Jace vaguely remembered the guy. Same class. Handsome. Rich kid. Scored a triple kill in the first week of school. His favorite hobby was chasing women that other men worshiped as goddesses. It fed his ego.
His strength was decent too, one of the top scorers in the entrance assessment, several levels higher than Lilith.
Willa went on.
"That idiot was drunk out of his mind and kept dragging me around. I figured I'd find a quiet place, knock him out, and come back. Who knew he had a pretty strong bodyguard."
"His level seemed a bit lower than mine, but I'm a mechanist. If he gets close, that's a problem. Before the authorities stepped in, I didn't have absolute confidence I could silence him."
"Luckily they were wasted. They dragged me into a hotel suite and passed out on the floor."
"I slipped out while the bodyguard went to the bathroom. Then the bastard chased me through half the district. I hid till sunrise."
Hearing the whole story, Jace understood exactly what had happened.
Clayton was a wealthy brat. Something like this? Normally he would settle with money. But he got nothing, and she ran. If the rumor spread, it would stain his reputation and even hit the family business.
So they acted first: smear her in school. Once the rumor was everywhere, anything Willa said would be useless.
And since so many people repeated it, the ones spreading it would only need to offer a shallow apology at most. Clayton had not actually done anything yet, so there would be no real punishment.
Jace said, "So that's why those guys were looking for you this morning."
Maxwell asked, "What are you planning to do?"
Willa waved a hand.
"I heard Clayton has an older brother, twelve years older, spoils him rotten, and is a genius himself. Probably above level fifty. I'm guessing that bodyguard was his."
She planned to wait, gather intel on the older brother. He traveled often. When he left P City, she would stab Clayton in the back.
Given Willa's connections, she never needed to get her hands dirty. Plenty of clients would gladly do it for her.
The three of them rushed into the training hall just before class resumed.
The moment they entered, Quill walked straight to Jace and relayed Lyria's request.
She wanted to spar with him.
Jace felt the temperature around him drop. Maxwell and Willa immediately leaned in, listening with full alertness.
Willa whispered, "No way. Did Jace actually get exposed?"
She had heard Maxwell's half hour gossip dump between classes and knew everything about last night.
Maxwell frowned.
"I think it's possible. That white-haired girl definitely has real sword insight. She picked out Lilith's flaws just by listening. Maybe she noticed something wrong with Jace too."
Jace himself had never felt this close to being cornered.
Even with all his confidence in disguise and acting, facing the girl he fought last night made him doubt everything.
And there she stood now.
The Stormveil family's Lyria.
Only this time, the black cane had become a wooden sword.
Quill sat in the audience seating, absolutely thrilled.
He had no interest in Jace's swordsmanship.
What he wanted to witness was the legendary heir of the world's strongest sword clan.
Lyria lifted the wooden sword with one hand.
"Be careful. I'm going to strike."
That line… she definitely learned it from Lilith.
Jace complained internally, but his body did not dare slow down even half a beat.
Facing her, he truly had to stay alive.
The air trembled.
Her opening strike came with zero warning.
Jace raised his wooden sword to block, but her blade instantly shifted, sliding from his shoulder to target his forearm.
Just one strike, and the class erupted.
"How did her sword change direction so fast?"
"That flow is insane. Not a single wasted movement."
In truth, Lyria wasn't using her real speed yet.
She was copying Lilith's tempo.
Jace responded the way someone of his supposed level should, stepping back to widen the distance.
Lyria followed ruthlessly, silent and cold, like a ghost closing in.
Jace stopped retreating and suddenly stepped forward instead.
Their faces almost touched.
A flash of last night's rooftop battle flickered through Lyria's mind.
They had fought this close before.
She forced the thought away.
"It's a Battle Technique!" a student shouted.
"Wow, this guy saves all his big moves for pretty girls."
Jace's wooden sword carved a clean arc, tracing a circular slash similar in appearance to Lyria's Frost Dominion, though continents apart in power.
It was nothing but one of the thirty six standard techniques permitted for university beginners.
Battle Technique Arc Slash.
For Lyria, it might as well have been a gentle breeze.
Jace knew that perfectly.
He was baiting her.
Come on.
Use your real sword presence from last night and knock me out.
But she refused.
She matched his pace, copying his fighting style, retreating when she needed to, then clashing with pure force.
Clack.
Their wooden swords collided.
The class went wild.
Quill nodded with satisfaction.
As expected from the Stormveil family's prodigy. Level twenty at least? Easily half of his own strength.
Jace was doing fine too. He would definitely lose, but at least the school wouldn't be humiliated.
"Wait… does anyone else think this white haired girl looks kind of familiar?"
A dangerous question rippled across the seating.
Lilith, still mesmerized by the duel, froze.
Now that someone mentioned it, Lyria's sword movements did look like someone else's…
"She looks like that girl who fought Grey Hat last night!" a student blurted out.
"Oh damn, she really does! The stance, the posture, the clothes, everything!"
Quill blinked.
"What are you talking about?"
Lilith explained,
"Teacher, you don't know? Grey Hat tried to steal a jewel last night. He got caught and fought a super strong swordswoman."
Quill took out his phone.
He had gamed until past midnight and slept till morning.
He had missed everything.
He didn't even need to search.
The trending page was filled with headlines.
Rooftop Clash Grey Hat vs the Stormveil Prodigy
Exclusive The Stormveil Princess and Grey Hat An Untold Secret
The video only caught silhouettes trading blows atop the shattered glass roof.
Lyria's face was too blurred to see clearly, but her sword form burned itself into memory.
Their battle was short, but agreed upon by the entire internet as a masterpiece.
Frame by frame breakdowns everywhere.
Two combatants without openings, perfect timing, clean execution.
It was textbook swordsmanship.
Quill took one look and immediately recognized her.
The exact same posture.
The exact same rhythm.
No one could mimic someone's ingrained habits by accident.
He stared blankly at the real person standing before him.
"The principal is insane. He expects me to teach her?"