WIEDERGEBURT Chapter 36

 The moment the fight started, everyone except Fay suddenly turned around and clashed with their nearest opponent. She stood there, unable to do anything except watch, as the other four began battling against each other. It was like they hadn’t even deemed her a threat. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but she also knew that having them underestimate her would be an advantage.

Two battles had broken out. One of them was between the armored woman and the old man, while the other was between the noble and the barbarian. As the odd woman out, Fay could do nothing but stand in place and watch as the two battles happened.

A loud crashing sound caused her to shift her attention to the battle between the barbarian and the noble. The massive man in the loincloth had swung his ax down without mercy. While the noble had dodged, the swing was so powerful that the ax actually split the earth when it struck. Fault lines spread across the ground as a loud rumbling echoed all around them.

The noble wore a grim expression as he eyed the damage. However, he didn’t appear frightened as a powerful Spiritual Aura activated around him. Wisps of dark green energy swirled around his body like a slowly flickering flame. There was an earthen feel to his Spiritual Power.

After his Spiritual Aura had ignited, the noble took a step forward and swung his broadsword in a diagonal slash that started from the ground and curved into the sky. Numerous rock projectiles suddenly sprang from the arena floor and sailed toward the barbarian, who also activated his Spiritual Aura. A powerful sensation like an electric jolt caused the hairs on her arm to stand on end. It felt similar to Eryk’s Spiritual Aura, but where his felt like a calmly flowing river bathed in lightning, this one felt like a spark.

The earth projectiles slammed into the aura and broke apart. This caused the barbarian to laugh.

“Hur hur hur. You’ll have to do far better than that if you wish to defeat me, little man.”

The noble narrowed his eyes. “Then why don’t we up the stakes?”

Slamming his foot on the ground three times, the man spun around and created three stone spikes that sprang from the ground around the barbarian. However, just like before, these spikes merely smashed against his aura and vanished. The barbarian laughed some more as he swung his ax in a half-circle, a powerful ripple of lightning spreading out from it. Seeing this strange ripple of lightning charge toward him, the noble swung his sword in a strange pattern before stabbing it into the ground. A massive slab of stone rose from the surface just as the lightning arrived. The blue arcs of energy slammed into the slab, but it didn’t break through.

Fay shifted her attention from the battle between the barbarian and the noble to the one happening between the old man and the lady warrior. While the other battle was pitting Spiritual Technique against Spiritual Technique, this one seemed to be more a battle of skill. The two were trading strikes with their staff and halberd respectively.

The lady warrior spun her halberd around her body in graceful arcs before she struck at the old man, her leaf-shaped blade seeking to penetrate his defenses. Yet the old man was wily. He moved his body by using a strange method of shuffling his feet along the ground, allowing him to narrowly avoid each attack. A stab was dodged when he tilted his body to the left. A swing was avoided when he sidestepped. The lady warrior swung her halberd horizontally, but the old man merely leapt into the air and let it pass beneath his feet.

“You are very good at dodging,” the lady warrior said, her eyes narrowed. “However, if dodging is all you can do, then I am afraid you should consider giving up.”

“Oh ho ho ho ho!” The old man broke into a smile as he eyed the lady warrior. “I do appreciate you handing me advice, but that is not something the young should be doing. It is the duty of the old to deliver advice to the young. That is why I’m going to suggest you forfeit. You can’t beat me.”

The lady warrior gritted her teeth as her Spiritual Aura erupted around her. It was like a whirlpool of flame surrounding her body, encasing it in an additional layer of heat and protection.

“We will see who defeats who,” the lady warrior said as she charged at the old man. Despite her activating her Spiritual Aura, the old man did no such thing. He remained standing where he was, a calm smile on his face as though he had nothing to worry about.

The lady warrior moved her body into an elegant dance. Her feet slid along the floor. Her body twirled. As she moved, the leaf-shaped blade of her halberd suddenly ignited. Fire danced around her blade, which she swung at lightning-speed. It was so fast Fay could barely see it.

While Fay could only see a soft flicker of light, the old man could clearly see everything, for he leapt backward, clearing several meters and allowing the blade to pass by. This didn’t solve the full problem, though. As the blade flew through the air in front of him, a sharp crescent-shaped wave of fire shot from the halberd’s tip. It continued to travel toward the old man at a speed that Fay didn’t think he could dodge.

“Hup!”

The old man surprised Fay by spinning his staff around in front of him like a windmill. Strange streamers coagulated in the air, converging on the area immediately in front of the man’s windmilling staff. It was water, she realized. Dozens of streamers composed entirely of water appeared in the air and agglomerated in front of the old man’s spinning staff, creating a large shield.

The crescent fire wave slammed into the shield. A loud hiss erupted from the attack as steam shot across the battlefield, covering the old man and making it impossible for either Fay or the lady warrior to see. However, just as Fay was wondering if the man’s shield had been broken, old laughter rang out from inside of the steam cloud.

“That wasn’t too bad. You have quite a bit of power to you,” the old man said from within the cloud. “However, if that’s all you have, then I’m afraid this battle is already won.”

The lady warrior clicked her tongue as she held her halberd in a two-handed grip, legs spread apart and knees bent. She narrowed her eyes and glared into the rolling steam.

“This is not even close to everything I am capable of,” the lady warrior replied. “Don’t go counting all of your chickens before they even hatch.”

“Oh ho ho ho! More attempts at the young giving advice to the elderly.”

Seconds after those words were unleashed, a figure darted out from the steam cloud. The figure was moving swiftly, but Fay was able to see what, or rather who, was traveling that fast. He headed toward the lady warrior, whose expression suddenly turned grave. She swung her halberd. A loud bang! echoed all around them as the shaft of her weapon struck something hard. The explosive impact sent dust and wind everywhere, causing Fay to flinch. When she looked back at the old man and the lady warrior, it was to see the two of them exchanging blows at lightning speed.

This is… a battle…

Fay’s eyes were wide as she stared uncomprehendingly at the fight before her. Even though she had trained for several months now (she had trained for months before even meeting Eryk), she didn’t actually have any experience with combat. Her training consisted of strength training, learning to control her Spiritual Power, and learning the Flash Step and Fire Spiral Spiritual Technique. Seeing these two fights erupting right before her eyes caused her legs to lock in place.

BAM!

A loud sound caused Fay to suddenly turn her head, and she was just in time to witness the noble get struck by the barbarian’s ax. The attack came in so fast that the noble had no time to dodge. The ax crashed into him like a thunderstorm, blasting him clean off his feet and sending him soaring across the arena floor. He didn’t stop until his body slammed into the wall, which indented around him and caused cracks to spread from the center of impact.

His Spiritual Aura, which had protected him from the swing, at least to a certain point, sputtered a little before finally disappearing. When that happened, the man fell forward. He hit the ground with a dull thud. Fay waited to see if he would get back up, but his body didn’t even twitch.

“This man is out of the competition,” Rainer declared. “Will a pair of medics please come and get this man out of the arena?”

The crowd surged and cheered at his words as two medics carrying a stretcher between them arrived. They set the stretcher down, picked the man up, placed him on, and hurried out of the arena.

“Hur hur hur.”

A chilling laugh caused a shiver to run down Fay’s spine. She turned her attention toward the barbarian, who was now walking toward her with a lecherous leer plastered on his face. Her nose wrinkled. She’d received this sort of look from plenty of men before, and it was never a pleasant experience.

“Pretty little thing,” the barbarian said as he loomed over her, his ax resting on his shoulder. “Why don’t you just give up now? Hur hur. We both know that you are no match for me. If you quit now, I’ll find you later and show you a good time.”

The chill that came from fear evaporated at this man’s words. The shaking in her legs stopped, the blood chilling her bones became hot, and the urge she felt to run away disappeared. She glared at this barbaric-looking man as she slid her feet apart and raised her hands, clenching them into fists.

“Why don’t you quit now, and I promise not to beat you senseless?” Fay returned fire.

“Hur hur hur. It seems this pretty little thing has a sharp tongue.” Instead of being angered by her words, the barbarian’s mouth widened into a grin that showed his large teeth. “It will be fun to see what else you can do with that tongue of yours.”

Fay couldn’t stop herself from grimacing, but during that second, the man had raised his ax and swung it down hard. Her body twitched as she leapt to the side. The ax struck the ground. Not only did it cause the ground to split open, but several arcs of pale lightning raced across the ground and headed straight for her.

With her eyes narrowed, Fay brought her elbows into her torso. She lowered her center of gravity as well. Rotating her shoulders, she soon thrust out her fists in corkscrewing punches just as the lightning reached her.

Two powerful spheres of fire flew from her fists, slammed into the lightning, and exploded with an incredible amount of force. Waves of heat rushed across the ground. It caused sweat to break out on Fay’s skin, but she ignored the searing heat and looked at the barbarian. He was no longer smiling as he stared at the massive plumes of fire that rose into the sky.

Fay locked onto the ground just in front of the barbarian. Her Spiritual Power surged as she took a single step forward, the act channeling her power into the sole of her foot, and then she was standing directly in front of the large man. She looked up at his blinking face. It seemed like he hadn’t noticed her yet. Good. Fay used that time to move her body into a wider stance, rotated her shoulders as she tucked her elbows into her sides, and then thrust them out when her Spiritual Power was channeled into her fists.

“HA!”

Two fireballs erupted from her fists and crashed into the man with a concussive blast of hot air and fire. The barbarian’s screams were drowned out by the flames’ roars. The power behind the explosion that appeared when the man was launched into the air was such that even Fay was pushed back. She stumbled across the ground for nearly a meter, flinching as the fires from her own attack partially burned her face and hands. However, as she watched the barbarian strike the ground with an earth-shattering thud, she realized that she had probably gotten off easy.

Despite being struck by a pair of fireballs, launched into the air, and slammed into the ground, the barbarian was still conscious. He pressed his hands against the ground and tried to get up. However, the Spiritual Aura surrounding his body flickered dangerously. His massive arms shook, the veins bulging as his face turned red. The aura flickered some more. Then it went out, and all the energy the barbarian contained seemed to go out with it. Even though he was still conscious, his arms gave in and his head struck the ground again.

“This man is officially out of the competition,” Valence said in a calm, deep voice. “Someone help him get out of the arena.”

“W-what nonsense… is that? Hur… hur… I can still fight…”

Despite the serious blow he’d just taken, the barbarian seemed unwilling to give up. He struggled to stand. However, Valence gave him a cold look that caused the man to freeze.

“You cannot even climb onto your feet on your own, and yet you think you can still fight? I said you are done. Do not push your luck.”

The words were bone-chilling, but the barbarian merely clenched his teeth as a pair of men in the leather armor of Nevarian Spiritualists came up and slung his arms around their shoulders. They hauled the man to his feet. Once he was able to take some of his own weight, they helped him walk toward the arena floor. The barbarian tossed her a vicious glare at her just before he left.

Fay sighed and pressed a hand to her chest. Her body was still shaking.

Before she could really catch her second wind, a massive explosion suddenly erupted from the battle between the lady warrior and the old man. She turned toward the battle. It looked like while she’d been fighting against the barbarian, the two of them had been going at it just as fiercely as she had. Their staff and halberd were a pair of streaks that flew through the air. Fire and water erupted between them as they danced around and swung their respective weapons. Every time their weapons struck each other, a powerful detonation of steam would launch them back, causing the pair to stumble.

“Oh ho ho ho! This old man is impressed by your abilities! Even though you have yet to reach the Second State of Spiritualism, you are capable of keeping up with my attacks! Very impressive. I guess this is what it means to get older. Even though I have reached the Second State, my body just isn’t what it used to be.”

“Hmph! For an old man, you are pretty powerful. I’ll admit I underestimated you, but I won’t do that anymore! From here on out, I am going to use everything I have to defeat you!”

“Ha! If you think you have what it takes to beat me, then go ahead and try!”

“With pleasure!”

The speed of their attacks were increasing, growing more intense as the pair exchanged blows. The lady warrior swung her halberd down, but it was blocked by the old man and his staff. A powerful explosion created a concussive force that pushed the two away from each other. However, this didn’t mean they had stopped attacking.

The lady warrior spun around in a circle, creating several fireballs that were lined up in a neat row. She slammed her foot on the ground, generating a powerful kinetic force, and used it to reverse her swing. When she came back around, her halberd struck the six fireballs and sent them toward the old man.

Not one to be outdone, the old man slammed his staff against the ground. Water agglomerated along its length. He slid one foot forward, and then swung his staff six times, creating six water balls that were no smaller than the fireballs charging toward him. The two attacks collided in the center of their battle. A powerful force exploded. The ground beneath the explosion cracked and steam shot out in all directions, obscuring the two Spiritualists’ vision.

However, while the lady warrior could only frown at the expanding cloud of steam, the old man pressed his feet upon the ground and shot forward. Fay followed him as he darted around the steam cloud and came up behind the lady warrior. She frowned. He was moving very quickly, but perhaps because she had been training to use the Flash Step, his movements seemed a little slow.

In either event, the lady warrior had no time to respond as he appeared behind her. He held his staff in a two-handed grip, generated a water ball by twirling the tip of his staff in a circular motion, and then slammed the end of his staff into it. The waterball shot forward just as the lady warrior realized he was there. It struck her in the back, blasting apart her Spiritual Aura and causing her to scream as she struck the ground and skidded across it.

Fay concluded that it was probably a good thing the lady warrior was wearing armor, or that attack would have done a lot of damage. The back piece of her breastplate was dented. Had that struck her actual body, it might have crippled or even killed her. Killing, of course, wasn’t allowed in this contest, but accidents were bound to happen in a fierce competition like this.

The lady warrior used her halberd as a crutch as she climbed to her feet. Her Spiritual Aura was gone. She winced several times and stared at the old man, who merely smiled at her like a wizened old monkey. Several seconds of silence passed while the two of them stared at each other. Then the lady warrior sighed.

“I forfeit,” she declared to the shock of the crowd. “I no longer have any Spiritual Power left to fight with, and I can already tell that my armor won’t be able to withstand another hit.”

Rainer nodded. “In that case, please vacate the arena.”

The lady warrior nodded toward Rainer, bowed her head slightly toward the old man who beat her, and then turned around and began walking toward the door. She did pause, however, when she saw Fay. Her eyes widened in shock. She clearly hadn’t expected Fay to be the one standing. However, the woman swiftly mastered her expression, graced her with a smile, and left.

“Will the two remaining combatants meet in the center of the arena?” Rainer requested.

Fay walked toward the center, as did the old man, who seemed a tad surprised that she was the last one standing. However, this expression soon left. The old man’s smile returned as he chuckled.

“Oh ho ho ho. I had not expected you to be the one I would face,” he murmured, his eyes opening a crack to reveal dark brown pupils. “I wonder… did you defeat one of the other two after he had been injured, or was it a double knockout?”

Fay frowned as she realized this man was implying she hadn’t won on her own strength. It was true that she lacked experience. Anyone who was versed in combat could probably tell she was a rookie who had never been in a fight before now, but that didn’t give this man or anyone else the right to look down at her.

“You will find out for yourself whether or not my victory was a fluke,” Fay stated, feeling fired up. Her body was brimming with determination.

“Hmm… you have spunk if nothing else.” The old man tapped his staff on the ground. “Very well. This old man shall humor you. Let us see if you have what it takes to defeat me.”

Taking a deep breath, Fay relaxed as she slid her feet shoulder width apart. The crowd, which had been a dull roar in her ears, had gone completely silent now. She could see some of the people behind the old man. They were staring at her and her opponent, no doubt wondering who would win. Unlike the old man, they had actually seen what she’d done, even if they couldn’t understand it.

Rainer and Valence were off to the side, observing the battle with their keen eyes. They didn’t re-initiate the fight. This fight had already started. Right now she and her opponent were merely sizing each other up.

Fay already knew how powerful this man was. Even though he and that lady warrior had fought like beasts, he still seemed raring to go. The only sign of his exhaustion came from the light sheen of sweat gathering on his bald head. If she wanted to win this battle, she could not afford to give him a chance to attack.

Fay slid her dominant foot forward again, gathered her Spiritual Power, and took a single step.

“What?!” The old man gasped in shock.

She appeared right before the old man’s wide, bulging eyes. Unlike the barbarian, this old man was not so tall that he couldn’t see her when she was right in front of him. They were more or less the same height, so when she suddenly appeared before him like a ghost, he naturally noticed.

The old man reacted on instinct, swinging his staff forward to strike her across the temple, but Fay was already too close. She raised her left hand. Pain struck her forearm as it came into contact with the old man’s skinny bicep. That thinness was deceptive. Still, despite the pain, she blocked his attack, tucked her right hand into her torso, and gathered her Spiritual Power. With a loud roar, she twisted her entire torso and thrust out her right fist in a rotating spiral.

Her fist ignited with a heat so intense the air distorted around it. A spiral shaped flame trailed behind her fist. There was no time to react. The old man was struck in the chest. A plume of fire erupted from Fay’s fist as the old man was launched into the air, soaring in a parabolic arc, and then striking the ground before rolling across it for several meters.

Smoke rose from Fay’s still outstretched hand as she stood there, panting and gasping for air. There were a pair of trenches on the ground showing where she slid backward. Her knuckles stung with an intense pain as blood dripped from several cracks that had appeared because of her own attack. However, she was still standing, and the old man was not getting back up.

In the ensuing silence, Rainer walked up to Fay.

“What is your name?” he asked.

“Fay…” she mumbled, still breathing heavily. “It’s Fay Valstine.”

Rainer nodded and raised his hand as he turned to the crowd.

“The winner for the first round of the preliminary matches is Fay Valstine!”

***

“That chick… she’s pretty good,” Geirolf said as loud cheers erupted from the crowd. He sat back in his seat with a stunned look in his eyes as he gazed at the young woman down below. There was a slight flush to his cheeks. Kari would have giggled at how enamored he appeared to be, but given who he was ogling, she felt a sense of protectiveness rush through her.

“She was very impressive,” Mikkel agreed. “I was surprised by the strength of her Spiritual Technique, but I think what surprised me the most is her speed. I’ve never seen anyone who can move that fast except for you, Mother.”

Kari looked at her mother, who was gazing at Fay with an unusual sharpness. It reminded Kari of a blade. Her mother’s eyes seemed to be akin to those of a drawn sword, which caused her to shiver a little.

“Mother?” Kari asked.

“That girl’s speed is not the result of her physical prowess. It is a Spiritual Technique,” she declared.

Her words stunned the four people present into silence. Even Earland was staring at her with wide eyes.

“A Spiritual Technique?” Earland glanced at the arena, and then looked at her. “You mean like your Three Thousand Steps Technique?”

Smiling, their mother shook her head, causing her long hair to sway. “No, it is nothing like my technique. Three Thousand Steps is a light based Spiritual Technique that utilizes the Third State of Spiritualism to temporarily transform my entire body into light particles. This allows me to move at the speed of light. However, my technique is elemental in nature.”

Their mother glanced at the girl who was now walking toward the arena door. Kari also looked at Fay as a complicated emotion filled her heart. She still didn’t know how to approach that girl at all, but she really wanted to repair their relationship.

“That girl’s technique is a movement based technique that has no element assigned to it,” her mother continued explaining. “She uses the movement of that single step forward to generate a powerful momentum that pushes her across an incredible distance within a short amount of time. If I had to guess, I would say the amount of steps used is relevant to how fast she can travel. When she was using that technique, it took her .9 seconds to reach her opponent, which is about the speed it takes for a person to blink three times. However, during that time, she took three steps, which slowed her speed significantly. If she’d been able to cross that gap within a single step, I dare say she would have been in front of that man faster than he could blink.”

Her words caused the four of them to all glance at each other in shock. None of them had ever heard of a technique like this. It seemed so simple. Take a step forward, appear right in front of your enemy before they can attack, and launch a powerful offensive that blows them away in a single strike. However, from what their mother was saying, this technique was far more difficult to master than it sounded.

“There will be a short remission while our Spiritualists fix the arena,” Rainer announced to the crowd. “It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. Please remain in your seats for now.”

“I am most interested in learning where that Fay Valstine learned such a powerful Spiritual Technique,” Kari’s mother said before she leaned back in her chair.

Kari took one more glance at the door where Fay had disappeared and bit her lip.

***

Fay soon appeared in the entrance to the waiting room. Her face was a little black and her clothing was a bit singed. However, she looked relatively fine for someone who had just finished her first battle.

She paused when everybody’s eyes turned to her, blushed, and then sought me out. The moment her eyes locked with mine, she rushed over at a walk that made it clear she wasn’t comfortable being the center of everyone’s attention.

“Congratulations,” I said, smiling as she stopped beside me. I subtly moved my body to block her from the view of the other competitors. “I knew you could defeat them. How do you feel?”

“I feel… pretty accomplished, to be honest.” Fay’s cheeks flushed a little as she looked at me. There was a pleased smile on her face, causing her lips to peel back with an elegant yet somehow seductive appeal.

I had to be honest: I’ve always had a thing for strong women. Back when I had first met Kari, I hadn’t fallen in love with her because we shared a common interest in reading. The first time I truly felt my heart stir was after she had confronted Grant Leucht when the other man attacked me for being close to Kari. Seeing her strength was what truly made me fall for her.

That was probably why women like Fay and Lin also caused my chest to flutter. Both had a strong will, confidence, and appeared to be strong fighters. Well, I was sure that was part of the reason for my conflicted feelings of attraction, at least.

“It was thrilling, right?” I said. Fay’s cheeks turned an even more startling shade of red, until they matched her hair, but she nodded at me. I laughed. “It’s a unique feeling that can only be found in a competition like this, where combatants fight against each other in fair combat. The adrenaline pumping through your body, the feeling of clashing against someone of equal or greater strength, and the joy you feel after you’ve won… it’s not something you can find anywhere else.”

I felt my lips suddenly turn down as if gravity had taken hold of them.

“Real combat is a lot different than this. It’s fast-paced and brutal. You fight with your very life on the line. There’s no honor or glory to be had in something like that. Just death.”

My mind became immersed in memories of the past, in the battles I had fought, where I had struggled merely to keep my own life nevermind emerge victorious. So many times death had come for me. So many times I had barely managed to avoid it. I was honestly surprised I had lived long enough to challenge the Great Overlord of the Seventh Plane twice.

“Eryk?” Fay questioned me softly, and I realized I was becoming mopey.

I shook my head. This was a new life I had. I wasn’t sure how, but I had been sent back to the past, which meant I had a chance to do everything over again. There was no point in moping over what happened in my last life.

“I’m fine.” I smiled at her, but then I frowned when I realized the knuckles of her right hand were cracked and bleeding. “You’re injured.”

Fay glanced at her hand, and then smiled as she hid it behind her back. “It was from the backlash of my own technique. I’m afraid I haven’t quite mastered it yet.”

I nodded. Spiritual Techniques generally took years to master. They weren’t something someone could perfect with two, three, or even six months worth of training.

“May I see your hand please?” I requested softly.

Fay bit her lower lip, but then slowly brought her hand from behind her back and presented it to me. I grabbed it, careful not to touch her knuckles or the parts that had been burned. Her skin was black. There were cracks running along the surface, and fresh blood was oozing from those cracks.

I placed my free hand over her hand, not touching it, but just letting it hover there. I trickled some of my Spiritual Power through my hand. The warm flow moved through my Spiritual Pathways, changing from a non-elemental Spiritual Power to the water element. I manipulated the element to move into Fay’s hand through her wounds, and then slowly repaired all the damage her own attack had done to her.

“A Spiritual Technique like the one you used is meant to be fired from a distance,” I said as her injuries healed before my eyes. “While attacking up close does give you more power, you also receive damage from the backlash. Of course, this can be negated if you had unleashed your Spiritual Aura to protect yourself, but I am assuming you forgot about that when you attacked.”

“Er…” Fay suddenly looked down, unable to maintain eye contact with me. “Well… yes… I can’t activate my Spiritual Aura when I use the Flash Step, and the idea of reactivating it just… never occurred to me at the time, so…”

“Being able to reactivate your Spiritual Aura immediately after using the Flash Step is something that requires instinct,” I said, nodding. “It isn’t something you actively think about, so much as something you automatically do without thinking. I guess you could say it is like a form of muscle memory. Your body remembers to reactivate your aura so you can focus on the battle. If you’d like, after this tournament is over, we can focus on getting you some more experience so reactivating your Spiritual Aura becomes a habit.”

“After the tournament?” Fay looked up again, her eyes widening as her pretty mouth formed an O-shape. “You mean… you want to still train with me even after the tournament?”

My mind froze for a second as I wondered if I had overstepped my bounds.

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to, of course,” I assured her. “It is just that… well, I suppose you could say I’ve enjoyed the time we spent training together and would like to continue. You also have a lot of potential. I want to see how far you can go as a Spiritualist, but I obviously won’t force you to train with me if that isn’t what you want.”

“Oh, no. That isn’t what I meant.” Fay shook her head, causing her long ponytail to sway back and forth. “I really like training with you. I would love to keep doing it. It’s just that… you and Kari… um…”

I sucked in a breath. That’s right. Fay had confessed her feelings to me, but I was already in love with Kari. I had denied this girl, rejected her, but she still tried to win over my affection. She told me once that she hadn’t given up. However, from the way she’d spoken just now, I wondered if maybe she had finally decided to stop.

A strange sensation welled up in my chest, an almost physical pain that made me want to rub it.

I finished healing her hand and let go. Fay took a step back, her eyes a little wet. Guilt slammed into me like a lightning technique as I realized she was probably crying because I hadn’t denied my love for Kari.

This silence lasted until someone came into the room and whispered something to Dante. The man nodded, stepped forward, and smiled at us.

“The arena has been repaired, so everyone with the number two parchment slips should head outside,” he said.

I looked back at Fay and gave her a shaky smile. “I drew a number two.”

“You should head to the arena then.” She smiled at me, but it didn’t look like her heart was in it. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

No longer able to bear Fay’s gaze, I turned toward the door and walked out alongside four other individuals.