Chaoyang Martial Arts School.
The headmaster stood there with a cheerful smile, waiting for Bertram's arrival. He valued the mysterious girl a lot, and because of that, he also started valuing Bertram.
When Bertram got to the training ground, the mysterious girl was already in the center, standing under the sunlight like a statue. The moment Bertram stepped forward, she instantly took her stance.
The first time, Bertram had lasted through 50 moves. This time, the mysterious girl's goal was to defeat him in less than 40.
She came at him fast, like a hurricane, no hesitation. Bertram could tell right away, she had gotten stronger since their last fight.
Scenes from tons of battles he'd fought in the life simulation flashed through his head. Right after that, he moved.
In the mysterious girl's galaxy-like eyes, a flicker of surprise showed up, like stars shaking. "You've gotten stronger!" she said seriously, her eyes lit with excitement she couldn't hide. This was the first time someone actually improved that much after just one fight with her.
The headmaster watched while recording their moves, silently hoping Bertram could hang in a little longer. But as he kept counting, he realized something wasn't right.
Bertram was doing even better than last time.
They had already reached 40 moves, and he hadn't even used his special move yet, the silver threads.
It wasn't until the 50th move that he finally used them.
Fifty moves. That was how far he made it last time.
The headmaster's eyes widened.
That meant in just one day, Bertram's fighting skills had improved even more than the mysterious girl's.
The light in the mysterious girl's eyes got brighter, sharper.
Bertram's progress completely fired up her fighting spirit.
That sudden rush of intensity made Bertram feel like she had transformed, and this crazy pressure hit him hard.
At the 60th move, Bertram lost.
He stared at the mysterious girl, kind of stunned.
He really thought he could last till 80 this time!
But the moment her spirit lit up, her power became way too scary.
"Not bad! Over the years, you're the only one who lasted more moves against me, not less!" The energy in her eyes faded after just ten more moves.
Bertram was honestly shocked. In the life simulations, he had fought her so many times, building up experience that was basically meant just for her style.
And still, he only managed 10 extra moves.
"This is your payment. For the first 50 moves, I'll give you 500 Dawn Coins. For the extra 10, it's 100 Dawn Coins each, so that makes 1,500 total." The mysterious girl tossed him a pouch of coins.
"In the future, it'll be the same. The more moves you can hold out against me, the higher I'll pay." Her eyes were full of determination.
"I've got stuff to deal with, so I might not be able to come often," Bertram said after thinking for a second.
"When's the next time?" the mysterious girl asked, frowning.
"I'm not totally sure…" Bertram remembered her crazy strength.
Without the life simulation backing him up, there was no way he could even keep up with her.
So Bertram had to cheat.
The next time they met, it had to be after his next life simulation reshaped his destiny.
If not, he'd just end up disappointing the mysterious girl, especially now that she finally seemed fired up.
"Give me your phone!" she said, holding out her hand.
Bertram handed it over.
"This is my number. Call me when you have time!" She saved her number and passed the phone back.
"Got it!" Bertram nodded.
After giving her instructions, the mysterious girl turned gracefully in the sunlight, carrying her long sword, and exited through the back gate of the training ground.
She was always so decisive, never dragging things out.
"You actually held out for 60 moves?"
The dojo master finally realized, sounding pretty impressed.
"Prepare well. The next battle will be much tougher. Today, she was only just starting to get serious," the dojo master said, turning to Bertram.
Just starting to get serious? Bertram twisted his sore arm, his mouth twitching without meaning to.
---
Police Station
This morning, an officer named Jack had been absent all day.
At first, no one really noticed.
I mean, Jack being late wasn't exactly a new thing, and he didn't have many close friends at the station anyway.
But then, they got a murder report.
When a few officers rushed to the scene, they were totally shocked.
Isn't that Jack?
But instead of seeing him sitting at his desk, they found him lying face down on the dirty ground, covered in blood, already a corpse.
"Jack is dead?"
The death of a regular person and the death of a police officer are totally different. Besides just losing someone, it felt like a direct slap to the whole station.
"Report this to the chief immediately!" The officers looked seriously shaken.
Just a few days ago, the station had been attacked too.
"Isn't the Chief in the ICU?"
"The acting one!!"
With police sirens blaring, the acting Chief quickly walked into the alley. When he saw Jack's body, his whole face changed.
"Which bastard caused trouble at this critical moment? If I catch him, I'll skin him alive!"
Officer Nelson was still badly injured in the hospital. And during this important evaluation period, the acting Chief knew that if he handled things well, he might take Nelson's spot and become the official Chief.
"Investigate! I want a full investigation! I want to know who has the guts to be this bold!" the acting Chief shouted, completely furious.
Right then, a medical examiner came up and whispered, "Chief, it was a sword aura that killed him."
Sword aura? The acting Chief's face instantly went pale.
He had thought it was just some small fight, but now it turned out to be sword aura, which meant it had to be a C-rank or higher expert?
The acting Chief quickly looked around, hoping no one had heard his earlier tough-guy talk. If the killer heard what he said, he could end up getting sliced by sword aura in his sleep.
"Good grief, I thought becoming Chief here was my big break. Who knew it was a death trap? First, the Chief gets attacked, and now an officer is killed by a C-rank expert. This is a death sentence! Officer Nelson might actually be lucky to just be in the ICU!"
"I better report this immediately!"
The acting Chief was already hoping that his higher-ups would notice how dangerous it was here and quickly transfer him somewhere safer, somewhere he could actually do well.
At the same time, both the Olson Family and the Jackson Family got the report that Jack had been killed by the sword aura of a C-rank warrior.