Chapter 245

Chapter 245

Martin's face flashed with a hint of embarrassment. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well... that's not really how it is."

Beatrice couldn't help chiming in. "Martin, even I could tell you were giving her special treatment."

Martin had no comeback, so he let it go.

After the third day of training wrapped up, Martin told everyone they'd be heading to the hills behind the school tomorrow for a live-action CS game.

The whole class lit up at that.

It was one of the few things to look forward to during all this physical training.

"Yes! I love that game online."

"Same, I always manage to outlast everyone."

"I'm literally Gold rank."

Seeing everyone buzzing about the game, Martin clapped his hands to get their attention. "It's pretty similar to what you play online, but one thing — this is still a game, so no physical fights breaking out over it. The rules are simple: everyone gets a fake gun loaded with paint. Get hit by the paint, and you're out. Tomorrow's matches are randomly drawn against other classes, with each class playing at a different time. So get some rest tonight and just treat tomorrow like a day off."

The room erupted in cheers.

On the way back to the dorms, Beatrice suddenly got a stomachache and had to find a bathroom, so I waited for her at a gazebo outside.

That's when I heard a familiar voice drifting over from not far away.

"Charlotte's not nearly as bad as you're making her sound. Her Taekwondo is insane — she completely humiliated me."

I followed the sound and spotted Ivy crouching in some bushes nearby, talking on her phone.

"I'll deal with her sooner or later."

"She's so full of herself. She embarrassed me in front of everyone!"

"Don't worry. I won't let her have a peaceful day in college. She got lucky this time, but there'll be a next time, and a time after that."

"Alright, focus on your own school. I'll handle Charlotte."

Ivy hung up and walked away.

Who was she talking to?

From the sound of it, she'd been planning with someone to come after me?

I had two candidates in mind — Cleo or Eleanor.

But given where the Cavendish family stood right now, Eleanor seemed unlikely. Nobody wanted to get tangled up in that mess.

I didn't feel like thinking about it. Let them do whatever they want — neither of them is any match for me.

The next day at noon, the classes drew their matchups. By some twist of fate, my class got drawn against Ivy's.

So the two of us were on opposite sides.

Beatrice cracked her knuckles with a grin. "Perfect. I've been looking for an excuse to take that woman down."

"Don't start anything physical."

"Relax."

Since we were the first group, we headed into the hills behind the school shortly after the draw.

Each class had fifty people. Whichever class eliminated more of the other side within forty minutes would win.

Since it was the school's back hills, the terrain was fairly clean with few natural hiding spots — just some obstacles set up for the game.

Students paired off in small groups, and I teamed up with my two roommates and Beatrice. Along the way, we ran into two classmates, Nathan Evans and Russell Edwards, so the six of us moved together.

We crossed paths with five or six players from the other class and took them all out with single shots each time.

Beatrice sighed. "This is kind of boring. Not as intense as I expected. The live-action CS I played overseas was actually thrilling — way more realistic than this."

"This is a school," I said flatly.

"Are you two from wealthy families?" Nathan asked as we walked. "You both have that vibe. What kind of business are your families in?"

I wasn't keen on sharing personal details, so I kept it vague. "Just some business, nothing specific."

Nathan could tell I didn't want to elaborate, so he dropped it.

Ahead of us was an artificial stream that had been set up as an obstacle — about three meters wide.

For me, Beatrice, and the two guys, it was nothing. But for Alice and Violet, it was a different story.

They both stood at the edge, psyching themselves up, but neither could bring themselves to jump.

I had no choice but to look around and haul some large rocks from the ground, dropping them into the stream as stepping stones for them to cross.

All that back and forth ate up a good chunk of time. We even got spotted by a few players from the other class during all this, but Beatrice handled each one without breaking a sweat.

"We're already twenty minutes in, and we've barely taken out ten people," Beatrice muttered. "This is pointless. I wonder how everyone else is doing."

Russell said, "If they haven't called us back yet, that means no one's won. Let's keep going. Martin said we also need to grab the badge at the top of the hill to claim the final win."

"Boring."

Right then, a rock came flying from behind and smacked me hard on the back of the head. I winced, pressing my hand to the spot, and turned around to find Ivy standing there with two of her followers, all of them wearing smug half-smiles.

Beatrice exploded. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Are you out of your mind?! You threw a rock at someone's head?! Apologize right now, or I swear I won't let this go!"

"Oh?" Ivy put on an innocent act, then turned to her two followers. "Did either of you see me throw anything?"

They both shook their heads with matching grins. "Nope, didn't see a thing."

I didn't bother saying a word. I picked up a rock off the ground and threw it straight at her chest. It landed square on target, and Ivy doubled over, clutching herself and dropping to the ground.

Her two followers panicked and turned on me. "Are you crazy?!"

"That's assault! We're reporting you to the instructor and getting you punished!"

I picked up two more rocks and threw them with the same precision, catching each of them on the thigh. They were in enough pain to nearly drop to their knees.

I gave a cold, humorless smile. "That's what you get for picking a fight you can't finish."

Russell turned to them, visibly frustrated. "We're in the middle of a game, and you all just met each other. What exactly are you trying to do here?"

"Yeah," Nathan added, nice and easy. "Didn't you get enough of a beating yesterday?"

That pushed Ivy over the edge. Ignoring the pain, she leapt across the stream and launched herself at Nathan, landing a punch square on him.

"This is between me and her! What's it got to do with you?!"

The hit left Nathan dazed. Alice and Violet rushed over to check on him.

Beatrice, furious, threw herself at Ivy. The two of them were evenly matched — trading moves back and forth, neither gaining the upper hand.

Russell tried to step in and break it up but couldn't find an opening.

I gestured for him to stay out of it, then stepped in to help Beatrice.

I drove a kick into Ivy's stomach, then followed it with a punch to her face — controlled, deliberate, just enough force to put her down without knocking out any teeth.

Classmates from both sides came running at the commotion. Nobody cared about the game anymore. Everyone just stood there watching the fight