Aya listened to Tiran's incessant chatter with a confused expression, not understanding a thing. She shrugged her shoulders and asked the girl in front of her, "Are you still going to fight?"

"Of course! We've only exchanged one move... Besides, I didn't expect the little guy to be such a formidable opponent. It's even more necessary to have a good fight!" Feilin excitedly opened her arms, and the molten scythe that had just been scattered reformed. Although it appeared slightly weaker in terms of volume and power, the fighting spirit in the girl's eyes remained unchanged.

"Is that so?" Aya shrugged, not particularly surprised. Well, this girl didn't seem like someone who would give up easily from the beginning.

"Then... Let's fight with all our might!"

As they spoke, two seeds of flames silently floated in Aya's hands, rooting, sprouting, and extending like they had a life of their own, intertwining to form a crimson sword shape.

Branch of Calamity.

Aya quite liked using this powerful magic. It had great destructive force and reaction speed, the only downside being the large amount of magical energy it consumed. However, with the immense magical reserves of the Golden Dragon at her disposal, she could afford it.

Of course, the most important reason was that Aya didn't want to use her fists to bear the burden of that large scythe. Although the punch she had thrown earlier was impressive, her fists were still slightly warm even now.

Setting aside the initial probing in the first round, the real battle was only just beginning.

...

"Oh, oh, Aya has finally become decent with her swordsmanship after practicing for so long," Tiran remarked from the stands while watching Aya's back-and-forth with Feilin's scythe and her own dual blades. He nodded in satisfaction.

It wasn't that Dragons didn't have the opportunity to learn martial arts, but this technique, originally invented to overcome stronger opponents with weaker ones, had always been somewhat redundant for Dragons—who could simply crush their enemies with absolute strength, without any unnecessary flashiness.

In Aya's previous fights, aside from using magic, she had relied primarily on the martial advantages and instincts bestowed upon her by her Golden Dragon heritage. In other words, she had fought by throwing wild punches and relying on her superior physicality, without encountering any particularly strong opponents. That was how she had made it this far.

It was not until she was bound back to the castle by Tiran—the person who not only outmatched her in strength but could also send her flying several streets away with his own swordsmanship—that she realized it was time for a change.

During the period when her magical powers and most of her Chi were sealed, in order to avoid being beaten so badly when forced by Mimi or Tiran to participate in battles to sharpen her writing and reading skills, Aya had diligently devoted herself to studying swordsmanship for a period of time.

The results were evident. At least, in Tiran's eyes, this battle was barely passable in his own swordsmanship standards.

This was still compared to Tiran's swordsmanship. As for the regular students who were mostly drawn here by a certain first-class celebrity, this could almost be considered an otherworldly battle.

"Damn! Did you see that? That speed, is that really at a student level? Even our class adviser might not reach that level!"

"Bro, are you new here? You don't recognize the young lady up there? She's already stronger than many teachers," someone replied.

"Well, I did just start this semester. Is she... famous?"

"...Never mind, you can easily find out about her by following the gossip tabloids in the news department or reading the logs on the school challenge board. The key question is, who is her opponent?"

"Hey! Any well-informed folks here!" shouted someone from the other side of the audience.

"I-I-I think that guy is the new assistant instructor and secretary to the newly appointed dean. He came with Prince Tiran's entourage!" immediately, a student who attended the poetry appreciation course raised his hand.

At that moment, another gust of wind swept across the arena towards the audience seats.

During the first round of their battle, Aya and Feilin exchanged blows with lightning-fast speed nearly a hundred times. Each streak of light was a strike, and the onlookers could only see the interweaving of lights and hear the resounding clangs.

In reality, with the magical level of a golden dragon, dealing with a melee-specialized opponent like Feilin could easily be done from a distance using magic or by decisively controlling and increasing the power of the magic attacks.

However...

Although Aya had experienced many battles before, it was rare to have a weapon clash and counter blows as enjoyable as this one. They even managed to bring out the best in each other. Instinctively, Aya continued to engage in combat.

Every muscle seemed to awaken, and power flowed through them. Aya wielded her sword with effortless precision, combined with the advantage of having dual swords against a giant scythe. Aya gradually gained the upper hand.

After a collision, the two of them separated once again.

The girl was already slightly breathless, sweat forming on her forehead. After experiencing such intense battles, even this level of physical endurance was extraordinary. But the white-haired boy opposite her seemed to be in even better condition.

Excluding the former dean who never accepted her challenges, this was the second time since Feilin enrolled that she felt like this: always composed, almost within reach, but always slightly out of her grasp whenever she tried to touch him.

"You haven't used your full strength yet, have you?"

"Huh?" Aya hesitated for a moment, unintentionally lowering her sword. "Um, well... I suppose."

Regretting her words as soon as they left her mouth, she thought, "Oops, I shouldn't have said that. This is like deliberately belittling him. It's not like that idiot Ino," she quickly shook her head, "No, what I meant was... um, well, I'm only slightly stronger than you, that's all..."

Feilin seemed indifferent. "Well, there's no need to hide it, little guy. I can feel it. You're definitely not weaker than Lushius. In that case, it's unlikely I will win today. So let's call it quits. I'll challenge you again once I've become stronger to confirm my own abilities."

Hearing these words, Aya's face immediately lit up with delight. Oh, does that mean I can rest?

After gracefully admitting defeat, the girl casually dispelled her lava scythe and bowed deeply to Aya before briskly leaving the arena.

"Well, then I..." Aya stretched lazily, feeling relaxed all over her body, and planned to go back. Oh, right, little Fei Fei seemed to have gone out to play. I'll ask her for a recommendation for a couple of leisurely places.

"Assistant instructor! I want to challenge you too! I am Ongor Tang, a second-tier gunner specializing in sequence number fourteen!"

Huh?

Aya blinked in confusion, then turned stiffly as if she were a rusty machine.

Oh my goodness! Where did all these people come from all of a sudden!

After Feilin left, the entrance to the opposite arena was filled with people, more than three times the number of those who challenged Tiran in the classroom. What a bunch of lunatics!

Even if I could fight them all one by one, I would exhaust myself... I mean, I'm not a professor in the academy. It's such a bother to be their punching bag!

"Hey, fine, fine. Promise them, promise them."

The voice of the princess echoed in Aya's mind, sounding frustrated.

"What the hell! Explain to me how so many people suddenly appeared! Wasn't it just Feilin's challenge that you agreed to before? And even Bone-Dragon didn't have this many people!"

"Because your position is just that of an assistant, not officially part of Milt's lineup, so challenging you doesn't result in any credit deductions or penalties... of course, there are no rewards either. It's just that these students want to test their battle skills, so they won't miss this opportunity."

"Damn it... assistants have no rights?"

"In a strict sense... you're not considered a person either," Tiran replied seriously.

"Get lost! Since I'm not a teacher, I have no obligation to accept their challenges. I refuse all of them."

"No, I already promised for you."

"Oh, %^&*@... explain to me," the princess said calmly, "A 5,000-gold match, are you not interested?"

"Hold on, what did you say?"

"A 5,000-gold match," Tiran's voice revealed a sense of satisfaction, "Yes, since you're not on the academy's official roster, it's not too much to ask them to pay a fee, right? This is a rare opportunity to spar with someone at the same level as the head instructor. And for these talented students, 5,000 gold might be painful but they can earn it back with a few high-level missions. There are plenty of people willing to pay."

"And what about this money..."

"For each one you win, I take one, just some pocket money for me." Surprisingly, the princess showed unexpected generosity—perhaps it had something to do with the fact that she caused Aya to owe millions of gold to Aya.

Oh well, in that case... it's worth a fight. Aya touched his smooth chin and turned to look at the students crowded at the entrance, as if looking at money bags willingly being handed over.

If it's 90% for one match, that's 4,500 gold at least... there are probably dozens of them here... Hmm, quite a substantial income. For Aya, who still had a huge debt, it was still better than nothing, even if not a lot.

So, the students at the entrance saw the assistant with white hair suddenly turning back with gleaming eyes, staring at them like hungry wolves, fists colliding fiercely to create a series of explosive sounds, and passionately declared, "I! Want! To! Fight! Ten! Of! You!"

Angriff, already standing in the arena, waited with an array of Chi speartips pointed at Aya, slightly bending his body in a stance ready to respond to any attack at any moment.

As a top-ranking student in the second stage, he was one of the few who had seen Aya's battle with Feilin before, and had a certain understanding of the white-haired guy's swordsmanship.

Although he estimated that he would ultimately be defeated, it was worth it to have a satisfying fight and realize his own shortcomings, making the 5,000 gold worth it.

"Three, two, one, begin!"

As soon as the words announcing the start fell, Angriff predicted in his mind no less than six possible attack routes Aya might take, and in an instant, he thrust out several spears to block all the routes, glimmers of cold light like the stars in the night sky.

No matter where you attack from, it will clash with the tip of my spear--

Up?

Before he could even feel satisfied, Angriff's consciousness suddenly went dark, as if the power had been cut off, and his entire field of vision turned black.

Plop.

...

Silence.

The people at the entrance watched in disbelief as Angriff, in the blink of an eye, defended against a barrage of flower-like attacks from Aya but suddenly collapsed, with Aya appearing behind him. And soon, a big lump formed on his head, and Lucky E brother was lying on the ground.

"What... what just happened?"

"Did anyone see his moves clearly?"

"This speed is totally on a different level from earlier, right?"

Aya snorted and smiled confidently, "Of course, my combat power is completely different when there's money to be made!"

"Well, he's done for. Next."