"Ms Vermillion!" Erina took a step back and gasped in shock.
"What makes you think that I would honour such a silly unspoken rule? I see nothing saying that I need to follow it." Erina smirked with confidence, crossing her arms like a victor.
"Mmm… Erina, would you like me to teach you how to better use your sword?" Tanya asked with a gentle smile.
"Ummm…"
Erina of course felt like Tanya's swordsmanship and technique were far off in the distance compared to her own. Tanya's sword was more like a tempest rather than a single striking rod, breaking past all defences in due time.
The defeated girl knew that a little lesson or two wouldn't do her any harm, especially when a superior swordsman was the teacher. If she could even learn a sliver of Tanya's overwhelming combat skills, Erina felt as if she could become one of the most elite in the academy.
"I accept your kind offer." Erina bowed her head slightly.
"What about payment?" Tanya pointed out, grinning suggestively.
"I will pay you any monetary sum within reason-"
"No, my techniques cannot be bought with money." Tanya waved her off and looked away.
'Truly disappointing, I thought she was insightful enough to know that trade secrets are priceless.' Tanya walked off and continued to challenge other students.
After an hour of dueling, Tanya had not gained a single bit of worthy gains. All of the freshmen had relatively low job levels and attributes, still less effective than a common foot soldier. While they might be nobility and future knights, these students just seemed too weak. Quality control had not sifted them through yet.
"I dare you to duel me." A soft voice directed itself towards Tanya's ears.
"And who might you be?"
"The person that will claim you." A tall young individual with short black hair strolled through the crowd with a wooden sword in hand, walking about with a natural cold swagger. Something about them threw off some flags with Tanya.
They were muscular, lean, handsome, held their sword well, and seemed very domineering.
"Hohoh? Might you be an archduke's son? A child chosen by a war god? I sense some talent in you." Tanya smiled at the person with fake interest displayed on her beautiful face.
"Tanya Vermillion, you have caught my eye. You can so easily defeat a girl that has been known to be a talent amongst the younger generation of swordsmen and have done so without a sweat. Be mine." The individual stepped closer and offered his hand.
"How about no. You lack any quality that interests me." Tanya turned them down like she was rejecting a bright coloured dress.
"You will duel me, and when you lose, you will be mine." The figure pointed their sword and completely ignored Tanya's words.
PENG
'This man really dares to be so pushy without any technique? He puts shame to romantics.'
Tanya blocked the challenger's strike with a single gentle twist of her wrist, send her sword slicing into the latter's blade.
'Feels like a [Warrior 7]... this man is quite impressive, very talented indeed.' Tanya smiled.
She released her sword from the challenger's, leaping backwards with [Hop], essentially passively gliding her opponent to attempt another clash.
'Let me see how good you are…'
"You will be mine!" The challenger charged with their sword in a stabbing form, relentlessly pushing towards Tanya like a speeding bullet achieving it's apex speed.
"You are really too slow." As soon as the challenger was within melee range of Tanya, they noticed that she had already escaped out of sight with her voice coming from behind now.
"You really are not a good flirt, at least other men can talk about their penises. You cannot even attract a fly." Tanya's sword had already started poking at the challenger's neck, signalling an absolute victory for Tanya yet again.
"You sound far too plain. How is a woman supposed to be wooed by that? Can you really call yourself a man?" Tanya continued to ridicule her opponent.
"I am not a man."
"..."
"You are really flat." Tanya did not even care, she just stated her mind.
'There is no variance in her chest region, no bulge whatsoever. How am I supposed to know? Much too androgynous." Tanya sighed.
"!!!"
"I am not flat! They are just growing…"
"Yes, they are growing, just like a dead tree."
'I hit a nerve, I knew it. Too predictable. She is not comparable to Penelope and Yuri.'
"You will be my sparring partner."
"???"
'Is that all she wanted? Why can't these people be less vague with their words, so many double meanings. I have grown too vigilant because of my past life, perhaps I should be a little less. For now… these are children after all.'
"Wonderful! Tanya Vermillion gets top marks in the class. She is now the top student of the freshmen swordsmanship class, greet her with respect from now on and learn from her example!" The teacher announced as he gave Tanya a sheet showing her marks.
Full marks for technique, physique, and situational awareness. Tanya did everything she needed to without exposing even a quarter of her true expertise.
"For the next 10 weeks, we will be practicing various sword stances and footwork techniques. Of course, this will be for those that scored in the top 10%. The rest of you will train basic form until I deem you ready for the more advanced training. Important thing to note, there will be a swordsmanship exam against a [Warrior 9] golem, so be prepared."
"Now I will hand out the rest of your marks."
"I hope everyone can learn from their mistakes and improve in their swordsmanship." The teacher continued along the groups of students and gave everyone their individual marks.
"I passed with 89%." Erina smiled, feeling rather accomplished.
"98%." The challenger from just before spoke with a hint of disappointment.
'Hmmm… I miss magic class. Yuri and Diana are much more fun to tease. Everyone here are either machines or desperate for a date.'