"Hey, stop going to class. Get to the combat hall, quick. Aren't you obsessed with the Orange Dancer? She's here!"
"Move aside. Anyone not from the swordsmanship departnt, get out. This is a swordsmanship class!"
"This is the school's combat hall. The ones who should leave are you sword majors!"
More and more students poured into the hall. Many even dragged their friends along to watch. Felix, Sonya, and Sylvia's tangled love triangle had already been dramatic enough. Now, Lorian and Leona, two well-known figures on campus, had joined the scene. No one wanted to miss this. Even skipping class felt worth it.
The combat instructor simply stepped aside and let them do as they pleased. As long as no one died, any clash between research apprentices of the Sword Saints counted as a reasonable student exchange. If their strengths were evenly matched, he might worry about them getting carried away and losing control, potentially causing injury. But this was different. This was the safest outco imaginable.
The reason was simple. The gap in strength was far too wide.
Whoosh!
At a sharp shout, Sonya swung her wooden sword. Pale violet sword energy rippled through the air, coalescing into a shimring curtain that rose before her like an unyielding wall.
Leona remarked nonchalantly, "A decent Wave Curtain."
She tapped the barrier with the tip of her wooden sword, twisted her wrist, and tore it apart like cloth. She then stepped forward and swung her wooden sword at Sonya.
Clang.
The impact sent a violent tremor through Sonya's sword. She stumbled back two steps with her hands shaking so badly she nearly lost her grip. She looked utterly disheveled. Sweat stread down her face and sared her makeup. Her clothes were soaked and plastered to her skin, and she panted heavily, struggling to breathe.
However, Sonya had no ti to care about any of that right now. She stared intently at Leona and dared not relax for even a second. This was the first ti she had truly experienced what a real sorcerer was capable of.
Felix didn't count. He had only been in the Virtual World for a few days, just like her. Professor Trosan, on the other hand, stood far too high above her. Whenever they sparred, he focused only on teaching and never truly exerted any pressure on her.
On top of that, her own experiences in the Virtual World had gone almost absurdly smoothly. Taken together, all of this had led her to believe, perhaps arrogantly, that being a sorcerer wasn't all that difficult.
Her low profile wasn't out of humility, but arrogance. She trusted that her future would shine brilliantly, and so she was content to endure a brief period of anonymity.
That illusion shattered the mont Leona stood before her.
This had nothing to do with spirits. From start to finish, Leona relied only on the most basic Sword Class spirits—Slash, Thrust, Cut—and nothing more. It had nothing to do with mana, either. Her attacks pressed Sonya hard, but they were not impossible to block.
And yet, Sonya could still do nothing.
A sorcerer's true strength ca from knowledge. Sonya felt as though Leona had seen through every one of her movents and stances. It was as if Leona had prepared countless counterasures in advance. No matter what she tried, Leona managed to dissolve them with ease.
It felt like a child squaring off against an adult. No matter how fiercely she swung, the other only needed to press a hand against her forehead to keep her out of reach.
Sweat poured down Sonya's body. Helpless frustration swelled in her chest, so suffocating that it made her want to scream.
Leona lifted her wooden sword slightly. "Keep going, Sonya. Use everything you've got. Don't worry about hurting ."
To Sonya, the words ant to encourage her cut deeper than insults. She clenched her teeth and forced herself to steady her breathing. "Then, senior, I won't hold back. Please be careful."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Sonya assud her quick-draw stance.
Leona raised an eyebrow. Her interest piqued. "Quick-draw slash?"
Step, turn, and strike!
The wind howled as a blade of sword energy swept across the field. Sonya shot forward like lightning, closing the distance in an instant. This was her own creation, the Wave Quick-Draw Slash.
"Interesting, but..."
Leona read the sword path perfectly and slashed downward. "Still not en—"
In that instant, Sonya abruptly broke off the technique. She pivoted into an unusual sidestep to slip past Leona's swing. Then, using the remaining montum, she seized the mont and struck before Leona could react.
It was Watch and Strike, the technique the Watcher had taught her.
Clang!
The wooden swords collided, but what ca out was a series of sharp, tallic rings. Leona looked like she wanted to say sothing, when suddenly her expression changed.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Rapid, staccato clangs rang out with every strike. A faint armor of scale-like feathers shimred across Leona's body as five threads of moonlight struck her chest, waist, and thighs, causing the feathered ward to ripple with each impact.
"What spirit is that?"
"No idea, but it's definitely not Sword Class."
"It looks like it's from the Light Class."
"Sonya only beca a sorcerer a few days ago. How could she possibly have a spirit like that? The Hidden Hand Sword Saint never trained in the Light Class, did he?"
"There's no way she got it from the Virtual World either! She only entered it a few days ago!"
While whispers about Sonya's new spirit filled the hall, Leona suddenly shed her earlier composure and unleashed a fierce, overwhelming assault in response to Sonya's "surprise."
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Her blows fell like a storm. Sonya could barely breathe, and her hands were nearly numb from the onslaught. In a panic, she tried to use both Moonthread and Watch and Strike to slow Leona down, but attacks so predictable couldn't delay the Orange Dancer for even a second. Leona dismantled them instantly.
"Sonya," Leona said between strikes, "to be honest, I was a little angry just now."
"When you hit my Feathered Sword-Scale Armor with that light trap, I felt humiliated. , a sorcerer with a fully developed Silver Wing, forced to trigger my defense-type Miracle against soone who beca a sorcerer only days ago. Nothing could be more embarrassing.
"If Professor Nidala finds out, I'll be scolded for sure. But then I realized, I had no right to be angry. The one who should be angry is you. You challenged with courage, seeking a passionate sword duel, yet I treated you like a child learning from an adult. That was disrespectful. I apologize.
"Your Light Class spirit woke up. It proved you are nothing like that useless Felix. You are a true swordmaster."
Panting under relentless blows, Sonya forced out, "You're too kind—"
"No," Leona interrupted, each word clear and deliberate. "Let offer you my sincerest apology. From this mont on, I will fight with my full strength to honor your burning will to battle. Watch closely, Sonya."
Before Sonya could catch her breath, Leona sheathed her sword and stepped back. In the next instant, she vanished from sight.
A wave of danger surged over Sonya. Her skin prickled. She barely had ti to react, swinging her wooden sword to the right.
Clang!
She caught only a sar of orange trailing through the air. She couldn't track Leona at all. With her eyes rendered useless, Sonya defended purely on instinct.
Clang!
Leona's surprised voice echoed through the hall. "That wasn't luck. But the next one... will show how strongyou actually are."
A crushing sense of danger slamd into Sonya like a tidal wave. She felt like a tiny boat facing a tsunami, its aftershock threatening to shatter her completely.
She turned just in ti to block a golden arc of swordlight flashing across the hall. It was like a miracle sent from heaven to punish the world.
Clang!
The strike sent her flying several ters. She forced out her Wave attack to stabilize herself in midair and barely landed on her feet. Her wrists were already bruised, and she trembled uncontrollably.
In that mont, Sonya finally understood the technique Leona had used.
"It's Rhythm lodies!"
"There she is! The Orange Dancer! She's so fast when she goes all out! All you see are orange afterimages!"
"Has Senior Leona mastered the Rhythm Sword Saint's signature Miracle already? But didn't the Sword Saint create it only after getting her second wing?
"That ans Senior Leona is close to advancing to Two-Winged Gold!"
Rhythm lodies was deceptively simple. The user accumulated power with the first two strikes and released it fully with the third. On its own, it might seem unremarkable, but when paired with speed or stealth-type spirits, it beca a deadly symphony capable of shattering defenses and crushing resistance. This was exactly how Leona was overwhelming Sonya.
Clang!
Yet another heavy strike landed. It was not yet the third, explosive blow of Rhythm lodies, but in her exhausted state, with injured hands and a trembling body, Sonya could no longer block cleanly. She was driven back several steps and cast a bitter glance at the Moonthreads in the air, which Leona had already sliced apart.
Leona spoke once again, "These traps don't work on . If I couldn't react faster than that, I would've died in the Abyss long ago."
Sonya had tried to trap her with Moonthreads, hoping Leona's speed would make her run into them. But no sorcerer would leave such an easily exploitable weakness. Leona had already cut the threads before striking.
Clang!
Sonya was pushed back again. Leona said calmly, "Drop your sword and concede."
Concede? Thought Sonya.
If she refused, the third strike of Rhythm lodies would land. Sonya knew she could never block a fully charged blow. She would be smashed back ten ters and humiliated. Reason told her to step back.
It wasn't shaful to concede. She had already forced Leona to unleash a defense-type Miracle and triggered Rhythm lodies herself.
After this battle, no one would ever question Sonya's status as Professor Trosan's apprentice. She would also beco the most celebrated sword prodigy among first-year students. Having already achieved so much, this was the perfect mont to step back. If luck was on her side, she might even establish a connection with Senior Leona. It was said that teaming up with Leona was equivalent to gaining access to higher-level connections within Truth University.
Every thought in her mind urged her to yield. Reason had always guided her, bringing her from a rural ho to Cailleach. She had never let emotion cloud her judgnt.
Yet, even with numb hands and a body on the verge of collapse, Sonya refused to lower her sword.
She. Would. Not. Yield.
It was neither about gain or loss, nor about pride or preference. She simply wanted to win and refused to lose. That was all.
A rebellious fire coursed through her veins, and rage drowned all reason. She felt as though she had beco a blade that burned with lust for battle and existed only to face death.
She roared inwardly. Watcher, did you plan all this just to watch fail? Let tell you! I'm done putting up with your crap!
Tears welled in her eyes. She gripped her sword tightly with trembling hands and clenched her teeth so hard she nearly drew blood. Her entire body tensed as she prepared herself to et the final strike of Rhythm lodies head-on.
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