Chapter 302: It’s really an expensive sword.
However—
Before Karl and Pier could rush into the arena, Adelyn had already steadied her footing.
The two of them stopped in their tracks, their faces filled with worry.
"Sister-in-law!" Karl called anxiously. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt?"
Adelyn merely glanced at him before shaking her head. "I’m fine."
Her expression gradually turned serious as she lowered her gaze to the sword in her hand.
She had originally thought this duel would be simple. Even if the sword in her hand had a bad build for real-time practice, she would still be able to manage it with her strength.
But after exchanging that first strike, she finally realized just how troublesome Karl’s beautiful masterpiece actually was.
The craftsmanship.
The balance.
The center of gravity.
Everything about this sword worked just against its wielder.
Quietly, she rolled the blade through her fingers once again. She then subtly shifted her grip, tested the weight and adjusted her wrist.
Again.
And again.
Her sharp eyes studied every tiny response the weapon gave her, carefully engraving its imbalance into her memory.
Only after understanding a sword completely ...
Could one truly wield it.
But that needed both time and practice. And she had none.
Across from her—
Tressa slowly relaxed her stance. The corners of her lips lifted into a faint smirk.
Moments ago, Adelyn’s opening stance had genuinely startled her. She had expected someone much stronger.
But after witnessing that exchange, she realized she had overestimated her once again.
An actress ...
Was still just an actress.
She had no strength
Anyone could imitate a stance.
Anyone could copy elegant movements after watching and practicing long enough.
But appearances alone could never recreate years of genuine training. Nor could they imitate the strength hidden beneath every strike.
Her eyes filled with disdain.
Did this woman honestly believe she could study for a month ... and then stand proudly before people who had devoted years of their lives to the sword?
Who did she think she was?
And more importantly ...
How dare she treat swordsmanship so lightly?
"It was only the first strike," Tressa said arrogantly. "You couldn’t even withstand that."
She slowly raised her sword again.
"Are you certain you still want to remain here and face the rest?"
Adelyn heard every word.
Yet ...
She barely reacted.
She simply continued examining the sword for another brief moment before finally lifting her eyes.
Then, she gave Tressa a small nod. Her expression remained calm. But her eyes were no longer the same.
Gone was the relaxed indifference from earlier.
What remained now was complete focus.
Had any of her disciples been standing here, they wouldn’t have been watching the duel.
They would’ve been watching her.
Every adjustment of her fingers.
Every shift of her wrist.
Every minute change in her expression.
Because they knew those tiny details were exactly where the real lessons always hid.
Unfortunately—
No one from Talon understood that.
To them, the change in her expression meant only one thing —that the reality had finally caught up to her.
"Looks like she’s finally realized the gap between them." Pete let out a disdainful scoff. "Junior Sister pushed her back with just one strike."
He crossed his arms.
"Let’s see how many more she can survive."
Denis smirked as well.
"She brought this upon herself." He chuckled. "Junior Sister won’t go easy on her now."
Steve, however, remained silent.
His eyes never left the arena.
Unlike the others, he refused to reach a conclusion after witnessing only a single exchange.
It wasn’t that he doubted Tressa. He knew exactly how capable she was.
Rather ...
He still couldn’t understand Adelyn.
Something about her simply didn’t fit.
Zeke gloated as well. "Karl Warren, get ready to be humiliated."
Karl gritted. But the grit wasn’t because of Zeke’s rude remarks. It was out of sheer nervousness for his sister-in-law.
Inside the arena—
Tressa attacked again.
And again.
Each strike was swift.
Clean.
Decisive.
Yet Adelyn never counterattacked. She merely defended.
Every time Tressa’s sword descended, Adelyn’s blade rose to intercept it.
Clang!
Another collision echoed.
Then another.
And another.
To everyone watching, her defense looked increasingly clumsy. Her footing wasn’t perfectly stable. Her movements weren’t particularly elegant.
Every adjustment she made seemed almost improvised.
Whenever she attempted to refine her angle, the sword would immediately force her to make another correction.
It looked almost awkward.
Outside the ring, people gradually began shaking their heads. Knowing little, they misunderstood everything.
They thought every block ... every retreat ... every backward step ...
Was simply Adelyn desperately protecting herself from Tressa’s overwhelming offense.
They believed she was only prolonging the inevitable. Stalling on purpose just to avoid a humiliating defeat for as long as possible.
And sooner or later, she would tire.
Once her strength ran out, she would lose.
But —
Minutes quietly passed, but nothing seemed to change.
Tressa remained just as aggressive. Her attacks were still as sharp as before. Every strike carried enough force to overwhelm an ordinary opponent.
She wanted Adelyn to understand something.
Swordsmanship wasn’t learned through imitation.
It wasn’t mastered through acting.
It demanded years of discipline.
Years of pain.
Years of relentless practice —one they had gone through.
Every strike she delivered carried that very message.
Yet, something gradually changed.
It wasn’t Adelyn.
It was Tressa.
Her strength remained the same. Her technique remained flawless. Even her speed barely declined.
But her patience slowly began wearing thin.
No matter how aggressively she attacked —Adelyn simply refused to fall.
That stubborn resilience irritated her more and more.
Finally, Tressa stepped backward.
She looked at Adelyn one last time. Her expression gradually turned serious.
Her jaw tightened.
"I think you’ve seen enough."
Her voice was calm and cold.
"You’ve experienced the difference between genuine skill and empty imitation."
She slowly raised her sword.
"So next time, when you face people who have truly dedicated themselves to this art, know your limits."
"Lower your pride, and step back."
She inhaled slowly.
"Now, let’s end this."
The instant those words fell—
Her feet shifted in a single precise adjustment. Her wrist rotated, and the blade carved through the air in a clean diagonal arc.
It was the finishing strike.
One she had practiced thousands upon thousands of times.
Inside her mind, she had already pictured the ending.
Adelyn would fail to block it.
The force would drive her to one knee.
The duel would end immediately.
But—
Something changed.
Adelyn’s eyes sharpened.
This time, she no longer looked at Tressa.
She looked at the sword.
At its weight.
Its balance.
Its delayed momentum.
Then—
She moved.
Clang!
The blades collided once again.
Except, this time, Adelyn didn’t block.
She met the strike head-on —perfectly.
The power flowing through her blade was no longer scattered.
It was precise, controlled and balanced.
Tressa’s pupils contracted.
"What—"
Before she could finish—
Adelyn gently pressed forward.
A surprisingly overwhelming force surged through the crossing blades.
Tressa’s footing instantly broke. And she skidded several steps backwards.
"You—"
Her eyes widened.
That exchange was completely different from what it was supposed to be.
Moments ago, this woman had barely managed to defend herself.
How ...
How had everything changed so suddenly?
She instinctively looked toward Adelyn.
Only to see her casually rolling the sword through her fingers.
This time, the heavy weapon moved as though it had become part of her own arm.
No hesitation.
No awkwardness.
No resistance.
It obeyed every tiny movement of her wrist.
Adelyn finally looked up. A faint smile slowly curved across her lips.
"Well..."
She lightly twirled the sword once more.
"This really is an expensive sword." She glanced at the jeweled blade. "And quite a troublesome one."
Her smile deepened ever so slightly.
"So, I couldn’t afford to be reckless with it."