Return of the Woodcutter

Sheyla took position at the center of the ring. A man with long blonde hair wearing a chainmail underneath a leather armor was standing on the opposite side of her.

With his spear in hand, the steel tip oriented towards her, he said, winking, "Nice to see you again, beautiful."

If Aito had attracted the attention of female challengers—and a few men—Sheyla had done the same with males.

After refusing numerous propositions, she was tired of seeing faces filled with lust. Using the invisibility cloak, she'd avoid certain persistent bastards. Noah, the challenger facing her, was one of them.

Noah wanted to join Aito's team to follow Sheyla around. Infatuated with her, he truly desired to get "a shot at the goal."

Now that he was level 2, he felt more confident about his capabilities at challenging the sixth floor, so why not?

Sheyla was not particularly inclined to let him have his way with her.

Now that, in this life, Sheyla could decide when, how, where, and who she'd like to bed, there was no way in hell a man such as Noah would touch her.

Moreover, he did not exactly suit her taste, not that Sheyla knew what she liked about men. Having been educated to follow orders, there had been little room for feelings. If it weren't for Ogoro's kindness, she certainly would have become akin to a robot in terms of personality.

Although, now that she was part of a team with a companion she could trust, Sheyla was progressively opening herself up. Letting loose of all those feelings that had been confined far into her subconscious, rarely surfacing in her past life.

More and more, she started to ask herself questions she had never considered before.

What kind of food do I like? What should I do with my newly gained freedom? What kind of men suit my taste? Do I have any taste in men? What is even love? Am I… allowed to love?

All those weird questions she had denied herself before surfaced during the Lunar Eclipse. Something throbbed inside her chest for some reason she remained oblivious to.

Being a rational person, she rarely showed her emotions in public. In front of Ogoro alone, she didn't mind.

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Yet, after her revival, one event after another followed, where she somehow allowed herself to let out her frustration, anger, joy, sadness, satisfaction. And most of them were linked to one person in particular.

One man.

She felt weird about that incomprehensible feeling. There were no rational explanations for it. That frustrated her to the utmost. Before she could find a certain logic to this… unknown, Sheyla didn't plan on letting it out—not intentionally, at least.

Sheyla stared at her opponent, analyzing every single detail that crossed her vision. Noah's stance, center of gravity, his gaze full of lust behind his helmet's visor.

Her morpho bow in short mode, she nocked an arrow that glowed yellow, then the temperature around the steel tip progressively lowered as she activated her new ability.

—Active skill: Frozen Arrow—

"Ready," she said, calmly eyeing her sparring partner.

"Here I come, beautiful," Noah said, coating his armor in Durability before rushing straight for Sheyla.

She aimed directly at his chest. Noah prepared to receive the shot. That didn't come. In a swift motion, Sheyla shifted her target and let loose of her bowstring.

The cobblestone in front of Noah immediately froze, becoming icy. Too late to dodge, with the momentum and weight, his foot slipped, forcing his entire body to fall, losing sight of his opponent.

Once he stood up and stepped out of the frozen area, Noah realized Sheyla was nowhere to be seen.

"Forfeit or die," a feminine voice said from behind him.

Noah was about to object, but he felt a cold feeling near his neck. Lowering his gaze, he saw an arrow coated with ice element properties, its tip oriented towards an unprotected area of his neck.

"Wow, easy there, beautiful," Noah said, lifting both hands in a sign of submission. "It's just a spar."

"Forfeit or die," Sheyla repeated, placing her arrow tip against his throat. In consequence, Noah's skin progressively lost heat.

"Arg, it's cold! Alright, alright, but before I do, mind answering one of my questions?" Noah asked. No reply came. Interpreting that as a positive answer, he continued. "Would you please marry me?"

Aito and Ogoro's jaws almost dropped to the ground at that absurd proposal. A possible new rumor arose with the crowd speaking amongst themselves.

Sheyla's brow twitched. 'Why is that man spouting such bullshit?'

"I've been infatuated with you since the first time I saw you, Sheyla. My love suddenly appeared out of nowhere like a lightning strike. I can't stop thinking about you. Dying once without knowing love was my greatest regret. But now that I found it in this second life, I'm ready to do anything to keep it, to keep you safe from harm."

'Love…,' Sheyla pondered while keeping a firm hold on him. She did not reciprocate such feelings, not the way Noah meant it, at least.

To her mind, her affection for Ogoro could also be called love, but was a fraternal one. She understood it wasn't the same love Noah talked about.

Of course, Sheyla theoretically knew what it was supposed to be. But knowing and understanding were different.

Then a thought stroke her, maybe she could use him to gather information on the subject. To find a rational meaning to it.

"Why do you love me?" She asked indifferently.

"That…, uh," Noah hesitated to answer at first. "I don't know…, it's not a rational feeling after all. I just do. There is nothing more to it."

Thinking her question may have been badly formulated and unsatisfied with his answer, she said, "WHAT do you love about me?"

Noah smiled as he seemed to find that question easier to give an answer to. "I love the way you move your beautiful body. I love your long raven black hair. Your lilac smell. Your sumptuous curves. I love your blue eyes and the way you stare at everyone like they are mere lowly dogs."

Even the crowd was shocked at the last part of his answer. From his resting place, Ogoro covered his mouth to prevent his laugh from reaching his sister. Aito observed the situation calmly, with a mocking grin on his face, ready to intervene if things turned sour—although he felt a bit pissed.

Everyone knew at that moment Noah was a real masochist in search of a sadist to satisfy his deepest desires.

To Sheyla, every single of Noah's reasons felt flawed and, most of all, filled with lust. Certain she wouldn't gain anything more from this man, she answered his previous question, "I decline your proposal. Now, forfeit or die."

Noah's heart shattered in a thousand pieces, but his lust for rose, reaching sky high. Her response was cold, straightforward, and rough. Exactly how he liked them! However, the fact he could not have her saddened him.

As weird as it sounded, Noah felt like he wouldn't be able to go on living without her. If they parted ways now, she'd eventually find someone. Sure, she looked close to the black challenger, but Noah was certain nothing was going on between the two. 

That wasn't the problem. The problem was just the thought of another man laying his hand on her disgusted him. He wanted her all for himself!

Accompanying her to make sure none of that happened was his duty! 

But with an arrow threatening to freeze and pierce his throat, Noah forfeited the spar and all his chances of getting into the black challenger's team. 

Sheyla withdrew her arrow, turned back, started to exit the ring, and stopped when she heard an alarming sound behind her.

Noah hadn't given up just yet. Lifting his spear on top of his shoulder, he looked ready for a second round.

"Sheyla! If I can't have you, then no one else will!" He said, activating his strongest skill, hurling his weapon with all his strength.

—Active skill: Power Throw—

Sheyla coated her cloak with durability just in time to defend herself against the spear aimed at her chest. Its steel tip couldn't pierce the cloth, but the momentum of the attack went through.

Her weavedmail and leather armor absorbed a part of the shock. The rest was transferred to her rib cage. Bending, cracking, it still managed to stop the powerful throw.

"What? How did you survive this?"

Furious, Aito wanted to step in right away, but seeing Sheyla's angry face, he decided to restrain himself. Vengeance was not his, but hers.

Gritting her teeth, Sheyla dealt with the pain silently. Discarding the spear, she drew a handful of arrows from her inventory bag, coated them with Frozen Arrow, firing them one after the other. Always aiming for his chest.

Hands in front of him, Noah protected his head while advancing, trying to reach his spear. Each shot, however, impacted the same area every time. Scratching, denting, piercing, weakening, and freezing his breastplate and chainmail beneath it.

Thanks to his aura coating his equipment, he managed to lessen the freezing effect.

Sheyla lengthened her morpho bow for more power, took out an arrow, and went invisible. She stepped out of Noah's way, taking this time to infuse and combine skills on her arrow.

—Active skill: Durability—

—Active skill: Piercing shot—

—Active skill: Frozen arrow—

Activating Hawk Eye for more precision, she nocked her arrow and pulled on her bowstring when Noah finally reached his spear, dissipating her invisibility.

She released her bowstring, propelling the arrow so fast that with such a short distance, Noah had no time to react when it pierced his chest, breaching his rib cage, freezing his lungs and heart.

Noah dropped dead, with a painful expression on his face and, true to his sadism, a bulge under his pants.

'Lustful bastard,' Sheyla thought as she left the ring for the medical team. A silent crowd traced her steps.

Aito strode to the center of the ring, picked up Noah's corpse, walked away, stealthily extracted his soul core, then hurled the corpse onto a main road.

Nobody opposed his decision.

When he came back, since his teammates were recuperating and no one dared challenge him, he announced the end of the sparring session.