The idea of having m punishment duties with no crete end date was something Natalie wasn't thrilled about, but she supposed she deserved it.

  To make things worse, her eeam, even Jordan, clearly thought Natalie was receiving her just desserts, even if they were gracious enough not to say so ht.

  A part of Natalie saw herself as the victim in all of this, because seriously. When a pretty girl like Aina had been throwing herself at her, what had Natalie been expected to do? Not sleep with her? She was only human.

  While the hour of ing was an annoyance, and ohat wouldn't be going away for a while, no worse punishments seemed to be ing from her pse in judgment. Though Instructor Robin's 'mentorship' sessions ed her. What would those include?

  When bat csses rolled around, the Theliosian woman didn't spare Natalie so much as a gnce, her usual aloof self, but Natalie wasn't sure whether that meant anything.

  Today, two csses had been paired up for spars. More importantly, the rotation had e out such that Natalie's was fag Elida's, the undisputed best of the year.

  Natalie was both annoyed and pleased by that. Annoyed, because even being in the same room as that snake was an irritating experience. Pleased, because Natalie was always spoiling food fight, and Elida's css could provide one—or several.

  And especially after ret events, she much appreciated having an outlet to blow off steam.

  To her delight, her first oppo was Otto.

  It had been some time sihat i down in the dungeon where Elida's team had flouhem and stripped them of their gear. Natalie still grew irritated whenever she thought about the event, but her temper had cooled sihe first day. And her issue was less with Otto and more with Elida, the obvileader and orchestrator.

  Regardless of Otto being a pawn, though, he had followed Elida's lead without much hesitation—even if Natalie had read in his eyes an apology as they'd been fighting. He was still a bastard, plicit to the whole thing, and thus an enemy of Natalie's. Just a minor one, paratively speaking.

  So getting to spar him? To show him what she'd picked up in the weeks she'd spent at Te, and the fruits of her work in the dungeon?

  She was looking forward to it.

  They set up on opposite sides of the sparring pad. She rested her hammer on the ground and took the tall boy in. He wielded a rge shield and a short sword, as before. A traditional tank, ualie.

  He probably hadn't hit level three yet. Though there wasn't zero ce of that, being on Elida's team, with Elida herself having cimed to have made that breakthrough. Level three this early in the year was a ludicrous pace, though, and Natalie and Elida had their csses, their sponsorships, to thank. Otto was good, very good, he top of his css, but not one of Te's top-ten performers. So Natalie didn't think he was level three.

  A single level wasn't enough to guarantee a fight one way or another, anyway. Two levels was closer to being hopeless, with three being pretty damn impossible to surmount—assuming average ditions. Of course, being particurly well-suited to an oppo, or other extenuating factors, could make such a fight pusible.

  Regardless, Natalie had the advantage, since she was level three, and he was likely only level two.

  And she had a grudge to settle.

  So, she was going to kick his ass.

  The fight began, and Natalie rushed forward, crossing the distance faster than Otto expected—his eyes widening as she charged with a speed she shouldn't have possessed. But as much as Natalie's level on him, she had also upgraded several of her skills.

  He tried to dodge but failed to get out of the way in time. He brought his shield up, and Natalie grinned, more than happy to test their specialties against each other. Shields were great defeools, but they couldn't hold up against overwhelming raw power. A hammer was especially suited to pummeling through armor and shields.

  Valentine smmed into Otto's shield with every ounce of her strength, and one of the best tanks of Te's first year was thrown off his feet, crashing onto his back several yards away.

  To his credit, Otto scrambled up ihan a sed, despite the eous blow that had to have rattled his brains. Natalie could've followed up if she waaken advantage of grounding him, but she didn't. She let him get to his feet. Because this was about a grudge, proving a point, as much as winning.

  Instructor Robin watched the fight, seeming as aloof as always, but Natalie knew she was scrutinizing the fight like a hawk. It was her duty to prevent fatal injuries between students. sidering the power Natalie was throwing into her hammer strikes, an act was more than possible. Natalie didn't pull her punches, sinstructor Robin was, as far as she knew, infallible.

  Otto had his own suite of skills to call on, but they didn't do much to stop Natalie from battering him around the sparring pad. Where ohey had fought on equal footing, she had left him behind siheir st enter. Blow after blow had the boy being staggered around the arena, made an embarrassment of. She didn't only emphasize the strength differeher: she made sure to demonstrate her fighting ability, maneuvering past him and predig his movements. She obviously had the raw strength advantage, yes, but it wasn't power aloing her bully him around.

  When the fight was over, Natalie stood over Otto, flushed with victory, pleased she'd finally had the opportunity to get revenge on the boy, if only in a small, trivial manner—a hit to his reputation. They met eyes, Otto panting on the ground, spyed out.

  He her. "Good fight," he grunted, sitting up. "You've gotten a lot better, and you were already good."

  Which briefly made Natalie feel like an ass. He seemed like an okay enough dude. Regardless, he'd done as Elida had asked of him—so she didn't have that much sympathy.

  Speaking of the devil: Elida had been watg the fight, same as much of the css, with only two fights happening at once. Instructor Robin could only protee spar at a time, and the other css's Instructor another. Natalie's fight with Otto had been the more iing of the two, and thus drawn more attention.

  As the training period went on, Natalie almost wondered if she'd made a mistake, the way Elida's eyes were crawling on her back the eime. Whenever Natalie flicked her attentioo the girl, she smiled politely, somehow even seeming i in having been caught staring. It sent a shiver down her spine.

  Unsurprisingly, Elida tracked her down after css ended. It seemed the unresolved business with anod's padin, or whatever the hell was going on with Elida, was finally ing to a head.