Chapter 368: Won (8)

Chapter 368: Chapter 368: Won (8)

The two went back and forth, neither holding anything back!

Ethan Thompson was powerful, while Seraphina Sterling was swift. Neither could gain the upper hand, and neither fell behind. They were perfectly matched! The instructors and students alike were already dumbfounded. The two of them were so incredible, the onlookers were getting dizzy just trying to keep up!

But it was Seraphina Sterling who shocked them most. They had assumed she was just a delicate, fragile girl, but who would have thought she was so skilled! She was on par with the instructor!

The other thirty-six instructors were beyond relieved. Thank goodness Seraphina Sterling hadn’t chosen any of them. Otherwise, with their meager skills, they would have been beaten to the ground in under two minutes. How could they train the other students after that? ’Defeated by a freshman, and a girl at that... We’d be too ashamed to even show our faces!’

They had been fighting for half an hour with no clear winner. Finally, Seraphina Sterling leaped into the air, sweeping a single leg toward Ethan Thompson’s head. Ethan Thompson arched his back, executing a perfect dodge. But as he straightened up, a sharp fruit knife appeared before his eyes, leaving a bloody cut on his cheek!

The angle, force, and speed were exceptionally precise, not off by a single hair. It grazed his cheek, achieving its goal of drawing blood. Ethan Thompson was stunned. As someone who constantly faced life-or-death situations, he understood the true danger of that move. ’Just now... if she’d really wanted to kill me, it would have been incredibly easy. All she had to do was angle the knife a little higher, and this would have been far more than a simple scratch!’

CLANG! The fruit knife hit the ground, and only then did the crowd snap back to reality. ’Their instructor was injured? Seraphina Sterling isn’t just skilled in hand-to-hand combat; her knife work is incredible, too!’

"Seraphina Sterling! You’re so awesome! Totally badass!"

"The slaves have finally turned the tables! You’re incredible!"

"Seraphina Sterling, he put you through so much hell! How could you just give him a little scratch? That punishment is way too light!"

...

The students cheered for her relentlessly. As freshmen, as the ones being trained, Seraphina Sterling’s personal victory was a victory for their entire class! They had beaten their tyrannical instructor and could finally hold their heads high!

The instructors couldn’t believe what they were seeing. ’The commander of Blade’s Edge lost to a freshman? And a female freshman at that! Yes, she’s clearly an expert, but he’s the commander of Blade’s Edge! A man who has killed and bled on the battlefield! How could he have lost so easily?!’

"Instructor Ethan Thompson, this round is my win!" Seraphina Sterling said as she retrieved her fruit knife. She felt incredibly lucky to have this particular skill. ’It seems I’ve gotten through a lot of tough spots with this little knife!’

"No! That round doesn’t count! You cheated! The Commander didn’t use any weapons, but you pulled a knife!" one of the instructors who idolized Ethan Thompson stepped forward, crying foul.

"No one said we couldn’t use knives before the fight. He could have used one, too! I wouldn’t have said a word even if he’d pulled his gun!" ’Damn it, you think it was easy for me to win this? And you dare say it doesn’t count? If anyone says this round doesn’t count, I’ll beat them to a pulp right here and now!’ "So, what is it, Head Instructor Thompson? Are you a sore loser?"

"I’m not a sore loser. You won. Your university military training ends as of now. I’m granting you special permission to be excused from the remainder of the training. You’re on leave," Ethan Thompson said. He wasn’t the type to fly into a rage out of humiliation. Besides, even if it was due to a moment of carelessness, a loss was a loss. ’War never gives a soldier a chance to make excuses.’ He understood that principle to his very core.

"Alright, everyone, my ordeal is over! See you in half a month!" Seraphina Sterling waved to the crowd as she turned to leave. ’I actually quite like these classmates,’ she thought.

The first thing Seraphina Sterling did upon returning to her dorm was pull up Terrence Grant’s number. ’It’s all his fault. If he hadn’t publicly confessed to me at the club that day, why would a colonel like Ethan Thompson show up at the University of Kaelus as a drill instructor for freshmen? Why would he target me specifically? Ethan Thompson really went the extra mile for Skylar Thompson. Still, he didn’t renege on our deal, so I guess he’s not a bad guy. That trick of mine will only work once. Beating him was a total fluke. If I had to do it over, I doubt I’d be so lucky.’

"We’re sorry, the number you have dialed is currently turned off. Please try again later."

She tried calling twice, but the phone was still off. With her pent-up anger having no outlet, Seraphina Sterling could only grit her teeth. ’I’ll just add this to his tab for now and settle it later!’

After leaving campus, Seraphina Sterling didn’t return to the Sterling Family estate. She had no intention of telling her family that her military training had ended early. Besides, she had far more important things to take care of. Seraphina went straight to a nondescript residential complex in Aethelgard. She had purchased an apartment here to use for... sensitive matters.

The moment Seraphina Sterling pushed the door open, she saw that the living room was a disaster. Papers littered the floor, and on the coffee table sat a half-eaten box of takeout food alongside several other empty containers that hadn’t been cleaned up. Clearly, whoever lived here hadn’t gone outside in days.

"My lady, you’re finally here! I was about to go crazy!" When Nadia Chapman saw Seraphina Sterling, a huge weight was finally lifted from her shoulders. The fifteen-day deadline she’d set with Leo Fenton was almost up. If Seraphina hadn’t come back, everything would have been exposed!