Making Trouble

"Ha!"

With a sharp shout, Ingrid raised her wooden sword high, stepped forward, poured all her strength into the blade, and brought it down on the Armor Effigy before her with all her might!

Crack!

As the Armor Effigy split apart, the wooden sword stopped at the edge of its ninth ring.

Ingrid withdrew her wooden sword and resumed a guarded stance. Following the breathing method taught by the school, she exhaled a yard-long stream of white vapor and quickly regained her strength.

At this rate, I should be able to summon a Slaying Sword Art Spirit within the month, Ingrid thought.

As a Spellcaster university with centuries of history, Sword Flower University had long developed all kinds of guiding techniques for training Spellcasters. Training Armor Effigies like the one before Ingrid were tools specifically meant to help Swordsmanship Apprentices get started.

The Armor Effigy looked like a wooden post, with ten ring markers at its core, and was made of incomparably tough material. When an apprentice could slash into all ten core rings with a single stroke, it meant their Sword Art talent was sufficient to summon their first Sword Art Spell Spirit.

Generally speaking, there were three kinds of One-Winged Art Spirits a Swordsman could summon: the "Slash Sword," the "Thrusting Sword," and the "Cutting Sword." Since Ingrid was training her slashes, she naturally wanted to summon a "Slaying Sword Art Spirit."

Ingrid spent a second or two regulating her breathing. By then, the Armor Effigy had already restored itself, as though Ingrid had never split it apart.

That was the strength of Sword Flower University's Training Ground—no matter how badly damaged they were, every Armor Effigy in the Training Ground would rapidly recover. As long as you still had the energy, you could abuse them to your heart's content. After all, it wasn't the Armor Effigies that would crawl out of the Training Ground with weak legs.

Boom!

As Ingrid continued her slash training, she suddenly heard the Training Ground doors being blasted open. She could not help glancing over in distraction. Though the apprentices inside continuously sweated and shouted as they trained, this was actually a very orderly place. Few people dared make a scene here.

Anyone who dared cause trouble here would, within minutes, find dozens of Swordsmanship Apprentices brimming with Sword Qi eager to have an "intimate physical exchange" with them.

Ingrid had had several persistent admirers last semester, but they had never dared strike up a conversation with her in the Training Ground. After all, if someone interfered with training like that, all Ingrid had to do was frown slightly, and the hot-blooded apprentices nearby would immediately leap out to uphold justice.

Hot-blooded, reserved, combative, and brimming with masculine hormones—those were the labels of the Training Ground.

There was a famous joke at Sword Flower University: "Some boys start learning Sword Art to pursue girls, but eventually end up practicing Sword Art to compete with other boys. Perhaps love did not lose to strength. Perhaps compared to complicated love, pure strength is simply easier to pursue?"

But tonight, complicated love had stepped into strength's territory of its own accord.

A cascade of ruby-red hair appeared at the doorway, accompanied by dazzlingly fair skin, features as exquisite as if painstakingly sculpted by an artist, a slim waist that could be held in one hand, and long, straight legs.

A rose that should have appeared at a banquet had abruptly bloomed in this Training Ground filled with upright swords.

But what drew the Swordsmanship Apprentices' attention most was the training wooden sword in her right hand.

"Sonia?"

As Ingrid watched Sonia cross half the Training Ground, find an unused Armor Effigy, and begin training with a raised wooden sword, her heart filled with confusion.

Though she bore Sonia no ill will, in Ingrid's mind, Sonia was absolutely the sort of person who would never touch Sword Art.

Unlike the graceful female Swordsmen in the "Fantasy Epics" and "Knight Dramas" shown on the Light Screen, female Swordsmen in reality had to train their physical fitness to an even higher standard than men in order to summon Spell Spirits and master spells.

Calluses covering their hands from swinging swords were a given. Their arms, legs, and even waist muscles would become stronger and more developed through training. Those actresses on the Light Screen, wielding gorgeous Sword Art with pretty little hands devoid of even a trace of muscle, simply did not exist in reality.

Even Sword Art Spell Spirits would never acknowledge a physically frail Spellcaster. Ingrid had been sick of hearing news reports since childhood about Swordsmen whose Spell Spirits fled on their own once they grew old and weak.

Some people said female Swordsmen possessed a "beauty of strength," but from Ingrid's own observations, far more boys pursued female Water Arcanists than female Swordsmen.

And she herself admitted that refined Water Arcanists like Sonia and Lois were simply prettier and more delicate than a rough, manly Swordsman like herself.

She had no complaints about that. After all, while she was training, Sonia and the others were applying makeup and caring for their skin. Everyone got what they pursued.

That was why Ingrid was so surprised. If Sonia was only beginning Sword Art training now, was she not throwing away all her previous efforts? Not only would it delay her studies in the Water Art Faction, it would also affect the beauty she had always carefully maintained.

But when Ingrid noticed a handsome Young Man not far from Sonia, wiping sweat from his face and still wearing a full training uniform despite the heat, she immediately understood.

Felix Vosrodar, a first-year student in the same cohort as them and a genius apprentice of the Swordsmanship Department.

Although Felix, like Ingrid, was still training hard to summon his first Nascent Art Spirit, unlike Ingrid, who only sought to summon the most basic "Slash Sword" Spell Spirit, Felix wanted to summon the Vosrodar Family's secret inherited Spell Spirit, the "Ripple Sword."

Every Spellcaster's Nascent Art Spirit was critically important and could even determine their future path of development. Therefore, families with the means would do everything possible to find suitable cultivation methods, allowing their talented descendants to summon the strongest and most suitable Nascent Art Spirits.

Even a rural minor Noble family like Ingrid's had cultivation methods for secret inherited Spell Spirits, though none suited Ingrid.

The "Ripple Sword" was undoubtedly stronger than the "Slash Sword," and Felix's training intensity undoubtedly crushed Ingrid's as well. He had earned his reputation as the first-year Sword Art genius because both his Sword Art technique and training intensity far surpassed those of his peers.

In the Swordsmanship Department's end-of-term sparring matches last semester, Ingrid had lost to Felix. But she had accepted the defeat wholeheartedly. After all, he was not only more talented than her, but worked harder too. He truly deserved the title of Sword Art genius.

But compared to his Sword Art talent, there was another side of Felix that girls talked about even more.

Even though Ingrid came from the countryside, she knew that the Vosrodar Family was one of Star Country's foremost noble houses, one of the five pillars of the Star Country Parliament.

Duke Voslotda, also known as the "Starforging Duke," controlled Star Country's most advanced steelworks. His business covered both civilian and military sectors, and he held immense influence in the military, political, and commercial worlds alike. He could be called one of the most powerful men in the country.

As the Duke's second son, Felix should have attended Truth University, yet for some unknown reason, he had come to Sword Flower University instead. Many privately speculated that he was not favored by the Duke.

But even if Felix was not favored, he was still a direct descendant of the Vosrodar Family. No matter how poorly he did, he remained part of the highest social stratum. Naturally, many people wanted to use him as an elevator to climb the social ladder.

And Felix's social skills were as outstanding as his Sword Art talent. He changed female companions almost every week, swapping women even faster than he changed clothes.

At the most frequent, Ingrid had even noticed that the female companion who came to the Training Ground to find him had been different on each of five consecutive days. It made Ingrid both disdainful and impressed—how did this man still have energy for other things after such intense training?

After training, she herself wanted nothing more than to melt into her bed.

Highly skilled, handsome, and surrounded by countless rumors, Felix was undoubtedly the center of attention in the Training Ground. If Sonia had come with some special purpose, then Felix could only be her target.

But back when their Dormitory relationship had still been good, they had once talked about the boys at school. Lois, Adele, and Sonia had all clearly stated that they preferred to keep Felix at a respectful distance.

After all, a flirtatious young noble like Felix would inevitably be pushed into a political marriage by Duke Voslotda. If they approached him with any expectations, they would only end up as insignificant members of his collection of ex-girlfriends.

Though Ingrid, who still held fantasies about love, disliked their naked pragmatism, she had to admit their judgment was correct. Over the course of a year, none of Felix's girlfriends had lasted more than a week.

Could Sonia have come for someone other than Felix? But aside from Felix, there was no one else here who could possibly catch her eye...

While Ingrid was pondering this, Sonia had already begun training in a methodical manner.

"Ha!" Coordinating with the breathing method, Sonia slashed her sword at the Armor Effigy, but she could not even pierce its surface.

Ingrid watched for a while and immediately shook her head repeatedly. Sonia's leading hand was unsteady, her supporting hand weak, her footwork loose, and her body sluggish. Not a single movement was up to standard.

She had not even changed into a training uniform suitable for exercise and was still wearing her bright, beautiful everyday clothes.

Even her shout sounded like she was acting cute.

Rather than training, she looked more like she had come to attract attention.

Whatever her purpose was, it definitely was not training.

Ingrid stopped paying attention to her and continued her own training. Swordsmanship Training placed the greatest emphasis on the unity of mind, body, and technique. Focus was paramount. Every stroke had to contain one's entire mind and spirit: how much strength to use, how much to hold back, the turn of the shoulders, the movement of the wrists, the shifting of the feet... Only when every detail was fully understood could it be considered a proper stroke.

Slacking off was utterly meaningless. Every bit of effort a Spellcaster Apprentice put in was not for anyone else, but entirely for themselves.

Only when an apprentice's talent was sufficient to stir Resonance in the Void Realm could they summon a Spell Spirit from thin air, transcend reality, obtain a pass to enter the Void Realm, and become a true Voidwing Artificer.

At Ingrid's current level, she had to rest briefly after every three swings, stop to relax her muscles after every thirty, and complete nine hundred swings within two hours to count it as one training session. By then, her accumulated exhaustion would be enough to make her fall asleep the instant her head touched the pillow after showering.

"Ha!"

"Ha!"

"Ha!"

A few minutes later, Ingrid could no longer suppress the irritation in her heart and looked at Sonia with displeasure. In those few short minutes, Ingrid had heard Sonia swing her sword dozens of times without taking any breaks. It was utter recklessness.

Ingrid's anger was only natural. It was like being in a serious examination hall with an extremely difficult test, only for some careless student to receive the paper and start answering without even reading it, all while saying things like, "This is so easy," "That's it?" and "Surely no one actually can't solve this, right?" The other examinees would certainly think that student was causing trouble.

Sonia's current behavior was no different from causing trouble.

However, just as Ingrid was about to warn Sonia, she realized she might have been wrong. Though Sonia's movements were still crude and novice-like, every action strictly followed the requirements of the Sword Art Codex. Every swing drained all her strength, sweat running down her forehead and along the bridge of her nose. She was absolutely not fooling around or causing trouble.

Moreover, compared to a few minutes ago, Sonia's Sword Art had improved noticeably. Her wooden sword could even slash into the edge of the Armor Effigy's first ring!

Though she was still dragging down the Sword Art level of the entire Training Ground, she now appeared to have some foundation. At the very least, she had the bearing of someone who had practiced for several months!

Has she practiced Sword Art before? Ingrid thought.

Still, she believed Sonia had not come to train. Wasting her stamina like this, Sonia would surely be too exhausted to stand in a few more minutes and would achieve no training results at all. Though perhaps it might help her lose weight.

I know. She must be here to shape her figure! I've heard of that!

Ingrid immediately felt that she understood Sonia's purpose, though she also felt Sonia was about to reach her limit.

After all, even a Swordsmanship Apprentice like herself, who had trained for years, could only manage two hundred and fifty-six swings at once, taking eleven minutes.

For a Sword Art novice like Sonia to keep going without rest for several minutes was already quite impressive.

Since she happened to be a little tired herself, Ingrid stopped to rest and silently counted Sonia's swings, intending to go over and give her some pointers when her form started to break down. Though she did not think Sonia would switch to the Swordsmanship Department, it would still be good if she could raise Sonia's interest in Sword Art even a little.