Ch. 12 Force of Will

The world of nobles was hard to grasp for a commoner like Ana. Why Autumn submitted herself to Charles' lecherous advances, she could not understand.

The girl was also a noble. Yet, for that bastard, she went as far as to challenge her to a duel.

"I refuse." Ana answered firmly.

The upper class claimed it was dishonorable and shameful to refuse a duel. But, she wasn't a noble, and if becoming a Lady meant adhering to such stupid customs, she would much rather maintain her status.

"You are going to fight." Autumn began circulating mana between her nodes.

"Again, I refuse. Now, get out of the way." Ana stirred up her mana as well.

The standoff took but a moment.

"Ladies, ladies, calm down." said one of Charles' friends as he walked between them.

"I'm sure we can reach a compromise, right Charl…?" While sprinting forward, Autumn slapped the boy out of her way as if squashing a bug. If he had remained conscious, he might have realized his and Charles��� statuses were nowhere near the same.

A split second later, the girl reached Ana only to be met with a large earth wall. She did not bother jumping over and smashed it instead. However, the rubble seemed to have a life of its own and started hitting her from all directions.

Unable to block, Autumn took a step back only to sink in what seemed to be mud. It hardened immediately.

"Damn you!" she growled.

Unfortunately, Autumn was a close ranged fighter. Her family had joined the ranks of nobles just 2 generations ago, so they didn't have time to develop fancy techniques.

Instead of using the defective scrolls from the Academy's library, her grandfather honed his martial skills to pull himself out of poverty. No matter what, she could not let him down.

"Aahh!" Though peppered with rocks, Autumn pulled out her leg and charged forward.

Ana retreated. She lifted a tiny stone to make the girl trip, and then attacked from several directions. Even so, her opponent persisted.

She threw sand in her eyes, but Autumn still managed to find her. She turned the girl's footing into mush, yet the enemy was unfazed. Ana attacked her joints, yet Autumn was getting increasingly closer.

'Monster...' she lamented. 'But, still…'

Autumn's steps were numbered. As the fight continued, the barrel of mana which kept her going got reduced to a single cup.

Eventually, her vision became blurry. Her steps slowed down. Finally, after one last blow to the solar plexus, she collapsed.

Ana stopped her barrage and checked the girl's pulse. After confirming she was merely unconscious, she turned Autumn's head to the side and walked towards the gate.

"You… How dare you!?" Though it was Charles who said this, Ana remembered the brat from 2 months ago and smiled. "You think this is funny?"

Charles approached her while channeling mana towards his palms. Autumn was plenty strong herself, yet he was somehow even stronger. If he hadn't reached rank 1 yet, then he was definitely close.

"I've already refused to duel. Aren't brawls illegal inside the city?"

Charles didn't even bat an eye. As always, the rules did not apply to nobles. Ana looked around for help, but the commoners had already scrammed and the nobles were watching with various expressions. Few showed worry and most revealed contempt.

"What if the opponent is much stronger than me?" she had once asked Ethan.

"Then, run for your life."

Remembering his cowardly yet wise words, she rushed towards the exit.

"You're not going anywhere." Her former 'friends' cut her off.

"I challenge you to a duel." snarled Charles. "And, you've already accepted. Hasn't she!?" His friends reluctantly nodded. "You can't run from a duel after accepting it, now can you?"

Cold sweat dripped down Ana's spine. She was running low on mana, but there was no going back. At least for now, she had to fight.