Author's note: End of mass update!

Eri dragged Cecil all the way to the division Gom was in charge of, the...odd students of the academy. Of course, currently, there was only one student.

Xue.

Staring blankly at the arched doorway that led to the courtyard. Cecil could hear the sounds of a brawl from inside the courtyard. She was currently wearing the same kimono-like uniform, and her hair was partially tied up, to avoid any of them from falling onto her delicate face.

Cecil swallowed nervously, turning to look at Eri.

"Miss Eri, on second thought, I don't need to find a sparring partner anymore."

"What are you talking about? Since you have already walked all the way here, why turn back?"

Cecil just blinked her wide eyes at her teacher.

Sp-sparring with the lord protagonist...

It's as good as asking me to get myself killed!

"You are right, I have been pushing myself too hard for training," Cecil lied, forcing a smile on her face. "I-I don't need a sparring partner now, I'll find one after the break."

Eri angled her head to one side, bewildered. "You were so determined to get back to training and lessons, and now you don't want to?"

"...not right now."

"You and Xue are friends, are you not? Though he is on a different caliber, if you are friends, why are you so afraid?"

"...I wouldn't say we are friends that can spar together."

"You haven't tried it, how do you know? Just think about it for a moment."

Cecil wanted to cry without tears.

I am just a cannon fodder character, and the lord protagonist is the almighty in this world!

Cecil wanted to reject vehemently, when she heard a beeping noise in her head.

[ Another mission has arrived!
It has been a while since an official mission was issued, I am sure you have missed it, Cecil Lan! ]

All of a sudden, Cecil had a bad feeling about the missions.

"No, no no, forget about the mission. I don't want to see it--"

[ Mission #8 : Get Stronger!
Objective : Spar with protagonist "Xue" and improve your fighting skills.
Reward : 6000 points
Remaining points : 19,000 points
Failure will result in losing the same amount of points. ]

Cecil knew this was gonna happened, and she stumbled back.

"I am not going to accept--"

[ The mission is compulsory.
If you insist on rejecting and failing it, it will result in an immediate failure. ]

"..."

[ You can always reject, and give back the points to us, we are glad to receive it back~
Not that we have any use for it anyway, we have an abundance of points here~ ]

"..."

Just thinking of losing the points like that, which she went through quite a lot to earn...Cecil wanted to cough out blood.

Moreover, with the system provoking her in this manner, no matter which path Cecil chose, she would lose.

In that case...let's just choose the path which I lose less...

Cecil reluctantly faced her teacher, wanting to cry actual tears.

"I...I changed my mind," Cecil admitted through gritted teeth. "I can try...sparring with Xue."

Eri grinned, patting Cecil on the shoulder. "Good job, now, let's go in."

Cecil was dragged by Eri, and she wore a miserable look on her face.

***

Gom finished his sparring session with Xue, panting heavily and he had clearly lost. Whereas, Xue wasn't even panting, still standing tall as he put his spear away.

"As expected, you are improving rapidly..." Gom stood up, wiping the sweat on his forehead. "Since you can use different elements, it's better if you spar with the different elemental users to get accustomed to them."

"...don't need to."

The only way for Xue to grow more powerful and get back to his prime condition was to absorb all his soul fragments back. If it weren't for Hana and Cecil, he would have rushed to gather back them all.

Now, with the two of them, he was in no rush.

After all, he enjoyed spending his time with them...and now that enjoyment had grown larger due to certain someone.

"Gom!"

Eri jogged in, calling out as she pulled Cecil along.

The two men looked at the entrance of the courtyard, and Xue was piqued when he saw the familiar raven-haired beauty behind Eri.

"Eri? What you doing here?"

Cecil noticed a pair of grey eyes on her, and she reluctantly greeted Xue with a smile.

"How about a sparring session, between your only disciple and my top disciple?"

"...between Xue and Cecil?" Gom repeated.

"Yes, Cecil needs a sparring partner," Eri explained, letting Cecil go. "And other than Xue, no one is good enough to be her partner at this current stage."

Gom took a glance at Cecil, nodding understanding.

However, when Gom recalled the sparring session he had with Xue, and the numerous bruises he had suffered from, he felt hesitant. He stared at his own brawny body and he looked at the willowy, raven-haired woman.

If I myself had suffered from countless bruises from just the sparring, this little girl...

Cecil noticed the sympathetic stare from Gom, and she could do nothing but bow in greeting.

"Hello, Mr. Gom," Cecil straightened up, glancing at Xue for a second. "Sorry to interrupt the training with Xue."

Gom waved it off, glancing at Eri. "A face-to-face physical combat?"

"What other sparring session are you planning to have?" Eri smiled.

Gom thought of the bruises he suffered again, grimacing. "Definitely not a session that emphasizes on physical combat."

Xue was staring at Cecil the entire time, approaching her.

"You are training with me?"

"Yes, Miss Eri suggested it, since I wanted to check for any improvements in my abilities."

...and because I have no other choice.

Who in their right mind would want to willingly spar with you, lord protagonist?

Albeit, there was a huge dilemma in Cecil's mind, she didn't show it on her face.

"I see." Xue responded, a tiny smirk on his face.

Cecil stepped back.

The smirk reminded her of Leonaut who once asked her to fight with him.

Cecil was praying for the lord protagonist to spare her mercy for the sparring session.

Kai was wincing on the inside, he who had been here the longest and known Xue the longest, he knew the countless beating he had given Gom.

Kai: "...you are going to hold back, right? For Cecil?"

Alric: "Yo-you can't fight her for real!"

Leonaut: "Even I didn't fight Cecil with my full strength, if you are planning to, you are merciless."

Zasiok: "Agreed."

Xue: "..."

Xue: "...I will never hurt her."

Xue shut off the connection right after he said those words.

"So, it's decided then?"

"It's one of the least taxing sparring methods."

The two teachers nodded at one another, approaching the two students.

"We have decided on a sparring session topic."

Cecil blinked curiously at her teachers. She assumed it was going to be a full-on elemental and hand-to-hand combat fight.

Eri knelt down, pressing her palm on the ground as they felt the ground trembling. In an instant, half of the empty courtyard was filled with stone pillars of various heights and thickness.

"Get up there and start fighting," Eri commanded. "The first to touch the ground loses."

Cecil prepared to jump up there, but Gom intercepted her.

"Hold on, that's too easy," Gom shook his head and he revealed two cloths in his hand. "The two of you will be doing this blindfolded."

Cecil blinked rapidly in shock. Whereas, Xue remained indifferent, still looking at Cecil.

***

Hana carried a plate of food in her hands, a constant smile on her face. She had just experimented with her cooking, and she wanted to find two particular people to taste them out.

In addition to that, she wanted to ask them more about the sword mound expedition.

"Cecil!"

Hana dropped by Cecil's dorm room, not finding her there. Her mind immediately thought of the courtyard where Xue trains.

If Cecil isn't here, she must be there! And Xue is there as well!

Hana balanced her food carefully, dashing off to her next destination.

***

Xue and Cecil stood on opposite ends of the the pillars. The both of them wore cloth around their eyes, completely blindfolded. In the academy, they had done rigid training like that, whether it was to train their mobility, balance, combat skills, elemental control or even reflexes.

However, it was Cecil's first time sparring with someone blindfolded, fortunately, the opponent was blindfolded was well. Alas, the opponent was just an average opponent.

It was Xue.

The descendant of the Supreme God.

Sparring with someone blindfolded was nothing new to him. He had been through arduous training in the heavenly realm which wouldn't compare to this.

In fact, the blindfold makes no difference for him.

He wasn't human either, unlike Cecil, but just a soul fragment of his entire being reborn into the mortal realm. Though he didn't lived as long as compared to Veau, he definitely had more experience as compared to Cecil.

Thankfully, he wasn't a Supreme God right now either but just a small part of his soul.

If he had accumulated his soul fragments and assimilated completely...forget about sparring! Cecil wouldn't even stand a chance at all!

"Begin!"

Cecil drew out her daggers, inhaling deeply, concentrating hard.

These pillars weren't conjured by her, hence, she couldn't control them and neither could she take them away.

Since she was attuned to the earth element, she had an advantage. Just like how she could feel the earth breathing with her element, she could feel the stone pillars breathing.

She could sense the presence of someone on the far end of the stone pillar, since the breathing of their stone pillar was different.

Xue...hasn't moved?

Does he want me to attack first?

Cecil mentally drew a path in her mind towards Xue, taking note of the thickness of the pillar. Unlike her other training sessions, Eri had made it particularly challenging for her by changing the thickness of the pillars.

Some were thicker and some were thinner, she had to be even more careful of her steps.

This isn't just to train my balance anymore, but my reflexes.

Cecil rushed towards Xue, she knew there were a few trees around this courtyard, which would allow her to summon vines. She clutched onto her daggers, transmutting the blade of daggers into vines as they curled around her wrist and arm.

She was surprised when she realised the increase in speed.

Moreover, it seemed like she didn't need to attach the vines to the trees any longer to control them freely. She could now do so, if she was in the presence of trees.

Shooting out the vines with her dagger to attack Xue's legs, she felt how Xue moved slightly on the pillar.

Damn!

I got too excited by the improvement in the abilities!

The length of the vines were still not enough to reach Xue, and Xue had already known that.

If Cecil had unlocked another gate, she would be able to do so.

Xue's figure became a blur and he disappeared from the spot. Cecil quickly realised his presence was gone from the pillar he was on.

She glanced around, alert as she tried to sense Xue's presence on the other pillars. In a split second, Cecil felt his presence on a pillar close to her and without thinking twice, she leaped into the air.

Eri clapped at Cecil's reflexes.

If Cecil hadn't leaped into the air, she would have been swept off her feet by the attack from Xue's spear.

Cecil flipped in the air, landing safely on a pillar at the other end.

...and Xue's presence was nowhere to be found on the pillars again.

Xue advanced quickly, appearing in front of her this time and aiming the spear her body. He was planning to nudge her off the pillar.

Once again, Cecil instantly sensed his presence and she quickly twirled her body, the spear missing her by an inch. Almost slipping off the edge, she recovered jumped smoothly to the next pillar.

"Beautiful dodge!" Gom praised.

Both the teachers knew Xue was likely the winner, especially Gom. Hence, giving Cecil encouragement was their only way of comforting her.

Cecil exhaled heavily, and she realised Xue was gone again!

The lord protagonist...isn't giving me any chance to attack...

Without any choice left, Cecil knew she had to counterattack. She couldn't keep dodging forever, and she remained calm, relying on her sense to pick out Xue's presence.

She summoned out the vines from her body and dagger again, waiting patiently.

To the right!

Without hesitation, Cecil made a spinning kick to the right and her heart skipped with joy when she felt her leg connecting with Xue's spear. She immediately stretched her vines out, knowing this length was enough for her to grasp at her opponent's leg.

Unfortunately, Xue recovered insanely fast and he grabbed at her dagger that had turned into a vine, pulling it. Since her hand was still holding onto her dagger, she felt herself stumbling forward and Xue gave her a push.

The push was enough to send her off the edge of the pillar, and she would lose. However, Xue trusted her reflexes to allow her to land safely.

To everyone's surprise, even while stumbling and falling, Cecil managed to conjure a stone platform that extended out from the pillar and she managed to balance herself.

This was her only opportunity as she caught everyone off guard, and she took out her handy stone, swinging it quickly in the direction Xue previously stood.

The stone hit Xue, and he staggered back, almost a step away from slipping off the pillar.

Cecil unconsciously took a step back at the same time, and she slipped. The stone platform wasn't a wide platform to begin with, it was just enough for someone to step onto it.

With the blindfold on, the feeling of falling was amplified. Cecil couldn't help but let out a panicked cry.

Xue lifted his blindfold instantaneously. Without any hesitation, he jumped down from the pillar, dashing his way across the ground and his eyes fixated on her.

He caught her in his arms, preventing her from landing harshly on the ground.

Whereas, the two teachers observing this scene spat out their tea in shock.

***

《 start 》

Sparring with you?

...I think I will enjoy it.

Hurting you?

Never.

Even if I have to lose a million times, I wouldn't hurt you.

No matter what it is, I will not allow any harm come to you.

Even if it's me.

《 stop 》