Chapter 197

[Bolt Dagger Style Progress: 40.7%]

[Second Trait Unlocked: Increased Agility by 12%]

The notification flickered at the edge of Kana’s awareness.

She remembered the moment it had happened, just a few nights ago. Forty percent. Her consistent training before going to bed and in the morning finally had results. The threshold she had crossed alone. Levels granted skills, sometimes evolutions, neat and predictable. But the strange item bound to her did not obey such rules. It rewarded mastery. Every twenty percent, it reshaped her body or some very useful bonus.

She felt it now.

Her muscles responded faster than thought. Her balance sharpened. The world seemed to lean toward her instead of away.

The young man before her was strong. Stronger, perhaps, than the shadowman in raw stats. His strikes carried weight, his movements carried polish. But something was missing.

His sword was rigid. Solid fundamentals but he was not able to adapt quickly.

Kana noticed it in the pauses between his attacks, in the way he committed fully to techniques meant to overwhelm rather than adapt. It was a style forged in safety, refined through repetition, not desperation.

Is it lack of experience? she wondered calmly.

Or have I simply grown used to battles where mistakes meant death?

Or perhaps it was simpler than that.

[High Awareness].

Against vanishing steps and sudden angles, it was a perfect counter. She could feel him before he moved, sense the intention behind the motion. Without it, this fight would have been far more dangerous. Without it, victory would not have been guaranteed.

She had seen enough.

Kana moved.

Not back. Not sideways.

Forward.

She closed the distance in a single breath, slipping inside his effective range until her presence was nearly pressed against his chest. It was the worst possible distance for a swordsman. Too close to swing. Too close to adjust.

Sheen’s eyes widened as instinct screamed at him to retreat, to reposition, to strike—

But the moment was already gone.

[Dagger Pierce]

Kana’s arm blurred, motion clean and direct. No flourish. No wasted movement. The dagger thrust forward, straight as an arrow, aimed at the hollow of his throat.

She stopped it an instant before contact.

The force of the halted strike exploded outward instead. A sharp gust of wind burst past Sheen’s neck, rippling his hair and cloak, the pressure slamming into his back as if the world itself had struck him.

Silence swallowed the arena.

Sheen froze.

Then his knees gave way.

He staggered back half a step, sword slipping from his fingers, sweat pouring down his face as terror finally caught up to understanding. He looked into Kana’s red eyes and saw it clearly.

She could have killed him with that strike.

“I lost,” he said hoarsely, voice barely audible. “I lost.”

For a heartbeat, the crowd could not comprehend what they had witnessed.

Then the arena erupted.

Cheers thundered through the coliseum, crashing against the stone walls, rolling over Kana like a tide. People shouted her name. Others simply screamed, overwhelmed by the sudden end.

Kana lowered her dagger and stepped back, breathing steady, expression unchanged.

The duel was over.

And the kingdom’s smallest fighter won against the empire.

…..

It was a winter afternoon when the annual tournament finally exhaled its last breath.

The announcer’s voice echoed through the coliseum one final time, thanking the crowd, the students, and the empire’s guests. No grand speeches. No lingering spectacle. Just closure, neat and official, as though the battles of the past days could be folded away like banners after a festival.

Kana waited, half-expecting someone to approach with a chest of rewards or a royal decree.

Nothing happened.

“It looks like we need to claim our winnings at the principal’s office, let’s get it next week,” Toby said, squinting at a parchment he had just received. “We still have enough time before curfew.”

“I agree!” Rin said, practically bouncing in place, the tension she had carried for days finally cracking into excitement.

Kana sighed and followed them as they joined the slow-moving tide toward the exits. She felt oddly hollow. The empire’s finest student had not been what she expected. The expectation she had braced herself against had simply… not been there.

People flooded out of the arena, boots crunching against frost-dusted stone. Some students used movement skills to slip through the congestion, bodies blurring for an instant before reappearing farther ahead. The winter air carried the mixed sounds of laughter, arguments, and excited retellings of battles already turning into legend.

“Who got the biggest win?” Suri asked cheerfully, hands clasped behind her head. “Be honest.”

Leo raised his hand slowly, like a student answering an uncomfortable question.

Suri’s eyes gleamed. “Then you’re treating us tonight. A real restaurant.”

Leo swallowed. “That… I will do.”

“Kana,” Yuri said, watching her closely. “Why do you look so down? You just won against the empire’s best.”

“I expected more,” Kana replied quietly. “I thought he’d push me further. He didn’t live up to his reputation.”

Rin stared at her, incredulous. “Kana… he can close distance in the blink of an eye. You parried him like it was obvious. Anyone else fighting him would have lost.”

Boris nodded. “I agree. Someone who can appear anywhere like that? I’d lose in a fair fight. Best I could do is smoke the field or poison the ground. Maybe force a draw.”

Kana said nothing. Their words settled, but they didn’t erase the faint disappointment coiled in her chest. She wanted to have a match again that could move her body without her thinking. That feeling.

As evening crept closer, the group slipped into a narrow, dimly lit alley. Dark hooded cloaks hid their faces, fabric brushing against cold stone walls. Betting houses were forbidden in the open. That did not mean they did not exist.

The commoner district greeted them with muted lantern light and the smell of damp wood and old smoke. Inside the betting house, the air was surprisingly quiet. Only a handful of patrons stood at the counter, collecting winnings with guarded expressions.

They were quickly ushered upstairs.

The second floor was hidden, insulated from noise and prying eyes. Plush chairs, thick carpets, and reinforced doors spoke of money that did not wish to be noticed.

“I’m Fred,” said a man with a low, steady voice as he entered. He placed several heavy pouches on the table. The sound of coins settling was unmistakable. “Owner of this branch. Your tickets and winnings are inside.”

Kana felt the weight of the room shift. The students were all so happy beside her grinning from mouth to ear.

“This is a large amount,” Fred continued evenly. “I recommend hiring our guards. It will cost you, but they will ensure safe delivery to your residence.”

“No need,” Suri said instantly, pointing with a grin. “We already have capable guards.”

Her finger landed squarely on Boris and Adam.

“I’m not your guard,” Boris snapped.

Adam straightened, then saluted with exaggerated seriousness. “I will fulfill my duty, Miss Suri.”

“You should learn from Adam,” Suri said sweetly.

Kana stared at the coin-filled sacks, her expression tightening.

Right.

Better if we have banks and paper money.

…

After the restaurant’s warmth faded behind them, the ten students made their way back toward the academy, enchanted lantern light stretching their shadows thin across the cobbled streets. The night had settled fully now, winter air sharp enough to sting the lungs. Their laughter from earlier had dulled, replaced by the quiet clink of coin shifting inside oversized pouches.

Suri was the first to break the silence. She let out a satisfied burp, then frowned. “They’ve been following us since we left the restaurant.”

Kana nodded, her eyes never stopping. “Right. You were careless with the pouches.” Her gaze flicked upward, then ahead, then to the crumbling piles of stone lining the road. “I’ll handle the ones on the roof. Just don’t kill anyone. An investigation might lead back to the gambling.” She paused, then added flatly, “Your gambling.”

She slowed, counting breaths instead of steps. “Seven ahead. Ten behind. Five on each side, hiding in the rubble.”

The shadows twitched.

The thieves froze for a fraction of a heartbeat, startled that their careful positioning had been peeled open so casually. That moment was all the students needed. Several of them surged forward at once, boots pounding against stone, weapons flashing into hand.

Yuri muttered, “[Enhance Speed — Level Two]”

Kana stayed where she was.

She drew her bow in one smooth motion, the string whispering as it pulled taut. Four figures were silhouetted against the rooftops above, bows already half-raised.

She loosed.

The arrow sang through the air, and something deeper answered it.

[True Shot]

Kana hadn’t meant to activate it. It simply happened, as natural as breathing. The arrow punched cleanly through a shoulder, then another, the force twisting bodies backward. The remaining archers cried out as additional arrows followed, each finding flesh instead of bone, disabling rather than killing. They collapsed onto the roof tiles, weapons clattering uselessly beside them.

Below, the street erupted.

Steel rang. A dagger scraped against armor. A startled shout cut short as Rin stepped into close combat, mace swinging in a tight arc. Two men rushed her, confidence clear in their posture. It vanished when her strike connected. Even without a shield, even without finesse, the raw difference in strength sent one sprawling. The other hesitated just long enough to make the same mistake.

Everywhere, the imbalance was obvious.

These weren’t hardened criminals. They were opportunists. Levels two or three, at most. Hungry eyes and borrowed courage.

Less than a minute later, the street fell quiet again.

Bodies lay scattered across stone and rubble, groaning, clutching wounded limbs, very much alive but in no condition to flee. Frosted breath puffed into the night air, uneven and panicked.

“Search them,” Kana said calmly, her voice carrying. “Take their coins. They should have something on them.”

Yuri hesitated, scratching her cheek as she looked down at one unconscious man. “Uhm… Kana? Aren’t we basically thieves if we do that?”

Kana tilted her head, genuinely puzzled. “It’s common sense to loot thieves.”

“This is the first time I’ve heard that sentence,” Yuri muttered.

Suri snorted softly. “This is why Kana has more money than all of us.” She hadn’t even needed to lift a finger.

Kana re-slung her bow and looked toward the academy’s distant lights, already fading back into focus. The danger had been shallow. Predictable.

Still, she made a mental note.

Large pouches filled with coins were attracting unwanted attention. Well. It was so obvious.

Right. This is why banks and money made of paper are important.

Post note:
1st chap of the week.
Hope you enjoy 🙂