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For the next couple of days, Yong Hwa, Chang, and Seol Hwa toured through the city. Seol Hwa guided the two of them to various installations, making good of her promise to show them around the city. During those times, Yong Hwa was incomparably happy as he was able to spend time with the both of them while relaxing.

The time was explicitly filled with laughter as Seol Hwa constantly scolded Chang who would cause trouble as he struck up a conversation to almost any pretty lady he saw. Those scenes reminded Yong Hwa of the past and made him reminisce of the earlier years.

Ever since the first time the three met years ago, it was always like that. Seol Hwa would always end up scolding Chang for one reason or another while the latter would, in the end, crawl back to Yong Hwa to plead for help. Seol Hwa and Yong Hwa, on the other hand were a lot more peaceful and she felt like more like an older sister to him. As those times went on though, his feelings slowly began to grow to become infatuation.

Yong Hwa knew that Seol Hwa had noticed his feelings for her, and wasn’t willing to return them. Most likely, she just wanted to keep their close friendship and treat him like a brother. Even though it was like that, he was fine with it. Although he knew she wouldn’t return his feelings, the times he spent with her were filled with bliss and he cherished every moment.

As for Dal and Geum, he never saw them after the first night. It almost felt as though they were no longer at the inn. Still, it wasn’t like he was intentionally looking for them, either. Even though he had been fascinated by her swordplay that night, it didn’t mean he forgave her for the humiliation she caused him.

Six days after they had returned though, walking around the courtyard at night, he came across a familiar scene on accident. In front of him, was a girl who seemed as though she was dancing with a rapier in her right hand. As he stayed still and watched the beautiful scene once more, Dal seemed to notice his gaze and stopped her movements. Turning around, she noticed Yong Hwa who was standing still in the open and watching her.

“Ah, sorry if I disturb you. I just came upon you practicing on accident.”

When Yong Hwa saw Dal stop and turn around, he immediately apologized and turned around to leave. For some odd reason, he felt as though he had been caught peeping on a girl showering. At that thought, his face slightly blushed and he cursed at himself.

As Yong Hwa turned and was leaving, Dal let a small smile appear on her face. She noticed that a slight blush had appeared on his face. Before he even took five steps, she called out to him.

“I was just getting tired of practicing by myself. You want to spar lightly with me?”

Yong Hwa stopped where he was. After a moment of hesitation, he turned back and approached Dal. Truthfully, he was quite intrigued by Dal’s offer. He wanted to test how strong his swordsmanship was compared to her’s. Even though he had sparred quite a few times in the past, almost no one was near his level and it turned out to be quite boring. The only exceptions were Elder Shin and Chang. Especially when he fought against Elder Shin, he almost never had a moment to retaliate and would be in a pathetic state.

When he was only ten feet away from Dal, he finally stopped. As he stood there, Azuron’s Requiem slowly began to materialize. When the sword appeared, he finally spoke.

“So what’s the rules for the spar going to be?”

“Hmm… since it’s a light spar, let’s just go with not using our beast souls. We’ll only use our soul weapons, okay?”

“Sounds good to me. Then I’ll have to trouble you.”

As he said that, Yong Hwa bowed toward her. Dal, on the other hand, also bowed. After the two stood back up, they both went into their own poses. Yong Hwa placed his legs in a ninety degree angle while also slightly bending his knees. His sword was at a forty five degree angle behind his right foot. Dal kept her feet together while facing Yong Hwa. She put her rapier in front of her chest and held it in a one and eighty degree angle. After a few moments of silence, they both rushed forth simultaneously, without any signal.

Once the distance between them had shortened to three feet, both of them struck forward. Dal thrusted her rapier forward, aiming for his chest. In retaliation, Yong Hwa swung his sword sideways to deflect it. Just as he was about to hit the rapier, though, Dal’s right wrist changed angles. With that action, the trajectory of the rapier drastically changed and Yong Hwa’s sword missed the rapier.

Startled by the sudden change, Yong Hwa swung the left side of his body backward and barely evaded the rapier that was now aimed for his left shoulder. As the two passed each other, they quickly came to a halt and turned around. On Yong Hwa’s forehead, cold sweats began to appear. He had never seen someone who was able to change their weapon’s trajectory so drastically with a sword type.

Rapiers were known for their quick thrusts and various angles of attacks. Even he knew that and had prepared accordingly. Still, never expected the girl in front of him to master her skills to the point where she could change her attack with a thought. Just how much bitter training does one have to go through to reach such a level? Although Yong Hwa prided himself in being a good swordsman, with just that one exchange, he was able to tell that Dal was a level above him.

Although the majority of people would feel despair at the moment, there was instead a fire burning within Yong Hwa’s soul when he noticed their difference. His fighting spirit, which was already high, seemed to burst forth in eagerness. His eyes couldn’t hide his excitement and eagerness to fight.

Dal, on the other hand, calmly looked at Yong Hwa. When she noticed that his eagerness, a smile crept up on her beautiful face. Without saying anything, the two once again ran forth to fight.

Under the bright full moon, the two continued to clash against each other. Sharp clang sounds rang throughout the courtyard as their weapons clashed against one another. If a regular person came upon their fight, they would be wide eyed as both Yong Hwa and Dal seemed like blurs as they quickly moved their bodies to gain an advantage on each other. The only thing that was clearly visible were the white aura appearing from Azuron’s Requiem and the soft red aura that surrounded Dal’s rapier.

If one looked closely, Yong Hwa’s movements seemed fluid and connected, as if it was like a flowing river. Dal though, seemed to be one with nature. It felt as though her movements were natural and fitted perfectly the surrounding.

Even though the fight looked close, Dal retained the upper hand throughout the spar. Although Yong Hwa continuously released one strike after another, none of them came close to Dal as she easily deflected or evaded them. Yong Hwa, on the other hand, would have been skewered quite a few times if this had been an actual fight instead of a spar.

During one brief moment where the two stopped, a voice appeared within Yong Hwa’s mind.

’I thought that I felt something familiar from that girl, so it was that…’

‘Eh, that? What do you mean, Azuron?’

Yong Hwa wasn’t able to hide his confusion. When Azuron felt it, he expanded upon his earlier statement.

’I think I know what beast soul resides in that young lady.’

‘Oh? What is it?’

When he heard what Azuron said, Yong Hwa was surprised. If Azuron was able to tell who it was, it meant that the beast soul was very strong since he wouldn’t remember any weaklings. While Yong Hwa was anticipating his answer, Azuron responded.

’Remember how I told you that I used to lead one of the armies of my parents? Although there was no one who compare to me in strength from our side, there was actually one who could from the other side. The two of us actually countered each other and were bitter rivals back then.

Bool Shin, the Holy Phoenix. Her father, Pyrus, gave her the name fire goddess because she was the one who had the strongest fire attribute out of all his children. As her race expresses, she is both fire and light attributed. The two of us have fought on several occasions, but have never been able to determine which of us were stronger. Still, just because we are bitter rivals doesn’t mean we don’t respect each other. I was told later that when she heard of the ambush that killed me, Bool Shin was actually quite furious and killed the surviving generals. Still, to meet her here…..how unexpected.’

Shocked by Azuron’s revelation, Yong Hwa wasn’t able to maintain his expression. Seeing the change in his expression, Dal stared at him curiously. Ever since he stopped moving, she had been patiently waiting. As Yong Hwa got his bearing together, he stood up once more and looked toward her.

“Umm.. is your beast soul Bool Shin?”

When Dal heard Yong Hwa’s question, her eyebrows arched in surprise. There should be no way for Yong Hwa to know Bool Shin. After all, she was the very first person that Bool Shin had chosen. Just as she was contemplating how Yong Hwa would know, Bool Shin spoke.

’There’s no reason to be so surprised. Since I was able to tell that Azuron resided in that boy, he obviously can sense me from ‘Heavenly Flare’ also. Relay to Azuron for me that it has been a while.’

Hearing what Bool Shin said, Dal finally understood. Since her rapier, ‘Heavenly Flare’, was made from Bool Shin’s soul, it naturally gave off her aura. Since the two souls were already familiar with each other, it was obvious that they could tell who each other was from their aura.Since both Yong Hwa and her soul was not strong enough, neither Azuron nor Bool Shin were able to communicate with each other and had to rely on their host to relay messages. After sighing once, she spoke up.

“Hmm, it seems we have quite the fate together, huh Yong Hwa? Bool Shin told me to tell Azuron that she says it has been a while.”

“Azuron really was right, huh? Like you said, it seems as though we really do have quite a particular fate.”

Yong Hwa wasn’t able to help but admit that they indeed have a weird fate. For their first meeting to be rescuing her, to now finding out that their beast souls were such amazing figures and rivals at that. It really was a very unique. After thinking it over for a few moments, he shook his head.

“Anyways, we can talk about this later. For now, let restar….”

Just as he was in the midst of speaking, Yong Hwa stopped. His expression which had been calm, suddenly became dark. Curiosity was written on Dal’s face as she waited for him to reply.

“Hm…. It seems like we’re going to conclude our spar at another time.”

“Why do you say that?”

Dal was surprised when she heard what Yong Hwa said. Just until a moment ago, she was able to sense his desire to continue sparring and she thought he was going to say he wanted to restart it. Still, she didn’t miss how his expression had darkened and become serious.

“We have some unexpected guest.”

At those words, Dal turned around. Without her even noticing it, people had started to appear atop the walls and buildings that surrounded the courtyard. As she studied their figures, she counted at least ten people and could tell that all of them possessed strength that was superior to the average person. From just a glance of their outfits and from their demeanor, one could easily tell what they were here for.

Without saying a word, both Yong Hwa and Dal rushed toward each other and placed their back against each other. From behind her, she heard Yong Hwa’s mumbling.

“Assassins from Illbon, eh?”