Chapter 266

The idea of having morning punishment duties with no concrete end date was something Natalie wasn’t thrilled about, but she supposed she deserved it.

To make things worse, her entire team, even Jordan, clearly thought Natalie was receiving her just desserts, even if they were gracious enough not to say so outright.

A part of Natalie saw herself as the victim in all of this, because seriously. When a pretty girl like Alaina had been throwing herself at her, what had Natalie been expected to do? Not sleep with her? She was only human.

While the hour of cleaning was an annoyance, and one that wouldn’t be going away for a while, no worse punishments seemed to be coming from her lapse in judgment. Though Instructor Robin’s ‘mentorship’ sessions concerned her. What would those include?

When combat classes rolled around, the Theliosian woman didn’t spare Natalie so much as a glance, her usual aloof self, but Natalie wasn’t sure whether that meant anything.

Today, two classes had been paired up for spars. More importantly, the rotation had come out such that Natalie’s was facing Elida’s, the undisputed best of the year.

Natalie was both annoyed and pleased by that. Annoyed, because even being in the same room as that snake was an irritating experience. Pleased, because Natalie was always spoiling for a good fight, and Elida’s class could provide one—or several.

And especially after recent events, she much appreciated having an outlet to blow off steam.

To her delight, her first opponent was Otto.

It had been some time since that incident down in the dungeon where Elida’s team had flounced them and stripped them of their gear. Natalie still grew irritated whenever she thought about the event, but her temper had cooled since the first day. And her issue was less with Otto and more with Elida, the obvious ringleader and orchestrator.

Regardless of Otto being a pawn, though, he had followed Elida’s lead without much hesitation—even if Natalie had read in his eyes an apology as they’d been fighting. He was still a bastard, complicit to the whole thing, and thus an enemy of Natalie’s. Just a minor one, comparatively speaking.

So getting to spar him? To show him what she’d picked up in the weeks she’d spent at Tenet, and the fruits of her work in the dungeon?

She was looking forward to it.

They set up on opposite sides of the sparring pad. She rested her hammer on the ground and took the tall boy in. He wielded a large shield and a short sword, as before. A traditional tank, unlike Natalie.

He probably hadn’t hit level three yet. Though there wasn’t zero chance of that, being on Elida’s team, with Elida herself having claimed to have made that breakthrough. Level three this early in the year was a ludicrous pace, though, and Natalie and Elida had their classes, their sponsorships, to thank. Otto was good, very good, near the top of his class, but not one of Tenet’s top-ten performers. So Natalie didn’t think he was level three.

A single level wasn’t enough to guarantee a fight one way or another, anyway. Two levels was closer to being hopeless, with three being pretty damn impossible to surmount—assuming average conditions. Of course, being particularly well-suited to an opponent, or other extenuating factors, could make such a fight plausible.

Regardless, Natalie had the advantage, since she was level three, and he was likely only level two.

And she had a grudge to settle.