Chapter 281: Chapter 281 Sparring
As soon as Addison stepped into the arena, with Levi following a step behind, the atmosphere shifted. Those who had been sparring or training instinctively moved aside, their eyes drawn to her.
Among them, perhaps only Lance had ever witnessed Addison fight firsthand, and the rest were eager to see for themselves whether the rumors about their Royal Princess were true.
They had heard she was strong—valiant even—and as werewolves who revered strength above all, the chance to witness her in action stirred their excitement.
Even Levi, who had been by her side for three years, had never once seen her set foot in a training ground. She had been consumed with managing the Midnight River Pack, and her inability to shift had only cemented the belief that she was fragile and weak, a leader without the power to fight.
Today, however, she stood before them, ready to prove otherwise.
Now that Addison had asked him to spar, his first reaction was worry. But then he remembered the rumors about her strength, rumors that carried even more weight now that he knew she was that princess. Curiosity began to replace his hesitation; he wanted to see for himself just how strong Addison truly was.
And besides, she had already shifted into her wolf form once. Though it wasn’t quite the wolf described in the rumors, the fact that she could shift at all meant he no longer had to fear as much for her safety. He could always control his strength, test the waters, and gauge how much she could handle.
At the same time, he knew he couldn’t hold back too much. Going too easy on her would only suggest that he didn’t see her as a true warrior, an insult he had no intention of giving.
Addison met Levi’s appraising gaze with a faint smirk. She knew he had never seen her fight before and was probably weighing how to handle this spar. Not giving him much time to think, she slid into her stance. That left Levi with no choice but to take his own, the air between them tightening as the others watched.
For a few seconds, neither moved. Both were measuring each other, testing with their eyes before testing with their bodies. Addison immediately sensed the shift in Levi’s aura the moment he grounded himself.
He had grown stronger since being promoted to Beta. Not only had his body filled out with power, but his presence had grown stronger, too, pressing against her like a challenge. The realization only widened her smile.
Then she struck first. With a sudden burst of speed, Addison spun, aiming a sharp turnaround kick at the side of his neck. Levi hardly flinched, his arm lifting just in time to block, his forearm braced close to his jaw.
Addison flowed straight into her next move, pivoting into a quick side kick toward his stomach. But Levi caught her small foot with one hand and yanked her toward him, his smirk widening, mischief glinting in his eyes.
But Addison didn’t panic. Instead, she flashed Levi a mischievous smirk before twisting the situation to her advantage. Using the foot he had caught as leverage, she pushed off, flipping backward in a fluid motion. Her free leg snapped upward, aiming for his chin mid-flip. Forced to react, Levi released her and stepped back to avoid the strike.
Addison landed lightly and didn’t waste a second; she pressed forward with a relentless flurry of kicks and punches, weaving in sharp elbow strikes to keep the momentum rolling. Her attacks chained together like a seamless combo, leaving Levi no opening to counter or restrain her.
It became clear to him then: Addison might not match his raw physical strength, but her keen eye to spot weaknesses made her dangerous. She could spot the smallest gap in her opponent’s guard, and if there wasn’t one, she had the skill and creativity to create it, driving her enemy into a corner until she struck clean and true.
Levi never even got the chance to "test the waters" or go easy on her. From the very start, Addison seized control of the fight, setting the pace and probing his defenses as if she were the one testing him.
Instead of frustration at being unable to strike back, Levi only felt his excitement grow. He was now even more curious—just how strong had Addison become?
With that thought, he stopped holding back. Every so often, he tried to force an opening, breaking her rhythm in hopes of shutting down her relentless combinations and turning the tables.
But Addison was too quick, her small frame and sharp agility allowing her to slip through the narrowest of gaps and turn them back against him.
Even when Levi tried to ram her with the full weight of his body, Addison never resisted head-on. Instead, she would simply press her palm against him and use his own force to push herself away.
She hardly needed to exert any strength; she was turning his power back on him, conserving her stamina while letting him wear himself down. To Levi, it felt as if she was using a borrowed knife to stab its owner, and the sheer ingenuity of it fascinated him.
He even tried to mimic her technique, but there was no strength of hers for him to redirect, leaving him falling short. Addison’s method was brilliant, and it left him struggling under her unrelenting assault.
He managed to block the first or second strike, but by the third or fourth—especially her sudden sneak attacks—his defenses would inevitably falter.
Before long, Levi collapsed onto the ground, heaving for breath, sweat dripping down his temples. Yet instead of frustration, he wore the gleeful smile of a child who had just stolen a piece of candy.
The others watching were momentarily stunned by how the fight unfolded. Addison had sparred with him for two straight hours, leaving him unable to land a decisive blow, while she delivered dozens of strikes in return.
Though each attack alone wasn’t devastating, their accumulation was brutal, and with no predictable pattern, Addison’s movements flowed like water, responding effortlessly to every shift and opening in the fight.
More than that, Addison had mastered the art of turning her opponent’s strength against them. That was the reason she managed to last two whole hours sparring with Levi. Now, the two of them sat in front of each other on the ground, drenched in sweat and breathing hard, yet smiling as they acknowledged each other’s strength.
For Levi, the surprise was even greater; he had never imagined Addison could be this formidable. Though she couldn’t fully tap into her wolf’s power to enhance her body and amplify her strike’s power, she had discovered an alternative: borrowing her opponent’s force and using it against them.
This clever technique was exactly why she had continuously triumphed in spars against other werewolves back when she was in the Sacred Land.
That didn’t mean Addison lacked power in her punches. When needed, she could strike with incredible force, just as she had done when sparring against Mila’s wolf. But those heavy blows drained her stamina quickly, making them best reserved for decisive moments when she needed to finish a fight swiftly, especially against shifted wolves.
Against humans, however, the flowing, energy-efficient technique she had just used on Levi was far more effective.