856 C-6, Rain Month 2, Moon 28
Suddenly, I felt a jolt. My eyes flew open to a familiar girl with stunning green eyes and brown hair neatly tied behind her head with a black bow. Crouching down, she was shaking me by the shoulders.
“Ca’al! Wake up!”
Soreya? No. Snap out of it. “Karen...?”
“Seriously?! Were you sleeping?! Come on. Get up! You have to be at the arena!”
I groggily surveyed my surroundings and gradually began remembering what’d led me to this situation. After finishing practicing, I’d decided to meditate under this tree that Nayira had mentioned, but I...had fallen asleep. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but because of how cloudy it’d become, it felt late.
“Get up!” She grabbed my sword and stuffed it in my hands and pulled me to my feet. “You’re gonna be late!”
“It’s fine. Whoever she is, I doubt she’ll get past Rhand,” I said dismissively.
“I’m...not so sure about that.”
Suddenly, something flew past us and smashed into the top of the tree, shaking it violently. Karen jumped, letting out a short scream. I immediately turned around and put my hand on my blade, but my eyes widened as soon as I realized the identity of the mysterious object.
Rhand, the very person we’d been talking about, comically slid halfway down the tree before crashing into the ground below. Fortunately for him, he was still in his Magic Breaker costume, so the damage he’d suffer, even from a high fall like this, would be reduced.
Both Karen and I looked at each other in confusion. “Rhand?” I called out to him. But it was no use. He was clearly unconscious.
I was able to put two and two together. He could only have ended up like this due to the placement exam. But...was the student really so strong to have sent him flying this far? We were a fair distance from the training grounds, making it all the more unbelievable that he could’ve been knocked so far.
“I...guess we should hurry up,” I said.
“You go ahead. I’ll check up on him.”
“I’m sure he’ll be okay. He has that Magic Breaker armor. I doubt he’s seriously hurt.”
“But...” Karen seemed hesitant.
“He’ll be okay. Anyway, shouldn’t you be paying attention to the transfer student you’re in charge of? We’ll let them know where he landed when we get there. Everything’ll be fine.”
“Okay...” she said.
She was seriously too kind of a person. Rhand had been nothing but nasty to Karen simply because she was a mage, the very existence that his order wanted to snuff out. Despite that, she was willing to check to see if he was okay. If it’d been me, that thought wouldn’t have crossed my mind. At best, I would’ve just been curious if he was alive or not.
I had no sympathy for people like him—or my parents—who looked down and just held such blind hatred for a group of people. In my mind, even if he hadn’t been okay, I’d be happy.
Either way, we made our way to the training grounds. When we arrived, we were met by a peculiar sight. Professor Fhrugen was reprimanding an unfamiliar student while President Victoria was holding her by the shoulder, seemingly amused by something.
As we approached, they turned their heads toward us.
“Sorry. We’re late,” Karen said. “Hey, you too.” Her elbow met my rib cage, urging me to say the same.
“Sorry. I’m late...”
A chill ran down my spine as President Victoria closed her eyes and smiled at me. “Oh, it’s absolutely no problem at all that you were not only absent when I specifically asked you to be on time, but that you were also so late that I had to ask Karen to go get you.”
“Sorry...”
She simply chuckled in response. “By the way, you haven’t happened to see Rhand, have you?” President Victoria asked.
“Yeah, he flew into a tree over there,” I said, pointing.
“And you didn’t think to at least bring him with you?” Professor Fhrugen asked.
“He’s in his costume, so I’m sure he’s fine. He’ll wake up and be back to his usual bigoted self in no time,” I said, shrugging.
Professor Fhrugen let out a long exhale, shaking his head. “Since Doctor Paunsasoy hasn’t returned yet, we’ll need to delay the next match so I can take him to the infirmary.”
“No need. I’ll retrieve him,” President Victoria said with a smile. “Good luck, El,” she said to the unfamiliar student.
Her name’s El? I wonder where she comes from. Everything about her seemed somewhat...different, for lack of a better word. There weren’t many humans out there with the same beautiful silver hair with red streaks as her, and there definitely weren’t many that had golden eyes. Typically, that combination would make me think beastkin, but she didn’t seem to share any other characteristics with them. She didn’t have a tail, special ears, or any fur whatsoever.
As President Victoria began to leave, Professor Fhrugen nodded. “Thank you, Ms. Vallasteir. Now that both combatants are present, we can proceed to the next battle. El, I think I’ve given you a stern enough talking-to about damaging the arena and sending students flying, so I trust that won’t happen again, right?”
The mysterious student, El, nodded. For some reason, ever since we’d arrived, her eyes had been fixed on me. It was as if she was examining me, trying to figure out if I was someone she’d known or not. But I think I’d remember if I’d met someone like her, so that was unlikely. There weren’t many people out there with her combination of physical traits... Is that a dog collar? Kinda reminds me of the one Karen carries around with her for that dog she’s never getting.
“You may both proceed to the arena,” Professor Fhrugen said.
I nodded and walked onto the stone stage, the student following suit, not taking her golden eyes off me for a second.
Finally, when we reached the middle of the arena, I stopped and reached my hand out to her. “El, right? Ca’al Sasphorora. Nice to meet you.”
She gave me a cold glare, which also somehow felt burning hot. It was like being sandwiched between a scorching desert and a frigid tundra.
Did I do something wrong? I shot Karen a glance, but she just shrugged.
“W-Well, let’s have a good match...” I took a few steps back and assumed a stance gripping the hilt of my blade.
“Where’s the relic?” she asked.
“Uh...” I wasn’t sure how to answer that, especially since people weren’t supposed to know that I was supposedly identified as the Blade Saint.
I looked at Karen for help, but she was amid a deep sigh, putting her hand to her head as if a headache was coming on.
“She knows thanks to a certain blabbermouth of a doctor,” Karen said, annoyed. “But it’s okay. Feel free to answer her. The present company knows your identity,” Karen said.
“Well in that case...” I turned back toward my opponent. “The relic’s not something I’m going to bring out for a placement exam,” I said, trying to gloss over the truth.
The truth was that I couldn’t summon it for the simple reason that I wasn’t the Blade Saint. I couldn’t be. I might have above-average reflexes and battle sense, but I was nothing compared to Soreya—the true Blade Saint. She should be the one standing here. Not me.
The girl, El, seemed very skeptical and dissatisfied with my answer, but she didn’t say anything further and instead narrowed her eyes.
I really hope she doesn’t think I’m taking her lightly.
Then, she knelt on the ground, assuming a stance as if she was getting ready to sprint, except she extended her hands to the side.
This is a new stance, but... I focused my senses. I could hear the rumbling of her muscles as she tensed them, practically telling me that she’d fly at me as soon as the match began. The speed at which she’ll come at me is gonna be hard for me to react to.
In that case... I drew my curved, single-edged blade from its sheath. I gripped it with both hands and turned my body sideways, holding it by my head with the blade facing her.
Judging from her stance, I could visualize a total of three likely patterns that she’d attack with. One, she could charge straight at me. Two, she could attack me from the air. Three, she could try to go for my legs. The stance I’d taken accounted for all those possibilities, but... I focused my senses and tuned everything out. The space around me faded until all I could hear was her heartbeat and the subtle creaking of her joints and muscles. Her first attack... She’s going to leap toward me and aim straight for my neck.
“Get ready...” Professor Fhrugen said, snapping me out of my focus mode.
I tightened my grip on my blade, and El narrowed her eyes.
“Be—”