With her katana grasped tightly in both hands, Zoe was walking toward Lucy. She was thinking about what Lucy had said, while she was looking for an opening to attack. What did she mean when she said I was being defeated by myself? What do I need to understand? As she pondered, the distance between her and Lucy had narrowed considerably.

She lifted her katana, glancing at her opponent again. Maybe she was talking about my plans, she thought. She would no longer scheme and just let herself go with the flow of the fight. She completely emptied her mind and began the attack.

It was visible in Zoe's eyes that she was overflowing with determination. Her attacks felt heavier this time. Lucy held her ground, countering the attacks. The swords of the master and her disciple collided, and both of them seemed to be searching for their opponent's vulnerabilities.

Lucy was impressed by how quickly Zoe had progressed. Although there is no way she could beat me this way, at least she isn't letting her openings show anymore, Lucy thought. The thing was, Lucy knew she could end the fight whenever she wanted. But she had decided it would be better if she could beat Zoe in a way that could show where she went wrong.

On the other hand, Zoe could also feel that she was more in control of Pinky now. Her technique was improving. She had decided to use it only with her hands until she had completely mastered it. She felt that she could switch between styles better and even use Pinky more competently with her mind. She could even take her opponents by surprise, who didn't know that Pinky could fly.

She had discovered these in this practice fight, but Lucy was standing in front of her, like a wall she still couldn't get over. Her tactics hadn't worked, and she could see better now that she couldn't beat her with only technique either. To outsiders, it might have seemed like neither of them could win, but all Lucy did was meet Zoe's attacks. She wasn't attacking at all, just countering.

Then Zoe suddenly smiled. She understood what Lucy meant. So that's why I'm losing myself, huh, she thought. She had only been defeated until now by the openings she had made while attacking. Lucy only attacked when she gave her an opportunity. She suddenly stopped attacking and took a few steps back. She began to hold her katana defensively. Now I should wait for Lucy to attack and wait for her to open up, she thought.

Zoe, who suddenly stopped attacking, took Lucy by surprise. Did she really understand? Before I even have to hit her again, Lucy wondered. She held her sword with one hand, while with the other she smoothed out her red hair. Lucy smiled, it was her turn to attack now, and she took a step forward.

Lucy attacked Zoe's katana with her makeshift sword. Now it was Zoe's turn to defend. Even though she was having a hard time countering Lucy's strong and heavy attacks, over time she started to keep up with her rhythm. Although she still felt that she was far from hitting Lucy, the thought that Lucy could beat her whenever she wanted was gone. In fact, she felt that if she continued at this rate, Lucy might have revealed an opening.

Lucy was very pleased that her student was improving so quickly. But she understood that it had little to do with whether she was a good teacher or not. Zoe was indeed learning and adapting very quickly. Even though her attacks and plans are good, if she starts doing them without revealing her intentions, she could start to take down her opponents very easily, she evaluated. She figured out that she had to calm down and defend, even though she planned so well, blazed so quickly, and wanted to beat me and move on as soon as possible. Zoe, you really are a good student.

Zoe's self-confidence was gradually increasing as she began to face attacks more easily. Maybe she could wait a long time for Lucy to open up and counterattack, but Lucy's technique really looked flawless. Even a novice like Zoe could understand that. As she continued to meet the attacks, she began to examine her opponent. She thought about what she could use to her advantage. At first, it occurred to her that she could use the Mantis Blades, but it was risky. Having extra weapons to control while she hasn't fully mastered Pinky could turn against her. Then a sly thought occurred to her, she smiled and thought: Weapons?

While Zoe's magical katana was standing firm, the scrap sword that Flo had made hastily and was even dissatisfied with the result was already starting to wear down. I might turn this to my advantage and break Lucy's sword, she thought.

After this idea, Zoe continued to defend and counterattack, pretending to retreat in the face of Lucy's attacks. But one thing had changed: She was starting to hit the same area of Lucy's sword. Through her swift investigation, she found a place that looked flawed.

Lucy was trying to push Zoe, unaware of what was happening. For this, she used strong attacks, changed her rhythm, and made quick slashes. She wanted to improve Zoe's grip on her katana by attacking from different angles. And she could see that Zoe was getting better with each attack, little by little. Her disciple was swiftly absorbing every technique like a sponge. The more Lucy saw Zoe evolve, the more enthusiastically she attacked, pushing her harder.

What Lucy didn't notice was that while Zoe was countering all these attacks, she was always trying to hit the same point of her sword. Zoe, who was struggling with her teacher's rhythm and power boost, was still able to adapt and continue attacking the same spot. Just a little bit more, she exclaimed in her head. It's so close, I can feel it.

As the fight continued like this, the Araf crew was talking among themselves about whether Zoe could win. For Brad, Zoe's sudden move on the defensive and being cornered by Lucy was a sign that she knew she couldn't win. Dan agreed, too, but they weren't being too hard on Zoe. She was a novice after all, and it wasn't strange that she was cornered. It was normal for them to think this way, unaware of what Lucy wanted to teach Zoe.

The only one who didn't think so was Flo, who kept silent. From the beginning, she was watching the sword that made her so dissatisfied with her craftsmanship. She realized that Zoe was always attacking the same spot. She thought it was a coincidence at first, but when she saw Zoe persistently hitting the same place, she started to think the fight could turn around soon.

Zoe's attacks were getting stronger and stronger. Lucy was starting to get confused now. No matter how hard she tried, her student somehow remained standing. On the other hand, each time Zoe faced another attack, she took a few steps back and sometimes even lost her balance. Then, she would immediately pick herself up and continue to meet the attacks from the same point where she had left off. It's almost over, she repeated to herself.

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After this long sword fight, maybe because of Lucy's increased charges, or maybe with Zoe's persistent attacks, a thin crack formed on Lucy's scrap sword. Zoe had been waiting for this to happen all along. She planned to meet the next attack by keeping her position and then start to attack. She took a step back. No matter how strong the next attack was, she would counter it.

Lucy, who had not yet noticed the crack in her sword, grabbed it with both hands and launched a powerful attack from top to bottom. She was pretty sure that this attack, which she made with almost all her strength, would knock Zoe back a bit, perhaps knock her down completely. Unaware of what was about to happen, she thought, No matter what, she did her best, even resisted for this long.

Zoe immediately put her plan into action as soon as she saw the descending sword coming, accelerating with speed and force. She activated her spider legs and stabbed all six of them into the ground. Strengthened by her legs, she also made a powerful attack, accelerating from the bottom up with the sword she held under her hip. Her target was where the sword was cracked. And Zoe was determined to end the fight here.

It all happened in an instant. Zoe's attack from below met with Lucy's sword descending from above. Zoe's full-body counterattack resulted in Pinky splitting the scrap sword in two. The sound of the flying shard of Lucy's sword crashing onto the stone floor echoed across the Abyss, where complete silence now reigned.

As she broke the sword, Zoe prepared to strike again, aiming her katana at the neck of her now-unarmed rival. Maybe Lucy is hiding other weapons in her arms too, she wondered. She didn't want to risk her victory. “Did I win? Or do I have to hit you somewhere?" she asked. She was waiting for her teacher's approval to rejoice in her well-deserved victory.

With only the hilt of her sword left in her hand, Lucy looked at Zoe and smiled. She dropped the hilt of the sword to the ground and raised her hands in the air to show she surrendered. “Yes, you win. I give up.” At this very moment, Zoe's katana vanished into thin air. The 3-hour limit was up.

Brad and Dan ran ecstatically to Zoe's side. They congratulated Zoe and started singing marches. Actually, their joy was more about the fact that the SorCyber they found was capable of perhaps saving them from this Abyss rather than her victory. Having to fight with all her attention for almost three hours, Zoe also realized that she could relax now. She got in between the two and joined their dance.

Lucy stood watching the trio, who were now celebrating. She was looking at Zoe with both surprise and admiration. So you've improved enough to beat me in such a short time, huh? Could this have anything to do with your absurd Will stat? Her thoughts dissipated by a hand holding her shoulder.

Picking up the hilt of the scrap sword from the ground, Flo had come to console Lucy. “I told you I didn't like my craftsmanship. You should have at least waited until we got back to Araf for this practice match," said Flo, looking at the hilt in her hand as if she was holding something hideous.

“Even so, it was good enough for a sword made in five minutes. Don't be too hard on yourself. By saying so, we cast a shadow over Zoe's victory," replied Lucy. She had accepted the defeat and she wasn't going to hide behind an excuse. Then she turned to Zoe, who was still celebrating and called out.

“Zoe, can we talk a bit?”

When she heard Lucy's voice, Zoe, who suddenly finished celebrating, nodded yes. When her teacher started walking, she immediately jumped up and started following her. When they were away from the sounds of celebration, Lucy started to talk.

“First of all, congratulations. To be honest, I didn't expect you to realize what you did wrong so quickly. Because you were so impulsive at the beginning of the fight. You wanted to beat me right away and go after Hadrian."

“Yes, I still want to! But I also knew you wouldn't let me go without beating you," Zoe replied.

“So how did you do it? What do you think you got right and won the fight?” asked Lucy, who once again had the attitude of a teacher.

“I was giving openings when I attacked. So I was losing to myself. You said so. I wanted to get on the defense and see if you would do the same. Because that's how you won against me."

Lucy smiled, impressed by her student's quick wit. She extended her hand to Zoe and congratulated her again. Zoe accepted it with a smile and continued to speak.

“But when I couldn't find a weakness in your attacks and technique, I attacked the only thing that was a weakness. A sword made in five minutes.”

Lucy smiled at these words she saw as praise and began to speak about what she really wanted to say. “Don't go after Hadrian for a little while longer if you want. There is no rush after all.” Meanwhile, Zoe tried to interrupt Lucy, but Lucy continued speaking as if to say I'm not finished yet. “Besides, you learn very fast. In a short span of time, your technique may become unstoppable.”

“I want to regain my memories and learn about my past as soon as possible,” Zoe answered. She was holding the middle of her chest with one hand. It was the source of her damned pain. Although Zoe tried not to show it, the pain actually hurt. And not knowing what she did to cause this curse was exacerbating the pain.

“You won't be able to learn about your past if you die,” said Lucy in a clear voice. For the first time, she looked so sharp and grave. It was clear from her distant eyes now that she had to witness the death of many.

Zoe could tell by Lucy's tone and appearance how serious she was. Even though she still wanted to find Hadrian right away, she could also understand that Lucy didn't want to send her out right now. She had a pretty hard time against Lucy when she thought about it. She could guess what the result would have been had it not been for Lucy's lousy sword.

“Okay,” said Zoe. “Let's continue the training for a while. Especially if you're going to teach me those footworks."

Now smiling, Lucy answered, "Sure, we'll start directly with them." The two got up and started walking toward the others. They quickly got to where the trio was.

With childlike excitement, Dan and Brad were mimicking the end of Zoe and Lucy's fight, wielding imaginary swords. They must have liked Zoe's move in which she stabbed all six of her feet into the ground.

When they arrived, Lucy explained the situation. She said that the training would continue for a while. Brad and Dan, who seemed more enthusiastic than Zoe to go after Hadrian, were a little upset, but they were still understanding.

They decided to hide Zoe from the people of Araf for the time being. It was a logical choice both not to give people hope too early and to keep the SorCyber safe. The training would continue at where they were. For that to happen, Flo and Dan went to town and came back with two swords. These were two of the swords that Flo was very proud of. Apart from that, they took the weapons of Brad and Dan, who would go after Hadrian with Zoe directly after the training.

For 10 days, according to the time they measured by whether or not Zoe could summon her katana, they clashed their swords. And while she couldn't summon the katana, Zoe would wield one of the swords Flo had brought. Zoe always wanted to talk to Lucy about Rox City, but she never brought it up because she thought it would be better for Lucy to start that conversation.

Zoe, who had already shown her aptitude for swords, had learned a lot by the end of the crash course. At least Lucy was at peace now. She stopped worrying about Zoe and started to worry about her rivals. Zoe, who immediately learned what she taught like a sponge, really impressed her.

The day the course was over, Dan and Brad took up arms, too. They said goodbye to Lucy and Flo and waited for Zoe. Zoe said goodbye to Flo first and thanked her for everything. She took the sword she had given her on her back. “We'll see each other anyway, so there's no need to say goodbye,” Flo said with a warm smile. She too had witnessed firsthand how quickly Zoe had progressed during this time.

Zoe smiled at Flo's answer. Now it was Lucy's turn to say goodbye, who had been training her for days. Maybe they hadn't spoken much during that time, but Zoe felt that they knew each other very well since they had fought so many times. She shook her teacher's hand. She was about to speak when Lucy preceded her.

“Be careful with Hadrian. He's a dangerous scumbag." She even looked at Dan and Brad during this part of her sentence as if to remind them again that these words were also valid for them.

"Don't worry, we'll find Hadrian and get the stolen card. We'll be right back," Zoe reassured with a smile.

Lucy replied, "I don't doubt that, but keep your eyes peeled."

Zoe comforted her again by saying, "I got this," and moved over to Dan and Brad's side. Excited to finally set off, Zoe thought, Hadrian I hope you have something to tell me about Rox City.

The trio set forth, leaving Flo and Lucy behind. Dan and Brad, who knew the Abyss well, had a few ideas of where Hadrian could be. They would control those areas one by one. Flo and Lucy watched them until the trio was out of sight.