Chapter 3

In the aegis of the tree, a duel began between Aesthelia and Gior. That event stirred every wolf's attention. Gior launched at Aesthelias' way, not minding everyone who gasped in shock, and some cheered in excitement. 

Alpha Rou, who was shouting in disapproval, was ignored by his son. His heir is fighting with the pack's strongest warrior, and he knows that someone would have to end up in a bad state. None of them, Alpha Rou, wishes to die or get injured.

Everything happened in a flash, in the blink of an eye. Gior, who was almost two meters away from Aesthelia, managed to close the distance between them in a matter of seconds. Gior raised his sword and swung.

"Woah chill," Aesthelia said, surprised and in a calm way. 

Aesthelia, who managed to grasp the situation at the last second, defended herself with her still seathed sword from the attack. She planned to withdraw from the duel, but she could not even have time to speak up without Gior attacking her. 

'Is he really planning to kill me?' Aesthelie thought as she tightened her defense. He lunged as if he was aiming towards Aesthelia's neck, as if he was going in for the kill. 

"Is that all you got? The strongest warrior," Gior spat mockingly. He smirked when he saw how Aesthelia’s reaction turned into an angry bull.  

Their swords create a loud clashing sound, echoing through and silencing the crowd. It surprised Aesthelia that she could match Gior's attacks and that her current body felt lighter than her original body. 

"You aren't quite the gentleman the book portrays you to be," Aesthelia mumbled, trying to strengthen her knees so they wouldn't give out.

"I think you're forgetting that you're fighting with a girl, with that allout strength," Aesthelia said in disbelief this time. Even if Gior was trying to insult her. Aesthelia can not find herself talking back with the same amount of hatred that the guy has against her. 

Aesthelia knows that werewolf communities do not usually apply some norms and laws that humans have, including some treatment. They believe that everyone is equal on the battlefield, everyone is trained, whether it's a woman or a man. If the two parties are equally strong, then that's it. 

"You've done enough, Aesthelia. You can't have me respect you just because you want to," Gior spat, gritting his teeth. 

Aesthelia was caught off guard because of his word. The way he delivered it with immeasurable hatred made her stop in her tracks. The way his gaze turns deadly sharp as soon as the word leaves his mouth. She can't help but stare and try to figure out what it is. 

"What did I do?" Aesthelia asked. She couldn't help it, but that question only made Gior angrier. 

"You know what you did." Gior answered vaguely. 

"What do you mean?" Aesthelia wondered what was behind that gaze, what was hiding behind those emotions, as if there was something important which was not mentioned in the story.

Aesthelia was puzzled.

"Pay more attention," Gior said.

"You leave me no choice but to end this quickly and leave you barely breathing," Gior commented, which snapped Aesthelia back to reality as Gior released another small dagger from his side pocket.

Aesthelia pulled her sheathed sword as she dodged backwards, avoiding his possible attacks and making some space between them at the same time. She sat in a squatting manner. 

Aesthelia touched her right cheeks where it stung. There's blood. It seems that the dagger wounded her face. She just hopes it's not seriously big enough to ruin her face.

"That's a cheaty move," Aesthelia commented as she didn't anticipate that sneaky attack. She decided to surrender unharmed, but it's too late for that now. 

"We call it strategy," Gior reasoned out and added, "It's not like I am the one who zoned out in the middle of the fight, leaving yourself vulnerable in front of the opponent." 

"You know what? You talk too much for a guy, " Aesthelia wasn't in the mood to be lectured. 

"I'm described quite the opposite of that," Gior replied.

"You draw the first blood," Aesthelia said as she finally unseathed her sword. It's a good thing that the real Aesthelia has an extreme passion when it comes to training. Now the current Aesthelia can move the way she learnt to fence in the original world where she belonged.

"All you do is create chaos. You should blame yourself that I did," Gior said. He refused to feel guilty at the sight of Aesthelia's bleeding cheeks. 

Aesthelia can not find herself to disagree. The real Aesthelia was really a pain in everyone's ass, but why did she do this to become this unfortunate? transmigrating to a novel, becoming a supporting character who will die.

"Oh really? You run your mouth too much, "Aesthelia said, annoyed. Aesthelia supports the male lead character too much, but having this kind of conversation with him right now is something that snaps Aesthelia's patience low.

Aesthelia was trying to concentrate and observe her surroundings, although the crowd was not helping. She's trying to think of a way to make the heir surrender. 

Gior raises his sword high again to attack, and Aesthelia, who was expecting the attack pattern, manages to counterattack it by having the sword low and crossing with enough strength. 

It appears that Gior only uses a one-pattern style when it comes to swords. Werewolves weren't really fond of weapons, and Aesthelia concluded that if she could catch him off guard and send the weapon out of his reach, she could defeat him without hurting him. 

Aesthelia observed silently. She noticed that Gior's movements were getting slow compared with the way he struck first, and she detected that he was breathing heavily. The panting sound can be heard with a werewolf's super hearing ability. 

Upon noticing something was wrong, Aesthelia pushed. She managed to make Gior take a step backwards and become unbalanced. Then, she took the time to observe the sword that was handed to her. It's common to make swords out of metal and steel, but it's uncommon for one to be made out of silver, which falls under the category of soft metals. If the sword was heavy, that might be the reason, but Aesthelia noticed a small amount of silver in it. 

Silver is the werewolf's weakness. It burns their kind. It is something forbidden in the territory, so how come there are swords here? 

Aesthelia's eyes widened in realization. The story mentioned the treaty between the empire and werewolves, but the conditions weren't specifically mentioned. Weapons such as swords were given by the empire. 

  

Aesthelia remained standing and on guard as she saw Gior approaching with heavy steps, and his hand loosened its hold on the sword.

"Listen, Gior. Drop the sword. It has silver in it, " Aesthelia said, dead-ass serious. The silver might be in the pommel and grip part of the sword.

"What makes you think that I would listen?" Gior responded coldly. He gripped it harder as he misunderstands Aesthelia's intention. He can't be defeated.

"You should listen before I make you," Aesthelia said confidently.

She jumped at the opportunity to strike Gior's sword before the silver in it totally disabled him, sending the sword flying through the air, surprising everyone. As the sword sailed through the air and pierced the ground, the throng dispersed.

"I told you," Aesthelia said, but not in an arrogant way. She grabbed the scabbard and put back the sword.

Gior's eyebrow furrowed and he gritted his teeth as Aesthelia turned her back on him, as if she was having a fight with a kid and not taking seriously. 

The audience thinks that the female warrior has just defeated the alpha's heir, but that is only what it looks like because the fight is not over, not yet. 

"Don't dare to turn your back on me," Gior growled menacingly. 

Aesthelia shrugged her shoulder as she tried to return the sword to whoever was closest. When she heard another growl, she was about to step outside the circle.

Aesthelia returned her gaze to Gior, her eyes widening as he fully shifted into his wolf form. The wolf form she sees now is far larger than the one she saw before. Its black fur glistened with an obvious gleam. It's an alpha, so it is no surprise that it appears to be in power when compared to others. 

Gior's wolf roared and sprang at Aesthelia with ferocious fury. It is a duel and their honor is at stake. And to see Aesthelia, she is someone who constantly annoys him by meddling with the woman he cherishes, Merideth. It doesn't sit well with Gior.   

  

Aesthelia collapsed onto her back, the wolf in front of her snarling menacingly. Her shoulder had been pushed hard by the claws. As blood spurted from the wound, Aesthelia flinched in anguish.

"Get off!" Aesthelia screamed, trying to fight off the wolf's weight, but to no avail. She is weaker right now compared to a fully transformed wolf.

"Transform into your wolf. The fight isn't over, "Gior telepathically said, because they can't speak in wolf form. The wolf spirit is taking over the body, so it is unable to say anything. 

The audience was only watching from the sidelines, puzzled as to why Aesthelia had not yet transformed into her wolf.

Aesthelia tried kicking the wolf's stomach with all the strength left, but it wouldn't budge. It is no use. The wolf was holding her down with his claws in her shoulders and neck. 

Aesthelia gripped tightly onto the wolf's feet, and she managed to lift it inches away from her. Aesthelia struggled as Gior kept pressing on the same wound. The guy was determined to have Aesthelia submit to him. 

Until Alpha Rou decided to intervene and bring the duel to a close. He can not let his strongest prominent warrior perish. It will have an impact on the pack. Gior's wolf form turned to him and snarled warningly before he could even approach halfway.

"You need to calm yourself down, Gior," Alpha Rou called his son, tried to calm him. If he has to use his alpha voice, he will.

"Gior! Please halt! You're killing her!" Merideth intervened. She's crying from the sight of blood. 

Gior's eyes changed back to normal upon hearing the voices of the people he cherished. He backed away from Aesthelia and transformed back to his human form. He stood there bare naked and proud.

"Consider yourself lucky," Gior stated, as he masked his emotion. He felt his chest become heavier as the thought of killing Aesthelia crossed his mind. He thought she deserved it, but somewhere in his guts disagreed with that. 

The crowd fell silent at the turn of events. They are in disbelief after witnessing Aesthelia's defeat. Nobody defeated Aesthelia before, but now there's someone. 

"You're all dismissed. The assembly ends here. Go back to your duties, "Alpha Rou announced immediately.

Aesthelia coughed aggressively for air. She was strangled just a moment ago. At that moment, she realized that the pain was real and she could feel it. The fear clouded her mind as a series of questions flooded in. What if she can't change her fate? What was the reason for all of this, then? 

"She got defeated after being so cocky about it. It's no fun, "Lily said, popping out of nowhere. She looks bored somehow.

"Hey! You need to be treated quickly. You'll lose lots of blood, "Antoinette worriedly said to Aesthelia. 

Aesthelia snapped back to reality when she heard Antoinette's panic voice. Her shoulder felt like it was ripped and torn, and she felt like vomiting from the pool of blood that surrounded her.

"You said it yourself, Antoinette. My wolf is a healer, "Aesthelia replied with a small smile, even though she knew that she couldn't summon her wolf.

"Let's leave her alone. I think she wants that, " Senia said as she stared apologetically at Aesthelia.

Aesthelia finds herself looking back at Gior's, who is well-dressed now. He looked down at Aesthelia, and he was about to say something when someone approached him.

Merideth ran to Gior's arms, which caused Aesthelia to turn her sway from the scene. She felt an unfamiliar feeling building up in her chest. 

It seems like jealousy or something. Aesthelia hissed in pain when she unconsciously touched her shoulder. She is still in a sitting position.

"Aesthelia, your father wouldn't like to hear this kind of trouble." Alpha Rou said it straight to the point. 

"If you knew, why did you approve the duel?" Aesthelia inquired, perplexed as to why she was blaming herself for everything.

"I didn't expect that my son would jump in," Alpha Rou said truthfully. He doesn't look guilty at all.

"You don't want your son in the duel but it's alright with you if I battled with Merideth?" Aesthelia asked in disbelief. She was trying to understand what the Alpha wanted. 

"I just thought that it would be a perfect time to push Merideth to her limits and finally summom her wolf," Alpha Rou said truthfully without hesitation. He didn't blink or anything, like he just blurted out something normal and understandable.

"What? You could've informed me if you had that in mind, "Aesthelia said, half screaming. It sounded like she was used to forcefully push the late-bloomer to summon a wolf spirit. That sounded a bad idea to her.

"I said enough. Heal yourself before your father storms in here, "Alpha Rou's last word before he stormed out.

Aesthelia found herself rolling her eyes in irritation. She doesn't even know what the real Aesthelia's father was like. The event was too much for her. It all happened on the first day, and now she had to worry about Aesthelia's father.

"Aesthelia Rasc," Gior called out in his authoritative voice, and was still holding Merideth close to him. Everyone left except for these two.

"Don't come near Merideth. Do anything that will harm her. We will see what happens to you. That's an order, mark my word," Gior said warningly. 

It took a couple of seconds before Aesthelia nodded, agreeing with Gior. Aesthelia didn't know she was holding her breath until everyone walked away, leaving her alone in the training ground.

Aesthelia fell on her back. The wound on her shoulder was still bleeding, but she paid it no mind as she stared at the tree of aegis. 

Aesthelia closed her eyes, intending to inhale some fresh air and rest before returning to the infirmary. It had been a while since she felt this exhausted. At that moment, she feels like she's on vacation in her grandmother's hometown instead of being inside a book's pages. She felt herself relaxing on the cold, hard training ground until the darkness engulfed her mind. She only wants to return to her original world. She fell unconscious.