Chapter 4: Friendly fight

The echo of the metal ring hitting the door shattered the silence that filled the courtyard of the palace. Moments later, a faint light began to seep through the gaps, and then the door swung open.

Yona dropped the lantern from her hand, nearly extinguishing the flame. She threw herself and hugged Nina tightly. At first, she didn't utter a word, nor did Jin or Nina. They had experienced a harrowing night, and Yona's anger was insignificant compared to what they had endured—or so they thought.

Jin's heart was enveloped by emotions, for he had never seen such bonds before, especially among people not related by blood. The expressions of worry on Yona's face were so genuine to him that he quietly retreated to his room, believing his presence at that moment was unwelcome.

("Misfortunes always come to me from all sides. I can't believe all this happened on my first day here.") Jin was greatly frustrated, and all that crossed his mind were memories of his bad luck. Despite this, he pulled himself together.

He sat on the bed and then took off his dark shirt. He wanted to bandage the wound on his arm but couldn't imagine it was this bad. When he looked at it, he found his white clothes were completely stained with a dark red color.

The bleeding had stopped a bit, but when he tried to tie the wound with a cloth, the blood flowed again. Bandaging it was exhausting for him, and in the end, he gave up and threw his tired body onto the bed. "What is this sleepiness?" 

"Maybe... Maybe I'll just sleep and when I wake up it will be a bit better."

Jin had barely closed his eyes when he heard the door open. Despite the glow of the candle illuminating the place, his vision was blurry, and he couldn't recognize who entered the room.

"When I saw the blood on Nina's dress, I was very scared, but she told me it wasn't hers."

(Damn, it's Yona. She must have come to scold me or maybe kick me out.) 

(Ah, I'm not ready for this now. In fact, I'm not ready for anything right now.) Jin's thoughts wandered far, but all he felt at that moment was cold water pouring on his face, making him jump in shock.

"What is this!" Jin screamed, breathing rapidly.

Yona grabbed his injured arm, staring at it, and said, "Oh my God! What were you trying to do?" "This is a deep wound; you can't just tie it up."

"Wait... wait..." 

"This hurts a lot." Jin looked weakly at the water jug she was holding, then raised his other hand to reach it, but Yona pushed it away before he could.

"I'm very thirsty; I just want... to drink a little."

Yona said firmly, "That's because you lost a lot of blood, but if I let you drink now, your body might go into shock, and you could die."

"But..."

Yona gently placed her hand on his wound, and a brown aura began to form around her, illuminating the room completely. "I know that the Earth Spirit isn't suitable for healing, but at least it will stop the bleeding until Selene arrives."

It took a while, but nothing changed. Her face showed astonishment. "I can't believe it. I used at least half of my ether!" "Then why?!"

"..."

"I think my body is not affected by any healing abilities." Jin said this with great difficulty, feeling extremely weak.

"I've never heard of that before..."

"In any case, this isn't the right time to question it. I have to stitch it for you."

"Here, bite on this."

Jin looked at the handkerchief in her hand and said, "No need for that."

"As you wish."

Yona poured a liquid to disinfect the wound and then started stitching it. It was more than he could bear. The pain was intense, making Jin grit his teeth hard enough to almost break them, yet he didn't make a sound.

"I'm done."

Jin moved his arm and said in surprise, "So quickly?!"

Yona smiled slightly as she looked at Jin. "I used to do this often in my city."

She paused and crossed her arms before continuing, "Now, let's talk about what's important. What happened to you two? Nina told me a bit, but I want to hear it from you."

Jin closed his eyes and placed his other hand on his injured arm. "We encountered bandits on our way back."

"I..."

"I'm sorry, it was all my fault. I..." Jin bowed his head in shame, the bitterness in his voice and on his face clearly visible.

She interrupted him, saying, "Stop that. Nina already told me she was the one who caused your delay."

Jin said hesitantly, "But if we hadn't hidden, we wouldn't have aroused their suspicion!"

"It's my fault!"

"No."

"I think what you did was the best thing to do in that situation, especially since you saved Nina."

Her eyes trembled, and some tears filled them, making her look like she was about to cry. "Thank you so much."

Yona wiped her eyes, saying, "I don't know what I would have done if anything had happened to her."

Jin didn't know what to say. His tongue was tied because he wasn't used to such situations.

"Anyway, I'll let you rest now. You must be exhausted. We'll continue our conversation later."

Yona was about to leave, and before she exited the door without looking back, she said, "By the way, Nina asked me to come and check on you. She seemed worried about you."

(Why tell me that?) Jin thought to himself, then laid down on the bed.

After a short while, he opened his eyes. "As expected, it's still impossible."

He couldn't sleep on the bed again, despite all his injuries, so he lay on the floor of the room.

"Ah, it feels like all my bones are broken."

Jin woke up alone this time, but the sunlight was shining brightly through the window.

(It seems I slept in; it must be noon.)

Jin wandered aimlessly, not knowing where to go, as he hadn't seen anyone since he woke up. He walked here and there, and before he reached the kitchen, he heard shouting.

"Didn't I tell you to leave this work to Selene?!"

"But!"

"No buts, go and clean the upper floor!"

Before Jin stepped towards the door, Nina hurried past him. Their eyes met for a moment in silence, and she quickly averted her gaze, continuing on her way without saying a word.

(What's this? Is she avoiding me?)

(Damn, it's been bothering me.)

(Could it be that she saw my left eye last night before we shadow-shifted?)

Jin had many doubts, but before he could delve deeper, someone interrupted his stream of thoughts.

"Jin!"

"Huh!"

Jin looked up to find Yona standing before him.

"What are you so lost in thought about?"

He looked around nervously, then said, "No, nothing."

(Even though I was a bit careless, I don't think she saw it, especially since her behavior after that was normal.)

(But still...)

Yona sighed in frustration, folding her arms. "So what brings you here?"

Jin was very flustered, his voice hesitant, and he bowed his head. "I really apologize for everything that happened."

"Please don't kick me out."

"Huh!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Who said I'm going to kick you out!"

Jin looked surprised. "Didn't you say, what brings you..."

She interrupted him, laughing. "I meant that you can't help with anything while your arm is in this condition."

Jin said firmly, "Don't worry, I don't feel as much pain as before, and I can still use my left arm."

"If you're so insistent, you can go and chop wood for the fire."

"That suits me."

Jin headed to the palace's backyard, where there was a large shed filled with plenty of wood. He picked up an axe that was resting in one of the corners with his left hand and began chopping wood.

"Finally, a job I can do."

He worked with some enthusiasm, not noticing the time passing, and soon the daylight began to fade.

"The sun is already setting. I think that's enough."

Before he left, Jin scrutinized the axe, remembering his sword, and began swinging it as if he were training.

"You're really good."

When he heard that voice, he stopped moving.

"Re..."

"Hello, I haven't seen you in a long time."

Rei was smiling, his gaze natural. It seemed he was unaware of what had happened to them last night.

Jin said sarcastically, "A long time? It's only been a day and a half."

Rei laughed until tears came to his eyes, which annoyed Jin.

"Is there something funny about what I said?"

"Sorry! You just take everything so seriously."

Rei became more serious, a smile full of excitement forming on his face.

"What do you say to a friendly fight?"

"Huh!"

"What's this all of a sudden?"

"Hahaha."

"Don't pretend you didn't want to fight me; I've seen it in your eyes since we met."

Jin ran his fingers through his hair and sighed in frustration. "Where did you get that idea?"

"You want to know the difference in power between us, right!"

"You desire to fight strong opponents where you don't know how it will end!"

"Doesn't that excite you?!"

Rei shouted those words, but Jin's expression didn't change.

When Rei felt that Jin wasn't interested, he was silent for a while, then turned his back, leaving. "No problem if you don't want to, I won't force you."

"That's fine, but as you can see, I don't have a weapon."

"What are you talking about? The weapon is right here."

Jin looked at his hand and then said in surprise, "You mean the axe?!"

"Here, take this!" Rei threw the sword he was carrying to Jin.

Catching it, Jin asked, "What about you?"

Rei adjusted his combat stance and looked at Jin with a challenging gaze. "Don't worry, I usually fight without a weapon. I just carry it for show. You don't mind, do you?"

Jin drew the sword slightly, looking at his reflection on the blade. His black aura ignited, matching his rising enthusiasm. "No... Let's begin."

Rei stomped his foot on the ground, causing a rift to open from beneath him towards Jin with great speed. Just as it reached him, Jin leapt backward. (Earth Spirit!)

"Not so fast!"

Jin slammed into a wall behind him. "Damn, what's this?!" The delay allowed the fissure to reach his feet, causing the ground to collapse beneath him. He lost his balance and, while in mid-air, was struck forcefully by a rising rock.

"Honestly, I expected more from you." Rei stood on another rock next to Jin, who was suspended in the air from the impact. Rei clenched his fist and delivered a powerful punch to Jin.

Jin felt helpless, unable to steady himself without solid ground beneath his feet. Although he saw the punch coming, he could only block it with the sword's scabbard.

The force of the blow sent him flying backward until he hit the ground. With renewed determination, Jin launched himself at Rei, despite seeing the vast difference in their abilities. For the first time in a while, he felt genuine excitement at facing such a formidable opponent.

Jin closed in quickly and, in a flash, drew his sword towards Rei. Rei sidestepped effortlessly, smiling as his speed outpaced Jin's sword. "Don't tell me this is the best you've got!"

Rei spun around after dodging Jin's strike, getting so close that he struck Jin's head with his wrist, throwing him off balance. (Damn, I can't see anything.)

Rei moved slowly to the other side, clenched his fist, and prepared to punch Jin again.

"What are you two doing?!"

Isabella's voice made Rei stop at the last moment. "N-nothing," Rei stammered, clearly flustered.

Isabella shouted angrily, "Won't you stop this bad habit? And Jin, I can't believe you went along with this madness. I thought you were more sensible."

"I... I'm sorry."

Isabella grabbed Rei by the arm and pulled him along reluctantly. "Come on, both of you. It's getting dark. We'll talk about this later." Jin noticed a look of suspicion in Isabella's eyes, unlike with Rei. It lasted only a moment, but he caught it.

Rei whispered quietly so Isabella wouldn't hear, "Our fight isn't over. We'll continue it later."

Jin wandered a bit in the palace garden until he sat under a shady tree, leaning his back against it and closing his eyes. (Fighting Earth Spirit users is really troublesome.)

"Are you napping again? You're such a slacker."

"..."

"It's you, the girl with the red ribbon."

Her face turned a bit red. "It's Nina! Stop calling me that."

Jin remained silent as if he had started to drift off to sleep, which irritated Nina. She approached him and pressed her finger on his wound.

"Ahh!" Jin yelled in pain. "Why did you do that?!"

"I should be the one asking why you fought Rei with that injury!"

Jin looked away nervously. "Did you see that?"

Nina smiled proudly, placing her hands on her hips. "I saw everything from the beginning. He beat you soundly."

Jin ran his fingers through his hair. "Really!... Well, maybe you're right."

"Hmm, you're lucky he didn't use his Air Spirit."

Jin looked at her in surprise. "Air Spirit?! Isn't he an Earth user?"

Nina was more shocked than him, her eyes widening. "You don't know?!"

"Know what? I don't understand anything."

Nina turned her back to him. "Rei possesses both the Earth and Air Spirits. He's... He's one of the Chosen Ones. He came all the way from another world."

"What?!"