The party was kind of over and all the guys left except mom, Elsa, Merin, and Eve. I never got to talk to Robert and Angelmen had barely said a word. The two teachers left with a smile and they didn't really say much, neither did Dick. Why were those three even here?

Johnathan however, whispered something rather ominous before leaving. "Happy, 'early' birthday." Just how much did this guy know?

All I was left was one small piece of cake. And it wasn't even for me, it was for Merin, who didn't actually have the cake yet.

I kind of wanted to have this and I even had a cake knife on my hands. Sigh, unfortunately, I had to control my urges a little.

I most certainly didn't want to. Mom and Elsa were on one corner just grinning at me. They could have easily stopped this, but they didn't. I didn't actually blame them though, cause though short, this was kind of fun.

Instead of worrying too much, I went towards Eve, on the other side.

"So, why did you do all this? I mean- I don't even know you-"

"Oh don't worry, I kind of overheard your mom the other day and just wanted to do something as your friend. Was this not up to your standards?"

Did this girl have any idea how to throw a party? I didn't know. But standards? I didn't have any. And she considered me, her friend?

Well, that was news to me.

"Oh don't worry about that. This was fine." And I was very glad too.

Her face lit up a little. "I'm glad."

But why?

"When's your birthday?" I couldn't ask her directly why she did this, since she already avoided that topic, so I switched to something else.

"Oh-" She blushed. And now she was going to start playing stupid, perfect. "Next month" On second thought, maybe she was too easy? "As for the date, not telling." She winked. I guess not.

I knew there was at least some reason for her doing all this, but I played it cool. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She smiled. "I have classes so-" She left.

Everything went down kind of fast. And even if she was going to ask something of me, it probably wasn't going to happen anytime soon- at least it didn't seem like it. It could have been that she'd really done this out of the good of her heart, but honestly, I couldn't and didn't want to believe that.

Merin took the cake and stood next to me, eating it little by little.

"Any idea?" I watched as Eve's silhouette disappeared.

"Nope. I was only told yesterday, so kind of had to rush."

Sigh. Maybe she'd done this because I was unconscious and all that and just wanted to cheer me up? I didn't know. But I wanted to sigh some more.

Meanwhile, mom and Elsa both were smiling and giving me funny looks. "You're not planning on marrying more than one girl, are you?" Elsa was the first to speak but mom shared her sentiment and looked at me, smiling. That was one scary smile. "Because if so-" Both of their voices kind of meshed together and scared the shit out of me. I had a feeling they were on different pages and yet they were in sync.

"I don't have any such plans at the moment. And I have classes." I handed the cake knife to Merin and started running.

Meanwhile, Merin just chuckled and ate his cake. Lucky dude.

***

Classes went smoothly. Marg wasn't here today either. Lately, she missed a lot of classes.

I actually had planned on talking to her straight away, after all, I had enough. I was going to confront her head-on.

But I guess that had to wait.

Around 2.30, the classes ended. This was early, and I guess they were just giving us a bit of time for the tournament. But I didn't think the academy would do this. I really didn't.

After all, weren't tournaments just supplementary?

But oh well, all the better for me. I wanted to get up and leave, but my face was implanted on the table. My body did not want to move. I guess wanting to fight in this body wasn't a good idea.

"So I'd assume you're good now?" Robert said.

I guess he came to check on me. He never said a word during the party but I guess he was kind of worried too.

"Yeah, totally." I wasn't. If I were to even try to run in this condition, I was going to tire out myself immediately. I definitely wasn't good.

He smiled. "Alright, good luck!"

And he left. I didn't actually get the guy. I wanted to get to know him better, but he kind of kept me at a distance. I guess my family name had a play in all this. But, I wanted to be better friends.

I got up. I had to leave too. I wanted to at least have something for lunch and maybe rest a little, before the big fight.

Hopefully, it'll be enough.

***

The fight was going to be held in the gym, rather than the fields and today this place was enlarged. There were a lot of people in here, just like that day when I had my duel. Kind of nostalgic but definitely not the nostalgia I wanted.

But more importantly, in the corner of the whole place, there were three judges and all three had a holo screen on top of their heads. And one of the judges was a bunny girl, bunny girl senior. The mother of the bunny girl, aka, boss bunny.

'Oh shit.' She was definitely glaring at me. This was not going to be easy.

In the middle of all this, two guys waited for me. One of them was Angelmen and the other, Dick.

"Hey, thanks for postponing." I gave Clyde a hi.

"No prob."

"Gentlemen, I will be your referee for today. I expect a good fair fight." Dick began. His voice was amplified. "Since one of you was out, I'll explain the rules. Only swords are allowed, even if you have a saber core. You may not use any other type of weapon. Using your power on your opponent or any underhanded tactics is forbidden. You're free to use projectiles and your sword abilities if you possess them. But the use of accessories will not be tolerated."

Fair points and most of them were just against me, but I had questions. "Will there be a barrier in place? Oh, and will traditional swords be allowed?"

I pulled out my sword and held it solidly.

"Yes there will be a barrier and as for-" Dick looked back towards the judges and they gave us a nod. "Granted. "

Then I had no reason to use the saber I guess. I put on the stinky gloves. No matter how much I bleached them, the smell never left. Oh well.

I always felt more comfortable with my- rather gramp's sword anyway. Well, I guess now it was mine but in my heart, it'll forever be gramp's sword and his memento.

"Are you sure?" Clyde turned on his saber and looked at me, dead serious. "Don't blame me if that sword breaks." His saber glowed in a crimson hue.

"Right back at you." I released some radiation on my weapon and made the sword into a red plasma saber. I didn't have any reason to go higher than this with my current stamina.

A barrier raised over my head but I didn't look. I'd learned from my mistakes. All my focus was on Clyde.

"GO!"

With the signal, Clyde charged straight towards me. but I didn't move. I had limited stamina and I wasn't going to waste them with rushed attacks.

Thud!

He slammed into a barrier and stumbled two steps back. Why? Because though I was holding my sword with one hand, I was devilishly holding my saber behind me.

"OUHH" The poor guy grabbed his nose and glared at me. "Cheap shot."

"Hey, that's my power."

If I knew correctly Clyde had special sensing capabilities, meaning he just wasn't looking. So, probably wasn't going to work twice.

So, with no more hiding, I took my saber in one hand and the sword in the other.

Clyde looked a bit pissed as he grabbed his saber with both of his hands. The purple aura swirled on his sword and soon, the lights went out.

'Shit.' Even the light of my saber wasn't working.

But that didn't mean I was completely powerless.

A swing from the left. Deflected.

From the right, evaded.

From up: blocked.

"Boo!"

"Hey, I can't see."

"Bring the lights back!"

Well, the crowd was kind of going crazy.

Clyde kicked his tongue and undid the stuff he did. "Well, it's not like that was going to work on you anyway." He sighed and this time, came straight for me again.

I didn't know if I could take him head-on in my current battered state, but I wasn't going to stop either.