-Tuesday Afternoon, 8th Of the 1st Month, Year 910-

"The first fight will be Number 764 vs. Number 788!" Hearing my number, I stand up.

Taking a look behind me, I spot my opponent, a tall kid with brown hair, '...He doesn't seem that strong, compared to Percy, and the girl with the katana, it feels like he's lacking a bit.'

"Huh?" Suddenly, he shakes his head with a disappointed expression, and turns around to leave the spectator seats, 'What was that about?'

Feeling Jasmine tug on my sleeve, I turn around, "Are you going to be okay?" 

I scratch my head, hearing her ask me that for the umpteenth time, 'She worries a lot, it kind of reminds me of my mom.'

I smile a bit, thinking of her and tell Jasmine, "My wound doesn't hurt that much right now, and from what I can tell, he's not that strong."

Jasmine's head drops, and in a whisper-like voice, she tells me, "...Be careful." 

"I will," Saying that I leave the spectator's area.

Just like last time, I leave the arena and go back in through the fighter's entrance. While walking into the room, I bump into my opponent as he's leaving.

"Sorry," I didn't mean to bump into him, so I apologize.

"Don't worry about it," He shakes his head and steps to the side.

"Thanks," I smile a bit and go into the room.

'The sword I used earlier is still good, so I'll just use that one again,' I swing around a couple of other swords, before finding it, sighing, I complain a little, 'It would have been easier to find it if all of these swords didn't look so similar.'

After swinging the sword around a couple more times, I leave the room. For some reason, my opponent is still here, leaning against the wall next to the door. 

Frowning, I ask him, "Why are you still here? You already have your weapon, so you should be heading to the platform." 

 "Do you really think that you can beat me with that injury?" Without answering my question, he asks me another.

"What?" 

"Maybe you had a chance before, but with that injury, you can't win. I want to pass too, but I don't want to beat someone who's already down," Hearing his words, a familiar heat starts to build up in my chest.

"What do you want?" I'm tired of talking to him, he waited here for a reason, so can he just get to the point.

He sighs and tells me, "Surrender."

"I refuse," I wouldn't have gone against Mrs. Janson if I was willing to give up so easily.

Looking confused, he asks, "Why?"

"I don't have any reason to answer you or surrender," I shake my head and walk past him. 

"You..." Although he starts saying something, I'm done listening to him. 

A minute later, he steps onto the platform, facing me with his axe in hand. Without saying anything, we both get in our stances.

"Begin!" Hearing Mrs. Janson's signal, I rush at him. 

"Enchant!" Both of our weapons glow, giving off a blue aura. 

Swish! Cling! Swish! Cling!

After exchanging a few blows, he takes a few steps back to escape my barrage.  

"Ugh!" I grit my teeth, feeling the stinging pain coming from my wound, 'I need to finish this fast!'

Swish! Cling! Swish! Tear! Swish! Cling! Swish! Tear! Swish! Cling!

Bearing the pain, I charge at him again, and again. Pushing him closer to the edge of the platform.

Clang!

'Almost there!' I tighten my grip on my sword and put more force into my attack.

"You!! Qi Wave!!!" With a red face, he throws a Qi wave at me.

"Qi Wave!" Since I can't dodge at close range, I counter.

Our Qi Waves collide for a moment before my Qi Wave breaks through. He barely manages to defend against it and is forced to take a couple of steps back.

Without giving him any time to rest, I rush at him, "Dragon Sweep!" 

Bang!

His legs are swept off the ground, and his body falls onto the platform. 

"It's over," I announce, with my sword pointing at his neck.

Following my announcement, Mrs. Janson says, "Number 764 wins!" 

I nod and leave the platform without looking at my opponent. Out of sight, I lean against the wall, covering my wound with my hand.

'Not yet! I'm not done yet!' I clench my teeth, resisting the pain coming from my wound.

I start circulating my Qi again and head to the spectator seats, using the wall to support myself.

●●●

"Good Job!" Johnny pats my shoulder with a smile when I walk over to my seat.

"-Th...anks," I somehow manage to get the words out through the pain.

"Are you okay?" Johnny whispers, trying to keep Jasmine from hearing.

"...I can still fight," I speak in a lower voice, too, following his example.

"Kid!" Mrs. Janson calls out to me and throws me a pinkish-white pill, "Circulate your Qi and let that dissolve in your mouth. After a few minutes, you should start to feel better."

"Thank you," I smile, feeling a little warm inside.

Mrs. Janson nods without saying anything. I sit down and throw the pill in my mouth and close my eyes, focusing on the Qi flowing through my body. Just like she said, after a few minutes, most of the pain fades away. Opening my eyes, I let out a breath of relief, "Phew." 

"How are you feeling?" Jasmine asks the moment I open my eyes.

"A lot better, I should be able to fight in the next round without any problems," Hearing my words, Johnny jumps up with a big smile on his face.

"That's great! Haha..." Johnny laughs happily. 

I nod and look at Jasmine, who looks like she wants to say something, but she holds herself back and nods too. 

"Mm, it's good that you can keep fighting," Seeing her smile, I feel a little bad, but I have to keep fighting so I can get into the academy. 

'I just have to win the next match,' Clenching my fist, I think to myself.

●●●

"Number 629 wins!" Mrs. Janson announces another winner, as the matches go on.

Johnny fought earlier and beat his opponent after a couple of minutes, unlike his fight with Jun, he was able to easily overpower his opponent with his strength. On the other hand, Jun easily forced his opponent to surrender with his sword techniques. Besides that, the other fights aren't really anything worth mentioning. Just like in the first round, some people beat their opponent easily, while some people struggled.

Seeing both of them come up, she calls out the next two, "Number 701 and 802, you're up!" 

'Aren't they the two girls from before? The one with weapon Qi and the one with the katana?' I think to myself while taking a look around, trying to find them. 

Spotting both of them, I see them stand up and look at each other for a moment before leaving the spectator's area. 

"This should be a good fight, both of them did really good in the first round," Jasmine comments from the side.

"Maybe, but that girl with the katana is really strong," I sigh to myself, 'At least she's stronger than me.'

After a few minutes, they both walk out of the fighter's entrance with their weapons. The girl with the katana steps onto the platform first, and the girl with the bow, stops a couple feet away from her. She gets into her stance, ready for the fight to start.

"Hey," Hearing her voice reminds me of a line in a poem Mom read to me a while ago.

'Soft as the spring breeze, yet cold like winter snow.'

"What?" Number 802, Nina asks, staring at her with caution.

"You should move back more; otherwise, the fight will end before you can fire your arrow," She warns her calmly, without showing any emotions on her face.

"Thanks for the warning, but I'll be fi-" Before Nina can finish, the girl with the katana rushes forward, and in an instant, she steps in front of her, surprising her. 

"No Way!" A few applicants shout, seeing her speed.

"-You should move back unless you want to lose without having a chance to fight," After saying that, the girl walks back to her spot. 

'...It really would have ended in an instant,' I sigh, feeling a little frustrated at the difference between us. 

"What's your name?" Nina asks as she withdraws her arrow.

"Rachel Gardener." The girl with the katana introduces herself with a small bow.

"My name is Nina, thank you for the advice," She turns around and gets in her stance after moving back a few more feet.

The girl with the Katana, Rachel nods and gets in her fighting stance with one hand on the practice katana's sheath and the other on the handle. 

"Begin!" Mrs. Janson finally announces the start of the fight.

Rachel charges forward, moving at a speed I can barely keep up with.

"Shooting Star!" Nina starts off without holding anything back using the move she used to beat her opponent in the first round.

Rachel stops mid-dash and twists her body, barely dodging the arrow. 

"Enchant!" Nina shouts, covering her bow and arrow in a purple aura, "Enchant! Enchant!"

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Without giving Rachel a chance to fix her stance, Nina fires arrow after arrow at her, but Rachel continuously twists her body, narrowly dodging her attacks.

"Woah!?" I gasp with the others, surprised by her movements.

'Although it looks like she's barely dodging her attacks, it's more like she's only moving her body as much as she needs to, to avoid getting hit,' I don't know how she's able to do it so easily though.

Swish! Swish!

"Tch!" Nina clicks her tongue, realizing that her attacks aren't working. 

Although not by much, Rachel has been closing the distance between them while dodging her attacks. 

"How about this!" Nina pulls back her arrow and pours her qi into the arrowhead, "Shooting Star!"

"That isn't going to work," Rachel dodges it just like before and rushes at her, "Enchant."

As she closes in on her, Nina pulls her outstretched hand back. 

"Returning Star," Saying that Nina's arrow turns around in mid-air and flies towards Rachel's back.

"What!?" Seeing the arrow's unnatural movement, the other applicants shout out in confusion.

'I didn't know that she could do that, but-' I shake my head, 'I don't think that's going to be enough.'

Cling!

Right before her katana touches Nina's neck, Rachel turns around and meets the arrow with her blade. For a moment, her Qi rises, and she cuts the arrow in half. Seeing that, Nina's eyes widen, and she stops moving. Not letting the chance get away, Rachel turns around and pushes her katana's blade against her neck.

"Number 701 wins!" Mrs. Janson announces her victory.

"...Seriously..?" Johnny mutters in a whisper-like voice.

'... It's over,' I scratch my head, feeling shocked by her strength.

After sheathing the katana, Rachel tells Nina something before turning around and leaving the platform. After a few seconds, Nina chases after her, and they both disappear into the hallway.

Author's Note: