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The tournament rules were simple, one would lose if they were out of bounds, or they were unconscious. Also, one could not kill or murder their opponent, neither are they allowed to attack their opponent after the match is finished.

The stage was made out of bricks and stone, in a shape of a circle. In the center of the stage laid a man-made pool.

"Winner, Hana!"

"Winner, Xue!"

"Winner, Cecil!"

The three of them won their matches easily, knocking their opponent out of bounds. Xue was the most merciless among them, some of his opponents were bruised badly.

They advanced to the top 40 within a few matches.

"I am honoured to have this match with you!" Hana chirped to her opponent.

"Likewise, Hana."

Her opponent was the same age as her, twenty years old, and she had an average appearance with a slim body. Unlike the others, she bore no grudges against Hana.

Hana was a water user, whereas, her opponent was an air user.

Hana controlled the water from the pool, drenching her shawl in it.

Her opponent, Ulu, used a wooden staff as her weapon, swinging it around her expertly.

"Begin!"

Hana's hand motions were swift and fluid, drawing the water from the well, extending the length of her shawl within a second.

Ulu furrowed her thin eyebrows.

Hana had a bright smile on her face, making the first move as she swiped her hand, aiming the line of water at Ulu.

Which part of the water is her shawl?

Ulu decided to defend against the first line of water aimed at her, and the water splashed over her entire body.

She closed her eyes instinctively, shielding them from the water.

There's no pain, the shawl isn't in this part of the water!

Ulu wiped her eyes, snapping them open just to see another wave of water headed her way. She fumbled, placing her wooden staff in front of her.

Hana made a dancing motion with her hands, the wave of water following her. It attacked Ulu on the side, where she was vulnerable. She grunted, feeling her arm throbbing in pain as she staggered back from the impact.

She stabilised herself, and Hana pouted, her trick had failed.

Ulu had been observing her attacks from the audience, and though she knew Hana utilises tricks like this, it was hard to predict where the shawl exactly was when she started playing around with the water.

Moreover, with Hana had a habit of changing her decisions quickly. Thus, she didn't have an attack pattern that people could read.

"Awww...it didn't work, I thought everyone would fall for it."

Ulu wanted to laugh, Hana was truly naive and honest to the point where she was insensitive.

"It's my turn now, Hana."

"Okayyyy!"

Ulu spun her wooden staff, gathering the air around it and proceeded to swing it at Hana's direction.

Hana blinked innocently, tilting her head. Her eyes or ears weren't sharp enough to see or hear anything, thus, she didn't know where to avoid. She only brought her shawl in front of her, to form a wall of water.

In an instant, the ball of air collided with the wall of water. It splashed everywhere, drenching Hana from head to toe.

Hana groaned, wiping her face and eyes, and when she opened her eyes, Ulu had already sent another ball of air to her direction.

Hana panicked, separating the wall of water. One of them to defend her, and the other to attack Ulu.

Unfortunately, because Hana's mind is simple, in situations like this, it was easy to read her thoughts.

Ulu twirled her staff swiftly, hitting the force of water charging at her, a solemn look on her blemished face. The shawl was inside and it dropped to the ground with a wet, squishy sound. She made another twirl instantly and aimed it at Hana's side, like what Hana had done earlier to her.

Hana was attacked by her own wall of water again, and she couldn't even recover before a force hit her on the side.

"Ahh!"

She let out a scream, stumbling and falling off the stage.

"Winner, Ulu!"

Ulu would advance to the next round, ranked 39th. Whereas, Hana was ranked 40th among the freshmen.

Xue appeared at her side quickly, helping her up.

"Are you okay, Hana?"

"I'm fine, I'm just all wet and dirty now...and I lost, awww..." Hana pursed her lips. "My bum hurts!"

Ulu stepped down from the stage, approaching Hana and giving her a bow.

"Thank you for the match, Hana. I like your idea of choosing the shawl as your weapon, it suits you well, strangely."

Hana glanced up and stopped sulking, immediately hopping up to Ulu. "Thank you as well! I had fun, heheh! Your wooden staff is amazing!"

The two ladies were soaked completely, and though their clothing was thick enough to not be able to see through.

Water droplets slid down their pale neck, and disappearing into their robes. Their eyelashes were glistening and their long hair stuck to their bodies, making a tempting sight for the young male viewers.

Cecil, along with Kai, and joined up with Hana. Xue noticed some lecherous stares from the male students, glowering at them and they looked away hurriedly.

His glare grew worse when he looked at Ulu, and Ulu backed away in alarm.

"Xue, she didn't do it on purpose." Cecil placed her hand on Xue's shoulder.

She was afraid that Xue would attack Ulu in front of everyone. Hana would only stop him once the attack was done, because she was very dense. Hence, Cecil could only step up and act as the pacifier for Xue.

"Don't touch me." Xue growled out, throwing Cecil's hand off his shoulder.

Kai noticed this action, frowning in disapproval. He knew Xue was overly protective of Hana, to the point of being extreme.

"Hey, Xue, if Cecil didn't calm you down, you have scared to the poor girl to death, wouldn't you?"

Xue grunted.

[ Previous impression points : 90
Remaining impression points : 80
Protagonist "Xue" isn't happy with your touch and your pacifying skills. ]

Cecil blinked with wide eyes, pulling her hand back.

This great lord protagonist...he didn't use to be so grouchy around me last time.

It was more of disgust, but now...

Cecil sighed, she has grown accustomed to her impression points falling and increasing erratically.

"Hmm, Xue, why would you scare Ulu? She's so nice."

Cecil wanted to laugh and cry at Hana's response.

Hana...everyone is nice in your eyes. Sigh, this heroine, she is too innocent for the world.

Xue plastered the gentle expression, exclusively for Hana, on his face and patting her head. "No, I won't scare her, it was just a joke."

"Oh, a joke?" Hana beamed and she turned to Ulu. "Ulu, isn't Xue--oh."

She glanced down at both her outfit and Ulu's outfit. "Can you come over here?"

Ulu glanced up, looking at Hana with wide eyes. She glanced at Xue, growing pale.

You...you are asking me to enter the lion's den!

Cecil knew what was going through Ulu's timid mind. She stepped in front of Xue, blocking him from her line of sight, though she couldn't cover his face completely since she was shorter than Xue.

Nevertheless, it still helped Ulu.

"Don't worry, Hana only wants to wring dry your robes." Cecil softened her cold look, turning to Hana. "Aren't I right, Hana?"

"Mhmm!"

Ulu relaxed, closing the distance between her and Hana slightly. Hana did her work, taking the water out from their robes, as well as the water from the surface of their bodies.

Meanwhile, Xue who was unhappy at Cecil blocking him, froze when he caught a whiff of the pleasant fragrance from Cecil.

Kai observed, surprised that Xue hadn't made a move. He was sure Xue would push Cecil away and he was preparing to catch her.

Cecil is really a pacifier to this guy, when it should be Hana.

How strange.

Hana finished it quickly and Ulu smiled gratefully, thanking Hana once again.

"Hmm...now I feel hot, it actually felt cooling with the water soaking me earlier..." Hana fanned herself and Ulu lit up.

She swung her staff lightly, creating small balls of air.

"Here's some wind."

The gentle breeze blew by a few times, and it cooled Hana down as she hummed in appreciation.

The wind caressed Cecil's face as she stood beside Hana, her hair blew back, tickling Xue's face and he broke out of his reverie, clicking his tongue.

"Your damn hair--" he said, inhaling sharply and he stopped abruptly.

Her pleasant fragrance, a mixture of herbs and flowers, permeated the air around him more than ever.

Cecil heard him, immediately turning her head.

"Oh, my apologies, my hair is too long."

Cecil managed a soft, apologetic smile, her limpid eyes gazing up at him. She tucked her hair behind her ear, carefully holding her hair down.

Her fragrance, along with her looking up at him in such a coy manner, Xue could feel his breathing gradually slowing down.

Somehow, Xue found her...beautiful and endearing.

Seeing no response from him and his peculiar stare, Cecil tilted her head slightly.

"...?"

"Xue?"

His name rolled off her tongue, and her voice sounded unusually gentle in his ears.

Xue felt his heart skipping a beat.

Another breeze blew by, and Cecil fluttered her eyelashes involuntarily as her hair tickled her face.

It affected Xue even more, and he finally broke his gaze away from her. Blinking rapidly, he was bewildered by the bizarre situation.

"I feel better! Thank you, Ulu!"

"You're welcome, I hope to see you around, Hana."

"See you again!"

The gong sounded, and a signal to inform the students of an upcoming match.

"Next match, Cecil and Yan!"

***

《 start 》

Her fragrance annoys me.

Her hair annoys me.

Her eyes annoys me.

Her voice annoys me.

Her touch annoys me.

Everything about her annoys me, because it is unsettling.

I have never been this annoyed and unsettled by anyone.

《 stop 》














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