master's voice had no shred of doubt in his words.

"Are you saying that I dodged because it could have cut me?" Celeste smirked. It was indeed an interesting theory by the foolish man. But Alaric should have known the reason why she was called untouchable a long time ago. She's proven right when the old man responded.

"You are being cautious. Back in the old days, you always took an attack head on."

Celeste remained silent. That was certainly the truth. Whenever she was confronted by a stronger technique, she either took it head on or used her own to cancel it out. She even caught the old man's blade countless times. No one had ever done that. But she never ran away from a fight. She smiled. "What if I am simply changing my fighting style?"

"No..." Alaric trailed off as he eyed her from head to toe. "You are a mere shell. You no longer have the might you once had. An immense power that frightened even the deities. All need to do now is to..."

Alaric never got to finish his sentence when Celeste suddenly clapped her hands, sneering while doing so. She was not even the slightest worried. Alaric was always bold to make statements when he did. "Tell me, are you so positive about that?"

Meanwhile, the Grandmaster's eyes twiched dangerously. He hated it when someone dared to interrupt while he was still talking. If it wasn't for the fact that she was immortal, then she would surely crumble upon his presence. If he was given the chance, he would gladly put the woman back to eternal slumber. However, now is not the time. He had an important task to do.

Alaric took a deep breath before taking the Commander's crest and threw it at the blond. "You will take the position as the Eleventh Squad's Commander. And you will no longer speak nonsense in front of me and the other Commanders, is that clear?"

"No." Celeste gave a firm answer. She had already refused. She was not going to do circles. But given her state, she could do away with things that could put her transition at risk. "If you want me to have this thing again, you will have to make me."

Alaric glared at Celeste. The blond was not backing down. He had thought that she would after what he had said so far, but it appears that he was wrong. It was not a bother though. He was interested in seeing how strong Celeste had become. She had already lost more than half of her powers. "Fine then." Without any further reasoning, the Grand Master drew his blade. "If a punishment is what it takes to install some sense in that stubborn head of yours, then I shall give you a beating."

Celeste merely snickered. it was by no means a happy smile. Without another word to Alaric, she disappeared. She knew that he would follow her steps. Drawing a fight at a place like this would cause much commotion. She was not going to have to deal with that sort of thing. Watchers would certainly come around to see who was foolish enough to provoke the anger of the man hailed as the strongest Knight in Lukedonia. It surely had to be a rare sight to see the Grand Master fight.

"You still have your speed." Alaric commented as he appeared before Celeste. He had not wasted time in following the blond. He was determined to put the woman on her place. He then felt his surrounding. They were at a secluded place far away from Lukedonia.

"Let us see what you can do, Alaric Nossamiel."

Alaric narrowed his eyes at her when she stated his full name with a mock. She was the only one who know his name. He saw her held out her right hand. Black flames swirl around her palm as it begun to form. Her eyes flashed bright red and white for a moment before the flames disappeared, leaving a silk black blade. The sword was black from its tip to the handle. Before Alaric's eyes, it did not look any special.

White flames burst around Alaric and surrounded the two. The Grand Master's energy began to rise to higher levels. Some people back in Lukedonia could feel it. The feelings had them questioning as to what could have happened for the Grand Master to raise his power level. But some were smart enough to stay away.

While the others panicked, Celeste remained calm as she watched the flames, allowing her to see his mascular body that had countless battle scars.

"That is not a good sight to see." Referring on the scars around the old man's upper body. She could never allow such scars to suffice on her own.

Alaric ignored her and gripped his blade tightly. Without any word, he disappeared in a burst of pure speed. The fact that Celeste was not being burned or did not seem concerned with his flames did not surprise him. He was already used to the sight.

He appeared in front of Celeste, swinging his blade from up to downwards attempting a vertical slash across her chest. The blond simply raised her blade and held it in a horizontal position. The swords clashed in mid air and created a strong shockwave. Celeste remained rooted on her spot. The power behind Alaric's swing caused chunks of earth to be lifted behind him. His foot also burrowed to the ground.

Again, Alaric slashed his sword towards Celeste. But the blond ducked under the swing instead of parrying it. As Alaric's blade passed her, she rose up to face another assault from the Grand Master, this time, she parried the attack. She was not surprised by the strenght behind Alaric's strike. It was far more powerful than any Knights could muster. He was still powerful physically despite being of old age. She had expected such a thing from him. Age really did not matter for a man like him.

Alaric retrieved his sword and swung it towards Celeste's neck. Had it not been for the block, it would have cut her head off. She simply raised her blade and blocked the swing. Again, the clash of the swords caused some debris to pick up on her side. While her sword was still clashing with the Grand Master, the blond quickly raised her right hand, opening its palm facing Alaric.

Suddenly, a black beam of pure energy shot directly at Alaric's face. The Grand Master hurriedly escaped from the path of the dangerous technique. It was not enough to injure him, but dealing with Celeste, one could never know.

Alaric appeared a few feet away from the woman. He had no injury, despite receiving a slight hit from the technique. He then noticed that the former self-proclaimed goddess of Lukedonia had not moved at all. Her feet was at the same place they had been since he started attacking. That was a surprise.

"Your swings are still strong." Despite facing the Grand Master, Celeste remained calm. "I have seen all that I wanted to see. You have not grown weaker over the years." This was not so much of a good thing for her. Well, it had its advantages, hence it was not a good thing for her. She looked at her blade as it shattered into pieces. Paying no mind to it, she folded her hands across her chest. She would have to play safe, for now. "You win, I will take that position again." With that, Celeste was gone.

Alaric sighed. He should have expected that the only reason Celeste would even agree to this was because she wanted to see if his strenght had toned down. Well, she got her answers. But he was certain that she was unwilling to fight. She only remained rooted in one spot. He knew it was not because of fear. That woman never feared anything or anyone.

It made him curious though. His swings were toned down, and the blond still took it all. Without even moving. But why was she reluctant?

Alaric just sighed in defeat as he also vanished in thin air.