Standing at the center of the grassy plain, two beautiful women were facing off against each other. Their eyes showcasing absolutely no malice but instead, a growing curiosity mixed together with the hint of mischievousness.

As the gentle wind blew gently behind her, Sara's purple locks fluttered in the air. Taking the initiative as the Young Mistress of the Mansion, she felt that she had to uphold herself to at least a modicum of the pride her family should deserve.

​​

Sara was smiling, as she looked at the woman standing in front of her. The female mercenary, the first of the Silver Howls to face their group was roughly of equal height, with a slender, lithe body. Her matte black, slightly more than shoulder-length hair was combed and braided into a small bun at the back of her head.

Looking at each other for a while, the women were the first to speak up as she gazed over Sara's empty hands resting at her sides.

"Miss, are you not going to reach for a weapon?" She asked, her tone carrying a coquettish and impish tint.

Shaking her head, Sara revealed a smile.

"No, this would be fine. Don't worry, even without a piece of metal hanging from my hand, I still have a few cards up my sleeves. I will not bore you, you can trust me on that."

Surprised by her words at first, the woman smiled back as she nodded at the purple-haired heiress. She reached for the twin short swords hanging at her sides before throwing them away towards her Captain.

"I see. In that case, I will not handicap you, pointlessly and will join you on equal grounds." She cracked her knuckles as she slowly took up a starting fighting stance. "So what will it be then? I have quite high expectations after that statement miss, don't fail me!"

Sara chuckled at the woman's words, still standing calmly at her place. From how it looked it seemed that she either wasn't a warrior or was just that green behind her ears to not even have the mindset to get ready for the upcoming fight.

Don let her gaze linger on her for a while longer, before he heaved a sigh, and turned towards Aiden standing at his right for advice. However, when he saw how he wasn't startled or worried at all and managed to retain his calm, collected outlook, Don decided to not bother either. In the end, they will see if the woman had any skills behind her words or she was just spewing hot air after all.

He glanced over to the other woman, nodding and telling her with his eyes that everything was alright.

Then, he took a step forward, and whilst raising his right arm in the air, he exclaimed loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Our first battle today will be between Miss Sara facing off against our nimble star, Crysta, the Silent Assassin!"

He gave a moment of pause in his speech, before going further.

"Now, remember girls, the aim is not to cause lingering harm to the other but to get to know each other! As such, all fights will go until either one side surrenders, or to a maximum of 100 exchanges! Do you both understand and accept the rules?"

He looked at both girls, as he asked and waited for them to nod in understanding before giving the signal to start the fight with a downward wave of his hand.

Just as the words of 'Fight!' left his mouth and his hand sliced the air, Crysta lounged her body forward and in the air with a frontal, acrobatic flip as she bolted into a charge.

In an instant, she was already in front of the smiling, purple-haired girl, and was ready to jump up in the air again and flip over to get behind her when suddenly their eyes met and she froze in her place.

As Crysta's gaze locked into hers, suddenly Sara's eyes lit up, glimmering with their purple glory, boring deep into her soul itself. In that instant, all motions, all senses were instantly stripped from the agile ninja, leaving her in a state of helpless stun.

The crowd and Don were shocked at this scene, they couldn't understand what had just happened. Why did their Crysta suddenly stop with her attack and stand still like a statue in front of the girl? What did those glowing eyes mean? They couldn't understand, as with the lack of any power fluctuation, they couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary.

"Hey, Crysta, what's up with you?"

"Come on, don't just stand there girl! Don't embarrass us in front of the kids!"

Some of the mercenaries unable to hold on to their bewilderment began to shout towards their teammate, trying to shake her up and break whatever trance or spell she had suddenly fallen under.

However, before they could continue to shout and yell, a calm, crisp, clear voice of the black-haired youngster came from beside their captain.

"Don't bother, she already lost."

Joining him, Don also nodded, heaving a helpless sigh. Reaching to caress his forehead, he added.

"Yes. Unfortunately for her, Crysta had completely fallen under Miss Sara's spell and is now helpless to resist her."

His captain's statement shocked the group of spectators completely. Crysta, although not the strongest in terms of muscle, was one of the most dangerous people in their mercenary corp. There were many times where she single-handedly completed assignments that net their group generous sums.

Her nimbleness, her agility, her dexterousness made her a terrifying asset to the group, not even mentioning her skills with the twin blades she used during direct confrontations.

Born with the rare trait of being ambidextrous, both of the identical swords in her hands were just as equally deadly, turning her into an opponent that not many dared to face.

Yet, all of these boons she was gifted with turned into dust in the wind in front of this simple-looking purple-haired lady. Crysta's only weakness, that being born without any affinity towards the mystical arts, made her completely ignorant in training her mind.

Without any meaningful resistance, this girl, this nimble ninja was like an open book for Sara's bloodline abilities. The moment their eyes met in that instant, she instantly took over the control over her body, pushing the girl's soul to the back, effectively trapping her.

Sara smiled as she looked at her stationary opponent. Being deprived of control, she could only stare with mixed emotions in her eyes. She was suddenly fearful, not understanding what was happening. On the other side, she was also mad, angry at this cheat parlor trick of her opponent, but at the same time, angry at herself for falling for something like this.

Still, she could not do anything, she felt as if she had fallen into a deep, dark pit, and the only way out was through calling out, hoping for someone to save her.

Her eyes darted to the side, looking at her cap, but seeing as he could only shrug and look at her with a bitter smile, she felt she lost all hope.

It was at that moment, when suddenly her opponent, this purple witch called out…

---

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