Chapter 1439: Intermission 7: Each Of Their Love Lives (4)

"You piece of shit!"

The second he managed to get back on his feet, he came straight at me without hesitation.

Honestly, I barely even had time to properly think before my body reacted on its own. By the time he closed the distance between us, I was already standing in a defensive stance, my body tense while my eyes stayed locked onto his movements.

The problem was that this stance wasn’t exactly perfect for every situation.

It worked well enough against opponents who used standard techniques or structured forms. At the academy, most students fought in predictable ways because they were all taught the same fundamentals. Once you learned enough about those styles, you could usually tell what kind of attack was coming next just by how someone shifted their shoulders or planted their feet.

Adventurers were completely different.

Most of them fought like lunatics.

Their movements were messy, rough, and hard to read because they weren’t trained to look elegant. They were trained to survive. A lot of them developed their styles while fighting monsters or killing bandits out in the wild, so their attacks didn’t follow the neat patterns taught in classrooms.

Which honestly made them way more annoying to deal with.

They moved unpredictably, changed rhythm constantly, and attacked from weird angles that didn’t make any sense academically. Trying to read them felt like trying to predict where a drunk guy was going to stumble next.

So yeah.

I was probably at a pretty huge disadvantage right now.

"H-Hey, why are you trying to act like some hero? You could’ve just let me handle him," Monica said.

"I’m sorry. M-My body just moved on its own, so..." I answered awkwardly.

And honestly, that was the truth.

The moment I saw him coming at her, my body reacted before my brain could even catch up. It was like some instinct inside me immediately flipped a switch the second things turned dangerous.

"You really have no idea what you’ve done, boy..." the man muttered.

He hissed his tongue afterward like some damn snake, glaring at me with sharp eyes that honestly made my skin crawl a little. The way he stared at me felt predatory, like a hawk locking onto prey before diving in for the kill.

Then he slowly unsheathed his weapon.

The metallic sound echoed through the cafeteria as he pulled out a double-bladed sword from his sheath. Just hearing that sound alone made the atmosphere heavier.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have my own sword with me right now.

Which was honestly kind of stupid in hindsight.

Still, fortunately for me, I at least knew how to condense mana into the shape of a blade. It wasn’t exactly the same as holding a real weapon, but it was still infinitely better than trying to block sharp steel with my actual arms.

Because contrary to popular belief, getting your arms chopped off hurts.

Probably.

Mana gathered around my hand before slowly forming into the shape of a sword.

The blade flickered faintly with blue light as I tightened my grip around it.

Then he charged toward me.

His blade came swinging outward without hesitation, and from the look in his eyes, he genuinely intended to kill me right there on the spot.

I quickly moved my mana blade to intercept the attack.

Clang!

The impact vibrated through my arm immediately.

Honestly, I wasn’t particularly talented when it came to swordsmanship. Compared to actual swordsmen, my skill level was pretty average. The academy instructors had made that painfully clear multiple times already.

Apparently, "stop swinging like you’re trying to kill mosquitoes" counted as valid feedback.

Still, even if I wasn’t amazing with a blade, I at least knew enough to defend myself against straightforward attacks.

So somehow, I managed to keep up.

His attacks were aggressive and relentless, constantly coming at me from different directions while he tried to break through my guard. Meanwhile, I focused entirely on deflecting and staying calm instead of trying to fight aggressively.

Honestly, it felt less like a duel and more like desperately trying not to die.

But surprisingly enough...

I was actually doing okay.

At some point during the fight, I realized he wasn’t overwhelming me as badly as I expected.

Maybe all the things I learned at the academy had helped more than I originally thought. Even if the academy focused heavily on formal techniques, the fundamentals were still useful. My footing stayed stable, my breathing remained controlled, and my body reacted more naturally than before.

Little by little, the pressure started easing.

Eventually, it seemed like the man himself was beginning to get tired. His swings became rougher, and his breathing grew heavier while irritation slowly spread across his face.

Then finally, after another blocked strike, he clicked his tongue in annoyance and glared at me.

The look he gave me honestly screamed, "I’m going to murder you later."

Then he stepped back.

Without another attack, he suddenly turned around and walked toward the exit instead.

"Just you fucking wait..." he muttered under his breath.

A second later, the door slammed shut behind him hard enough to shake the walls slightly.

And only after he left did I realize I’d been holding my breath the entire time.

"Haaaah..."

I let out a long exhale while lowering my mana blade.

Honestly, my heart was beating ridiculously fast.

"I’m sorry," I said while rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly. "I kind of got involved even though this wasn’t really my business."

"Well, you’re strong enough to take care of yourself, so... thanks, I guess," Monica replied. "But seriously, don’t do something like that when your life’s on the line. Understand?"

"I understand," I answered immediately.

Even after I stepped in to help her, she was still lecturing me.

Though honestly, it didn’t feel annoying.

If anything, the fact that she was worried enough to scold me kind of made me happy.

Actually, now that I thought about it...

I felt a little closer to her somehow.

Then suddenly, Monica looked directly at me.

"Do you like me?" she asked casually.

"H-Huh?!"

I nearly choked on my own spit.

The question hit me so suddenly that my brain completely short-circuited for a second. Heat rushed straight to my face while I stared at her like an idiot.

When did she even figure it out?

No... honestly, thinking about it properly, I probably wasn’t subtle at all.

"You’re pretty obvious, you know?" Monica said. "It’s not like you’ve been hiding it."

She crossed her arms lightly before continuing.

"You’re always staring at me, and whenever I look your way, you immediately look somewhere else. Honestly, I think it’s kind of amusing." She gave a small shrug. "But you’d probably be better off crushing on someone else."

"Why?" I asked before I could stop myself.

Honestly, I didn’t even mean to confess my feelings yet.

But getting rejected before I even had the chance to say anything felt unbelievably brutal.

"Well, you’ve heard the rumors about me, right?" Monica asked calmly.

Unfortunately, I had.

Pretty much everyone had.

"Unfortunately for you, they’re true," she continued. "I’m basically born a slut."

She said it so casually that it almost caught me off guard more than the confession itself.

"I like having sex," she admitted openly. "Honestly, I do think keeping you around as a boy toy would probably be entertaining for a while." She laughed softly afterward. "But eventually I’d get tired of it. That’s why I’m rejecting you now. I don’t really want to mess with your feelings later."

Ouch.

That honestly felt like getting hit harder than the sword fight earlier.

I knew the rumors about her being promiscuous.

But honestly...

Did I really care about any of that?

"And besides," Monica continued, "I don’t think you’d really be capable of pleasing me anyway."

For some reason, hearing that hurt my pride way more than it should have.

"There’s a man..." she said quietly. "Someone I admire a lot right now."

Her expression softened slightly when she mentioned him.

"He’s the only one capable of managing that."