The next day, I felt butterflies in my stomach for the entire day. I was eagerly waiting for the school day to end so that I could go and talk to Aria again. I guess you could call this phenomenon love at first sight.

 

It seems like my condition was very obvious to others because Jack came to me and asked if something good had happened to me recently. Very quickly and today's lessons had ended. The second I heard the bell ring, I sprinted to my dorm, changed into a fresh pair of clothes, and fixed my hair in front of the mirror.

 

After enhancing my looks as much as possible, I headed toward the field where I met Aria yesterday. I stood in the open field, excitingly, for tens of minutes before I noticed a small figure in the distance. I immediately recognized the golden hair as belonging to Aria.

 

Upon seeing me waiting for her, Aria covered her mouth to hide her smile. Aria's action caused me to feel even better than earlier. Very quickly, like yesterday, we talked without pause. Our topics spread across many fields. I asked her what it was like in Braveheart, and she wondered what Damaculus was like. I was too ashamed to mention that the Damaculus Battle Academy was one of the worst academies, but I couldn't lie about it, so I told her it wasn't an outstanding academy.

 

From Aria, I learned just how great the 7th best academy in the world is. I learned about Braveheart's great professors and mentors who were very involved in the students learning. She talked about the many subjects they were learning in school. Just by listening to the drills they were doing and the topics the teachers were covering, I could tell just how outclassed the Damaculus Battle Academy was.

 

Without knowing, many hours had already flown by, and we ran out of things to talk about. Out of the blue, Aria proposed whether I wanted to spar with her for a little bit. I happily agreed, but I told her that I didn't have a sword to use since I didn't bring mine with me. Aria said that that was fine. She proceeded to reach into a space crack that appeared out of nowhere and pulled out an exquisite sword.

 

Aria's sudden action surprised me. Noticing my confusion, she showed me her ring and told me that it was a storage ring. It was one of the more recent technological advancements in the world. I didn't even have to ask for the ring's price to know that it would be astronomical. But, now that I had a sword, we could begin sparring.

 

At the beginning of the spar, both of us didn't go all out. We were both first feeling our opponent out. Over time, the spar began to rise in intensity as we both gradually started moving faster, swinging harder, and implementing more tactics in the spar. We both haven't used our techniques yet; we were solely fighting with our fundamentals. I could tell that Aria was impressed that I was able to keep up with her tempo. She must have done some research yesterday about the Damaculus Battle Academy to know just how terrible it was.

 

 

I couldn't blame her for feeling that way because I was sure that I was the strongest student in my grade after training myself and risking my life in the dungeons. Nothing about my current strength had to do with my school. It is all stems from my effort.

 

Seeing that I could still keep up with her, she suddenly said in the middle of the spar, "I'm going to start using my battle technique now. Be careful."

 

I replied with confidence, "Bring it on!"

 

Since I had my battle technique that I was skilled in, I wasn't afraid of being wiped the second she started using hers. After I accepted her proposition, Aria's movement and aura immediately changed. The sudden change in tempo disrupted me, but I recovered quickly by using my battle techniques. Just like Aria, my movement and aura also radically changed.

 

Aria was confused, but she quickly snapped out of it. She was confused about how I had gotten hold of a battle technique, and judging by my sudden change in aura, my technique's quality was not bad. After all, battle techniques are not something the poor could acquire, let alone an orphan. I was very fortunate to be gifted this technique by my savior, but I still can't understand why they would leave something so precious with me.

 

Judging our auras, before Aria started using her technique, the aura around Aria was very typical. But after using her battle technique, the aura around Aria became very peaceful and filled with harmony. It felt like she wasn't even fighting me as she was attacking me. Her technique was genuinely terrifying. Her technique's aura prompted me not even to want to defend against her attacks since they felt so harmless. But I knew that any of her attacks could easily slice my head off.

 

On the other hand, my aura changed to become very faint. My technique diminished my aura by a lot. My technique made my actions unpredictable and hard to defend against by lowering my aura because there were minimal feelings behind my attacks for the opponent to sense.

 

Out of the five senses, the critical ones for battle are sight, hearing, and touch. Sight to see the opponent's attacks; hearing to hear your opponent's attacks; and lastly, touch to feel your opponent's aura, and thus, their attacks. Judging them by importance, touch would be most critical, and hearing would be the least important out of the three senses. However, all three senses are essential in battle because one must be good in all three to win. By diminishing the aura of my attacks, there is very little for the opponent to sense, causing them to have to rely on their two others senses more than they typically do. This is a tremendous advantage because it nearly cripples one of my opponent's three essential senses for fighting.

 

The Imperial Kingdom's Soundless Sword Technique doesn't have the best skills or attacks. However, where it lacks in skills, it makes up in its attributes. Eventually, this technique would enable me to rid sense and sound from all my attacks, causing my opponent to be only able to rely on their eyes to defend against my attacks. Unless, of course, they have exceptional hearing or sense of touch but regardless, it'll still be harder for them to defend against my attacks.

 

Even though Aria had had the upper hand against me, she still struggled to defend against some of my attacks. For a moment, I could see that her eyes suddenly sharpened. She was going to start taking this seriously. A second later and her attacks suddenly multiplied in number and strength. Without being able to comprehend what was going on, Aria's sword rested against my neck.

 

"It's your loss," Aria said.

 

"What happened?" I asked, still puzzled by how I had lost.

 

Aria smiled at me and didn't say anything after that. After my defeat, we started more sparring sessions. Each resulted in my loss. At first, we would be matched relatively evenly, and then suddenly, I would be completely overwhelmed and lose. Although I was constantly losing, I enjoyed the spars very much. I received a lot from sparring against Aria. Unlike my classmates, whom I can beat with my eyes closed, Aria repeatedly pushed me into a corner, forcing me to exceed my limits.

 

Like how I was benefiting from fighting against Aria, Aria was also learning from fighting against me. Over time, she was getting more comfortable fighting without using her sense of touch to feel and anticipate my attacks. It was an exceptional experience for her which may prove to save her life in the future.

 

By the end of the day, we were both soaked in our sweat. Only then did I realize how striking Aria's figure was. Her wet clothes highlighted her lovely curves and body. My eyes were glued to her body. As I appreciated her body, Aria turned around and saw where my perception was stuck to.

 

Aria said in a slightly annoyed tone, "What are you staring at, Gideon?"

 

"The most beautiful girl I've seen in my life," I replied with a serious tone while looking directly into her memorizing eyes.

 

Hearing my serious response, Aria turned around, facing her back towards me. But, from behind, I could see that her ears had turned beat red from embarrassment. Later, Aria, who was still blushing a little, faced me again and said in a quiet voice, "Thank you." Even though Aria said thank you in a small voice, her statement was as loud as thunder for me. Without knowing, I had also started blushing.

 

It was a very awkward moment for the two of us. We both tried changing the subject many times but failed. Eventually, we were able to say our goodbyes and left for our respective schools. I couldn't help but skip on my way back to the dormitories. I could die happy now.

 

For the next few weeks, I sparred against Aria every day. During that time, we became closer with each other. Aria started sharing with me some of the things that were going on in her school, some of the gossip, who she liked and who she didn't like, and other more minor personal things. I also shared with her some of my more private information. I told her that I was an orphan, what my early life looked like, and other bits of information that can't be considered happy memories. Aria felt sad for me, but I told her not to. One of the things I disliked the most was having other people pity me.

 

From sparring with Aria, who repeatedly pushed me to the limit, many of my stats, skills, and techniques increased.

 

Name: Gideon Lenoir

Age: 15

Title: Death's Acquaintance (C)

Bloodline: N/A

Class: N/A

Strength: F+ → E-

Agility: E- → E

Endurance: F → F+

Intellect: E-

Wisdom: F

Luck: B+

Abilities: Battle awareness (E-) → (E), Sprinting (F+), Observe weakness (F-)

Techniques: Imperial Kingdom's Soundless Sword Technique (Beginner) (D-) → (D), Unarmed Combat Fundamentals (F)

Status: In love

 

Battle awareness (E) (Max: D+): The ability of the user to have a good understanding of their surroundings of battle. This includes knowing what positions to hold, using the terrain to the user's advantage, fighting IQ, etc. Currently able to accurately judge the attacks of an opponent who is slightly weaker than the user.

 

Imperial Kingdom's Soundless Sword Technique (Beginner) (D) (Max: A+): A battle technique that enables the user to attack swiftly and deadly while producing no sound or feeling. Currently Novice stage, able to attack while generating minimal sound and hide most of the user's aura. 

 

But the most important thing I have gained during these weeks of sparing against Aria is her phone number. I now have her as a contact on my phone! Talk about an achievement.