Approval

'Damn you, Ishma, this is about my future now.' I cursed inwardly, thinking about my groin being slashed by Ishma's mana-filled training spear.

Clicking my tongue, I quickly blocked her slash with both hands. With her strength, Ishma's slash sent me flying high above. Possessing high combat instincts, Ishma didn't ignore the opportunity when I had no footing in the air. She shot from the ground into the air at high speed.

Of course, I was prepared for this. With the help of Short-Range Telekinesis used on my own body, I could position myself more easily and accurately to face Ishma's next attack. I managed to deflect her first attack in the air. Then she continued her rapid attacks in the air until she launched a peculiar strike.

As I thought I had deflected her spear, another spear came at me targeting my head. At that moment, the spear I blocked faded. Thanks to Arkium enhancing my overall performance, my vision detected this strange trick. Enhanced reflexes allowed me to react quickly.

'An illusion?' I thought, positioning my hands to protect my head.

When the blunt tip of the training spear hit my hands, it felt like being hit by a speeding truck. My gauntlet, made of standard material, cracked.

'So strong?' I thought.

Expecting to be knocked back by Ishma's strike, I wasn't. I stopped in mid-air despite the strong hit. It was brief. I could feel I could move at any moment.

But as I thought that, Ishma delivered a straight kick to my stomach. Again, it felt like being hit by a truck. I was hurled rapidly toward the ground. Rolling, I quickly positioned myself correctly to receive the next attack.

Sure enough, the next attack came in the blink of an eye, a spear thrown at high speed towards me. I blocked it with the palm of my hand at the bottom of the spear's handle. The spear was flung upwards, and I leaped intending to grab it and use it against an unarmed Ishma.

Unfortunately, as I jumped, Ishma grabbed the airborne spear in an instant and slashed at me while spinning in the air. Her movements looked beautiful yet deadly.

'Tch!' I clicked my tongue inwardly.

With no time to dodge, I could only use Arkium to protect myself. I was knocked back by her attack but managed to land precisely on the ground.

Now it was my turn to attack. I dashed towards Ishma as she landed, giving her no time to strike. I used Avalanche Assault Barrage, a flurry of powerful punches. Ishma managed to block my attacks with her spear, causing it to crack. However, not all my punches were blocked. Some landed on her body. Seeing a bigger opening, I ended with Avalanche Impact.

Ishma was quickly knocked back, rolling before positioning herself. We stopped attacking and stood facing each other in silence. Ishma didn't seem overwhelmed or in pain, nor did I. Then, a thick red aura emanated from Ishma's body as she struck a cool fighting pose. The aura extended to her spear.

"Time to get serious, Edward!" Ishma said calmly.

Seeing Ishma serious, I felt fired up to be more serious too. I took a martial stance, employing Gallean Stance. I maximized the use of Arkium in my body, repairing my cracked gauntlet. Lightning flashes gathered around the gauntlet. Metal atoms friction created a large electric field. I prepared to activate Hammerbolt Hit.

"Same here," I responded to Ishma with a grin.

We remained still, neither making the first move. Then I saw Ishma's eyes narrow, scanning the surroundings. Seeing this, I followed her action. At that moment, Ishma and I realized.

'We went too far,' I thought.

Perhaps Ishma thought the same as me because her red aura calmed and slowly vanished. She canceled her stance. I did the same, canceling my martial stance and Hammerbolt Hit. We stood straight. I looked around. The duel area was a mess. Luckily, it wasn't as chaotic and destroyed as Veiglen Peace Park because the academy's training ground had a magic formation that reduced damage.

Ishma sighed from afar as she looked around. I walked closer, deactivating Quantumorph Artisan, making my gauntlets disappear. The reason she sighed was the few eyes from afar watching us duel intensely and nearly deadly. Fortunately, we fought in a duel area somewhat far from the usual training area, so we didn't attract too much attention. Maybe they didn't even know who was fighting because it was too far away.

"It seems we've drawn some attention, Miss Ishma. Oh, I mean, Ishma," I said with a resigned smile, a few drops of sweat running down my face. Not only me, I also saw Ishma wiping her sweat.

For some reason, after my words, Ishma chuckled with her eyes closed and soon opened them again, looking at me. Maybe it was because of how I changed how I addressed her.

"Well, what can we do, we went a bit crazy earlier," Ishma replied.

I glanced around and answered, "Luckily we realized it before it was too late. If not, we might have been suspended."

After Ishma returned the nearly broken training spear, we both took our bags and moved not too far from the duel area. We found a long park bench under a large tree. It looked comfortable for resting after training. Strangely, it was quiet here, with only a few students around. Ishma and I were targets of attention, so a few students around us stole glances.

Sitting down, I leaned back and stretched my legs. My head tilted up, looking at the tree leaves and the ripples of the afternoon sunlight. I unbuttoned my sleeves and rolled them up to my elbows. Then, I rested my arms on the back of the bench with Ishma sitting to my left. Not too close but a bit away so my left hand wasn't right behind her. After all, we were acquaintances. I wouldn't dare place my hand behind her like a couple.

As I regulated my breath while adjusting my previously heated Arkium, honestly, I was quite thirsty after the intense duel. Then, something cold touched the back of my left hand. Of course, it caught my attention, and I turned my head to the left. The sight was Ishma's beautiful face and a cold stainless steel bottle touching the back of my hand.

"Want some?" Ishma asked with a flat expression. Yes, her flat expression was back after many smiles.

I straightened up, moved a bit closer to the left, and took the bottle Ishma held. I observed it; it was already open.

"Did you drink from this?" I asked, looking at Ishma.

"Mhm." Ishma nodded.

My gaze automatically focused on a certain part of Ishma's face. Her lips. The desire of a young man is hard to control. But, of course, I quickly snapped out of it.

'Damn teenage hormones,' I thought irritably.

Ignoring the 'indirect kiss,' I drank the cold water from the bottle without touching the rim.

"Thanks," I handed the bottle back to Ishma after drinking. After she took the bottle, I continued, "So, can I now take advantage of you and get closer to you?"

"Of course." Ishma replied without looking at me.

After that, we were silent for a moment. Then Ishma turned to me with a small grin on her face.

"Honestly, I don't mind you using me or trying to get close to me. Most likely, I'll just ignore you as long as it doesn't affect me too much." She paused and took a breath. Seeing Ishma about to continue, I didn't interrupt and paid attention.

"You know I come from a pretty wealthy merchant family, right?" Ishma asked.

I nodded in response, commenting inwardly, 'Pretty wealthy? You call your family pretty wealthy? Just kill me.'

Ishma continued, "Because of my family, many people have tried to use me for money and power. And even though my family is wealthy, we don't have the status like nobles. So it's not uncommon for middle or high-ranking nobles to see me and approach me as a trophy to be won."

"Mhm." I nodded.

If it were an ordinary merchant family, those nobles probably wouldn't approach Ishma. But the Bahraeel family is incredibly wealthy, possibly surpassing noble families in wealth. However, without noble status, no matter how wealthy, if you're from a merchant family without status, nobles and their children would have the courage to approach Ishma without much hesitation. Especially since Ishma is a beautiful woman with a body that most men would desire even if she didn't have a pretty face. On top of that, Ishma is a student of the prestigious Sveitmann Academy's Hero Department. All these factors make Ishma a prize trophy.

"My eyes and intuition are sharp enough. So when you tried to use me for trivial matters, I got a bit interested. And I noticed you're behaving a bit differently now. So I thought, why not test you and have some fun?" Ishma continued.

The ice queen spoke quite a bit. If someone knew, it would be big news.

"Test what? You just wanted to beat me up so I wouldn't get close to you, right?" I sneered jokingly.

"But I couldn't beat you up. With that strength, I'm sure you can easily handle them, right? With this, I assume you have other reasons for approaching me. Like you said earlier, to get closer to me. Is that true?" Ishma replied with a grin.

'Welp, did I get caught?' I thought.

"I'm just lazy to deal with troublesome brats like them. And for other reasons, yes, it's true. Maybe I just want to win you as my trophy?" I shrugged with a smile and closed my eyes. I leaned back on the bench, enjoying the breeze.

Of course, I wasn't approaching Ishma just to win her as a trophy. Even though it wasn't yet on an emotional level, I liked her both personally and character-wise, so I wanted to get close to her. It was that simple.

Ishma's short hair fluttered in the wind. Without realizing it, she looked at me with a flat gaze and a slight smile. Then she also leaned back casually.