Lillian smiled and waved, silently confirming Kuro’s assumption, which led him to smile back.
Walking over to Cecillian and retrieving his towel, he asked Lillian:
"Lillian, was it? What brings you here? Surely, it must be something besides travelling the world and sightseeing, am I correct?"
"You’re spot on, yeah, I was here to deliver something—one of the duties as someone on the Student Council."
Taking a sip from a bottle of water, Kuro’s ears twitched at the words "Student Council." His eyes glimmered with a level of respect for Lillian.
"Oh? The Student Council, hm? I, too, am part of the Student Council here. I take it you were nominated with votes, right? That role has quite a bit of value in our academy."
Lillian nodded, "You can say that."
Remembering how Beatrice just decided to place her in the Student Council, Lillian smirked smugly internally. Who needed votes when you had someone in a high position to vouch for you?
Jericho came up from behind Kuro and rested his arm on his shoulder. He then waved at Lillian with a pleasant smile.
"Ah, greetings, Miss Lillian! It has been a while, hasn’t it?" Jericho held out his hand for a handshake. "Correct me if I’m wrong, but was it you who blew my head off in the tournament?"
Lillian took his hand, "It’s a pleasure meeting you again, Mister Jericho" She then shook her head, "And that wasn’t me, you’re referring to Marionette. The woman with black hair and red eyes."
"Oh! My apologies, my memory is horrible when it comes to remembering faces." Jericho rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before pausing, "Jericho? Who’s that?"
Kuro elbowed him in the side and whispered, "That’s the made up name you decided for the tournament..."
"Huh? Was it really? What was the last name I picked?"
"Blade."
"Ah, man...! That’s so lame! What was past me thinking?!"
Lillian smiled wryly as she watched this spectacle. Indeed, the names used and announced back in the tournament weren’t actually their real names... They were, in fact, just names used so that those in the South didn’t "butcher" the pronunciation of their real names.
It was a silly reason, but one that seemed to cause those with foreign origins annoyance to a degree, especially those from Luton, apparently.
Thus, every student from Luton who attended the tournament went under a fake name. Well, everyone but Kuro, who didn’t "give a damn".
"Well, then! Re-introduction is in order, isn’t it?" Jericho began to shake Lillian’s hand up and down rapidly, "I’m Mizuki Von Kirisaya, one of the Scions of the four dynasties, a pleasure to be meeting you!"
They then looked at Kuro, who sighed and began to introduce himself briefly.
"I’m Kuro Vincent. I’m also a Ker noble, but you didn’t really need to know that." Kuro then pointed at Mizuki, "I’m this fool’s bodyguard and teacher."
"So harsh, so harsh!" Mizuki shouted unoffended before pointing at Cicillian, who was still trying to figure out who Lillian was, "And that right there is Ketsu Ker Ketsurya. Funny name, I know! I already made plenty of jokes about it!"
Ketsu, overhearing his name being called, finally remembered why Lillian felt so familiar to him and why his lower regions were aching! Wasn’t this the woman who kicked him in his nether regions!?
Springing up to his feet, he lunged at Lillian with clear hostility.
"SO IT WAS YOU!"
But with a single glare from Kuro, he hesitantly sat himself back down, grumbling in displeasure.
Seeing this, Lillian smirked inside.
Maybe what she did to him was still lingering inside his mind.
Lillian looked away from him and watched as Kuro and Mizuki were about to enter into another spar. Feeling that it would be a good way to measure her skills, she interrupted them.
Kuro raised an eyebrow at what he heard, "You wish to spar with me?" He then looked at Mizuki, who shrugged and sat on the bench with Ketsu.
"Go right ahead! I’ll be waiting here."
Nodding, Kuro gestured for Lillian to select a weapon from the stands around the training ground.
And what she selected was just a common, plain-old sword. She had wanted to use a harpoon, but found they didn’t have that option.
’Not like it matters... I barely know how to use it.’
All she knew was stab, block, and throw. What else was there to a harpoon?
Standing a few metres parallel away from Kuro, she entered into the stance of the Deep Sea Hunter, which caught the eyes of the Sword Genius.
Kuro had distinctly remembered that Lillian hadn’t ever shown this particular stance before in the tournament; it was new.
And narrowing his gaze, he felt Lillian’s hold on her sword was much more confident, firmer, and more refined compared to before.
"I sense that you have grown a lot since that tournament."
"I feel I did too, but you’re gonna have to be the judge of that."
"Sure, then I’ll allow you to make the first move. The rules are purely physical abilities, by the way." Kuro moved into a stance of his own; the Heavy Retreating Stream combat style.
A moment of pure silence passed until Lillian eventually made the first move.
With tremendous speed, Lillian leapt forward and held her sword out for a horizontal slash.
Kuro, surprised by such speed, raised his sword in response.
What he saw next left her even more surprised as the moment Lillian called out the name of her technique, Tidebreaker Slash, an illusory wave appeared behind her swing.
CLANG!
With the force of a stone-crushing tidal wave, Lillian slashed her sword against Kuro’s, knocking him back.
Kuro, skidding back, regained himself; he felt a slight tremor in his arms. This wasn’t the strength he had remembered Lillian displaying previously; she truly did go through quite a development!
"Not bad, not bad..."
With a step forward, Kuro shot towards Lillian like a rocket, before landing an overhead swing on her sword.
CLANG!
What occurred next was a flurry of slashes coming from both sides.