Standing on the balcony looking at the night sky without any moons and only twinkling stars, Rubia thought 'How peaceful'. Looking at her roommate, who was also her best friend, Anna , who was snuggled on her own bed made Rubia feel a little warmth in her heart. 'May this peace remain till eternity'. It was only wishful thinking but she wished for it to be true, from the depth of her heart.

Soon an Owl's hoot brought her back from her daydreaming. It was already past midnight. The guards will soon change their post. That will be the only chance she will have. She changed her clothes without making any sound, afraid that Anna will wake up. She wore a cloak and a mask to hide her identity. She hid a dagger in her left shoes. It was an habit of hers so that if anytime something went wrong she will not feel helpless.

After observing from the balcony and not seeing anyone, Rubia jumped down from her dorm room. If it was a normal person then an injury was certain, but Rubia was someone who had mastered countless fighting styles and techniques, so she was able to bear the brunt of the fall without a hitch. Her clothes perfectly blended with the darkness.

A small garden full of trees, plants, and flowers surrounded her dorm building. And beside the garden was a paved road. The whole Academy had a complex structure of paved roads, which was like a maze for even someone who had been here for a month. Rubia had already memorized the path which she had to take. She was just waiting for the guard to pass.

Soon a guard came by. Although he wasn't carrying a torch or other sources of light he was able to see in the darkness clearly due to night vision lenses. Rubia quickly hid behind a tree and stopped making any sound. The guard passed without noticing her. She only had two minutes to reach her destination, after which the drones will start monitoring.

She began running at her top speed. She didn't care about making noise as all the dormitories had noise insulating walls. Just as she was close her destination , which was a large building, she saw a drone approaching its entrance. She took out the pebble which she was carrying for situations like this and threw it in the opposite direction of the entrance. The drone heard the noise and looked at where the pebble hit. Taking this opportunity Rubia continued running and after reaching the entrance she showed her 'Digi-watch' to the scanner. Before the drone could look back she was already inside.

The Digi-watch was a equipment which had become an integral part of every persons life. From video-calling someone to operating vehicles remotely, it was able to do everything. Just like a mini supercomputer. But nothing was perfect. Rubia had hacked her Digi-watch and installed several false credentials to help her in situations such as these, where she did not have permission to enter certain areas.

Looking around, in front of her was the reception desk which was empty. Well nobody was crazy enough to come here during mid-night, well, except for crazy people like her. 'She will be here soon. Let me get ready till then' Rubia thought.

The building was as large as it showed from outside and also very spacious. This building where she was at, was the combat training area for second term students. Here all kinds of facilities from body building to different types of weapon's practice areas were present. Her destination was the highest floor, the eleventh floor. After reaching there from the lift she quickly went to the changing area. Reaching there she used her false credentials to take out her sparring clothes . After quickly changing into them she moved to the main sparring field situated at the centre of the floor. Without wasting any time she quickly began warmup exercises.

After a few minutes she heard some noise coming from downstairs. She waited for a few minutes after which another person came out of the lift.

The newcomer was a girl of around 17-18 years old. She was also wearing a black cloak, possibly to hide herself. She had short white hair, which perfectly matched with her smooth skin, with a tinge of yellow at the end. Although she had a cheerful smile on her face there was a slight coldness in her black pupils.

"Hey Kaya, what took you so long?" questioned Rubia, who was still exercising.

"Today they were on my tail. It took some time to lose them." answered the newcomer, Kaya.

"Well whatever. You are already warmed up so let us begin." Rubia said with a serious expression on her face. She stopped her exercising and went to the edge of the field where all kinds of weapons were placed from swords and bows to battle-axes and halberds. After examining the weapons for some time Rubia selected a pair of twin-swords. They were just like standard swords without any special ability, made from 1045 carbon steel.

After swinging the swords a few times and getting familiar with them Rubia looked back. Kaya was standing at the opposite end swinging a spear. Her movements were so meticulous and fluid that it felt like a beautiful dance to the observer. After getting familiar with the spear Kaya stared at Rubia straight in the eyes. There was an unspoken agreement between them. They both moved to the centre of the sparring field.

The sparring field was circular and had a diameter of roughly sixty yards. Surrounding the field were seats for observers. There were also several screens around the large room which showed the spar from different angles. It was a perfect place to determine who was stronger.

Rubia and Kaya were facing each other at the centre of the field. There was a layer of invisible tension between them. They were waiting for the other person to make the first move.

'I have to take the initiative', finally Rubia was not able to hold back and swung her right sword, which was easily deflected by Kaya. In that split second Rubia swung her left sword at Kaya's neck, which was again easily dodged by Kaya by bending back. Before Rubia could regain her lost balance a kick had already appeared in front of her face. Although she was able to block it by her right hand, she  was pushed back.

"You are still not patient enough. Attacking first and taking initiative are not the same thing. How many times should I remind you?", Kaya scolded Rubia in a slightly angry voice.

Rubia just silently nodded. She knew what Kaya said was entirely true. The spar had only started and she was already pushed back. She was growing stronger at a very fast rate but it was still not enough. Looking at Kaya she regained her posture. Without showing any openings she started to walk towards Kaya.

When they were both close enough Kaya took the initiative and lunged towards Rubia. Rubia was barely able to deflect the spear with one hand and again swung her other sword at Kayas waist, pushing her back.

After taking a step back, Kaya again aimed her spear at Rubia's chest. Rubia dodged the spear with a slight cut on her left shoulder. The long reach of the spear was proving problematic.

'She's not holding back today. I should also give my best' thought Rubia. She ran towards Kaya and then the real fight began. With swings and thrusts, kicks and punches, deflects and dodges, and jabs and blocks. They both lost the count of times they clashed and were only focused on the next action of their opponent.

Finally after two hours they were both completely exhausted. Kaya was sweating buckets and her spear tip was covered in blood but other than that there was no other problem. But in contradiction Rubia who was also sweating buckets had a lot of small cuts across her exposed arms and cheeks and her swords didn't even have a drop of blood.

facing each other they came to a silent agreement. This will be their last move. They both ran at each other. Just as they got close Rubia threw her left sword at Kaya which was easily deflected.  Due to this distraction Rubia was able to dodge the incoming spear without much effort. After moving aside she quickly clutched the spear with her empty left hand. Her left palm was bleeding but she held on and swung her right sword at Kaya. But before the sword could reach Kaya a punch had already landed itself on the left side of her upper abdomen.

Rubia let go of the spear and her sword and sat down, clutching her stomach. The pain was so intense that she was not able to think of anything else. It took a few minutes for the pain to ease down. "You didn't need to throw that last punch!" Rubia shouted at Kaya.

"You wouldn't have stopped if I didn't stop you." retorted the accused Kaya with little to no sympathy. She knew Rubia's character very well. If she hadn't stopped Rubia then this spar would have continued for another hour.

"Has something happened to my brother? I have not received a word from him for two weeks.", Rubia quickly changed the topic and asked what was on her mind.

"Nothing that I know of.", replied Kaya in her ice cold voice

"Forget it. Have you taken care of the preparations?" asked Rubia.

"Yes. We will be leaving tomorrow." replied Kaya with a little smile on her face, which didn't fit her image.

"I will have my last test tomorrow. Be sure to be ready before that" Rubia reminded Kaya while clutching her stomach and moving towards the changing area. Kaya didn't need to change her clothes as she fought with the same clothes she was wearing.

After changing into her disguise Rubia left the building and moved in opposite direction to Kaya. After returning to her room without being discovered, she quickly took a bath and changed her clothes with as less noise as possible so as not to wake up Anna. As soon as she got on her bed, she fell fast asleep.

At another place Kaya had reached her room. Tomorrow they will be returning. She didn't show it but she was worried about how Rubia would react after knowing her brother had disappeared without a trace. Worrying wont get her anywhere and she was already fatigued so she stopped thinking and slept.