A/N: Sorry 'bout that. I'm back now, was stuck in midterm hell for the past 3 weeks. I'll be uploading this on Tuesdays and Thursdays now due to the other fanfic having more prio as a commissioned one.
---
"You will now train as a wave controller!"
It wasn't what I was expecting, but I was pleased nonetheless.
'I was sure that I would've gotten fisherman due to my sword, but wave controller?'
'...wait no, I think this'll actually be better for me.'
After all, I already possessed all wave controlling techniques up to making a baang in my head courtesy of Headon, so this wave controller class could be the thing that pushes me past the edge.
My fisherman skills were practically perfect at this point anyways, so I guessed that they saw no point in having me train as a fisherman.
And, there was the fact that I had a fucking ton of shinsu resistance, so I was probably going to become a good wave controller.
Now, all I had to do was enter my training arc.
~~~
"How was your first day of training?"
Surprised at the fact that the other party had approached me first, I turned around, interested in what they had to say to me now.
"Now, why do I have the pleasure of talking to you, Ms. Zahard?"
I could've sworn that I saw her eyebrows scrunch a little upon seeing my, well, my forever creep expression, but she quickly moved on from it.
"Can't I just talk with a valuable former teammate of mine?"
"Well, I see no problem there Miss, but you do know..."
'That you image might... falter.'
Although the last part was left unsaid, we both understood the intention behind my words.
Surprisingly enough though, she pressed forward without worrying about her face.
"I'll take care of it when it comes to it. I'm still multiple leagues of power ahead of the applicants, so it should be fine."
"Well then, if you really are fine with it Ms. Zahard..."
"...let us be blunt then, what could a Princess such as yourself want from a lowly regular like me?"
She stared at me with a deadpan expression for a second due to the sheer hypocrisy in my words before bowing her head down to me all of a sudden.
"Could you please be my sparring partner?"
She hadn't asked me to teach her my swordsmanship, because it was pretty obvious that it was incompatible with her own swordsmanship and spearsmanship,
'Although, sparring is indeed an interesting proposal...'
"Ah! Please raise your head princess..."
Having made my decision, I bent my body too and leaned in to her ear.
"...people might start getting the wrong thoughts if you keep acting like that. You wouldn't want to trouble either of us, right Ms. Zahard?"
Immediately, her expression turned cold, yet softened every so slightly once she heard my next words.
"But I would like to take you up on that offer of yours."
Hashing out the details, we soon parted ways after the fact.
...
'So, she was just a bird trapped in a cage.'
I mean, it was pretty obvious seeing her behaviour towards me today.
'Her icy personality is her armament, because she doesn't know how else to act.'
I could somewhat understood why it was like that for her though. She had probably grown up in a secluded place, wherein she could only train, whilst also having had to trample on all her half siblings during the succession ceremonies in the Khun family.
Thus, she had never learned how to interact with people any other way.
Furthermore, she had probably never asked for someone's assistance in her entire life.
'And here I was thinking that she was already that manipulative bitch from the manhwa...'
Yet, I still had to keep my guard up.
After all, caged birds would often turn into cuckoos on the wall.
~~~
Clang!
She was thrown away from me as I executed a perfect counter against her.
Hitting the ground hard, she continued bouncing away from me as her body flew threw the air like a rag doll.
Crash
She eventually slammed into the wall of the training hall, her body crumpling to the ground as an indent was left in the wall.
"That's enough for today, Miss Zahard. Any further and you risk completely losing it."
There were many different connotations and ways that that last line could be interpreted, but only I truly knew what I meant.
Moving towards the door that lead out of the private training hall, I paused, looking back as she tried her best to push herself up from the ground.
Yet, her body gave out almost immediately and she couldn't help but face plant back into the ground.
"kekeke..."
Covering my mouth with one hand as I snickered, my body, contrary to whatever "Shiyoon" was doing, was moving back towards her broken form.
'My shoulders aren't wide enough to hold her...'
"Can you lock your arms together at the very least, Ms. Zahard?"
The smirk that was on my face was doing me no favors here.
She glared at me, probably for laughing at her, but nodded in the end.
'Thank god I don't have to princess carry her at the very least.'
"Then, please excuse me for my insolence."
Swinging her onto my back, I gently placed both my arms under her kneed as she wrapped her arms around my neck.
I ended up bringing her all the way back to her room.
~~~
I had lost.
Miserably.
All my life, I had been able to bulldoze everyone.
Both my enemies and allies alike.
Even my instructors had to be changed out every month or so due to my overwhelming speed in mastering everything they taught me and then overpowering them.
Thus, I had never truly tasted actual defeat.
Yet, this man, who I had asked to spar with me, had completely crushed me.
I had come into this, thinking that I would just learn how to deal with someone like him, and that I would eventually start overpowering him after a few sessions.
But, I finally realized it after today.
This man, Joo Shiyoon, was an absolute monster.
In front of him, I was merely a regular, not even considered a genius.
I couldn't see any of his moves, and my shinsu sensing never even detected the slightest bit of shinsu in this body.
So, just how tall was the wall named Joo Shiyoon?
And even after he had completely destroyed me, he still brought me back to my room, making sure to do it in a way wherein nobody could see my broken state.
'I owe him another one now, don't I?'
Flopping onto my bed, I slowly started forcing myself to sleep.
Strangely, the last thing I remembered was the warmth of his back.
A back that, although was smaller than most, felt broader and more sturdy than any other thing I had encountered in my life.