On my way to the dorm, I got a mail. And I dreaded over the sender. It was the club leader.

'Let's head to the district clubhouse tomorrow. I trust you already got your core, so let's head out!

​​

Ps. Please, pretty please, make sure your cousin drops by too….'

No wonder all my matches were over in three days. Just how much was this guy infatuated with my cousin? The question did remain though, why?

I sighed. I already knew my way, so I didn't need his help. But how did he know I had cores? I turned my head furiously in search of eyes but saw nothing. Where was he watching me from? Seriously, did I finally get a stalker?

But it didn't matter that much anyway.

I continued.

***

Merin wasn't in here, so I had more free time to think.

'I wish I could fly.' I sighed. Gramps could fly and technically I could too. But no matter how I tried, I never could. If I could just fly now, then I could have just flown straight to that building and I wouldn't have had to wait in the elevator or even the damn stairs, my worst enemy.

But now that, one seal was undone, could that have changed?

I tried.

Nothing happened. Well, it wasn't like I'd just mysteriously float on air without doing anything anyway.

'Maybe I've to just try to catch myself while falling?'

I tried rolling off from the bed, I did fly for a second before crashing into the floor. I guess that wasn't flying, rather falling.

It didn't hurt that much, but this sure wasn't a pleasant feeling, at least my nose leaked a drop or two.

'What am I doing?'

I didn't know. Everything just felt stupid and awkward. It was almost as though the world ceased to have any meaning? This happened just because I got rejected once in my life?

How frail was I?

Something or rather someone tapped on the window. "Do you take pride in rolling on the floor?" Her words were as sharp as ever.

"Rose? What are you doing here?" And not to mention she was just flying nonchalantly by the window.

"Technically, I'm not allowed in at this hour, and even I can't break the rules. Anyway, open the window, we need to talk." Her words were a bit muffled because of the window.

I couldn't catch a break, could I?

I got up, wiped the droplet of blood off my nose, and opened the window. "Well, what?"

"I just got a report saying Vana Battlesuin had come to this academy to meet you. What is your relationship? I don't trust they'd act this friendly, after what happened."

"First of all, we never met. And we aren't friendly either." Moreover, if I met the guy, I'd probably have fried him without a doubt. No fiancé, no problem.

"Hmmm… that makes sense. The information did come from Danial." She sighed. "But I just got another report saying he came today again. Anyway, rest assured, nothing will happen to you as long as you're within the school boundary."

Was she, seriously, worried about me?

Well, this was new.

All this time I thought she was just some cynical girl waiting for a chance I'd screw up and she'd punish me. But I guess, I was wrong. Probably.

"Thank you for your concern. But I know how to handle this." It was just a bluff. I didn't know anything. More like, I'd stopped thinking.

"Well, if you say so. Oh and-" She debated something. "Raea didn't make a move on you, did she?"

"Who?"

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Be careful around girls. Some have a lot more ulterior motives than you might think."

She left. She did realize she was also a girl, right? And who was this Raea person? "Who-"

Knock!

'Looks like he's back.' I kind of wanted to roll around the floor some more. But oh well.

I opened the door, and Merin was back. But he brought someone back with him.

"Vana Battlesuin." He gave me a courtly bow. "I take it you're Helio?"

"Yes, Helio Romswell Jintel."

'You got to be kidding me.'

Why was destiny being so nice to me? Something was wrong, I could smell it!

Oh wait, that was just Merin's fart.

***

Merin acted as an intermediary as I and the Russian sat in opposite beds, glaring at each other. The Russian had a smile though.

I didn't know what this guy was doing here but one thing was for certain, I couldn't make a move on this guy here. At least not within the dorm.

"Now that the introductions are over, let's talk business." He had a smiling face. His hair was green and something about that nose irritated more than necessary. But more importantly, was this guy a girl or something? Why'd he have a ponytail?

"Yes, let's start." I was skeptical but it didn't hurt to hear him out first.

"First, here's a letter. It's from Hyora Battlesuin, our leader."

"Another one, huh?" At this point, this just felt redundant, if nothing else. I handed the letter over to Merin. "What else?"

"We're putting the war on hold for the tea party." That should have been obvious by the first letter, or was this guy purposefully banging his own drums? "However if you should not attend, we'll take that as a declaration of war and use all our power and connections to destroy you."

I sighed. Was this guy really sane? And it was the Battlesuins who declared war on us in the first place. "Look pal-" I was about to end his Excalibur's whole career and he had the gulls to say stuff about destroying me.

"And we have Albert, the sword king, on our side too."

That caught my attention. "I see." No wonder he told me I was free to kill him the next time. 'What are you doing, you moron.' I clicked my tongue. "Alright, I'll attend your stupid party."

The mention of that name kind of screwed my shot at making this guy impotent. I knew that man wasn't playing hostage, but I couldn't do anything stupid now. 'Looks like your Excalibur would live to see another day.' I still wanted to fry him though. 'Would it really be bad if I eradicated him from existence?' I jerked my head away from all the thoughts. My head was strangely filled with murderous thoughts for some reason. Even I was surprised.

The guy smiled again. "Good decision." He stood up. "That's all for the business I came here but-" He stopped and glared straight at me. "Stay away from my fiancée, please. That girl belongs to me and me alone." He flashed a smile and left.

I smiled, a vein throbbed on my forehead. "Let's see how long that lasts."

Merin let out a breath. "You're not going to destroy their family, right?" He definitely wanted me to do that, judging from his excitement.

"Depends…" My smile didn't falter.

***

We, later on, checked the letter and it was basically the same thing just rephrased a bit. But this time the letter did mention my father. Frankly, I didn't give a damn about the guy.

But this did make me get unnecessary ideas. 'Is he really a hostage?'

I didn't know why but I felt awfully stupid for even considering that.

***

The next day, I finished classes and since I didn't have anything better to do, I decided to give a visit to the district clubhouse.

My current saber was good enough but I wanted it to be radiation-proof, after all, I had tendencies to lose control.

I knew people who could fly, I knew people who could teleport, but I didn't have any means to ask any of them.

So I could only rely on my own self. And though I could have always borrowed Merin's jacket again, I didn't want to. He'd already done enough for me. So I just put on three shirts and headed out.

Needless to say, I was sweating more than necessary. Well, it was better than going around hugging bugs.

People were giving me stares, I guess I looked a bit fatter than usual.

I had plenty of time today. So I didn't need to worry about certain things. I still didn't want to walk through all of this though. Wasn't there at least a bike?

With just a sigh, I kept on marching and eventually reached the snowy plains. It was cold, but nothing unbearable. After spending a night out here, my resistance to cold got a lot better.

I could probably run around nake- okay, maybe not that.

It did remind me of last night though. It really was a blessed night.

I cleared the thoughts out of my mind and just treated carefully. It was almost afternoon and the whole place was clean and there wasn't even a speck of hail or even fog. Everything just looked blindingly white and bright. Glad I brought my sunglasses.

***

By the time I reached the end of the snowy plains, I'd exhausted quite a bit of my powers. I needed a recharge, I needed food.

'When will be able to drink chocolate milk?' I wanted to cry, really.

There was someone in the distance, just standing there looking all pretty. At first, I just ignored him, but as I got closer and closer, my face started twitching.

It just had to be him.

"What are you doing here?"

"You'd already left, so I had to hurry and I came through the jungle. So in the end, I got early, and waited for you." The guy smiled hard but I didn't want to be near him. And I could read 'ulterior motives,' all over his face.

"Fine, just don't do anything stupid."

The club leader gave me a solid grin. "I'd never."

I highly doubted that.