Daru headed over to the sixth training field after having his lunch.

He didn't have time for a short rest today, as he was kicked out of the realm an hour later than everyone.

Due to everything that happened today, he forgot that he planned to spend his extra hour in the evening, after his swordsmanship training.

This would allow him to avoid people asking him unnecessary questions like what Sylphina did earlier.

Seeing Daru arrive a bit later than some of his classmates, a pair of blueberry eyes was surprised, since he had always been among the early birds in his class.

Still, since the lecture was cancelled today, he still had quite a lot of time to strike the dummies and practice his form.

Instructor Talon arrived an hour later, and the afternoon class began.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened.

They stretched, ran laps around the track, practiced form, strikes, defensive techniques, and footwork, before concluding the class with a short sparring session.

The moment the class finished, a significant number of people immediately left, leaving only a dedicated few.

Daru was quite disappointed.

It seemed that, similar to his high school days, people were only enthusiastic in the beginning.

It was just that their enthusiasm lasted a little longer this time.

He shrugged and got back to striking a training dummy. At the very least, more people were staying this time, which meant that competition would at least be better than it was in the past.

Furthermore, this was only the Sixth Training Field.

There were probably a similar number of people in other training fields…

Shaking his head to remove the unnecessary thoughts, Daru continued striking.

But just five minutes later, someone came up to him: a young woman with long, blueberry hair.

Daru didn't notice that almost everyone who remained was looking at him.

This was more than understandable, as the one who approached was none other than the leader of Cluster 4's Southern Bladeborn Academy's Ten Fairies, the cold, stoic, and unreachable beauty of the alpine mountains: Snowflower.

A majority would be panicking by now.

"Hello, sorry for disturbing your training." Iris began, her face as expressionless as ever.

But Daru didn't respond, instantly infuriating a majority of the youngsters in the area.

The bastard dared ignore Snowflower?!

It wasn't that Daru was ignoring Iris; it was just that he was still going through the motion of sheathing his training tachi.

Only once he was done did he take a deep breath and turn to face the person who approached him.

"Oh, you're…Edelweiss, correct?" Daru asked with his brows curved upwards in curiosity, wondering why the S-ranker approached him. "What is it?"

"Ahh…Yes, but you can just call me Iris. I just wanted to ask if we can train together? I've been observing you, and I haven't seen swordsmanship as graceful as yours." Iris responded with a hint of embarrassment, causing everyone's jaws to drop.

A few hearts broke.

Was Snowflower confessing her love to this damned Fallen Sword Prince?!

They couldn't deny that Daru Finnley had more-than-decent looks, but aside from that, they couldn't think of anything worthy of note.

Besides, there were a few people who were on par, if not better than him in terms of appearance just in this training field alone.

Graceful swordsmanship? What the hell is that?! Would that give you an advantage as a bladeborn?

Silver Serpent and Lionbreaker were among the people who were secretly infuriated.

Both of them had fantasies of obtaining a beauty and flaunting them in the academy grounds, but unfortunately, they were failing hard in trying to capture Sylphina's heart.

And yet, this incompetent fallen sword prince was being approached by Snowflower?!

Unjust!

"Ah, thank you for the compliments. I've been training hard to perfect my forms so I could apply them neatly in battle, you see." Daru finally showed a faint smile, quite happy that someone was appreciating the fruits of his labor.

"I can see that." Iris returned a faint smile.

Another awkward silence ensued, but none of the two seemed affected.

Snowflower then continued: "I just wanted to ask if we can train together after the classes? I would've loved to spar you, but unfortunately, such a thing isn't allowed…"

She looked a bit dejected after saying that.

The smile on Daru's face, however, widened.

"I see…no problem. You can train with me whenever you want. Don't hesitate if you have questions. Do pardon my intrusion if I have something to ask, too. As for sparring, there's no need. I've seen one of your matches, and I'm sure you'll be your class' representative. Let's clash swords in the inter-class representative competition. It would be more fun to face you with stakes involved." He then gave Iris a tap on the shoulder and got back to striking the training dummy.

Snowflower visibly cheered up after hearing his words.

With only a nod, she also began striking the dummy beside him, the disbelieving silence of the onlookers filling the air.

What the hell is this interaction?!

Also, did he just claim he would be his class' representative?

The audacity!

How did this unworthy bastard bag himself an everyday-training ticket with the leader of the ten fairies?!

Unfortunately, a majority could only stare in envy—a few like Sylphina in cold displeasure at the delusionally bold claim—as the two struck dummies side by side, occasionally talking with smiles on their faces.

False Witness, his lackeys, and the other B-rankers would've given him a piece of their minds had the tier of Snowflower's sword not been so intimidating.

They did not want to be on the bad side of the S-ranker.

Unbeknownst to Daru and Iris, a pair of narrowed eyes from a maroon-haired young man were watching them from outside the training field.

"Hoh…this should reach the boss's ears…"

With a cunning smile, the young man left.

The day ended like so.

Daru bid his new training partner a formal goodbye, leaving half an hour earlier than usual as he still needed to eat dinner in the academy canteen and research a bit more about murals.

The next morning, he pressed his palm on his sword mark and entered the Myriad Sword Realm as soon as Instructor Talon's lecture ended.

A shadow of a smile then tugged at the corners of his mouth upon realizing that he had indeed spawned at the exact location he had been kicked out of.

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