The score was already 2-0 thanks to elia’s powerful serves. However, the server herself wasn't quite pleased with the result.

  Tch, I missed again. elia clicked her tongue. I aimed at the real La s, not that fake servant. But, then again, I was thinking about “striking down the Las” while serving, so maybe I was just too vague there.

  "Ohoho!" elia ughed it off. "Did you see that elegant shot, Karen? A plebian like you has no ce of ever receiving a noble serve like this, not in a million years!"

  "Huh, keep yapping while you still ," Karen said. "We're gonna break your serve with the one, just you watch!"

  "Hmph. Bold words from somebody who has just failed to do exactly that. The one will be even stronger! And, this time, it'll be directed at you, Fiona La!"

  "I hope so," Fiona responded nontly. The threat didn't seem tister with her at all.

  Grrr, such sheer ess. elia gritted her teeth. She's always like this, ag as if nothing faze her. I must admit it grinds my gears! I shall shatter that maks of hers with the one!

  It was time for the third serve. Once again, elia methodically tossed the ball into the air, and then dashed forth a toward the ball. Naturally, all the while she was maintaining a and noble form.

  WHAM! She hit the ball with all her might! The sheer loudness of the strike was enough to make oremble. In the fact of this supreme might, they had no choice but to respect the heir of the von Galen house!

  Except, the ball didn't fly far enough this time. It crashed straight into the , like a car driving into a wall.

  Thump. Thump. Thump. The ball jumped three times on the floor, the silent.

  "Ah..." elia blinked a few times, uo process the se. She even rubbed her eyes a few times, to make sure the unimaginable se in front of her was real.

  "Pft, haha!" Karen burst into ughter, invitieammates to giggle along. "Nice serve! 10/10."

  "Grrr..." elia's fists trembled. Her face turned so red she looked like a tomato.

  "I keep telling you, girl. Your aim is dogshit, haha!” Karen ughed. “You only make a outta yourself when you make all these big decrations."

  "T-T-Tis' was but just me being merciful on you. Y-Yeah!"

  "Pft, seriously?"

  "Y-Yes, such is the truth!" elia lifted her in fide shifted her eyes away. "Truth be told, I've started feeling sorry for you lot as you have proven yourself utterly inpetent at receiving my magnifit shots. As such, I deemed it too cruel to ti you like this."

  Karen rolled her eyes. "Wow, how very kind of you, yhness."

  "Indeed, my noble kindness knows no bounds! I even spare some of it for oners such as you."

  "Yeah, right. Just admit that your aim is doodoo."

  "Hmph! My aim is as fwless as my nobility!"

  "Very ving story." Karen shrugged.

  It was clear as day that elia simply made her usual blunder, yet she went to unbelievable lengths to deny it. The girl was mental.

  heless, out of courtesy, Fiona decided to eain elia's delusion.

  "I thank you for your dispy of mercy," Fiona said as she picked up the ball. "However, I must warn you in advahat I will not be able to extend the same mercy toward your team during my turn. I hope you uand."

  "Oh, are you serving first as well?" elia nodded meaningfully. "Mhm. It only makes sense for the o serve first. Such is their privilege, their noble right from birth!"

  Actually, this is just a matter of efficy. Fiohat retort to herself.

  Fiona and elia were both renowned for their impressive serves, therefore it made the most seo pce them first in the order. This way, they will have the most opportuo serve throughout the game.

  On top of that, a strong opening doubled as a psychological attack. If Fiona scores multiple points in a row, it will create a big scap betweeeams, ohat will surely affect the enemy’s morale.

  But, of course, all of this was easier said than done. I should not get ahead of myself. Fiona thought. For now, I must foaking every serve t, that is all.

  And so, after carefully sing the enemy court, Fiona tossed the ball high into the air. Just like elia, she was going for a jump serve. Not many girls in the club were able to execute this type of serve, but Fiona focused on mastering this important teique.

  With that said, unlike elia’s, Fiona's strike didn't produce much sound. No intimidating boom resouo startle the enemy. Fiona only applied the necessary amount of strength to make the serve effit and accurate. Exerting any more force than that had diminishiurns.

  Hitting the ball harder than this was not going to increase the speed by all that much, it will only hurt the accuracy. In addition, hitting harder burned more stamina.

  As such, Fiona struck the ball with a force that was no more and han the ideal amount she practiced. The motions were already engraved on her muscles after long and dedicated practice with a private coach.

  WHAM! The ball shot toward the enemy court. Thanks to the high tact point, the ball was able to desd at a steep angle and still reach the enemy’s court.

  The velocity of the ball was not as intimidating as during elia’s wild serves, but it was still far above the average speed seen at girls’ volleyball at the middle school level. In fact, the iy of the serve rivaled the strong serves seen in boys’ volleyball, which was naturally intimidating firls who were not used to it.

  However, nobody faltered in the face of Fiona’s strong serve. After practig for over a year with servers like Fiona and elia, all the girls here were used t serves by now. They were mentally prepared to handle any attack that came their way, which was a good sign for this year’s regionals.

  With that said, determination alone was not enough to receive Fiona’s serve. After all, her serves were not only fast but also calcuted.

  “Hmm, is it going out…?” the enemy libero, Windy, mumbled questioningly as she ied the ining ball.

  The fast-approag ball traveled deep into the court, so deep that it was about to ght out of bounds. However, given the ball’s high velocity, it was difficult to tell whether it will go past the baseline or not.

  Of course, as the mastermind of the attack, Fiona khe ao that from the get-go. And, the answer was “no”.

  BAM! The ball hit the flht at the border of the baseli just barely nded ihe court.

  “Ah, shoot…” Windy facepalmed at the result. Until the very st moment, she was uo tell whether the ball will make it or not. As a result, she ended up rooted in pce, uo make a move. That hesitation cost her team a point.

  “Excuse me!?” elia raged. “Do you mind expining what just happened!? Did you fall asleep? The ball was clearly headed towards you!”

  “Ah, well, it looked like an out, so…”

  “An out!? Are you quite sane? Do you holy believe that Fiona La will make a plebian mistake like that!?”

  “Um, it did happen before tho-”

  “Foolish!” elia barked. “Even if, by mere ce, Fioo it a mispy, it would be araordinarily rare occurreruly, it would be as rare as catg somebody as noble as me itting a mispy!”

  But, you literally did a minute ago… Windy just barely held that one in.

  "Therefore!" elia droned on. "Agaiher my or Fiona's serve, you should always assume it’ll nd within the court, uood?"

  "Yeah, I guess..." Windy nodded just to get this over with.

  "Hmm. I'm not sure about that attitude." elia crossed her arms. "It doesn't look to me as if f the gravity of your sin has truly sunk in."

  "Sin? I just made a little mistake..."

  "Little? Do you call that a 'little' mistake!? Behold what you have done!" elia poio the other side of the court. "Thanks to your 'little’ mistake, Fiona La now gets to serve again!"

  "But, that's..." You're the one who messed up your serve and gave her the turn in the first pce...

  "Girls, please." Daepped in to calm the winds. "If you have any energy to spare on this pointless argument, then pour it into the game instead, okay?"

  "Pointless? Hmph." elia lifted her . "It is my duty as a o teaoners about proper duct."

  "Sure, sure." Daniel rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Windy. Putting aside the way she phrased it, elia does have a point. When Fiona is serving, it's safer to assume it'll be in. Her serves are strong, but their accuracy is actually the scariest thing about them."

  "Yeah, you’re right." Windy nodded. When the advice hrased like this, it was much easier to accept.

  "I'm expeg you to receive the one properly!" elia pointed her finger.

  "Sure..."

  "Though, perhaps it's too much to expect a oo break a noble's serve.” elia shook her head. “It might be necessary for me to hahis with my own two hands."

  "Seriously, this girl..." Windy made a face. Why was that rude even allowed oeam, again? Like, sure, the girl's serves and spikes were intense, but her aim was all over the pd her attitude was the worst. She was aremely unpleasant teammate to py with.

  As, the game ignored Windy's internal rants and moved on to the round. Once again, it was Fiona's turn to serve.

  I aim for the edges again. Fiona thought. But, I suspect they will be more on guard this time. They usually only hesitate to receive such borderline serves the first time.

  Unlike in tennis, where aiming for the edges and ers was often optimal, in volleyball, that strategy was not as dominant. After all, the eeam had six pyers around the court, so there was always somebody positioned near every line.

  heless, aiming for the edges still had a psychological effect. Even when somebody was in the viity to receive the ball, they had to make a difficult call first: will the ball go in or out? It was a difficult question to answer when the shot was very borderline, especially when the ball was moving fast.

  In many cases, that split-sed hesitation proved fatal. The receiver was uo make a decision in time, therefore their response was deyed. That was exactly what happeo Windy back there.

  But, it will not go as smoothly twi a row. Fiona reasoned. She did not catch all the details, but it sounded as if Daniel reminded her team about the accuracy of Fiona’s serves.

  In general, when it was difficult to make the right call, it was better to go for the receive. Even if this receive ends up saving the ball from going out, at least it will not immediately cost the team a point.

  I assume they have all remembered this by now, so I will aim elsewhere. Fiona thhly sed the positions of the enemy pyers before deg on her move.

  Once she finished her calcutions, Fiona tossed the ball high into the air. WHAM! The ball shot toward the enemy court like a bullet!

  "O-Okay!" "Got it!" Two girls respo the same time and moved in to receive the ball, but...

  "Wah!" "Ah!" Both of them hit the brakes right before crashing into each other. Just then, the ball slipped right past them and hit the floor.

  Good. Fiona nodded in satisfa. This was yet another example of employing the enemy's hesitation against them.

  Fiona carefully aimed the ball right betweewo girls in order to ih of them to receive it. They both took the bait and rushed to challehe ball, only to realize that they were about to bump into each other.

  Under normal circumstahe girls should have been petent enough to avoid such a basic mistake. However, Fiona’s serves were clearly putting pressure on them. She will keep sg points as long as nobody breaks her serve, so the girls felt pressured to respond quickly to the ining ball.

  "What was this plebeian blunder!?" elia threw a fuss as usual, and Daepped in to calm everybody again. It was quite the handful to have su irritable teammate.

  Though, it is curious that she is ag like this. Fiona thought. She is not nearly as bad-tempered when we py together on the same team.

  Regardless, it was time for Fiona's third serve.

  "You must absolutely get this ball, you hear!?" elia anded, but her teammates seemed more ahan motivated. As such, it to the captain to get the team together.

  However, Daniel had a different idea here. "Fiona, do you mind dialing down the difficulty a little bit? This is just a practice match, you know. o mop us like that, haha."

  "Not a very inspiring speech for a captain," Fiona argued. "Your oppos at the regionals will not go easy on you just because you asked nicely. The level of my serves might be above average, but it is still very much within the boundaries of the petition, am I wrong?"

  "Hoy, I'm not sure there's anybody in ion who serve as you do, but yeah, you're right." Daook a deep breath and spped her cheeks. "Alright, girls! Let's cut her off in the one!"

  "Yeah!" "Let's do it!" Some vigor returo the eeam. This situation was good practiaintaining high morale against strong adversaries.

  But, I will not go easier on you just because you have recimed yhting spirit. Fiona sed the court once again. Hmm. I see they are all moving back, as expected.

  So far, both of Fiona's serves invaded deep into the enemy court thanks to the high tact point. By taking advantage of her height and jumping ability, Fiona was able to send the ball to the far end of the enemy court at a sharp angle. Not even elia was capable of delivering serves like this, as this was a matter of height.

  Naturally, the oppos expected Fiona to tinue abusing this teique, so they reinforced their guard in the rear. But, in the process, they ed the other half of the court.

  WHAM! The ball desded from a vantage point as usual. However, this time, the angle was much sharper. The ball diagonally dove into the first half of the enemy court.

  It took the enemy a few moments to notice this. "The front!" Daniel shouted as she dashed toward the ball. As, she had no hope of reag the ball in time.

  I knew you would be the most vigint of them all, Daniel Meier. Fiona hat is why I made sure the ball will not go anywhere near you.

  Not only did Fiona aim for the front half of the court, but she also made sure to keep the ball out of reach for the most dangerous receivers. At least, that was the pn, but...

  "No, you shall not!" One girl blitzed toward the falling ball at lightning speed. It was her than elia von Galen herself!

  "I do not permit you to fall! Halt this foolishness at once!" elia joined her hands and stretched them out as far as humanly possible as she leapt toward the ball. And, through the sheer power of will, she made tact with!

  However, only the tip of her ched hands touched the ball. This wasn’t good enough to properly receive one of Fiona’s serves.

  BAM. The ball bounced off elia's hands but didn't fly high. Instead, it dove straight toward the floor.

  "I-It 't be..." elia gritted her teeth. She found herself lying on the floor, with the ball rolling farther and farther away from her.

  She felt as if the plebeian ball was mog her, tellihat she was but a oner who deserved to crawl on the ground. Even worse, as elia raised her eyes, the first figure to catch her attention was her than Fiona La, standing galntly in the distand looking down on elia.

  The tall La s was like a giant looking down on an ant. By sg yet another point, Fiona officially topped elia's achievements and turhe game into a 2-3.

  "Fiona La...!" elia's fists trembled as she pushed herself off the floor.

  This situation was all sorts . elia von Galen was a noble, just like Fiona La. As such, elia had no business lying on the floor defeated like this!

  "Hmp. You have this one, Fiona La," elia decred. "However, ime, I shall put a stop to your serve for certain!"

  "You are wele to try." Fiona ighe threat and prepared for her serve. She has already scored 3 points in a row, but she had no iion of stopping there.

  Ieam-oriented sport that was volleyball, serving was the only py that could be sidered solitary. As such, out of the multitude of skills volleyball demanded, Fiona made sure to specialize in serves above all else. It was simply the most effit method to score points with the smallest margin of error.

  Furthermore, thanks to the rules of volleyball, Fiona’s serves could keep going indefinitely as long as she tinued sg points. So, hooints in a row will she accumute this time around…?

  DarkestCymore