Think Cali, what can I do to get out of this? My thoughts swam around my mind as I thought of everything to get out of the trap this damn woman put me in. Seeing as how I grew up in a noble household I couldn’t exactly trust the words of anyone. Especially not some one who In literally just met on the streets. So how do I really know she’s confessing her love truly to me, or using me as a chess piece?

The thought of that enraged me slightly, and I huffed in annoyance. I almost fell for her trap. But that’s okay, she can fall for mine now. “You want to court me? Fine. But I have three conditions.” I told her as I reached my hand up and lifted three fingers to prove a point. But little does she know the conditions wouldn’t be fair in the slightest.

Her eyebrow remained lifted, and she was clearly interested in what I was about to say. I felt a sly grin cross my face as I made my proclamation. “One, you must court me every single day until I am of marriage age.” As I spoke, I dropped each finger. “Two, you must renounce any claim of nobility. Three, you must beat me in a duel today.” With these conditions, it will reveal the truth behind her confession. If she isn’t serious, then she will back out. If she is? Well, I’m not sure what I’d do yet.

“Is that it, princess?” Her eyes gazed into the depths of my soul, causing another flush to creep into my cheeks.

“It is.” I nodded matter-of-factly, sure of my victory over her.

“In that case, I Alessia Veers renounce any claim or desire of nobility or title. I also swear that I will court you every day until and even after the age of marriage, for my eyes are on you alone.” She placed her hand over her chest and gave a small bow.

Another scarlet blush swept across my face, and I felt my tongue become tied. This damn woman is going to be the death of me. “Fine then. Let’s see if your skill will allow you to become my bodyguard.” I flicked my hand in the air and a slender sword appeared from my storage ring. It was three finger lengths in width and held a slight curve to its length. This was specifically crafted for me by an elvish metalsmith. A truly elegant blade for a woman like myself.

“As you wish, princess.” Alessia gave me one last small bow before she, too, snapped her hand and a blade flickered into existence. This one was almost as slender as mine. At a glance, it was two fingers in width, and roughly a little over a meter. The metal seemed to glitter like the night sky in the warm lighting of the training room, and I found myself unable to take my eyes off of it for a few seconds. Just where did she get that blade from? It wasn't elven, but it still regained the elegance that those blades were known for.

Her eyes focused on mine and for a fleeting heart, best all I could see were orbs of gold that seemed to gaze into my soul. Then a pressure descended around me. It was thick and felt like an ocean had descended from the heavens. The feeling of energy pushing and pulling felt like I was caught in a tide and it made my blood run cold. What was her cultivation level? As I thought that, I realized I haven’t done my due diligence and knew nothing of her.

I gritted my teeth and let my martial intent flow outwards to counter hers. She stepped forward and her body shifted as if it were made of water. Her sword flickered and danced through the air like a ghost, and my heart shook. She was a sword cultivator! Not only that, there was something different about that. I took a step back and snapped my fingers. Stone rose from the ground and created a wall in front of me.

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But just as suddenly, it cracked into dozens of pieces, and a gray light shot towards me. I cycled my ki to my legs and used my dragon steps movement technique to dodge to the side.

“Even a mountain will eventually bow down to water.” Her words came out honey sweet just behind my ear, causing me to panic for a second. How was she so fast?

I spun and quickly riposted her strike. But to my horror, she was flowing around me. Her white hair was like a silver gale that trailed behind her like a ghost as she moved. In this moment, she embodied the effortless movement of water and her strikes felt like the tides of the ocean crashing into my blade. The worst part is that the strikes seemed to come at the most impossible of angles, and superimpose onto each other. It was as she was like the ocean compressed into human form.

If it kept going like this, there was no way I was going to win. Trying to fight a sword cultivator in their element was never a good idea. Thankfully, I wasn’t just proficient in weapons. I blocked the next strike and jumped backwards. My mind raced as I tried to figure out the best spell in this situation.

I sucked a deep breath in and blew out, infusing qi as I went. A gust of air turned into a small tornado that shot across the tiled ground of the training hall. The air howled with anger and the ground trembled. I sucked the air backwards, and snapped my finger again, and the tornado shattered into a thousand pieces, flinging the debris storm into every corner of the room.

“Is that all you got?” Alessia’s voice rang out from behind me, and I nearly jumped out of my pants in fright. When did she get there? I tried to spin around and throw a quick slash out with my blade, but my hand was caught in the process. My sword was forced from my hand as I lashed out with a rapid kick and before lunging towards her to try and grapple her.

I side stepped a quick punch, and dropped low to deliver a kick to her legs, which she easily moved over and used the momentum to pull me to the ground. My free hand rushed up, to her collar, as I tried to move my knee up to her chest to keep our distance. Damn, this girl had some really good ground work. I could feel the sweat beading on my forward as the struggle grew fiercer on the ground. Really, all I wanted to do was to prove a point. That I wasn't so easily tamed or pushed around! But this woman was significantly more skilled than I thought she was.

As I struggled against her, she pushed my chest down, and used her body weight to lock my arms in place. I tried to buck her using my hips, but that gave her an opening to roll me over onto my stomach. A second later I felt a wooden dagger press into the small of back. “Do you surrender?”

“Never.” I whispered as I pulled the air down, and used the earth under my to launch my self up. I twisted like a snake, and caught the dagger in her hand. Her golden eyes opened in shock as I caught her wrist, and tried to use the elements to my advantage. But it was clear that she had far more combat experience then I did. When I hit the ground, it was hard enough to yank the breath from my chest, and make my world spin.

In my moment of weakness, she sat up slightly and pushed leaning forward and using her body weight to push the dagger forward. The tip kissed my chest, and my heart sank. “Good answer.” She purred in my ear as my body went slack in both shame and embarrassment. I had a feeling that this woman was going to make my life difficult for the next few years. This was frustrating. I wasn't used to loosing like this.

“Do you accept me as your bodyguard now?” She asked with a small smirk. The wooden tip of the dagger was still pressed into my chest. Her white hair, hung around us like a veil, and all I could see was her.

“I suppose you are good enough.” I could only reply in a whisper as I tried to fight my way out, but I was pinned. Her hips forced my center of gravity down and my hands were locked around her wrists, trying to shift the dagger in any way that I could. She was far too skilled for her age. If I had to take a guess, she had a lot of combat experience. But it made me even more curious about her. Just what did she go through to become this strong, this young? What was this girl's history, where was she from? It would seem that I had a lot to learn from my new body guard.