He paused for a moment, then locked eyes with Karim:

  “I’m not forcing you into anything, Karim. I’m simply offering you an opportunity—for saving my life.”

  Karim turned to Luca.

  The excitement in Luca’s eyes was impossible to miss.

  His gaze practically screamed, “Say yes already, dumbass!”

  Karim took a deep breath.

  He stood up, walked over to the General, and extended his hand.

  The General looked at Karim’s face for a moment, then slowly rose to his feet and shook it.

  “Believe me, nothing you’ve learned here will compare to what I’m going to teach you, Karim.”

  His voice was deep—tinged with pride.

  As he let go of Karim’s hand, he added, “Come here in two days. I’ll speak with your instructors in the meantime. Take care.”

  Luca practically sprinted out of the house.

  As Karim reached for the door to close it, the General called out once more:

  “My daughter is… different, Karim. Try to get used to her.”

  Karim paused briefly, then gave a nod and stepped outside.

  The two left the commanders’ quarters in silence.

  Karim’s thoughts swirled, but he soon noticed something odd—Luca was unusually quiet.

  “What’s up? You’re never this silent—”

  And before he could finish, Luca jumped on him and wrapped him in a tight hug.

  “Finally, motherfucker! I thought you were never gonna say it! If you hadn’t accepted that offer, I swear I would’ve shoved your head into the goddamn fireplace, you crazy bastard!”

  he shouted, while Karim tried to push Luca’s head off his chest.

  For the next two days, Karim and Luca did nothing but talk about what they were about to step into.

  ***

  What kind of training awaited them?

  What exactly did the General mean when he said, “My daughter is… different”?

  And where would they go once their training was complete?

  The two of them sat silently atop the hill, pondering these questions.

  Just then, the General himself approached, clearing his throat softly.

  The pair turned toward the sound and quickly stood up, heading toward him.

  The General glanced around and smiled faintly.

  “Nice spot you’ve found. Seems like it’s your favorite place.”

  Luca answered quickly:

  “Yes, sir.”

  After gazing out over the view from the hill for a while, the General nodded.

  “Follow me. Starting today, you’ll no longer train under your instructors—you’ll be under me. Let me make it clear now: there’s training every single day. So forget about the idea of a vacation.”

  The two followed the General without a word and set off.

  When they arrived at the General’s home, Emily was sitting on a chair just outside the door, looking bored out of her mind.

  As the pair approached, Emily rolled her eyes with an irritated expression and said:

  “So which one of you is going first? Because I’m seriously bored.”

  The General let out a soft sigh and said:

  “I don’t think it’s very smart to just throw you into a fistfight with each other. Since you’ve both served in the army, I’m assuming you’ve already passed most of the entrance evaluations.”

  Karim gave a short smile and nodded:

  “Yes. In fact, we tied during the army entrance exam.”

  The General nodded, thinking for a moment before saying:

  “Wait here, I think I have two practice swords in my room. I’ll go grab them.”

  He walked off.

  Meanwhile, Luca turned his gaze to Emily, crossed his arms, and said in a mocking tone:

  “You do know you can’t actually beat us, right?”

  Emily gave a faint, dismissive smile.

  “For a bodyguard, you sure think highly of yourself.”

  Her words hit Luca like lightning.

  Just as he was about to yell back at her, Karim quickly pulled him back and whispered:

  “What the hell are you doing? She’s going to be under our protection now—are you out of your mind?”

  Luca paused for a moment.

  He took a deep breath, then nodded and stepped back.

  But Emily had heard what Karim whispered.

  “I seriously don’t believe for a second that you two idiots are going to protect anything, let alone me,” she muttered.

  The General returned to the yard with two wooden training swords in his hands.

  “Alright. Who’s going first?”

  Emily took the sword from her father without a moment’s hesitation and stepped into the center of the garden.

  She held it with ease, calmly waiting.

  Luca gently tapped Karim on the arm and whispered:

  “You go. You’re better with a sword than I am.”

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  Karim grumbled and frowned slightly:

  “First you made me track in the army, now you want me to go first in training too? Yeah, not happening.”

  Before Luca could even respond, Karim grabbed him by the arm and pulled him toward the General.

  The General, smiling faintly, tossed the other practice sword to Luca.

  Karim and the General now stood back to watch as Emily and Luca faced off.

  Emily rested her sword lightly on the ground and looked to her father, signaling that she was ready.

  Luca, meanwhile, gripped his sword tightly with both hands and raised it toward Emily.

  The General looked over his two students and spoke in a firm, commanding voice:

  “Alright, let’s start with something simple. Just like your instructors taught you—basic right-left strikes. We’ll proceed based on how that goes.”

  He paused for a moment, then turned to Emily:

  “Emily, match your speed to your opponent’s.”

  At that moment, a question popped into Luca’s head:

  “Match her speed to mine? What the hell does that mean?”

  Before he could finish the thought, Emily raised her sword and smacked him hard across the forehead.

  Luca stumbled back, dazed, staring at the General in shock.

  The General spoke in a cold, steady tone:

  “Rule number one: Always be on guard—no matter what.”

  “Rule number two: A fight begins the moment you pick up the sword, and ends when you put it down.”

  “Rule number three: Everything is fair game—except the groin.”

  Still rubbing his forehead, Luca muttered under his breath:

  “But I thought we were just supposed to clash swords…”

  But Emily had already begun her second strike.

  Luca ducked at the last second, narrowly avoiding Emily’s sword strike—and quickly realized he needed to be a lot more careful.

  As he tried to parry the incoming blows, Emily suddenly lunged forward.

  She shoved him hard with her shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

  Luca hit the ground flat on his back.

  The impact made him lose grip of his sword.

  He was gasping for breath.

  The General stood quietly beside Karim. Leaning in slightly, he whispered:

  “Is he really this weak, or is he putting on a show?”

  Karim fixed his eyes on Luca and thought for a moment.

  Then he gave a slight shrug:

  “He’s usually a bit scrappier, but he’s never had a training this real.”

  The General raised an eyebrow and looked at Karim with suspicion:

  “You’ve seen him in action then?”

  Karim swallowed lightly and answered:

  “Kind of.”

  But he knew he wouldn’t be able to dodge the General’s eyes.

  The General stared at him, unblinking, his voice growing more serious:

  “So, how did you figure out I poisoned myself, son?”

  Karim hesitated for a moment, then locked eyes with him and replied:

  “I found the spoon. It was under your pillow. The bottle had fallen to the floor.”

  Then, with a trace of unease, he added:

  “I had to look through your letters… I saw the one you wrote to your wife.”

  The General stayed silent for a moment.

  Then he let out a small chuckle and shook his head:

  “Karim, that child I mentioned in the letter—that was Emily. None of the other generals know anything about my family. I probably wrote that letter twenty years ago.”

  Karim frowned in surprise:

  “Then… why were you still carrying it with you?”

  The General smiled faintly and looked off into the distance as he spoke:

  “Would you believe me if I said that just five minutes after writing that letter, we got caught in a rain of arrows? One of them tore through the side of the tent and stabbed me right in the shoulder.

  So I kept it as a keepsake. Just in case—if I ever started to miss the battlefield, it would remind me what it really meant.”

  There was a brief silence.

  Then, the General clasped his hands behind his back and turned to Karim:

  “Alright then. Go pick Luca up. You’re next.”

  Karim walked over to Luca, leaned down, and asked:

  “You alright?”

  Luca, still out of breath, whispered:

  “Karim… if you beat that demon, dinner’s on me tonight.”

  Karim gave a faint smile, grabbed Luca by the arm, and helped him up.

  Then he picked up the wooden sword from the ground and stepped into place across from Emily.

  Emily tilted her head slightly and looked at Karim with a mocking tone:

  “Remember the time I told you to change your perspective?”

  Karim gripped the wooden sword tightly with both hands and replied:

  “Yeah. So what?”

  Emily curled her lips into a slight smirk.

  “You’ll understand what I meant once I blacken one of your eyes,” she said, and without waiting, she swung her sword fast toward Karim’s arm.

  But Karim, as if he had anticipated it, blocked the strike with his own sword.

  The wooden blades clashed mid-air with a sharp, echoing crack.

  Karim had already figured out that Emily was faster than him—he’d realized it while watching her fight Luca.

  In standard training sessions, there was always a sequence—structured moves where swords were struck in turns.

  Even during his first one-on-one duel, he had been evenly matched with Luca, and neither of them had ever aimed for the face.

  But Emily… she had gone for Luca’s face right from the start, and then taken him down with her shoulder.

  That was proof enough: she wasn’t here to teach—she was here to fight.

  Emily was fast.

  Her attacks were relentless.

  And Karim knew all too well—if he tried to get too close, she would drop him to the ground just like Luca.

  So if this training was meant to be like a real fight—and the only rule was not to strike the groin—

  Then everything else was fair game.

  After all, they were fighting on soil.

  Even if he made a risky move, the worst that could happen to Emily was a little pain.

  No serious injury. No lasting harm.

  But…

  Emily’s attacks had now become nonstop.

  Though Karim was doing his best to deflect the blows, he began to feel himself tiring.

  He could feel his muscles growing heavier, his breath quickening.

  He was trying to both keep up with Emily’s speed and spot an opening in her defenses.

  But so far, Emily hadn’t made a single mistake.

  Luca stood next to the General, grinding his teeth as he watched the fight.

  “Come on, Karim. Come on, Karim. Hit her already! Let’s go!”

  he muttered repeatedly.

  But the General, his voice firm and commanding, spoke:

  “If he wants to land a strike on Emily, he’ll have to go beyond this training, Luca.”

  Luca flinched slightly at the sound of the General’s voice and turned his attention away from the fight.

  “What do you mean?” he asked, clearly confused.

  The General kept his eyes on Emily and Karim as he explained calmly:

  “I’ve been training Emily since she was a child, Luca. You’ve been here what—two years? She’s been learning how to fight for nearly ten.”

  Luca gave a crooked grin and replied in a mocking tone:

  “Yeah, well… Karim’s been training since he was a kid too.”

  But the General didn’t respond to that comment.

  Meanwhile, the clash between Karim and Emily had reached a new level of speed.

  Both were doing everything they could to land a hit, yet still—no victor had emerged.

  Emily wasn’t slowing down. Her attacks were as relentless as ever. And Karim… he kept holding his ground.

  But something had shifted in Karim’s mind.

  If I want to beat her… I can’t do it the normal way.

  Just as he tried to catch a brief opening in Emily’s stance—he was struck.

  The wooden sword came down hard on his head.

  But… he didn’t fall.

  Karim assessed the impact quickly and steadied himself. Emily let out a deep breath.

  “All right, you’re seriously stubborn,” she said, her voice tinged with frustration.

  Karim said nothing. He just gripped his sword tighter and studied Emily more closely.

  As Emily prepared to strike again—something gave her pause.

  “He’s watching where I’m about to hit…” she realized.

  Just as she swung for his foot, Karim anticipated it and blocked the attack.

  That moment sparked something in his mind.

  “Holy shit… I don’t need to watch her body—I just need to read her eyes!”

  Spotting that weakness ignited a surge of hope in Karim.

  Now, he wasn’t just on the defensive—he was finally able to go on the attack.

  Karim had started reacting to Emily’s attacks more quickly.

  In fact, at certain moments, he even launched counterattacks—forcing Emily onto the defensive for the first time.

  Luca shouted out in excitement:

  “I told you! He’s just like Emily!”

  The General scratched his chin in thought.

  Then, nodding slightly, he replied:

  “Yes… Interesting.”

  Minutes passed, yet still there was no clear winner.

  Both Emily and Karim were breathing heavily.

  Grinding her teeth in frustration, Emily snapped:

  “How the hell are you reacting faster than before?”

  Karim said nothing.

  He simply tightened his grip on the sword again and prepared for the next strike.

  Emily pressed on with renewed effort, throwing herself into one last assault.

  Just as she made her move…

  She locked eyes with Karim.

  That was his moment.

  Without hesitation, Karim thrust his sword forward and pressed it hard against Emily’s chest.

  Emily felt the sting in her chest and stumbled a step backward.

  But the fight wasn’t over yet.

  To restart the fight, she would’ve had to grip her sword again.

  But…

  Was that even an actual rule?

  Karim didn’t hesitate—he kept holding his sword firmly in one hand.

  And then, twisting Emily’s sword hand away, he pressed the edge of his blade to her throat.

  In that instant, the fight was truly over.

  The General spoke in a cold, composed voice:

  “All right. That’s enough.”

  Both of them, exhausted but proud, lowered their swords.

  Emily turned to Karim angrily and snapped:

  “When you strike someone, you usually give them a second to recover! What the hell are you trying to prove?”

  Karim, out of breath but firm, replied:

  “If that were the case, the General would’ve said ‘begin the next round.’”

  With that, he turned away from her and walked toward the General without looking back.

  The General clasped his hands behind his back and said:

  “Good work. But unfortunately, we’ve still got a long road ahead.

  Be here tomorrow. Same time.”

  The two of them—tired, but satisfied—left the training grounds.