"U-Um, I think I might've misheard you. Mind repeating that again?" Asked Alex as Fu Hua smiled and stood up.

"I'm interested in your skills so let's have a friendly sparring match." Asked Fu Hua.

"O-Oh okay. For a second there I thought you were serious abou-wait what!? Why!?" Asked Alex who was in complete shock.

"Calm down. It isn't anything personal. I'm just curious that's all." Said Fu Hua with a smile.

"E-Even so this is just extemely sudden." He said before calming down. "Fine. I agree."

"Good. We'll have our match first thing when we reach St. Freya. For now just mentally prepare yourself." She said as she walked off presumably to get ready.

That left Alex on his own at the table to just ponder on what was happening.

He definitely didn't feel any ill intent from Fu Hua when she laid the challenge so he should just take her for her word when she said it wasn't personal but there was just something about the random timing of it that just didn't sit right with Alex.

It felt as if this spar was more than just out of curiosity.

While that was on his head, he simply shrugged it off as he felt like he was just simply over thinking this.

After a couple of minutes had passed, Fu Hua had come back now dressed in her usual attire.

"We should get going now. We got about 15 minutes left. If we begin walking now we'll make it right on time." Said Fu Hua.

Alex nodded as the two got up and after locking the dorm room, the two exited and began make their way towards St. Freya.

Throughout the walk, Alex would look around to survey his surroundings as he saw numerous dorms for all the Valkyries.

"It looks nice doesn't it? We're glad that Principal Theresa was given this land." Said Fu Hua.

"Wait this wasn't here before?" Asked Alex.

"Nope. Principal Theresa used to work directly at Schicksal for many years. Shortly after the 2nd Honkai Eruption in 2000, Overseer Otto Apocalypse of Schicksal had given Theresa all of this land in the far east which then turned into St. Freya so Theresa could teach and train her own batch of Valkyries like Schicksal HQ." Said Fu Hua.

"After the 2nd Honkai War huh?" Asked Alex.

"Yep. Principal Theresa is actually a veteran of the 2nd Honkai War. You're thirteen so that means that you were born three years afterwards correct?" She asked.

"Yeah. In 2003. I can't really remember if the aftermath affected my childhood since it's been so long that I can't really remember what my childhood was like before I went into Orphanage homes." Said Alex.

"Did your parents abandon you or did they pass away?" Asked Fu Hua.

"I'm sorry. I can't remember. The farthest I can think back to is the time I spent in the first orphanage I was at, and with my current work life, I'm not given many opportunities to stop and think about my parents. At this point, it's as if they never existed." Said Alex.

"My apologies for asking then." Said Fu Hua as Alex shrugged it off.

"Don't worry about it. I don't mind it anymore. What's in the past is better off staying there in my opinion." Said Alex.

After that the two ceased conversation for the remainder of the walk until they reached the circular hub in front of the school as they have arrived.

"So, where exactly is the spar gonna take place?" Asked Alex.

"Follow me. We have an outdoor arena for spars." Said Fu Hua.

The two began to walk in the direction of the arena as along the way they passed other Valkyrie students.

Once they noticed the two heading towards the area, they began to whisper amongst themselves.

Eventually the two reached the arena as Alex looked around to see that it was a nice and spacious flat ground with stands encircling it

"Well we're here. Wanna take a moment to prepare yourself once more or are you ready to begin?" Asked Fu Hua.

"Um, what are the rules?" Asked Alex.

"Only rule is that we keep going until 5 minutes are up resulting in a draw or until one of us pins the other declaring victory. Aside from that, it's fair game." Said Fu Hua.

Alex nodded and was about to give his answer until he heard and then turned to see a couple of Valkyrie students fill the stands as he groaned.

"Great. Seems like we unintentionally attracted an audience." Said Alex as Fu Hua chuckled.

"Don't mind them. Once your focused on the fight, it'll be like they aren't even there. That and I can't blame them. It's rare for me to be here on a normal school day. If anything they must think you challenged me instead of it being the other way around." Said Fu Hua.

Alex nodded and after taking a few deep breathes, was prepared.

"Okay. I'm ready." He said.

"Alright then." Said Fu Hua.

After directing one of the students in attendance to prepare the timer, a large hologram for all to see appeared behind Fu Hua as it had the giant timer of "5:00" ready to begin.

Alex proceeded to withdraw his sword, flipping it around for a bit before holding it in front of him as he stood ready for battle.

To his shock, he saw Fu Hua hold her fists out as she herself also got into a fighting stance.

'She's just gonna use her bare fists? That's strange.' Thought Alex.

The two were ready as they looked at one another.

The hologram then began to count down as the intercom spoke.

"3...2...1...BEGIN!"

BGM: Sinister Sundown from Kingdom Hearts II

In an instant, Alex was bewildered to see Fu Hua immediately close the gap in a second as she was immediately in his face.

Alex barely managed to dodge a punch from her but the sheer amount of wind pressure he felt from having the fist move right in front of him definitely made him worried to take even one blow.

As the match continued on, Alex was immediately on the defensive as Fu Hua's sheer amount of quick but hard and consecutive punches barely gave Alex any chance at a counterattack as all he could do was just dodge and even then he was barely doing so with some punches even barely grazing his face or ribs.

This couldn't keep going as Alex knew he had to do something.

With nothing else to do, Alex went low and tried to sweep kick Fu Hua off her feet but the exact moment he got his leg in position, Fu Hua jumped up and looking for a hard stomp on Alex's face.

The young boy barely moved out of the way as he rolled back and saw to his shock that she had managed to leave a crack on the floor on just one stomp.

'She caused that with one stomp!?' Thought Alex in his head as the intercom chimed in.

"4 minutes remain!"

Right as Fu Hua landed, Alex immediately tried to dash at her and tried to get a sword swing in, but Fu Hua again easily scouted him out as she looked up and moved his left arm aside, making the sword slash a wide miss as she then managed to deck Alex right on the side of the face as he got sent tumbling backwards across the floor.

After taking one of Fu Hua's punches head on, it felt as his his cheek was being branded with scorching hot iron.

Hell it was even a miracle that Alex wasn't knocked out right now.

He didn't have much time to shrug the blow off as he immediately had to roll aside as Fu Hua went for another hard stomp.

Alex was then barely given time to stand and regain his footing as Fu Hua charged at him and continued with her flurry of punches as Alex again barely struggled to dodge as some were now even landing causing him even more pain and fatigue.

Alex knew he needed a breather so in the middle of the assault, he hastily held his sword out on front him as a fireball was quickly launched out and traveled directly towards Fu Hua as the fireball bursted into a massive smokecloud, filling the area where the fireball had landed.

Alex jumped away immediately and tried to gain any chance of a breather as he panted heavily, wiping away some sweat on his forehead.

'That fireball had to have hit.' Thought Alex.

To his shock, Alex saw the smoke cloud the fireball had caused be dispersed in a matter of seconds as Fu Hua had punched the ground hard enough to disturb the smoke and get rid of it.

'Oh come on! Seriously!?' Thought Alex as it seemed like nothing would be able to touch her.

The two dashed at one another as Alex again tried to land a slash which lead to Fu Hua again moving that arm aside.

As that happened, Alex immediately tried to use his other hand to punch her in the gut but Fu Hua easily blocked that with her other hand.

Then in an unexpected moment Alex had managed to land a hit on Fu Hua as he gave her a massive headbut right as Fu Hua kneed him hard in the gut.

The two were knocked back as they eventually stood up panting, with Alex clearly panting more heavily.

'Okay focus. I'm in no position to win this. I'm way more fatigued than she is and I barely got a hit on her. All I can do now is stall for a draw.' Thought Alex.

"1:00 remains!" Shouted the intercom.

It was now the homestretch as Alex switched his mindset ready to stall.

Fu Hua dashed again and went back to the punching assault as Alex did his best to dodge.

That all changed when Fu Hua suddenly turned around and delivered a roundhouse kick Alex.

The boy held up his sword in a defensive position to block the kick, but Fu Hua had swung her leg with so much speed and force that even blocking wouldn't have mattered.

The kick connected as her boot and the metal of his sword smacked hard into the side of his face as the boy was knocked back.

Alex was heavily dazed as he began to stumble around.

Miraculously however, he was able to keep his footing, as he somehow managed to stand up quickly afterwards.

In a desperate move Alex threw caution to the wind as he himself charged at Fu Hua and with all the strength he had left, caught Fu Hua off guard as he jumped and delivered a hard tackle to Fu Hua's gut sending her back as Alex successfully managed to stall for more time as he could feel the draw coming near.

To waste even more time, Alex launched another fireball from his sword as the flames bursted all around Fu Hua when it got close to her.

Unfortunately for Alex, Fu Hua saw this coming as right as the fireball bursted apart, she was in his face as she went low, swept him off his feet, and then stood over him, keeping him pinned with one foot on his chest, with her fist right in his face.

BGM Ends Here

Fu Hua had successfully defeated Alex as the clock read...

"0:02"

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Chapter 8: Complete