This Trainer Has No Sportsmanship

A Knot in Her Heart

Since today happened to be the butler's monthly day off, and the two maids were busy cooking and serving the meal, the task of informing You Zhi and Phile that dinner was ready fell to Silent Magician.

Although Silent Magician had to remain silent, many things could be conveyed without speaking. For example, pointing his staff toward the dining room was enough for anyone of normal intelligence to understand.

After Silent Magician bowed and left, You Zhi noticed Phile's somewhat gloomy expression and advised, "Any qualified Spirit Trainer can see that Silent Magician has tremendous potential. Even if he is weak right now, he will definitely shine in the future. I suggest you take him with you when you go on your training journey, build a bond with him, and once you advance to four stars, you can take him over from Mr. Pegasus."

Phile wore a helpless expression and complained slightly, "You Zhi, you really don't know how to read the room. You know someone has a sore spot, yet you insist on bringing it up. Isn't that mean?"

"Only weak people who need to watch others' expressions care about the atmosphere. Communication between people is difficult to begin with. If both sides worry about this and that, it only lowers the efficiency of conveying information and increases the chance of misunderstandings. I don't want to waste valuable time on meaningless verbal probing."

"What an admirable mindset. If only I could be as strong as you, You Zhi."

Phile suddenly understood why she had been drawn to him. Perhaps it was precisely that unwavering will to move forward once he had set his sights on a goal—the quality she lacked—that made her admire him.

You Zhi suggested, "Don't just say it. How about trying to take the first step?"

Phile covered her mouth in surprise. "Now? Wouldn't that be a little too hasty?"

"Now, while I'm here to push you, is the best opportunity. If you let today pass, given your social relationships and living environment, there'll probably be no hope of breaking through later."

"What a cruel and heartless thing to say. Being so aggressive toward a lady won't make you popular."

Phile said it jokingly, but when she met You Zhi's serious gaze, her expression faded and she fell silent.

The small hand resting on her knee clenched and relaxed, then clenched and relaxed again.

After repeating it several times, she seemed to make up her mind and slowly said, "That day was my sixteenth birthday. Father and Mother had promised to hold a grand coming-of-age ceremony for me. They had even built the stage. But on their way back from the Spirit auction, they were attacked. Father was severely injured protecting Mother, and it took three days of emergency treatment at the hospital to save him."

In this world, men came of age at eighteen, while women came of age at sixteen.

Phile paused, turned to look at the gradually setting sun, and said softly, "I know I was only taking out my anger on him. Silent Magician had nothing to do with it. But I couldn't help thinking that if they hadn't gone to the auction, maybe they wouldn't have been attacked...

"Actually, I also knew that if I traced it back to the source, Father and Mother had gone to the auction for my sake. But to escape my guilt, I deliberately pushed all the blame onto the Spirit, just so I could feel a little better—I really am a terrible girl with a vile personality."

After hearing her out, You Zhi commented, "You really did get it wrong. The ones truly guilty were neither Silent Magician nor you, but the criminals who attacked the Pegasus couple. They were the real culprits. Instead of agonizing over guilt, you should think of a way to become stronger, then avenge your parents—or step forward to protect your family the next time they are in danger."

Phile froze. She had never considered things from such a positive perspective. It felt as though an entirely new road had appeared before her.

Only after a long while did she recover and say quietly, "I don't want them to ever be in danger. I hope they can live peacefully for the rest of their lives and never need anyone to protect them..."

Then she broke into a smile. "Thank you for helping me, You Zhi. I won't worry about this anymore. Mm, I've decided. I want to become a Spirit Trainer too!"

You Zhi hurriedly reminded her, "Don't tell Madam it was because of me."

It was obvious from the content of Phile's extracurricular classes that Cynthia did not want her daughter entering a dangerous profession. He did not want his pay docked over this.

"Haha, how should I tell Mother, then?" A little devilish smile appeared on Phile's face. "Come to think of it, while what you said just now helped me, it also helped Silent Magician. I feel like I was only incidental. That makes me a little unhappy."

You Zhi was not falling for that. "I originally thought you had already mastered the Sanshou forms and planned to teach you Eight Sanshou Throws tomorrow. But now that I think about it, it might still be too early. Haste makes waste. Waiting a few more days won't hurt."

"I'm sorry, I got carried away!"

Phile immediately admitted her mistake. Then she grabbed You Zhi's sleeve and pleaded coquettishly, "Tonight, then. I can't wait another moment. You Zhi, you have to teach me."

Clang!

A drawing board crashed onto the floor. Pegasus wore an "oh~no" expression.

"You, you two... I won't allow it!"

Pegasus glared viciously at You Zhi. "Not even if it's young You Zhi! If you want to steal away my precious daughter, you'll have to step over my dead body!"

Phile blushed. "Father, what are you talking about?! We were discussing something perfectly serious!"

Pegasus put on an expression that said he understood. "At your age, you really should learn some serious knowledge about men and women. After some time, I'll hire a professional teacher to guide you, but not now."

Phile stamped her foot. "You're awful! I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm going back to my room to change." With that, she hurried away.

You Zhi explained helplessly, "Mr. Pegasus, I think you may have misunderstood. We were discussing teaching martial arts."

"I know." Pegasus winked playfully. "Pretending to be foolish at the right time can effectively improve the relationship between father and daughter and ease adolescent rebelliousness. I read that in The Thousand-Mile Dojo Master's Parenting Manual."

You Zhi thought for a moment. "But Phile seemed quite angry. She probably won't speak to you for a while."

Pegasus said dejectedly, "All right. There's always a certain gap between theory and practice."

Before long, Cynthia's scolding rang out from somewhere in the distance. "Phile, how many times have I told you not to run in the hallway? A lady should act like a lady!"

You Zhi said, "I think Phile is going to be even angrier with you now. She'll definitely think it's all your fault."

Pegasus quickly picked up the drawing board from the floor and stuffed it into You Zhi's hands. "I'll leave this to you. I'm going to explain things for Phile."

With that, he turned and ran, shouting as he went, "Darling, listen to me..."

"What an energetic family," You Zhi commented sincerely.

The Assassination Is Underway

Late at night, under a dark moon and howling wind.

A figure dressed in black ninja clothing clung to the wall and silently climbed to the guest room window. It slipped a thin wire through the crack, skillfully opened the window, and crawled inside without making a sound.

Without hesitation, the black-and-green figure immediately drew a short blade and stabbed toward the bed.

However, the target, who should have been fast asleep, suddenly threw up the blanket. It not only disrupted the assassination attempt but also blocked the assassin's view.

The assassin was horrified and hurriedly slashed through the blanket with its short blade. Goose down filled the air. When it looked again, the bed was already empty, while a gust of wind tore through the air beside its ear.

Before it could dodge, the assassin was struck in the head by a powerful Whirlwind Kick. The pain nearly sent its eyes flying from their sockets, and it instantly burst apart into particles of spiritual energy.

"Goblin Assassination Squad?"

After venting his morning temper, You Zhi was utterly speechless. The Trainers in this world truly had no sportsmanship. It was one thing to order Spirits to attack Trainers directly, but they even used assassinations. They really would stop at nothing. This was another lesson for him.

"It probably wasn't the Ghouls Group. They had no reason to target the Pegasus family, so I was just caught up in it."

Like the Goblin Attack Force, the Goblin Assassination Squad was one Spirit made up of multiple individuals. If the Ghouls Group had sent assassins after him, they would never have dispatched only one Goblin.

Combined with the noodle shop owner's wife's warning and the Pegasus couple's past experience with assassination attempts, all the clues and information came together in his mind. You Zhi reached an answer in an instant.

"...No matter what, I should save them first."

He might have been dragged into it, but the Pegasus family had treated him well. There was no reason for him to stand by and watch them die.

When he reached the hallway, he could clearly hear the sounds of fighting and explosions, mixed with Pegasus's shouts and Madam Cynthia's cries for help. You Zhi was about to run toward the stairs while considering which room Phile occupied when inspiration suddenly struck. Cursing himself for being an idiot, he immediately pushed open the window and nimbly flipped outside like an ape.

Using both hands and feet, he rapidly climbed the wall like a gecko. At the same time, he circulated spiritual energy and gathered it in his eyes as he looked upward. Finding another room with an opened window, he immediately flipped inside.

Inside the room, Phile was grappling with a Goblin assassin. She had forgotten all the wrestling techniques he had taught her and was using the most widespread fighting style in the world, one known to women and children alike: wild flailing.

The reason she had lasted this long was not that three weeks of training had made her much stronger, but that her opponent intended to capture her alive. If the Goblin assassin had treated her as it had treated You Zhi and stabbed at the bed with its dagger the moment it entered, she would have already become a corpse.

Of course, having the courage to resist was enough to prove that those three weeks of training had not been meaningless.

Seeing an outsider enter, the Goblin assassin immediately abandoned Phile and turned, slashing its dagger toward the intruder's throat. It wanted to eliminate the unexpected variable as quickly as possible.

"As an assassin, your reaction is too slow!"

You Zhi struck after it but arrived first. A Whip Hand hit its wrist and sent the dagger flying, followed by a close-range Collapsing Elbow and Iron Mountain Lean. Two dull impacts rang out like sandbags being blown apart. With a Defense of only 0, the Goblin assassin could not withstand such damage. Wearing a stunned expression of utter disbelief, it followed its companion and burst into particles of spiritual energy.

"You Zhi!"

Still shaken, Phile instinctively threw herself into his arms. Her ample chest rose and fell violently. "What exactly is happening? Who sent these Spirits? What do they want?"

You Zhi glanced around the girl's messy room. The bookshelf had fallen during the earlier struggle, scattering books across the floor. Quite a few were manga, and they seemed to be complete sets, including The Demon King Knight Falls for Me, The Perfect Hero and the Uns­miling Village Girl, and The Prince's Temptation. Judging by the titles alone, they were clearly classic traditional shoujo manga.

"The urgent matter is not figuring out why. We need to find your parents immediately."

"Right! They attacked me, so they must have gone after my parents too."

As if she had found a pillar to rely on, Phile felt a powerful sense of security. Her emotions quickly settled, and she regained her calm. "That Spirit didn't try to kill me. It wanted to capture me alive, probably to use me as a hostage. Its master's target is my parents!"

You Zhi said, "Not bad analysis. We should go. Do you need to change clothes?"

Only then did Phile realize how inappropriate her clothing was. Because of the struggle, her loose white gauze nightgown had slipped off one shoulder, exposing half of a snow-white breast. The vivid red of her nipple could vaguely be seen. Her pretty face reddened, and she hurriedly released him and pulled up her nightgown.

"Now isn't the time to worry about that. Let's go."

After all, she was not some decorative heroine from an idol drama who only cared about maintaining her appearance. Phile knew what mattered. She casually grabbed a coat from the bed and threw it on, then followed You Zhi out at a run.

The two had not run far down the hallway when they suddenly felt an enormous surge of spiritual energy. It was like a rapidly expanding barrier that enveloped them, and the concentration of spiritual energy in the air increased severalfold.

"It's the Duel Barrier. Father must have activated the Duel Barrier!"

A Duel Barrier was the prerequisite for initiating an Official Duel. Once activated, intruders had only two choices.

They could either obediently engage the activator in an Official Duel, a one-on-one match, with the winner gaining control of the Duel Barrier.

Or they could ignore the barrier and continue their siege, but they would have to endure an extremely unfavorable combat environment. They would need to expend spiritual energy to use Spell Cards, and once their Spirits were destroyed, they would suffer spiritual backlash. Meanwhile, the other side only spent half as much spiritual energy to create Spell Cards, and suffered no consequences whatsoever when their Spirits were destroyed.

Clearly, a Duel Barrier was extremely advantageous to the defending side. That was why wealthy people often prepared the necessary equipment at home and activated the barrier to protect themselves when danger arose.

"Now we're safe. As long as we hold on for a while, the police will arrive."

Phile let out a sigh of relief. Her pace even slowed.

However, after thinking for a moment, You Zhi said, "No, we need to get there quickly!"

"Huh? Why?"

"The attackers chose today deliberately, not by coincidence. Today is the butler's day off, which means they investigated your household carefully. They couldn't possibly be unaware of the Duel Barrier. Yet they still dared launch a surprise attack under those circumstances. There are only two possibilities. One is that they intend to seize a hostage and force the administrator to deactivate the Duel Barrier."

"That's why they sent Spirits to kidnap me. But they miscalculated. I'm not who I was half a month ago. I'm not so easy to capture!" Phile said, half excited and half relieved.

You Zhi shook his head. "Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit. Since you are the key to the entire plan's success or failure, they should have sent their main Spirits after you. Your parents would have been secondary. But judging from the commotion now, they clearly sent their main force after your parents."

A mere Goblin assassin did not even count as a full Spirit. At most, it was a quarter of one. No matter how arrogant the enemy was or how much they underestimated Phile, there was no reason to be so stingy with their combat power.

"This proves the second possibility. They are confident they can quickly defeat your father in an Official Duel. Capturing you would be ideal, but failing to do so does not matter—we have to get there before the duel ends, or it will be too late!"

Witch Hunt

By the time Phile reached the training ground, the battle had already entered its fiercest stage.

Pegasus faced off against a burly masked man in black. Six Spirits were already locked in battle in the field, their various moves and skills flashing back and forth in a dazzling display.

Generally speaking, in an Official Duel, Trainers each sent out one Spirit at a time, only deploying the next after the previous one was defeated. But that was for official duels with referees and spectators, where Trainers had to follow the rules. Private duels had no such restrictions. It was like the difference between a ring match and a street brawl—they were not the same thing at all.

However, when a captured Spirit used its moves and skills, part of the spiritual energy cost was borne by the Trainer. Thus, under normal circumstances, a Trainer would deploy no more than two Spirits at the same time. Any more would inevitably damage the Trainer's spiritual energy channels, and the chance of failing to create Spell Cards would also rise sharply.

Pegasus wore an expression of pain. Clearly, supporting three Spirits simultaneously had exceeded his spiritual energy output limit. Even if he won this battle, he would still have to spend some time in the hospital afterward.

The burly masked man was not doing much better, but he had undergone specialized training and could endure far more.

"Little girl, the Goblin assassin actually failed to capture you?"

There was another masked man in black beside the training ground. He was tall and thin, like a bamboo pole. When he saw Phile, he sneered. "Instead of running away, you walked right into the trap. Noble young ladies really don't have much brains."

After saying that, he took large strides forward to seize her.

On the other side, Cynthia, protected by Spirits, was frantic and hurriedly shouted, "Phile, don't come over! Run!"

But Phile seemed frozen with fright, standing blankly where she was.

Just as the tall masked man closed to within three meters, a figure suddenly rushed out of the darkness and slashed clawed hands through the air at his throat.

Clang!

A demon in a dark blue cloak, wielding a longsword, appeared out of thin air and blocked Demon Lizard Yihao's sneak attack. It then swung its sword and forced him back.

"I was prepared for this. A delicate noble young lady managing to escape safely from a Goblin assassin means she definitely used a Spirit. You used yourself as bait. Did you really think such a clumsy trick could fool a professional assassin like me?" The tall masked man burst into laughter.

Seeing that her "plan" had failed, Phile looked flustered and hastily turned to run.

"You think you can run now? Too late!"

The tall masked man quickly chased after her. Demon Lizard Yihao tried to save her, but the sword-wielding demon held him firmly in place.

"Don't come any closer!"

Like a heroine in a movie whose only purpose was to drag down the protagonist and push the plot forward, Phile let out a meaningless cry. She ran blindly in panic and ended up trapped in a corner with no way out.

The tall masked man laughed. He covered the distance in a few steps and reached out to grab her. In that instant, a figure shot out from a patch of shadow untouched by light. Its body stayed close to the ground like a snake, only springing upward at the moment of attack.

The tall masked man had no time to defend himself. Both palms struck his lower abdomen, and a wave of agony surged through him. He flew eight meters straight back, slammed into the wall, and fainted.

You Zhi stood up and gave Phile, whose face still showed lingering fear, a thumbs-up. "That was very convincing."

Phile forced out a smile. "I was only acting halfway. The other half was real fear. I knew it was a plan, and I knew you were lying in wait nearby, but facing a criminal for real still made my legs go weak."

The pressure brought by that difference in physique was simply too overwhelming. If she had been the person she was half a month ago, she probably would have been too frightened to move, sitting on the ground.