Knight (27 page)

“Alright,” Valeriana stood up from the ground obediently.

“We’re going to do nothing more than have you watch me perform several exercises. What I need you to do is practice them. I’ll get back to you tomorrow. For now, I want you to rest easy. Is that alright with you?”

Valeriana nodded.

“Alright, then. Let’s do this, shall we?” Seraphina then brandished her sword and started to perform. “I am going to show you three exercises and one technique. Try to see if you can do it.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven ♣ Stupid Witch vs. Idiot Devil

The day before the duel was fortunately the weekend, so Valeriana was able to spend her whole day preparing herself for the fight. Seraphina was off somewhere managing important things and wouldn't be able to be with her all day even if she wanted to, so she was stuck practicing by herself.

She wasn't very fond of her solitude and found it somewhat boring to train on her own. She made an impressive progress regarding her skill with the sword, even Seraphina herself certified it. Despite knowing that fact, she couldn't help but feel nervous about her approaching match.

The training yard behind the residence of the Twelve was a place where they trained as they please without ever needing to share with the other students in the academy. It was where Valeriana could be found in for the majority of the day. She would sometimes see one of the rankers coming to watch her, or train themselves, but they did not stay very long.

It was already noon, she realized. Seraphina promised to come to her before the sun set so that they could spend the time training. It wouldn't be too long before then. Time seemed to be running rather fast for Valeriana, so the period she spent exercising the things she learned seemed to be inadequate.

Panting, Valeriana lowered her weapon and wiped the sheen of sweat that glistened on her forehead. She took a deep, calming breath, before raising the sword she held once more in her hands. Valeriana started to swing it around in swift, skillful motions. She could heard the blade slicing through the air, creating a faint whistling sound that gently whispered in her ear.

“I know that this was how Lady Seraphina said it worked. She did it like this . . .” She murmured, and tried to swing rapid strikes with her sword.

When she failed once more, she paused and thought for a moment. She started on pondering about how Seraphina was able to do the technique she showed her yesterday when they were training. She moved a bit too quickly for her to actually see—not to mention those feints. The lady gave her an explanation, but she could hardly understand what she meant.

'This technique is used only for last resorts or to end a fight.'
She remembered the woman saying.
'We focus on feints. While some master swordsmen dismiss feints as a waste of movement and futile attacks that won't affect skilled opponents, there are ways to actually make it effective. One way is to back it up with attacks threatening enough that you'll strike fear into your enemy, but I doubt that would be successful since this usually only works on weaker opponents.'

“Yeah . . .” She muttered with an eye roll. “I doubt Zion is actually weaker than I am.”

'
That leaves us to the second way. The second way is to use it as your last resort.'

“Argh . . . at least I'll have a trick up my sleeve before I lose.”

'Desperation can sometimes be unsightly, but convincing enough. You have to convince your enemy that you are ready to fight head on—sincerely, unhesitatingly, earnestly, and obstinately—for this to work. But, the most important factor you should consider is killing intent.'

“Killing intent. I don't understand. What did she mean anyway?” She asked. “Should I kill intentionally?”

Idiot.
A voice in the back of her mind whispered. Probably her common sense rolling its eyes at her.

“Or maybe not. Does it even exist in the first place? I'm sure as heck I've never heard of it my entire life. Maybe it's a Valemnian thing. But I'm a human, so how am I supposed to do it?” She forced back the urge to whine out the lady knight's name.

Valeriana felt fairly sore from the workout. She was moving muscles that she never expected to need before, but it didn't bother her one bit. The pain was easy to set aside and it was fading away.

“Your moves are still clumsy.” A voice remarked out of the blue, causing Valeriana to jump with a startled look on her face.

She turned at the direction of the voice and saw Corvan standing a few steps away from her, his long hair tied up into a neat ponytail with a few strands falling on his face. He was dressed in light and loose clothes—a white tunic with long sleeves that reached his wrists, held around his waist with a thin, brown, leather belt, and some brown pants that was matched up with a pair of boots that complimented the rest of his outfit.

“God, don't scare me like that.” She breathed. “Besides, why does my practice have to concern you? For all I know, you're the last person I ever expect to even care.”

“Don't be stupid. I don't care.” He grunted in displeasure. “Not about you.”

“Then why the hell are you here?” She asked, rolling her eyes.

“Lady Seraphina asked me to spar with you. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't obligated to.”

There was an awkward pause in the air until Valeriana decided to break the silence. “Why are you here again?”

“Do not make me repeat myself.” He said, before taking out his own sword and posing an arrogant stance. “You should be honored. For someone to improve, it'll be better if you have a more experienced opponent to point out your errors.”

“The hell should I feel honored.” She spat, snarling at his unbelievable self-centeredness. “I never asked you to be my sparring partner, anyway.”

“Just shut up and attack me with your best shot, you stupid witch.” He spat at her, face creasing both in annoyance and impatience.

“What the hell did you call me?” She made a pause as she turned to face him.

With that said, Valeriana dove forward and assaulted Corvan with a critical swing. The sound of metal hitting metal reverberated throughout the field, landing continuously in a weirdly patterned way. Valeriana must admit that this was a good way of venting her anger towards this arrogant prick, but shockingly, the sword flew out of her hand no longer than a minute after they started.

A big, egotistical smirk made its way to Corvan's face while Valeriana merely glared at him through her lashes, face burning red both in exhaustion and embarrassment. She felt a flame of shame light up inside her and she clenched her fists, wanting the uncomfortable feeling to go away.

“I gave that one away!” She reasoned fruitlessly, turning her face the other way so she wouldn't meet the gaze of the first-ranker who stood without even breaking a sweat.

“Oh, really . . .” His tone held a hint of amusement, but it mostly sounded like he was having the time of his life picking on the human girl. “That didn't even last for longer than a minute. And I even told you to give it your best shot.”

“T-that was just . . .” She sputtered, racking her mind for a logical reason for her immediate loss. “A test run . . .” She trailed off, pouting.

“Like I would believe that.” He chuckled.

“I told you already!” She stomped her feet furiously at him before turning to get her sword. “That was just a test run! Wait 'til you see! I'll last longer this time!”

“So you're basically admitting that you lost and you're going to lose again.”

“I didn't lose, bastard! Not to someone like you!” She screamed, picking up her fallen sword and charging straight at him.

With a shrill battle cry, she charged forward once more and swung a barrage of attacks his way relentlessly. Corvan didn't have a hard time fending off her hits, but true to her word, she did last longer than the last time. In fact, contrary to his expectations, the girl began showing off a few skills she learned within the period of time she spent with Seraphina.

It was almost like a cloth was stuffed to his mouth and stopped the words he previously had the confidence to say. As Valeriana grew serious about their practice match, seeing as she was obviously putting in her best efforts despite this being only a friendly fight, Corvan discovered a newfound respect for the girl.

The childish bickering immediately disappeared and both grew quiet. A silent tension crackled like electricity in the air, and nothing else could be heard other than their heavy breathing and the sharp ringing of their weapons when their blades crossed.

Although Valeriana's weapon kept being knocked out of her hand, she also tirelessly kept on picking it up to quietly resume her battle with Corvan. As they continued to spar, the lord realized that every single time Valeriana came back after having her sword flying, she grew in strength as if her loss kept on adding to her power. She lasted longer than the previous round and never made the same mistakes that caused her to lose the last time.

He had to say he was quite impressed.

“Look,” Charles chuckled as he watched their match in silence with Tamara by his side.

“Valeriana's actually quite good . . .” The third-ranker commented thoughtfully.

“She was in luck when she fought Courtney.” Charles remarked. “But even though it is a guarantee she'll keep the position of fifth-ranker, there is no telling what kind of beating she'll get from a merciless brute like Zion.”

Tamara grunted. “She has a lot of flaws . . .” Her voice quieted as a smile stretched her lips. “But she's a diamond in the rough.”

“I agree.”

“So . . .” Tamara nudged Charles with her elbow. “Wanna make a bet about who's going to win? Valeriana or Zion?”

Charles gave a grunt. “If you're talking about who officially wins, then I bet on Valeriana. If it is about really winning, then victory is handed to Zion. Either way, unless you clarify what you mean by
winning
, I will not fully agree.”

“Not officially, there's no fun in that. I want the actually, really winning victory stuff part.”

Charles held himself back from correcting her grammar. “Then I bet on Zion.”

“Hey! No fair! I want to bet on Zion!”

“But you're the one who praised her and said she was a diamond in the rough. You should put your bet on her.”

“But you also said the same thing!”

“Even so, you were the one who started the whole idea, so I have the right to choose first.”

“I disagree!”

Corvan sighed, irritated at their bickering, but tried to ignore them at best.

“My god . . . I'm dead tired.” The girl suddenly collapsed on the ground with shaking knees whereas Corvan still stood.

“You're still no match for me. Do you think you can defeat Zion in that pathetic state?”

Corvan had superior stamina compared to Valeriana. That was a clear fact.

“I know that, doofus.” She growled at him. “Lady Seraphina said I'm not quite there yet, but she taught me a technique. She said I can use it to defeat Zion.”

“Defeat Zion?” Corvan scoffed. “I don't know if there's any technique that strong enough that you can do in that level.”

“It's just a matter of practice!” She snapped. “I know I can do it . . .” She trailed off.

“Oh, really?” He cocked a brow. “Then try using it on me.”

“Wait a minute,” she held up a hand before shakily standing up. She placed a hand on her chest and took, long and deep breaths. “Let me . . . catch my breath.” She said.

He gave her a frown.

“Alright. I'm good.”

She got into stance and glared at Corvan. The young lord immediately prepared himself for any assault coming from his opponent, waiting patiently until the girl made her move. They stayed like that for a few moments, neither moving nor taking their eyes away from each other.

A minute passed by.

Corvan waited, but Valeriana still didn't move an inch. He thought that maybe this was a part of her so-called
technique
but he could not fathom how staring at your opponent would do any good. He didn't have much patience, so he started feeling irritated.

Finally, Valeriana moved, but she did not attack Corvan. Instead, her shoulders sagged and the tip of her weapon landed on the ground while she grasped its hilt in a loose hold. With a heavy sigh, she groaned, muttering something under her breath that sounded incomprehensible to the first-ranker.

Gritting his teeth while fighting the urge to kill her, Corvan spoke, “Are you making fun of me?”

“Don't . . . know . . .” She muttered. Her voice was low that Corvan only managed to make out a few words.

“You don't know?” He growled.

“I don't know!” She suddenly exclaimed. “I don't even get the technique. Lady Seraphina gave me a briefing but she told me to figure the rest on my own . . . but how was I supposed to understand anything when she moved too fast? I was trying to figure it out a while ago but . . .”