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"If I made a mistake, let the law punish me."
Even in such a situation, Sonia did not lose her composure and scream; instead, she calmly complained in her heart to the Observer, "Forcing me to practice swordsmanship, then making me fight Felix, what exactly do you want from me? To infiltrate the Dazzling Star noble society and become your spy?"
"It's not as complicated as you think," the Observer said. "It's just about arranging a battle for you, and the strongest person here happens to be him. Nothing more. Whether he's a noble or not is irrelevant, though I'd love to see a noble get beaten up. If possible, after you win, could you step on his face... never mind, I heard some of the Dazzling Star nobles are quite perverted. Maybe you should spank him instead... forget it, I never said that."
"Can we change the opponent? I don't want to get involved with Felix!"
"Why?"
"I've researched him a bit," Sonia said. "He's odd and dangerous."
As the most approachable noble gentleman at Sword Flower University, Sonia naturally considered Felix as a potential target. But after gathering some intelligence, she abandoned this tempting option.
It had nothing to do with his playboy nature; Sonia didn't see 'womanizer' as an obstacle. What truly stopped her was Felix's family situation and his ex-girlfriends.
Though rumors outside were that Felix was a walking breeding machine for ten women, Sonia discovered a secret after simple observation—Felix had never taken a girlfriend to stay out overnight.
Felix lived in a villa off-campus, driving home each night after training. His car, the 'Pentium Silver Tiger,' was unique on campus, and Sonia would occasionally see him at night. He never drove a girlfriend out at night, always returning home alone.
Of course, it might be he preferred daytime, but with the frequency of changing a girlfriend every three days, including noble ladies, Sonia doubted he could "consume" them that quickly.
Rather than being lustful, it seemed more like he was collecting them.
Additionally, as the son of Duke Vosloda, ending up at Sword Flower University inevitably made people wonder if he was involved in some political strife.
Sonia had no interest in fighting or growing with him; she preferred to catch a young noble from the newly risen wealthy class, enjoying the benefits effortlessly with numerous opportunities. With the right skills, even splitting a family fortune wasn't impossible.
All these factors combined made Sonia distinctly uninterested in Felix.
She had an entire forest; there was no need to cling to this single tree, even staying away—partly because Sonia had never dealt with nobility, her understanding of them entirely from novels.
And in novels, traditional nobles, except for the protagonist, were invariably villainous, oppressive, tyrannical characters; ones not evil enough would even be stripped of their noble title to become commoners.
Cautious or rather pessimistic by nature, Sonia did not believe she would meet a good noble. With Felix's clearly villainous traditional noble image, Sonia naturally kept her distance.
"So, if you battle him, you might get into trouble?"
"Exactly!" Sonia quickly responded. "I don't know what you want from me, but I'm too weak now; I need to develop first, to stay low-key if possible; it shouldn't—"
"This is perfect," the Observer said. "I wish for you to cause trouble, to stand bold and bash every enemy in your path to nothingness... and isn't that your 'Heart's Desire'?"
"Where do I have such childish, arrogant desires!" Sonia shouted angrily.
"Then," the Observer bowed, "may your first battle be victorious, thrashing the sword genius, kicking the Dazzling Star noble."
"No, I absolutely won't—"
"Felix Vosloda, the genius of the Sword Skill faction."
Sonia lifted her wooden sword, pointing at Felix, and spoke in an arrogant tone she'd never used, "All of Sword Flower, only you are qualified to be the stepping stone for me to summon a Technique Spirit."
"Do you dare to fight me?"
The training ground was abuzz, sword apprentices showing expectant expressions, Celia nearly biting through her lip—as expected, her target was also Felix, and using such a cliché yet effective way, she directly connected with Felix!
Ingrid was taken aback, "Sonia, you've just trained for two hours, even if you must duel, shouldn't it be tomorrow…"
"No, it should be now." Felix stepped forward from the crowd, firmly fixing his gaze on Sonia, "Two hours, three thousand six hundred strikes, from a swordsmanship beginner to mastery. You are the most talented person I've ever seen, and the second to make me feel fear. If I don't accept your challenge now, by tomorrow, I won't even have the courage to unsheath my sword before you."
"Now might be my only chance to defeat you. Even if others think I took advantage, bullied you while you're exhausted, I can't care—at least after defeating you tonight, I'll still have the right and courage to chase your silhouette!"
"Moreover, you're right, all of Sword Flower, only I am worthy of your challenge. Those older Void Realm Sword Masters can only understand the knowledge of the Void Realm by persistent effort, completely incomparable to you or I. So... come!"
Meanwhile, the training ground had cleared a large space, the two standing across the expanse with training swords in hand, ready to face off.
Sonia adopted the most common mid-level stance, while Felix held his sword in one hand, the blade raised sidelong, appearing full of openings.
"Wave Motion Stance…" Even though Ingrid worried a little for Sonia, she couldn't help but anticipate their duel.
The Vosloda Family was renowned for swordsmanship, with four secret stances capable of summoning Technique Spirits, the Wave Motion Stance being one.
In the Sword Technique Faction, a stance was both a method of cultivation, summoning, and combat.
Or rather, a Sword Master could summon a Technique Spirit due to his profound understanding of a sword stance, resonating with the Void Realm, transforming the void's knowledge into a Technique Spirit.
Each basic Technique Spirit a Sword Master independently summoned indicated he had perfectly mastered the corresponding sword stance.
Felix had previously duelled others, but due to Ingrid being focused on studies (and not well-liked), she hadn't gotten word of it. This was her first time witnessing the legendary Wave Motion Stance, making her eager to find a chance to duel Felix someday.
Then she noticed Sonia's flushed cheeks and her constant winks. Ingrid felt puzzled, but upon slight consideration, she realized: Sonia was boasting about witnessing the Wave Motion Stance first!
Though you may be geniuses, I'll surely catch up to you!
Ingrid clenched her fists, making a gesture of encouragement to Sonia.
Sonia was utterly helpless—wasn't her signal for rescue obvious enough? Why wasn't Ingrid hurrying to drag her away!
"What's the point in you controlling my body to fight? Even if I win, it's your victory; I'd just be an onlooker," Sonia thought. "If you only want to manipulate my body, do as you please; I can't resist anyway."
"But you put me through challenges in dreams last night and made me undergo swordsmanship training; surely, you intended some growth for me, right? How about this, you let me control my body again, I promise to fight in battles, even two if needed, alright?"
"You think this is arithmetic, one plus one equals two?" the Observer, standing beside Ingrid, said. "Besides, who told you it's I controlling your body to battle?"
"If not you, then who else? Me?"
"Exactly, it's you." The Observer walked beside her, raising her sword tip slightly. "You think I chose just anybody for you to fight? Do you think I genuinely disregard your will and forcibly control your body?"
"Why practice swordsmanship? Because you defeated me in a dream last night, realizing your potential in swordsmanship, knowing you have the opportunity for power, understanding you've wasted too much time."
"That's why you're here, pushing to the edge, just to be seen. To let your roommate, Ingrid, see, that besides your looks, you have gifts worth bragging about!"
"Why challenge Felix? Since the first sight of him driving the Pentium Silver Tiger across campus, seen his popularity, and being the school's spotlight, you've envied, admired, and hated him. You can't blame your mother for the hardships, so you could only resent people born with better circumstances than you."
"Why do they get everything by birth? Why do they surpass you in every aspect?"
"Don't lie to your heart, Sword Maiden," the Observer said. "It's you who wants to defeat him, to prove that you, Sonia Sevi, are no less than anyone else!"
"It's you who came to the training ground, you who grasped the wooden sword, you who want to shine brightly! Every move comes from your true intentions!"
"Indeed, I'm quite curious why you believed I was controlling you. After all, no one else can see me; aren't you curious, don't you suspect... am I a real existing Observer, or merely a phantom on which you place your heart's desires?"
"I'm done talking, now, you can put all the blame on me and then…" the Observer, standing beside Sonia, pointed at Felix, "…enjoy the rightful pleasure of crushing a genius!"
Thud!
With a loud bang, both simultaneously raised their swords forward, clashing in battle!
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