The next day, Yu Lin woke up extra early as she started to practice her martial arts in her backyard. She started to formulate a plan in her head and when she was done, she took a quick bath to wash away her sweat. Afterward, she heard a knock on her door and when she opened it she found Yang Yang smiling at her.

“Let’s go,” Yang Yang said. Yu Lin nodded as Yu Lin followed her to the cafeteria. The two grabbed some food and sat down across from each other.

“So, where were you when you were gone?” Yang Yang questioned.

“Here and there…” Yu Lin replied.

“Here and there? Hmm… alright… I see… anyways, are you preparing well for the tournament?”

“The tournament… when is it?”

“In… three or four months? We usually do it after the Spring festival. It’s best to do it during the fall where conditions aren’t too great but aren’t too rough either.”

“The Spring festival…” Yu Lin mumbled.

“During the Spring festival, all the departments of the school usually get together to celebrate a certain race’s culture. I heard this year the elves are holding the party and…” Yang Yang leaned in closer to Yu Lin, “rumors have it that this year is going to be a masquerade ball…”

“Masquerade? Won’t that be dangerous?”

“Hmm… I don’t think so. We have very skilled teachers here so I think we will be fine,” Yang Yang said.

“Is that so? I see…” Yu Lin was about to take another bite of her food when she felt someone grab her arm.

“Yu Lin! I missed you so much!” she heard Qian Su cry out. She felt Qian Su’s huge breasts on her arm and she tried to pull back but Qian Su just pulled closer.

“What are you doing?” Yu Lin pulled herself back.

“Ni Qian Su! Behave yourself!” Yang Yang remarked.

“I was so worried about you! I couldn’t imagine not having you around anymore!” Qian Su wrapped her arms around Yu Lin.

“Let go!” Yu Lin pushed her back. She watched as Qian Su stumbled backward a bit before Qian Su looked up at her with teary eyes.

“Sir Du, I love you. I really love you,” a tear slipped down her cheek. Had an ordinary man see this, they would’ve fallen for Qian Su’s beauty right away but because Yu Lin herself was female, she could only feel uncomfortable and think that underneath that crying face was a malicious intent.

“Sorry but I don’t feel the same way,” Yu Lin stood up from where she was sitting. She picked up her tray and stood up. She looked around to see that the whole white section was staring at her and she kept her head low as she tried to scurry away.

“Sir Du!” Qian Su called out to her and she continued to walk away, “I am in love with you, Sir Du! Please take my feelings seriously! I really love you!” Qian Su yelled but Yu Lin paid no mind to it. After she threw her tray in the dirty dishes she started to speed walk to her room.

She was walking through the corridors she heard footsteps behind her. She stopped and then she heard the footsteps also stopped. She turned around to see no one. She frowned and then turned back around. She started walking again and then she heard the footsteps again. She ball her fist and in a quick step she turned around her other hand went up to grab at someone’s neck and she raised her fist in the air before it started to head towards the person’s face.

“Ah! Yu Lin stop! It’s me!” her hand stopped a hair’s width away from the person’s face. She moved her hand back and saw nervous blue eyes staring back at her.

“Sir Hu?” she moved her hand back from his neck and cocked her head. He gave her a small smile as he reached his hand up to touch the back of his head.

“What are you doing here?” she questioned. Tai Yang smirked as he looked at her with victorious eyes.

“Didn’t I say that I will be high enough level to come visit you freely, whenever I want?” Tai Yang grinned. He raised his wrist up and shook it around in her face. Yu Lin saw the red scarf tied around his wrist and let she raised an eyebrow. She grabbed onto it and held it up to him.

“Are you sure you didn’t steal this?” she said as she lightly pushed his wrist closer to his face.

“Huh? Steal? I’m not that crazy to do something like steal something like this!” Tai Yang pulled his wrist away from her.

“Then how did a weakling like you manage to past? Do you have connections here?”

“Huh?! Connections?! Yu Lin! I-I… I am speechless! Do you not really believe me that much?” Tai Yang’s jaw dropped, exasperated.

“I have no reason to believe you.”

“Yu Lin! We are sworn brothers! I would never lie to y-”

“We are not sworn brothers.”

“We are!”

“Not.”

“We are!”

“Not.”

“Yu Lin! I said that if I get ranked high enough and come see you then you will have to accept me as your sworn brother! I’m here!”

“And I said I don’t want to,” Yu Lin turned around and started walking back to her room.

“Yu Lin!” she heard Tai Yang walking behind her, “You can’t do this to me!”

“I am not doing anything to you.”

“And that’s what’s exactly wrong! You should be doing something! You should be swearing to be my brother for life!” Tai Yang urged. Yu Lin stopped and turned around and looked at him.

“I don’t be sworn brothers with someone weaker than me,” Yu Lin hissed as she glared at him, “now that you know, get lost!” she watched him look at her with big blue eyes and she let out a sigh before she turned back around. She didn’t want to deal with this anymore.

“Hey!” Tai Yang yelled, “how are you so sure that I’m weaker than you?! I may be stronger than you for all that you know!”

Yu Lin had enough as she quickly took a step towards him. She raised her leg and kicked him and saw his eyes grow alert as he raised her arm up and blocked her.

“Y-you!” he stumbled but Yu Lin didn’t care as she brought her leg back and kicked with her other leg. Tai Yang dodged and she continued to attack him. She swung her fist at him and he grabbed onto her wrist. Her eyes widened and she tried to pull back, but his grip was strong.

He pulled her over the fence, out of the narrow corridor and they ended up in a small garden. She tried to pull her arm back but he twisted it and she turned her body as she kicked him. He let go as he took a step back and held his hands up in a fighting stance.

“Not bad,” Yu Lin remarked and Tai Yang smirked, “but not good enough!” Yu Lin rushed in as she threw a fist. Tai Yang pushed her hand up and kicked at her and she blocked it with her shin. The two continued to exchange intense blows as Yu Lin started to get more and more frustrated. She didn’t want to use all her power because she didn’t want to injure him but he was leaving her with no choice.

She started to gather her chi energy in her limbs and she saw Tai Yang’s eyes grow alert as he backed away for a moment. Yu Lin didn’t give him a lot of time as she kicked, aiming for his head. He blocked her with his forearm and her eyes widened as she felt his arm had strengthened also. She saw him smirk at her sudden shock and she squinted her eyes as she threw a punch. He dodged her punch as he grabbed onto her wrist. She turned her body to get away and she felt him grab her cloak.

“Ah!” she let out, startled as her cloak unraveled around her. Tai Yang looked at her cloak and let out a gasp as he dropped it onto the ground. “Y-you!” she yelled at him and he gave her an apologetic smile but she glared at him before running up towards him. He backed up for a moment before throwing a fist out at her. She moved a couple steps back and as he threw a punch she grabbed onto his wrist. She pulled him towards her as she grabbed onto his sash and pulled it off of him. His robe became undone and his eyes widened as he pushed her away. He looked down at his robe slipping away as his bare chest showed.

“Y-you!” Tai Yang pointed at her and she shrugged her shoulders as she threw his sash onto the ground. Tai Yang squinted at her as he nodded his head, “Alright. I see how you want to play then,” he ran towards her. She got into her stance and ready herself as he reached out to her. She threw a punch towards his face and he grabbed onto her wrist. She kicked at his leg so he would let go, but instead he sidestepped and then moved closer to her.

Her eyes grew bigger as she tried to back away but she was pulled closer to him. She felt him pull away at her wrist cuffs before he reached for her sash. She tried twisting her body but he was faster as he pulled her closer to him. She raised her other hand to strike him and he saw as he reached his hand up. He wrapped his hand around her hand as her back hit against his chest. He held one of her hands around her own neck and pushed her other hand onto her sash as his fingers wrapped around it.

“Y-you! Stop!” Yu Lin yelled. Her face grew red as all she had on under her robes was bandages that bound her breasts flat as she found them annoying as she did her daily activities. It was probably also one of the reasons people thought she was a male.

“Why? Are you shy because your body isn’t as great as mine?” Tai Yang taunted as she felt his breath by her ear, “you have already seen my body before sir Du, so let’s just call this even. We are both men anyways!” Tai Yang started to pull at her sash and she tried to push his hand, which was on top of hers, away.

“Stop!” she yelled as she elbowed him, but he didn’t even budge. ‘What’s this? Why is he so strong?!’ she asked herself.

“No! Since you won’t agree to become my sworn brother, why would I stop?” Tai Yang retaliated.

“Alright! Alright! I will become your sworn brother! Stop!” Yu Lin quickly said. Tai Yang stopped moving, however his grip did not grow any weaker.

“Really?”

“Really!”

“Swear on it.”

“Ugh… alright! I swear that from now I will be your sworn brother!” Yu Lin clenched her teeth.

“Good!” Tai Yang let out a laugh.

“Now let me go!” Yu Lin said as she shook him off and he backed away. She turned around to face him and let out an angry breath as she fixed her robe and tightened her sash.

“Remember, we are now sworn brothers!” Tai Yang smiled at him and she only glared at him as she didn’t say a word. His smile disappeared as he looked at her suspiciously. “Unless you want to spar again?” he asked and she shook her head.

“Alright! Alright! We… we are now sworn brothers…” she said as she walked past him.

“Woohoo! I won not only a sparring match but also a sworn brother today!” she heard him cheer. She picked her cloak and his sash off the ground. She turned back and rolled his sash into a ball and threw it at him. He caught it and laughed as he fixed his robes. She pulled on her cloak and glared at him before she turned around and started to walk away. “Hey! Wait for me, brother!” she heard him call out as she heard him running after her.

“What a pain…” she mumbled to herself as she tried to walk faster but he had already caught up and was now walking beside her.

“Brother Yu Lin, I’ve been meaning to ask, how old are you?” Tai Yang questioned.

“Why?”

“Because I’m your sworn brother, so I should at least know how old you are.”

“Hmm…” Yu Lin felt reluctant to answer as her pride was hurt when she lost the match but she did swear to be his brother, “I am… I am 14 years old.”

“What?! Only 14 years old?!” Tai Yang exclaimed, “I thought you were my age!”

“How old are you, sir Hu?”

“I am 19 years old, and don’t call me sir Hu! Just call me by my name, no, better yet call me older brother because I am older than you.”

“Huh?” Yu Lin paused for a moment as she wanted to say something.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hmm… nothing… nothing is wrong at all, older brother,” Yu Lin said through clenched teeth as she started to walk again.

“Good! Now that we are sworn brothers we must go through thick and thin together Yu Lin!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“I’m being serious here.”

“Mhmm…”

“You are so… ugh… anyways, you should teach me your skills younger brother. I didn’t you had such a good looking woman chasing after you,” Tai Yang teased.

“Huh?” Yu Lin paused again as she turned her head to look up at Tai Yang. Tai Yang turned and looked down at her, his dimple showing as he smiled. “What are you talking about?” Yu Lin asked as she frowned.

“I’m talking about that beautiful lady who was declaring her love for you in the cafeteria,” Tai Yang shook his head as his eyebrows moved up and down and he grinned.

“You saw that?”

“Mhmm! I saw the whole thing! I must say though, you are quite cold, younger brother, to just walk away like that when such a beautiful young lady is confessing her love like that to you!”

“You’re wrong… I…” Yu Lin let out a sigh and rolled her eyes as she began walking again. She felt too tired to want to explain the whole story.

“Why did you reject her? Is she not your type?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“Hmm… then, would you mind if older brother pursues her?”

“Do whatever you want.”

“Alright! You gave me permission, so don’t regret it in the future if I do get her!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Yu Lin rolled her eyes again. She looked beside her to see Tai Yang doing a small happy dance and her lips trembled before she bit her bottom lip and looked away. ‘What have I got myself into?’ she questioned as they both reached her door.