The World Is Mine For The Taking Chapter 1439: Intermission 7: Each Of Their Love Lives (4)

"You piece of shit!"

The second he managed to get back on his feet, he ca straight at without hesitation.

Honestly, I barely even had ti to properly think before my body reacted on its own. By the ti he closed the distance between us, I was already standing in a defensive stance, my body tense while my eyes stayed locked onto his movents.

The problem was that this stance wasn’t exactly perfect for every situation.

It worked well enough against opponents who used standard techniques or structured forms. At the academy, most students fought in predictable ways because they were all taught the sa fundantals. Once you learned enough about those styles, you could usually tell what kind of attack was coming next just by how soone shifted their shoulders or planted their feet.

Adventurers were completely different.

Most of them fought like lunatics.

Their movents were ssy, rough, and hard to read because they weren’t trained to look elegant. They were trained to survive. A lot of them developed their styles while fighting monsters or killing bandits out in the wild, so their attacks didn’t follow the neat patterns taught in classrooms.

Which honestly made them way more annoying to deal with.

They moved unpredictably, changed rhythm constantly, and attacked from weird angles that didn’t make any sense academically. Trying to read them felt like trying to predict where a drunk guy was going to stumble next.

So yeah.

I was probably at a pretty huge disadvantage right now.

"H-Hey, why are you trying to act like so hero? You could’ve just let handle him," Monica said.

"I’m sorry. M-My body just moved on its own, so..." I answered awkwardly.

And honestly, that was the truth.

The mont I saw him coming at her, my body reacted before my brain could even catch up. It was like so instinct inside imdiately flipped a switch the second things turned dangerous.

"You really have no idea what you’ve done, boy..." the man muttered.

He hissed his tongue afterward like so damn snake, glaring at with sharp eyes that honestly made my skin crawl a little. The way he stared at felt predatory, like a hawk locking onto prey before diving in for the kill.

Then he slowly unsheathed his weapon.

The tallic sound echoed through the cafeteria as he pulled out a double-bladed sword from his sheath. Just hearing that sound alone made the atmosphere heavier.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have my own sword with right now.

Which was honestly kind of stupid in hindsight.

Still, fortunately for , I at least knew how to condense mana into the shape of a blade. It wasn’t exactly the sa as holding a real weapon, but it was still infinitely better than trying to block sharp steel with my actual arms.

Because contrary to popular belief, getting your arms chopped off hurts.

Probably.

Mana gathered around my hand before slowly forming into the shape of a sword.

The blade flickered faintly with blue light as I tightened my grip around it.

Then he charged toward .

His blade ca swinging outward without hesitation, and from the look in his eyes, he genuinely intended to kill right there on the spot.

I quickly moved my mana blade to intercept the attack.

Clang!

The impact vibrated through my arm imdiately.

Honestly, I wasn’t particularly talented when it ca to swordsmanship. Compared to actual swordsn, my skill level was pretty average. The academy instructors had made that painfully clear multiple tis already.

Apparently, "stop swinging like you’re trying to kill mosquitoes" counted as valid feedback.

Still, even if I wasn’t amazing with a blade, I at least knew enough to defend myself against straightforward attacks.

So sohow, I managed to keep up.

His attacks were aggressive and relentless, constantly coming at from different directions while he tried to break through my guard. anwhile, I focused entirely on deflecting and staying calm instead of trying to fight aggressively.

Honestly, it felt less like a duel and more like desperately trying not to die.

But surprisingly enough...

I was actually doing okay.

At so point during the fight, I realized he wasn’t overwhelming as badly as I expected.

Maybe all the things I learned at the academy had helped more than I originally thought. Even if the academy focused heavily on formal techniques, the fundantals were still useful. My footing stayed stable, my breathing remained controlled, and my body reacted more naturally than before.

Little by little, the pressure started easing.

Eventually, it seed like the man himself was beginning to get tired. His swings beca rougher, and his breathing grew heavier while irritation slowly spread across his face.

Then finally, after another blocked strike, he clicked his tongue in annoyance and glared at .

The look he gave honestly scread, "I’m going to murder you later."

Then he stepped back.

Without another attack, he suddenly turned around and walked toward the exit instead.

"Just you fucking wait..." he muttered under his breath.

A second later, the door slamd shut behind him hard enough to shake the walls slightly.

And only after he left did I realize I’d been holding my breath the entire ti.

"Haaaah..."

I let out a long exhale while lowering my mana blade.

Honestly, my heart was beating ridiculously fast.

"I’m sorry," I said while rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly. "I kind of got involved even though this wasn’t really my business."

"Well, you’re strong enough to take care of yourself, so... thanks, I guess," Monica replied. "But seriously, don’t do sothing like that when your life’s on the line. Understand?"

"I understand," I answered imdiately.

Even after I stepped in to help her, she was still lecturing .

Though honestly, it didn’t feel annoying.

If anything, the fact that she was worried enough to scold kind of made happy.

Actually, now that I thought about it...

I felt a little closer to her sohow.

Then suddenly, Monica looked directly at .

"Do you like ?" she asked casually.

"H-Huh?!"

I nearly choked on my own spit.

The question hit so suddenly that my brain completely short-circuited for a second. Heat rushed straight to my face while I stared at her like an idiot.

When did she even figure it out?

No... honestly, thinking about it properly, I probably wasn’t subtle at all.

"You’re pretty obvious, you know?" Monica said. "It’s not like you’ve been hiding it."

She crossed her arms lightly before continuing.

"You’re always staring at , and whenever I look your way, you imdiately look sowhere else. Honestly, I think it’s kind of amusing." She gave a small shrug. "But you’d probably be better off crushing on soone else."

"Why?" I asked before I could stop myself.

Honestly, I didn’t even an to confess my feelings yet.

But getting rejected before I even had the chance to say anything felt unbelievably brutal.

"Well, you’ve heard the rumors about , right?" Monica asked calmly.

Unfortunately, I had.

Pretty much everyone had.

"Unfortunately for you, they’re true," she continued. "I’m basically born a slut."

She said it so casually that it almost caught off guard more than the confession itself.

"I like having sex," she admitted openly. "Honestly, I do think keeping you around as a boy toy would probably be entertaining for a while." She laughed softly afterward. "But eventually I’d get tired of it. That’s why I’m rejecting you now. I don’t really want to ss with your feelings later."

Ouch.

That honestly felt like getting hit harder than the sword fight earlier.

I knew the rumors about her being promiscuous.

But honestly...

Did I really care about any of that?

"And besides," Monica continued, "I don’t think you’d really be capable of pleasing anyway."

For so reason, hearing that hurt my pride way more than it should have.

"There’s a man..." she said quietly. "Soone I admire a lot right now."

Her expression softened slightly when she ntioned him.

"He’s the only one capable of managing that."