[CONTENTID1] Duel [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2] Chapter 4 [/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

The school bell rang through the courtyard, rousing us students. I snapped out of my reverie and reluctantly dragged myself back indoors, the textbook image of my mother lingering in my thoughts. Numerous questions ran through my mind. Was my father also a warrior? How did she end up in the vampire city? Not paying attention to where I was going, I bumped into someone.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, glancing up, and was met with an icy stare. It was one of the Unseelie princes from earlier.

“Watch where you’re going,” he spat, taking me aback.

“Hyung, be nice!” The Fae next to him, the other prince, reprimanded and shot me a smile. I gave him a small nod before hurriedly walking away.

What a

, I thought. As I approached the site for the next class, however, all thoughts of the rude Fae prince washed away. A smile found its way onto my lips as I heard the familiar sound of swords clashing; my blood boiled with excitement as I rested my hand on my hilt.

Let’s have some fun.

As my classmates trickled in one by one, I eyed the peculiar weapons they held. Given the Fae’s weakness towards iron, they had to find other materials to fight with. The Summer Fae all held swords made of wood, while the Winter Fae wielded frosty blades made of ice. Those materials may seem harmless, but I knew that they were imbued with the strength of Fae magic, making them very fearsome indeed. The vampires, of course, stood separately with their iron blades.

“Good afternoon, class!” a voice bellowed and I turned my head to face a muscular Fae who clutched a heavy broadsword in his hand. So this is him, I thought.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Kim,” the class chorused back and he nodded.

“Alright, welcome back everyone. Today’s class we’ll be sparring one by one, so be ready to show me your growth. We’ll have two matches going on at once, watch the other matches if you’re not fighting. That’s all.” I smiled, he was to the point.

Taking my seat on the stands, I eagerly anticipated the fighting to start.

“What is this, some kind of joke?” my opponent, a Summer Fae, glared at me. I gave him a nonchalant smile as the crowd voiced their agreement. “You might be new here, but we take our swordfighting very seriously.”

“As do I,” I calmly replied as I crouched down into position, my blade, still sheathed, held at my side. Realizing that I wouldn’t be able to fight fairly with an iron blade, I had perfected this particular fighting style for spars like these. He snarled.

“I’ll have to teach you a lesson then, transfer student.” I smirked.

“Bring it on,”

“3… 2… 1… GO!” the instructor yelled.

Before my opponent could so much as draw a breath, I launched myself towards him. Flying forward, I delivered a series of swift s. As he swung his sword back at me, I leapt to the side. Taking advantage of the gap in his defenses, I slipped under his raised arm and ed my swords upwards. In a flash, my sword was at his throat.

“I win.”

Unaffected by the stunned expression on my opponent's face, I lowered my sword. The crowd, utterly silent moments before, roared in applause. The Fae dropped to his knees, utterly defeated, and I gave him a cold look before turning to my classmates.

“Anyone else want to teach this transfer student a lesson?” I challenge.

“Me.” Feeling someone land on the ground beside me, I whipped my head around to see the smiling Unseelie prince from earlier.  “I accept your challenge.” I smirked.

“Very well.”

The crowd watched on in anticipation as we took our places across from each other.

“Go Jungkook oppa!” someone cheered from the crowd, and I chuckled.

“Prince Jungkook, then?” I commented and he laughed.

“Nice to meet you, Ashlyn-sshi,” he said and I smiled at him.

“3… 2… 1… GO!” Mr. Kim yelled and we flew towards each other.

Lunging forward, I let out a series of s. JUngkook, to his credit, didn’t even flinch; parry my blows with apparent ease, he took a swift swing at my midsection. Leaping backwards, I felt a slight chill as the blade narrowly missed me. Adrenaline filling my veins, I ducked his next blow and aimed for his chest.

The next few minutes were a blissful back and forth as our blades sang and our bodies darted in a deadly dance. As the polished leather of my sheath met the sharp edge of his icy blade, I found myself smiling in enjoyment.

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