Chapter 190: Chapter 190 Duel.

Soma ignored the red-haired senior words as he dragged Xiao Lian in his hand toward the empty arena. Xiao Lian, who felt the warmth in her hand, slightly clenched her connected hand and quietly followed Soma from behind. Once they arrived at the venue together, they ascended the stairs and stood on the deserted vast arena.

Slowly, he released his connected hands, which made Xiao Lian gasp in lonely sighs because of the sudden loss of the worm that enveloped her hands and also her heart. She lifted her gaze and found Soma with his calm face staring straight at her, which made her heart leap.

"Let's start the warm-up".

"...Un".

Soma separated himself from Xiao Lian. She felt slightly unwilling to separate from him, stirring her heart. Xiao Lian shook her head to eliminate the unnecessary emotion in her training time. She followed Soma's movement, twisting her joints to prevent injury.

After feeling his muscles loosened up. Soma puffed out his chest, inhaling a huge amount of oxygen before exhaling it in one go.

"Follow me!".

Xiao Lian nodded her head, and Soma kicked the ground and began his jogging. His footsteps were rhythmic and steady on the stone-paved ground. He also regulated his breathing correctly so as to not empty the oxygen in his body, which would cause him severe problems.

Gradually, Soma and Xiao Lian are side by side, running on the arena in circles as they are currently finishing their first lap, which took probably less than a minute with Soma's current pace.

Soma occasionally monitored Xiao Lian, who was jogging along beside him and was ready to slow his pace whenever she was feeling heavy.

[Jogging in progress]

The more time he spent jogging, the more his tensed muscles at first loosened. It gradually synched with his breathing, making his steps more firm and fluid on the ground.

Xiao Lian, who is already drenched in sweat, still retains her calm face while matching her pace with Soma, who has a monstrous stamina among his peers.

"Are you still good, Xiao Lian? Want me to lower the pace?".

"...No, I'm good".

"Got it. I will keep the pace as it is".

Soma maintained his steady, fast pace until he almost reached his fifteen laps when his gaze was caught, the red-haired senior blocking their lines with a smirk on his face. Xiao Lian also noticed his appearance, which made her mood turn for the worse as her face darkened and the light disappeared from her ruby-like eyes.

The red-haired senior, along with his escort, proudly stood on the side of their jogging course, making Soma knit his brows in displeasure.

"Ignored him".

"Mm".

Soma and Xiao Lian resumed their jogging despite holding a slight discomfort in their chest.

After more than thirty minutes, when Xiao Lian shows a sign of exhaustion because of the heavy mind she carried around while jogging, Soma decides to end it for the day as he still had the remaining twenty minutes times later for night.

"Let's stop here. It will be dangerous if this keeps up".

"...I am sorry".

"No, Xiao Lian, this is not your fault. Take a deep breath, and then we can start our training".

"Mm, Thanks Soma".

As per instruction from Soma, Xiao Lian takes her time to regain her calm heart as she regulates her breathing several times before she exhales in one go and then turns her gaze at Soma.

"Soma, I'm ready".

"Okay then, shall we start?".

Xiao Lian nodded her head as she took out the wooden staff she used for training with Soma and Hina. As for Soma, he clenched both fists, put his usual middle stance, and sharpened his sense in facing Xiao Lian.

"Please take care of me".

"Me too, here I come".

As Soma tried to engage in sparring, a single orange stick that looked like an arrow flew in a straight line entered his sight as it was straight aimed at his face. Soma jerked his head back and nearly avoided a direct hit to his head.

"Soma, are you okay?!".

Xiao Lian, who noticed the arrow, canceled her stance as she approached Soma's side while gazing at his face. She sighs in relief, for there is not a single scar, before turning her hostile gaze toward the source.

A crisp sound of a clapping sound reverberated across the arena. At the same time, the red-haired youth, the mastermind in interrupting their duel, approached their place with a cunning gaze he directed at Xiao Lian.

"Miss Xiao. Let me have the honor of sparring with you".

"...".

Xiao Lian didn't answer and just let her tranquil gaze straight at the senior while concealing a boiling magma in her heart. She began to clench her staff in her hands.

"Fuu…".

Soma, who finally turned his gaze at the senior, cast his calm gaze, but within those calm ripples, it had a tremendous amount of wrath that he suppressed and was ready to burst apart as long as he wished.

[Extra Skill Puppeteer activated]

"What do you want, senior? Not just interrupting our focus, you also interrupting our sparring".

"Silence, peasant, I am talking with Miss Xiao here, begone from my sight. Jian Li takes care of him!". Latest updates from m _vlempyr.

"...Your words are my command. So how about it? I'm sorry for being a rude first-year, would you like to spar with me?".

"Ha?!".

The blue-haired senior behind the red hair stepped forward, and he pointed his wooden Sword at Soma's face while proposing a duel.

Soma's suppressed rage began to turn uncontrollable as the blood inside his veins boiled, clenching both his fists until it left a red mark. Luckily, he is currently holding his emotions in check with the skill. If not, he has already pounced toward both of the seniors in rage.

"What nonsense are you spouting? You guys are the ones who should leave! Xiao Lian and I have something to…".

"Soma!".

Xiao Lian's flat tone echoed in his ear as she cut into Soma's explanation while glaring at the red-haired senior with frosty eyes. Looking at the red-haired senior attitude, it seems he is the type that would listen to any words from someone else. Xiao Lian began to step forward, and before everyone's eyes in the arena, Xiao Lian pointed her staff toward the red-haired senior and opened her mouth.

"Alright, I will accept your challenge".

"Xiao Lian, what are you thinking?".

"Oh, Very well Miss Xiao, let's start our sparring".

The conversation was going in the wrong way, and Soma felt that if he didn't stop Xiao Lian in calming her anger. The outcome will probably turn bad for her.

Soma clicked his tongue and, with a forced hand, grabbed Xiao Lian's left hand and dragged her from the place.

"Soma?!".

"Why you?!".

"Shut up. This is a tactical meeting before sparring, and I ask you two to step away from us because I have something to tell Xiao Lian about the fight".

The red-haired senior eyes shrank into a dangerous state while suddenly, from his side, a hand was blocking him that blanked his raging mind briefly.

"Young master, let's retreat and do as he says, regardless of what tactics they used. Those first-year students can't match our strength".

"...Hmph, do as you wish!".

As he finished saying that phrase with an annoyed snort, he turned his back and stepped away from the place. The blue-haired senior saw his master retreating with a tired sigh.

He turned his gaze to the back for the last time as he saw the two first-year students discussing something he couldn't hear because of the distance, then he turned his gaze back in front and chased the figure of his master.

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