Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest-Chapter 971 - 225.1 - Swordsgirl

Julia raised an eyebrow. "That's such a dramatic answer, wow. You gonna monologue next?"

Astron blinked, then turned away slightly, adjusting his stance. "Only if you stop interrupting it with flirting."

Julia's mouth opened.

Then closed.

She squinted. "That's not flirting."

He didn't even look back. "Isn't it?"

"...No."

Astron, still not facing her, let out a breath-not quite a sigh, more like an exhale of subtle judgment. "If that isn't your version of flirting," he said evenly, "then your casual way of speaking is quite far off."

Julia raised a brow, arms crossing. "Far off from what, exactly?"

"Far off from how a lady usually behaves."

"Oh?" She leaned in slightly, a glint in her eyes. "So now you want me to have womanly charm?"

"A basic human decency would suffice."

Julia gasped, mock-offended. "Wow. And here I thought you liked my attitude.

"I didn't say that."

"Then why do you care?"

Astron finally turned his head again, his violet eyes flat but undeniably sharp. "Why? Because your attitude is often directed at me."

"So you're saying you're annoyed?"

"No," he said immediately.

Julia tilted her head. "Then why do you care?"

"Because it affects me."

"Ohhh." She gave him a knowing grin. "So it affects you by... annoying you?"

Astron stared at her for a beat. Then, deadpan:

"It affects me by making me cringe."

Julia blinked once. Twice.

Then burst out laughing. "Pff-Cringe? You cringe? That's amazing."

Astron didn't respond.

Julia's laughter didn't die down-in fact, it only seemed to pick up as Astron's silence dragged on. Most people might've backed off by now, but not her. Julia wasn't most. people. And subtle jabs? They were practically a love language to her.

"Oh man," she said, wiping a nonexistent tear from her eye. "I'm keeping that one. 'You make me cringe. Gonna quote you on that forever."

Astron gave her a look-flat, unimpressed, but also vaguely resigned. "You'd quote your own arrest warrant if it had enough sarcasm."

"I mean, if the wording's dramatic enough, sure."

He turned away again, muttering, "Unbelievable"

Julia leaned a little closer, grinning. "You know what's really unbelievable? That you keep talking back. You could've walked away five minutes ago."

"I could've," Astron replied evenly, "but then you'd assume you won."

"Well, you are still here, so..."

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Before the banter could escalate any further, another voice joined in, calm and cool.

"Do I even want to know what this argument started from?"

Lilia had strolled over, a slight sheen of sweat still on her brow from her duel, a towel draped around her neck. She eyed both of them with an expression somewhere between amusement and tired resignation.

Julia perked up. "Oh, you know. Astron's delicate pride got wounded by my 'lack of ladylike charm."

"That's not what I said," Astron replied automatically.

Lilia raised a brow at him. "But... you kind of did."

"I did not."

Lilia gave a long-suffering sigh and turned away-only to pause when footsteps

echoed down the corridor.

Ethan stepped into view, fresh from the locker room, towel around his shoulders, his damp hair slightly disheveled. His expression was quiet-not downcast, but

contemplative. The mark of someone still processing something.

All three turned toward him, conversation stalling for just a breath.

Julia's grin softened slightly. "Hey, Mountain Boy."

Ethan glanced over. "You're still antagonizing people, I see."

"Hey, I'm being delightful," she said with mock offense.

"Delightful's not the word I'd use," Astron offered without looking at her.

Ethan didn't smile, but there was a faint twitch at the corner of his mouth. Still, his

eyes didn't carry their usual lightness.

Lilia noticed it too, her tone quieter. "How are you holding up?"

Ethan paused. "I've been better."

There was no self-pity in it-just honesty.

Julia nudged his arm lightly. "Well, you went toe-to-toe with Victor. You earned

yourself, like, three days of being allowed to brood."

He exhaled softly. "I'm not brooding"

"You're standing in a shadowy hallway with wet hair and a towel. That's, like, textbook

brooding"

Ethan didn't argue.

He didn't need to.

The silence around them wasn't uncomfortable-it was the kind that settled around

people who understood each other, even if they rarely said it aloud.

"You did better than most would have."

Ethan glanced over, and for once, there was no sarcasm in Julia's gaze this time.

Ethan nodded. "Thanks."

Julia clapped her hands together. "Alright, emotional vulnerability quota's filled. Back

to me being charming and chaotic?"

"No," Astron and Lilia said at the same time.

Julia's smile twitched-just slightly. A tiny crack in the playful mask she wore so effortlessly. Her eyes narrowed, not in anger, but with a shift in weight behind them. Not everything was a joke, even

f she wanted it to be.

"I may go quite hard on you, you know," she said, voice still light but carrying a sharp undertone. "So maybe you should start minding your words."

Astron didn't flinch. His expression remained composed, but there was a slight tilt of his head, almost like he was analyzing her reaction in real-time.

"You won't back down from a fight anyway," he replied simply. "But it seems that rather than your lack of ladylike charm annoying me, it's my words that are annoying

you."

Julia scoffed, flipping a strand of her hair back with unnecessary flair. "Heh. You wish." But her grin was a little tighter now. There was something charged in the air-not just anticipation, but tension layered beneath the banter.

Before either of them could push further, Instructor Verren's voice rang across the

hall, sharp and unmistakable.

"Astron. Julia. Platform Two."

There was a flicker of energy between them-unspoken, yet understood.

Julia rolled her shoulders, cracking her neck once. "Guess it's showtime." Astron turned without a word, already heading toward the platform with quiet,

focused steps.

Julia followed a moment later, her stride loose but eyes sharp, that grin still hanging on-only now, it was sharpened into something less playful.

Something personal.

****

Julia followed Astron across the training hall, boots tapping lightly against the

polished stone floor. Her posture was as relaxed as ever-shoulders loose, arms

swinging slightly-but her face twitched.

Just once.

A tiny muscle near her jaw clenched. Her smile remained in place, but a sharpness had

crept into her eyes.

Lack of ladylike charm.

She clicked her tongue softly, barely audible over the ambient noise of other sparring

matches. She told herself it was nothing, that Astron had just been throwing a line back at her the way she threw a dozen at him. Just another jab in their constant game

of one-upmanship.

But...

Why did that one stick?

Why that phrase?

She'd heard worse, for sure. Been called worse by instructors, rivals, even passing

gossipers. Julia Middleton was a storm in boots-no one expected silk gloves from her.

She fought like a brawler, laughed like a delinquent, and made no apologies for it.

So why did it grate?

Because it was him, her thoughts whispered, traitorous and precise. Because it was

Astron saying it, and because he didn't say it to cut-he said it like an observation.

Like she was lacking something obvious.

And that... that made something crawl under her skin.

Julia's hands twitched once at her sides, but she forced her fingers still. Her

expression didn't break, not outwardly, but her grin now had teeth in it-not the flirtatious kind.

This wasn't just a fight now.

It wasn't just a rematch either.

It was a correction.