Chapter 17: The Duel’s True Meaning

After another day of classes, Liya felt from the bottom of her heart:

“I should have started a duel with Teacher Annie right away. This level of teaching isn’t for me.”

The Demon Kingdom far surpassed the human kingdom she had lived in before, both in development and martial prowess. So it was conceivable that the heights she had reached in her previous life might not be so rare here. Liya believed she could still learn something at this academy.

The difference was only in how much.

There were many interesting things here. Most students followed their own style, not adhering to any specific martial arts tradition. Some ideas were whimsical but also intriguing. Not just martial artists, but even some mages gave Liya inspiration.

But that alone wasn’t enough.

The reason was simple: since her rebirth, Liya had been missing the most important thing in martial arts training — defeat.

She had never lost. None of the students she encountered could match her, and she couldn’t even find a worthy opponent. This was the most terrifying and deadly situation in martial arts cultivation.

Invincibility — but not true invincibility, only the false invincibility of a frog at the bottom of a well. Such invincibility only made martial artists lazy, abandoning their drive for improvement. Liya could not accept this, no matter what. She needed a fight, an evenly matched fight, a refreshing defeat.

Only then could she take steps toward becoming the strongest, and one day reach true invincibility.

“Hurry up and come, duel…” Liya murmured from the heart.

“Liya? What are you saying?”

“Huh?!” She turned around. Standing beside her was one of the few elders she had come to recognize in this life.

“Good afternoon, Teacher Christine. Don’t you have lessons to prepare?”

“I happened to see you and wanted to talk.”

Christine smiled gently. But perhaps because she had just finished a practical combat class, her whole body exuded magical power, giving Liya a considerable sense of pressure… However, that pressure was just right. In fact, Liya enjoyed it.

Looking at this, she thought: maybe almost all martial artists were masochists in a sense.

“By the way, Liya, how are you finding Annie’s classes?”

“Annie… Teacher Annie? Don’t worry, Teacher Christine. That kind of class isn’t difficult at all.” Liya said confidently. If she couldn’t even handle such basic knowledge, what would be the difference between her and a salted fish?

“Not difficult at all… Is Teacher Annie teaching too simply?”

“Of course not. Teacher Annie teaches quite well.”

Liya said sincerely. Although she already knew everything taught, from a teacher’s perspective, Annie’s methods were distinctive and helped students better grasp the theoretical knowledge of martial arts and magic. That’s the importance of fundamentals. As a theory teacher, Liya had a good impression of Annie.

But Liya’s reaction confused Christine.

“If you think Teacher Annie teaches well, then why don’t you listen?”

“Huh? Because I already know it all.”

Liya stated the obvious. Wasn’t it clear? She didn’t listen because she already understood. There was no need to listen. Why was Teacher Christine asking this?

“Such a simple answer… Alright, Liya, let me put it this way: Annie hasn’t been in a good state lately.”

“What?!” Liya was shocked. That couldn’t be. This morning Teacher Annie was still teaching, and her complexion didn’t show any illness. What happened?

“Is Teacher Annie unable to participate in the duel?”

“No, to be precise, it’s because of this duel that Annie is in a bad mood.”

Then Christine told Liya everything about Annie’s feelings and what she had observed. After hearing it, Liya —

“This! … Damn it, I didn’t notice!”

Liya showed a regretful expression.

“Teacher Christine, I am truly sorry. I never intended to look down on or discriminate against Teacher Annie. It really is because I had fully understood those theories that I… It’s my fault! Please help me… No, I will personally go apologize to Teacher Annie!”

After saying this, Liya bowed to Christine and immediately ran off, heading straight for the instructor’s office. Christine felt quite gratified seeing this.

“…Liya is a good kid at heart.”

Although her personality and self-perception leaned toward masculinity, she was essentially a gentle person. If Liya were male, she would probably be very popular with women.

“What a pity,” Christine said from the heart.

In the instructor’s office, Annie was grading the homework submitted by students that morning. It was the first assignment since Liya transferred, and Annie quickly found Liya’s paper, focusing on grading it. The result shocked her —

“It’s all correct… Can Liya reach this level without even attending my classes?”

No wonder she didn’t like listening to her lessons. Self-study alone was enough to complete the homework perfectly. Maybe a teacher like her really couldn’t teach Liya…

Bam!

The office door was suddenly pushed open with a bang. Normal teachers wouldn’t open the door like that. Annie curiously looked at the door and saw an unexpected person.

“Teacher Annie!”

“…Liya?”

At that moment, the little girl was not as cool and confident as Annie had seen before. Instead, she was covered in sweat, apparently having run all the way here. What had happened? Annie quickly got up and rushed to Liya’s side.

“Are you okay, Liya? Why are you running so fast? What if you fell? Find a place to rest, let me get you some water…”

“Forget that! I have something more important to say! Teacher Annie!”

Liya said loudly, interrupting Annie. Their eyes met.

While running over, Liya had thought carefully. What she had done before was indeed too much. In her previous life, her master hated students who pretended to be strong or showed weakness. Liya was used to expressing emotions through actions. But this time, her thoughtless actions had clearly hurt Teacher Annie.

Liya could swear she never meant to look down on her teacher. She just wanted to become stronger… But it seemed she had made a mistake this time. At least from the outside, she must have appeared arrogant. That was terrible.

So she had to salvage her image from the start and clear up the misunderstanding.

Thinking all the way, Liya organized her words. Looking at Annie, she declared loudly:

“Teacher Annie! I sincerely think you are a good teacher!”

“Eh?”

“So I hope you can teach me more in actual combat!”

Liya extended her slender hand to the astonished Annie, curving the corner of her mouth to show a nice smile — at least a comfortable one.

“I hope we both enjoy the duel on Saturday! Fair and square!”

Looking at the girl before her, Annie froze. For an instant, memories seemed to cross time and flood into her mind.

Thinking back, why had she agreed to this girl’s duel request in the first place?

The answer was simple.

In class, this little girl had suddenly stood up and said with firm, determined eyes:

“Teacher, let’s duel!”

At that time, the girl’s face was filled with the smile of someone seeing a fun toy — a happy smile. Annie hadn’t immediately understood the reason behind her challenge. She just instinctively accepted, because that smile, those eyes, were irresistible.

But now, Annie understood.

That was the smile a martial artist should have.

Pure, without any impurities — the pursuit of strength, the desire for battle, and the hope to learn and improve from combat. Her own teacher had once described her the same way.

Ah, ah… What had she been worrying about all this time?

Liya hadn’t thought that much at all. It was as simple as drinking water. This girl simply wanted to duel with her, with no ulterior motives. Just like what she said now.

I hope you can teach me more in Saturday’s duel! Enjoy the duel, teacher!

What else could she answer? How should she answer?

Annie suppressed the surging emotions in her heart and responded with a single word:

“Okay!”

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