Chapter 2

The Bet

The next morning...

The training hall was dead silent as expected during the weekend. Nothing could be heard except for the faint clanging sound of a weapon hitting against the practice dummy. Fiora grabbed the hilt of her rapier firmly, her narrowed eyes fixated closely on the target practice. Emanating a mild growl, the young fencer dashed forward onto the figure, displaying a myriad of abilities she had in her disposal.

Each stroke Fiora executed was with precision, constant gush of wind howling at the end of her blade signified her mastery of that weapon. She spun the rapier till it looked like it was a magical living that can dance. Each time her blade contacted the opponent's, she would brusquely turn and circled her foil around, finding its mark on the vital areas.

Fiora diligently practiced the same routine several times, before her arms finally wobbled with the lactic-acid built up seeping through her muscles. She summoned what was left of her strength and stuck her foil onto the dummy's soft vest, before tumbling onto the floor. Exhausted.

Fiora laid on the floor for just a mere second before she heard a round of applause coming from the entrance of the training hall. The startled girl cocked her head around just to see a silhouette of a person strolling on the hallway and towards her. Fiora continued to fix her eyes on the walking figure until her eyes narrowed in irritation for who realised the person was. Roxanne.

The redhead was still clapping when she reached the French girl's position.

"Hey nice job, Fiora! Those moves, they are awesome!" Roxanne grinned sarcastically.

Fiora felt annoyed the longer she stared at her opponent's face. She knew that she could not train in peace as long as the redhead was distracting her. And she's had something on her mind, judging from that facial expression.

"What is it that you want?" Fiora asked, keeping her voice low and vexed.

"Is that a short circuit in your brain?" Roxanne smiled even wider. "I am here to practice with you again. Remember?"

"Oh...Whatever."

Fiora accepted to the match unwillingly, having mixed feelings about the duel. On one hand, she has always wanted to get rid of the mosquito flying about her. And on the other, if she wins this duel, she will have a high chance of winning the whole competition and be the top student of the academy.

"This time, let's make the duel different." Roxanne said. Those unexpected words immediately broke Fiora's chain of thoughts.

"How different?" Fiora asked.

"Hmm…" Roxanne naughtily fiddled with her lips, her alluring blue eyes narrowed. "With a bet."

"O-okay…" Fiora replied with puzzlement.

"The loser of the match has to listen to the winner's every beck and call, for a whole day. Simple. How about that?"

Fiora thought for a moment, before agreeing to the conditions of the match.

"Alright, deal."

"Great, let's start. Be prepared to be my slave for the day!" Roxanne rubbed her hands in glee and anticipation."

"Less talk, more action." Fiora said with her thick French accent, eyeing back the redhead with returned expression.

Fiora swished her rapier back in forth through the air, before settling into her position. Across the room, Roxanne adopted her own position, and they glared at one another. The air seemed heavy and tense with emotion as the two duellists slowly walked towards one another. Once they were a few feet away from each other, they simultaneously stopped. Fiora thrust forward, allowing her attack to be blocked before they reset, now circling one another like boxers in a ring.

This time, Roxanne initiated, a downward slash coupled with a twist, which Fiora pushed away and sidestepped. They were testing each other. With a slight twinge of impatience, Fiora leapt and swung heavily at Roxanne, who staggered back and barely managed to recover. Fiora pressed her advantage, and her assault showed no sign of stopping, as she slashed and dashed around Roxanne. Roxanne, in a desperate attempt to recover, pushed forward instead, and her left hand pushed into Fiora's taut, toned stomach. Fiora gasped as the wind was knocked out of her and began to backpedal. Roxanne swung in a wide arc, but Fiora recovered and riposted her swing, and disarmed Roxanne.

Roxanne's eyes widened, and she slowly inched towards her sword. Fiora, seeking to end the duel, lunged at her. However, the redhead predicted her attack and rolled away, before seizing her sword and springing up to continue. Fiora rushed her once more, and the girls began to fall into the pattern of slash, block, cut, thrust, riposte, and stab. Neither duellist could gain the advantage as their fierce and fiery fight raged across the entirety of the room. Roxanne attempted to break the pattern and thrust forward, but Fiora spun her sword around the redhead's blade and with a hiss of steel, nearly disarmed her for a second time, but this time, opted to slam her pommel into Roxanne's cheekbone.

Roxanne yelped and stumbled onto the ground, but before doing that, managed to skilfully entangle her legs in Fiora's, crashing the French woman on top of her. Fiora spread her arms out to catch herself, and instead, planted both her hands squarely onto Roxanne's plump breasts.

"Ooh! My oh my Fiora, I didn't know you swung that way," she said laughing flirtatiously.

Fiora rolled her eyes, and, while mildly blushing, helped Roxanne up, their exercise clothes rubbing on their sweaty skin.

"Shall we continue?"

Roxanne lunged at her without another word, and Fiora sidestepped, before twirling her fingers around the hilt and switching into a backhand position. She sent two vicious swipes towards Roxanne. The redhead ducked, dodging the first two, and on the third, wielded her rapier in a two-handed grip, blocking Fiora's third horizontal slash with a jarring stop. Fiora tossed her sword behind her back, the jumped back, catching her foil and resetting the position. Roxanne sprinted towards her, and Fiora, predicting based off the redhead's body position, prepared for a blow aimed for the torso. At the last possible instant, however, Roxanne jerked up her blade towards Fiora's face, grazing the air mere millimetres away from Fiora's cerulean eyes, making Fiora wish they were using masks.

Fiora stumbled, momentarily shocked, and Roxanne mercilessly shot forward, and placed the tip of her rapier on Fiora's (shapely) breast. She smirked, and sensually mouthed one word:

"Defeat."