Sol Y Luna

The Duel

Hanan's POV

I patiently waited as I watched the match between Freya and Lancelot. They were fighting like nobles as if dancing with the sound of their touching swords. They were great fighters, after all.

Lancelot is just too light with his thin sword and quicker than Freya. He is a musician and dancer in a 'sword.'

Every touch of his sword creates pleasing sounds, and every step he takes is too graceful for a dance. He gained the title called his majesty because of his gracefulness and calmness in everything he did.

Freya, the fierce one, might be slower than Lancelot—which is Lancelot's li'l advantage, but she is very sharp, keen, flexible, strong, and fierce. Unlike Lance's sword, she has this thick, well-made, and weighty sword that is impossible for a woman to wield.

She can wield it as if it is not heavy. She always makes it look easy to wield.

Both of them have a great rivalry in terms of swordsmanship. The sword is their thing for eliminating evil creatures in this world.

"You know, I still don't get it. Why could a sword kill a vampire or ghoul? I think witches could die from that thing, but other creatures? Nah, it's impossible." Andrew just popped out of nowhere, asking silly questions while watching the match.

I raised my brow at him and chuckled.

"Why would you ask me that thing? You know that I am not a teacher here, right?"

"I'm serious, Hanan. In the movies, series, or even in our books, no metal can kill them. Only this certain type of wood..."

"Drew, have you seen any tree like that anywhere right now?"

"I—I did not." He gasped.

"Well, that explains everything. You always skipped classes, especially that boring history class that you said. So if you're gonna ask questions about history again, better not skip that subject." I snorted.

His jaw had dropped. It's true. He always skips that class because he finds it useless and boring. He is a man who doesn't care about the past and only cares for the present. At least that's what he always told me whenever I tried to convince him to take the class.

Grades here do not matter. What matters is performance. We care about paperwork, but we value harnessing our skills and making ourselves more useful for what we are trained for. So we can be more effective in the real world.

That is, hunting evil creatures. Paperwork can't help our fight. It is just to assess if we forgot something.

Our teachers dislike the sound of making their students more focused on paperwork and competing for grades because it may only lead to cheating. Therefore, we are more hands-on. We get paper tests to review as well. It is recorded but somehow useful to catch dishonest people.

But Andrew excels in all subjects except for one. History. Well, if he takes that class, he is going to start from the very beginning to catch up. In short, he'll be in the first grade of it and have the penalty of studying all of it in one year without cheating.

Doing nasty things always has consequences. So Andrew will be questioned—alone, with all the teachers, through oral communication with the magic to determine if he is cheating or not.

The more you run away, the more it will hurt you. The more you reject it, the more intense things around you will be.

"Hanan Andrea de Ferdinand."

I was cut on spacing out when I was called by our mentor on this subject. It's my turn to get exercise.

"Andrew Johnson."

I chuckled at his expression. This is our first match to become enemies.

"Friend or foe, I won't back down." I winked. I don't use a sword. It's not like I can't wield it. I just can't feel it for myself.

"Pray do tell, Drea." He smiled before gracefully wielding his sword toward me. He is good at it as well.

Coincidence for our names, isn't it? Well, we don't realize it until we exchange papers to check.

He came first and made friends with me because he believed in fate. He is just the guy who doesn't believe in history but loves 'fate' more futuristic, isn't he?

I moved backward to dodge Drew's sudden attack. He launched at me right after the signal began.

He always fights like this, with surprise attacks and ambushes. He is quick and so fast. Just like Lancelot, he acts so quickly and swiftly that it makes him disappear from our naked eyes.

Though they have their differences. Andrew earned the title of the Cheetah and the Tornado.

It sounds fun, but his actions were alike. He could run so fast and launch like a cheetah.

I don't have a fancy title, though. I mean, I do have one. It's just because I am the daughter of the Principal of this academy. They call me princess, and I dislike it. Everything is just because of my father, and it makes me uncomfortable that they'll always keep an eye on me.

I mean, no kidding. Imagine walking in the corridor with thousands of eyes. Who would have to love that? When I was a kid, their attention was on me already, and I'd had enough. The reason I kept myself lowkey and, as much as possible, never showed my true abilities and power.

Though there was a time when they noticed that I'd got these unique and massive powers, abilities, and skills. That was a long time ago when I was a kid. The teachers used to believe I would be the most 'powerful' hunter among all in this academy.

No wonder I am one of the rare ones who summon the strongest and fiercest familiar at the age of 5, and even my father can't summon it.

From what I've heard, there are only two of us who managed to summon the beast familiar. The first one was named Elias Suites.

I grunted when I realized Andrew was circling me around as if forming a tornado, and I was at the center of it, which was a bad idea. I breathed and closed my eyes to focus on and determine his whereabouts.

I already had my stunt. Right after I sensed his first attack, I countered it. Using my two daggers in my hands, I made him stop and twisted his sword to make it fall.

I don't care about close attacks. I am always into it, enough that would make our mentor close to having a heart attack. Like, why wouldn't I? I use daggers here.

I am surprised when Andrew is still able to hold his sword. In this state, it could break his hand if he stays longer.

He glared at me, and I could read in his expression that he wouldn't back down. He has this pride though.

I know that I am going to do that as well. I always did that to make my opponent surrender quickly. Though I am holding his sword with my dagger, it hurts enough to make my opponent feel the pain inside their bones.

I got confused when he suddenly smirked. His sword suddenly slid between my two daggers.

Well, he is one of the rare ones who can do that then. No wonder I have my match with him. The teachers might have arranged this to stop my redundant tricks.

"Wrong move, Drea. Danger close."

He launched at me before I realized that he had suddenly disappeared from my sight.

"Tsk." I suddenly felt his presence from behind. I used the tip of my dagger to stop his sword from hitting me.

He was surprised but then changed into a smile. He is going into circling motion again. He is a genius.

When the third dangerous close attack came this time, I turned around and kneeled as I let my daggers fall on the ground, then suddenly bent my body and just simply did my one clap. My hands were placed at my chest level.

I am now facing him upside down as I grin at him. I just caught his sword with my two hands to make him stop.

Then a liquid suddenly fell on my forehead. Bl—blood.

I felt my vision blur and could hardly breathe as I fell to the ground.

"Drea!" A faint voice called my name, then everything went dark.