There was a glow of golden aura which surrounded Cassandra the moment she drew her bde. The bde itself seemed to undergo a transformation, shifting from what initially appeared long to a more medium-sized on.

  “What makes you think you’re even ready to take on students, Aliana,” Cassandra asked.

  Aliana responded calmly, “Who say, Cassandra? I’ve always been very ‘fident’.”

  Cassandra’s eyes remained fixed on Alliana. She wore a stern face. “fidence alone doesn’t make a teacher,” she retorted. “Being a Swod is about more than just mastery of the bde. It’s about responsibility, discipline, and uanding of one’s own as.”

  Time seemed to slow as Cassandra’s bde, enveloped in a radiant golden aura, moved with lightning speed towards Aliana’s neck. It was a moment of intense focus and instinct. Aliana barely had time to react, but her reflexes kicked in just in the nick of time. She ma her own sword, Tengoku, up to block Cassandra’s strike.

  The csh of their bdes sent a shockwave of energy rippling through the enting garden.

  Cassandra kept a stern gaze. “Do you truly uand your own as, Aliana? You may have returned, but the past ot be erased.”

  Aliana’s gaze met Cassandra’s with fidence. “I uand myself now more than ever,” she replied, “I’ve learned many lessons during my absence, and I’m going to make amends.”

  The csh of bdes tinued. Cassandra moved gracefully with her golden-aura-infused sword. Cassandra’s attacks were relentless, pushing Aliana on the defensive.

  “I feel the pain of your sword, Aliana,” she remarked. Aliana’s focus wavered for a split sed. In that moment of distra, Cassandra seized the opportunity. With a swift and calcuted strike, she mao ssh Aliana across the chest.

  Blood welled up from the wound, staining Aliana’s attire. She staggered back. “If that’s all it takes to break your defense...”

  Aliana clutched her bleeding chest, looking across at Cassandra. Aliana readied herself for Cassandra’s charge.

  Cassandra’s movements were swift and precise. Her bde moved with a practiced grace that seemed to anticipate Aliana’s every move. Aliana found herself struggling to keep up. Her strikes were being deflected with ease. Each csh of their swords sent vibrations through Aliana’s arms.

  Cassandra began to incorporate feints aive maneuvers into her attacks. Aliana was forced to adapt quickly, but Cassandra’s relentless pace was overwhelming. Every time Aliana attempted to gain ground, Cassandra seemed to effortlessly ter and redirect her efforts. Aliana growled.

  Cassandra’s aura fred with an even brighter golden light. She unleashed a powerful series of strikes. The energy from her sword crackled through the air, leaving trails of golden sparks. Aliana tried to defend herself, but the sheer force behind Cassandra’s attacks was overp.

  A sudden crack echoed through the garden as Cassandra’s bde struck Aliana’s sword with a devastating blow, causing a visible fissure in Tengoku. The impact sent Aliana stumbling backward.

  With her sword now bearing a crack, Aliana’s defenses weakened. Cassandra seized the opportunity. Aliana was driven back, struggling to maintain her footing. Cassandra’s bde moved like a storm. Aliana’s attempts to ter were met with swift and decisive parries. The force of Cassandra’s strikes was starting to wear on Aliana.

  “You’re still holding back, aren’t you?” Cassandra shouted. “Show me your true strength!”

  Gaiza watched in growing . Aliana suddenly announced, “Sword Magic Level 3, Kori Tengoku!”

  Aliana’s mastery over her Sword Magic Style was on full dispy. She swung Kori Tengoku in a sweeping arc, then brought it down with incredible force. The bde emitted a bone-chilling aura, and with a powerful wave of ice, she unleashed the full force of her Level 3 Sword Magic.

  Cassandra’s eyes widened in surprise. “Sword Magic Level 3 right off the bat,” she muttered.

  Aliana’s chilling wave of ice surged toward Cassandra. With a swift and precise movement of her own bde, she cshed against Aliana’s attack, creating a fierce collision of powers in the ented garden.

  Aliana jumped back, distang herself from the csh. She swiftly raised her sword, f an arc of icy spikes around her. In a fluid motion, Aliana unched all the ice spikes simultaneously, sending them hurtling towards Cassandra. At the same time, Aliana moved forward, closing the gap between them and Cassandra.

  Cassandra parried Aliana’s ice spikes with skillful swordpy. Their bdes cshed once more, and Cassandra’s unwavering resolve shohrough as she addressed Aliana’s iions.

  “Do you seek fiveness, Aliana? Is that why you’re here, to seek redemption from the Swods?”

  Their duel tinued, and Cassandra’s strength proved to be unmatched. With a powerful strike, she sent Aliana flying through the air, crashing into a nearby tree. Leaves scattered around her as she y there, momentarily stunned by the force of the impact.

  Cassandra stood her ground with a golden aura radiating with power. “You’re not fiven, Aliana,” she decred firmly.

  In a hushed tone, Aliana muttered, “Just like back then...”

  Her vision blurred. She was momentarily transported ba time, to a moment when she had first reached Sword Magic Level 3. A man in her past had gratuted her on her achievement. However, the younger Cassandra, wearing a hat and a critical gaze, had harshly dismissed her aplishment, beling her a “fool”.

  In that vivid memory, the younger Cassandra had defeated her and said, “Those who d don’t deserve to win if their heart is not fully into it,” she had decred.

  Suddenly, Aliana snapped back to the present. Her eyes refocused on Cassandra, who said, “Those who d are not fiven, period.”

  Aliana, struggling to rise from the ground, wiped the blood from her fad met Cassandra’s unwavering gaze.

  “That’s what you think, Cassandra,” she said. “But it’s not that simple. You see, I’ve been through hell and back since we st met.”

  Cassandra remaiern, but there was a flicker of curiosity in her eyes.

  Aliana tinued, “After I was defeated by that person cloaked in darkness, I somehow ended up on an isnd outside of the city. There, I was trolled by a headmaster. I was stripped of my freedom and forced to ply with her will unknowingly. I was haunted by my ow at the hands of three children on that isnd and my former adversary Kintovar. It’s what woke me up. I’ve faced hardship, regret, and tless moments of self-doubt.”

  She paused for a breath, her gaze unwavering. “I’ve also faced a point where I wa all to end. Iv’e...faced my mistakes. I’ve spent time uanding my fws...”

  Aliana took a step closer to Cassandra “I remember you once said that there’s always a way to gain fiveness. Is it not true? Or have your beliefs ged?”

  Aliana she raised her bde high and uttered the intation, “Swod Form: Tengoku, the Ice Heaven!”

  In that moment, a dramatic transformation unfolded. A blue light enveloped her, and her figure was bathed in an icy radiance. Her once-blue hair turned a brilliant shade of silver, and her eyes were now a glowing icy-blue.

  Her armor, which had previously been a deep shade of azure, underwent a breathtakiamorphosis. It became a pristine, crystalline white, adorned with intricate frost patterns that seemed to dance across its surface. Her sword, Tengoku, was no longer just a bde; it became a work of art, an embodiment of the frozen heavens.

  Aliana’s very presence was transformed, radiating an aura of unparalleled power and majesty. She stood as if she were the embodiment of a celestial force, a living maion of id frost.

  Amidst the awe-inspiring transformation, Bee’s eyes widened in amazement. Their vi was solidified while watg Aliana’s assion to the Swod Form.

  Bee decred, “That’s her. That’s the one who’s going to be my master!”

  Elena smiled, reizing the newfound purpose aement in Bee’s eyes. Gaiza, though held onto her chest. She was moved by the incredible dispy of power and swordpy she was seeing from both of them.

  With Aliana’s transformation plete, the garden seemed to freeze over in respoo her power.

  “Heaven’s Ice Crystal.”

  The atmosphere itself respoo Aliana’s and, succumbing to the frigid aura she emanated.

  Aliana ted the intation, the air around her became covered with an intense cold. Icy crystals materialized in a breathtaking dispy of power and trol. These crystalline shards, sharp as the bitterest winter, multiplied rapidly, f an imposing barrier that radiated both beauty.

  Cassandra was surprised by the overwhelming dispy of Sword Magic. She found herself encased in the fortress of ice. Her once-fident demeanor wavered. She struggled to break free from the impriso.

  Cassandra though, mao find a way to break free from the icy barrier that had momentarily trapped her. She emerged from it with a golden glow surrounding her body.

  Aliana, seizing the moment, unched a barrage of ice spikes towards Cassandra. The spikes hurtled through the air with chilling speed and precision.

  Cassandra closed her eyes for a brief moment, then opehem to reveal one eye covered with a golden light. She moved with the grace of a dancer, she avoided the ice spikes at the st sed.

  Aliana unleashed lightning-fast sshes in Cassandra’s dire, but she twirled gracefully and avoided the attacks.

  Then, in a surprising turn of events, Cassandra closed the gap between them with a tou Aliana’s back, catg her off guard. With incredible speed, she executed a precise ssh from behind; however, Aliana called upon her power. With a single hand raised, she invoked, “Heaven’s Ice Prison!” The air around Cassandra immediately chilled, and a colossal pilr of ice surged forth, enveloping her in its freezing embrace.

  Cassandra’s eyes widened in astonishment as the icased her once again, leaving her frozen in a state of temporary suspension.

  Aliana caught her breath and pted the battle she had just endured.

  To herself, Aliana murmured with a hint of disbelief, “Even though I’m sure Cassandra is using Sword Magic, I know she hasn’t raised the level of her Sword Magic beyond basic Level 1. Yet, she’s been keeping up with my Swod Form. She’s just as strong as I imagined she would be.”

  However, her thoughts were interrupted when Aliana noticed something peculiar. She looked at her own sword, Tengoku appeared to be shedding icy tears. fused, she questioned her sword, “Tengoku?”

  With a sense ency, Aliana closed her eyes and delved into the mind of her sword. She sought to uand the source of its distress. Wheered the realm of her sword’s, she found herself standing on the edge of a vast, serene o.

  Her sword, Tengoku, appeared in its physical form within this realm, looking identical to her but as an aura of light and ice, weeping silently beh the water’s surface. The sight was troubling. Aliaended her hand, trying to reach out to the grieving bde.

  “Tengoku!” she called out, but the sword remained submerged, seemingly uo hear her.

  Alia a pang of frustration and fusion. She tried again. “Tengoku!”

  It seemed to have no effect. For some reason, Tengoku had not heard her. She questioned herself, “Why isn’t Tengoku responding? What’s causing this disect all of a sudden?”

  Before she could make sense of this mysterious phenomenon, Cassandra, with her golden aura still active, burst free from the icy prison. She unleashed a flurry of powerful sshes. Her movements were so swift that it seemed as if she were leaving afterimages behind her, creating a dazzling dispy of speed.

  Cassandra’s rapid assault nded multiple sshes all over Aliana’s body, even with the mitigated damage from her Swod Form. The overwhelming barrage forced Aliana to her knees, her body battered and bruised.

  Cassandra, standing tall with her sword at the ready, observed Aliana. Her golden aura gradually subsided while she spoke with a look of disdain.

  “Aliana,” Cassandra began, “your Swod Form was stronger in the past. You’re missing something, something vital.” She pointed her sword at Aliana, emphasizing her point. “You’re holding your sword, but at the same time, you’re not truly ‘holding’ it.”

  Aliana, panting heavily and struggling to maintain her posure, looked at Cassandra with a fusion.

  “What the devil does this mad woman mean..?”