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They knew they would end up like this. She stood up and walked to the shelf, took the weapon that she knew the best. A pair of short swords. Snatching it, she climbed the short stairs to the ring and stood just outside it with two swords in each hand, smiling and maintaining that confident posture. She knew he was tired, and she wasn’t. I’ll end this quickly. I have to get this title to ace the army selection easily. I hope for the best, like mom used to say. She thought.

Entering the ring, they bowed, and after waiting on the Referee’s command, both took their stances with Sensei overlooking the battle. His face sunken, doused with sweat, his lips dry and heaving, yet he kept a firm grip on his spear. In contrast to Mika, who kept her chin low, her gaze straight, and cocky as she kept her two short swords close.

The fight began—but no one moved just yet. Silence filled the ring. The spectators didn’t dare to make a noise either, pushing Sensei to the edge of the seat. Arai broke the silence with the first move, trailing the border of the ring, pointing the tip of his spear at her to keep her at bay. They exchanged smiles, and she stretched her shoulders.

With a sharp breath, he planted his feet swiftly, and peppered her with three precise jabs. She dodged them all, grinning as she readied her swords to retaliate—and he expected this. He pulled his spear, keeping a check on his posture to make use of his momentum to deliver a small swing to kick up the dust around the ring. A smokescreen, which swirled around his jab into it, hoping to deliver a heavy blow to her abdomen. Her weakest spot.

The spearhead leaped out of the smoke and his aim was on point—yet she strafed left in the neck of time. Smoke worked both ways. She held onto her weapons, bringing her utmost focus to counter and lowering her posture. She dashed through the smoke and slammed the sword on the other side of the screen. But he—wasn’t even there. This was his cue. He predicted it and ran around the ring to show up behind her. He read her like a book.

He threw jabs at her back. She twisted her back so fast that joints cracked in her spine with a pop. It felt so good! She banked on her reflexes to dodge and recovered to strengthen her defense; he rushed to her as he threw the spear at her.

Ha! You don’t have a weapon now. She thought, deflecting his spear to the edge of the ring—and there he was, rushing towards and grabbing her hair and slamming her down to the ground. The throw wasn’t an attack—but a strategy to buy him time to close the distance. Leaving her no choice but to retreat to the edge of the ring as he took to the spear again. The one with the short swords wasn’t the one executing close combat techniques.

Giving her no time to recover, he jabbed his spear at her again, banking on her top-notch reflexes to save herself. But it stopped her from fumbling up a plan for counterattack. He respected her for her skills—but they knew her for being too reckless; who rarely thought in a fight; whereas he was the opposite. It wasn't just brawls, there should be a bit of brain and he had lots of it.

He felt sorry for making this battle so one-sided. Causing him to pull his spear back in sympathy, seeing her frown of anger and desperation, lowering her posture to dash again. Everything clicked into place, and it only took a quick jab to the feet to knock her off balance before she could rush him. But she wasn't out, and he wasn’t done yet. He quickly leapt towards her, leaving the spear behind him to hold on to her and throw her back on the ground. He gave her a chance, and she made the same mistake, mindless attacks; and he reused the same move again—but no mercy this time.

She saw the world turn and, by the end, faced the skies in awe-struck, eyes trembling in her defeat. She expected the other kids would cheer upon his win, but silence came instead, causing her to question herself more than anyone. All she could hear were murmurs. Did I let them down?

“How is this fight so one-sided?” “Isn't Mika one of the most prized students of Sensei? What happened to her?”

Sensei approached her. He seemed emotionless. There was no trace of malice in it, or at least a sense of disappointment that she got a humiliating defeat—it pissed her more to realize that it had none of what she was thinking.

“Pick yourself up,” He said. “It’s time to meet the Elder.”

Ugh! Not again... She thought.