You Guess?

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The swords collided, ringing out like a symphony of steel. Felix was somewhat surprised as well—his training sword had been specially made from Black Steel Ebony, a superior weapon even by combat standards.

His opponent was using nothing more than an ordinary Wooden Sword, yet it had clashed with the Ebony Sword so many times without breaking. Either the wooden sword was exceptionally hard, or its wielder's Sword Art was superb.

He believed it was both.

The instant his opponent shifted back into defense, Felix's gaze sharpened. He raised his sword high and slashed down with all his might, twisting sideways to drive the force of his body into the strike. To onlookers, he seemed to be "sliding at high speed" as the Ebony Sword crashed down like a shockwave!

However, he missed!

Just like the previous few times, right before he could strike at an opening, Sonia would use an exceedingly strange footwork technique. She would interrupt all her movements, abruptly glide across the ground, narrowly evade his killing blow every time, and then—

He turned and saw Sonia's calm, indifferent eyes, along with the afterimage of her Wooden Sword as she counterattacked!

Clang!

Felix blocked the strike, but anxiety continued to build in his heart. Although Sonia had yet to injure him, he could feel that she was steadily becoming more familiar with the Wave Stance, and the pressure she placed on him was growing greater.

Though Felix had admitted that Sonia was more talented than he was, he did not believe he would lose—not to mention Sonia's dwindling stamina, the advantage of the Wave Stance alone ensured that he could not be defeated.

Sonia was clearly using the Starry Stance from the Sword Art Codex. Despite its grand-sounding name, it was actually a basic stance. Its strengths were a solid foundation, easy conversion into other stances, and the ability to summon the three Spell Spirits, "Slash Sword," "Cutting Sword," and "Thrusting Sword." Its weakness was that it was mediocre.

The Wave Stance, meanwhile, was a secret art of the Vosrodar Family, famed for its explosive power. The "Ripple Sword" Spell Spirit it summoned was likewise built around instantaneous bursts. Felix had thought that a relentless offensive would be enough to defeat this suddenly emerged Sword Art prodigy.

Unexpectedly, besides the Starry Stance, she had also mastered an uncanny footwork technique, forcibly evading several attacks that should have landed without fail. Though Felix had more or less grasped her rhythm by now, Sonia had also seen through the nature of the Wave Stance. The gap between them had effectively narrowed!

Besides that, she had also mastered a Draw Sword Technique.

Yet compared to the Wave Stance, the Draw Sword Technique was slightly lacking in instantaneous explosive force. Felix had actually hoped she would use it to clash with him. The recoil from their swords alone would be enough to shatter her wrist. But after suffering once, Sonia had simply abandoned the Draw Sword Technique and focused entirely on maneuvering around Felix.

Felix neither wanted nor could afford to drag this out. Even if he stalled until Sonia exhausted herself, it would only be a self-deceiving victory.

Besides, Sonia's graceful, proud body seemed to contain endless stamina. He felt that the one who would be worn down in the end would not be her, but him!

It was time to end this!

Rather than deliberately seeking an opening, he abruptly stepped back and assumed the Wave Stance once more. He exhaled deeply and fixed Sonia with a sword-sharp gaze.

"The next move decides everything. Victory or defeat!" he declared.

"Fine."

The next second, the spectators wore stunned expressions, while Felix's face filled with fury!

Sonia had raised her Wooden Sword one-handed in her right hand and turned sideways to face him, exactly like Felix—she had actually assumed the Wave Stance!

No one believed Sonia had learned the Wave Stance. Setting aside the fact that she had only just seen it, even if she had watched Felix train before, she could not possibly have learned it. Felix usually practiced swordsmanship at the Training Ground, where everyone could see every detail of his training. But who had ever managed to steal the secret art of the Vosrodar Family?

A stance involved more than movements. It also included breathing methods, footwork, and the exact details of exerting force. It could not be learned merely by watching. Even with instruction, not everyone had the talent to comprehend it—every school of spells capable of entering the Void Realm had an extremely high threshold.

Thus, everyone believed there was only one reason Sonia had assumed the Wave Stance—she was provoking Felix!

Nothing was more humiliating than defeating someone with their own moves.

Clearly, the provocation had succeeded. Felix's expression had practically turned black, and he said nothing.

Only Silia could not help secretly cheering. Humiliating and provoking Felix like this means he won't be able to forget you even if he wants to. I never expected there to be such a skilled female Hunter among the first-years. You've taught me a lesson too... Next, you should lose and give Felix a way to save face, then naturally arrange a future match with him and create more chances to interact, right?

"You brought this humiliation upon yourself!" Felix roared. He stepped forward, twisted sideways, and brought his one-handed sword down like a whip, like a falling ball, like rushing water pouring from above!

There was no flashy name for this move. Its core concept was simply one word: "break"—to pour all his strength into shattering the enemy's defense!

Felix fixed his eyes on Sonia's knees. He had already noticed that whenever Sonia used that strange footwork, the only sign was a movement in her knees. He could predict her evasive direction from them, then alter his sword's path accordingly and crush Sonia's resistance with one blow!

Yet contrary to his expectations, Sonia did not evade. Instead, she used exactly the same move as him: stepping forward, turning sideways, and swinging her sword down!

The fiercest against the fiercest!

Clang!

A teeth-grinding boom rang out as their figures passed each other. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the result.

Snap.

Sonia's Wooden Sword broke in half, one piece falling to the ground.

No one was surprised, because they saw the One-Winged Swordsman appear over Felix's shoulder. Most eye-catching of all was the sword formed from black light—the Ripple Sword Spell Spirit!

"A breakthrough in battle! Such a thing really exists!"

"He summoned his Natal Spell Spirit in the middle of battle!"

"As expected of Vosrodar!"

Ingrid went over to support Sonia and comforted her. "Don't lose heart. You'll be able to summon a Spell Spirit soon too, and then—"

"I didn't lose," Sonia said flatly.

Everyone froze, assuming Sonia simply could not accept the loss. But the next second, Felix's Ebony Sword broke apart as well, falling to the ground with a snap.

A One-Winged Swordsman also appeared over Sonia's shoulder. But unlike Felix's, hers was female, and her sword was formed from white light.

"The Ripple Sword Spell Spirit!?"

"How did she summon the Vosrodar Family's Ripple Sword Spell Spirit too? Could it be..."

"She learned Felix's Wave Stance during the fight and summoned it immediately?"

"How is that possible..."

"Wait, doesn't that mean she went from a beginner Swordsmanship Apprentice to a Swordsman in just a few hours?"

As soon as those words were spoken, everyone was nearly stunned senseless—some of them had spent years without becoming Swordsmen, while Sonia had achieved in one night what they could not accomplish in years?

Everyone's envy, Ingrid's astonishment, Silia's jealousy, Felix's complicated gaze...

But Sonia was in no mood to care about any of that.

She stared directly at the Watcher standing off to the side, her expression saying, "I already know the truth."

She asked in her heart, "Are you saying that you're only an illusion manifested from my heart, that you don't truly exist? That you merely represent my inner thoughts? That you're only my hallucination?"

The Watcher said nothing. He merely crouched down to pick up the broken sword from the ground, placed it against the break in Sonia's Wooden Sword, and lightly brushed it with his hand. The Wooden Sword was restored at once, without even the faintest crack at the break.

Even after performing such a miraculous feat, no one noticed him. No one even noticed that the Wooden Sword had been restored.

He clapped his hands, turned, and walked outside, leaving Sonia with words that made anger surge in her chest:

"You guess?"