THE COMBAT

"Master is calling me? Why?" Megara inquired while wiping her sweat away. She stood between Evenor and Agnes. The day was Friday means Saturday lessons will be lesser than other days and Sunday will be off. The disciples were just done with their first round of training lessons and were having a break for an hour.

"You already forgot? Such a loose case you are. You missed more than half of your second-round training lessons yesterday. When we asked where were you? You didn't answer us, so the master seeks you." Marco said and folded his arms on his chest by the time he stopped in front of them.

"Is it a big deal?" Megara asked, a tired expression plastered on her face. "We can't deliberately come late or take off. Where were you to be exact? When I came back you weren't under the tree." Agnes asked and Megara sighed. That boy was rehearsing in bushes and his skills were terrible. He probably didn't want anyone to see him. So exposing that little boy is not something Megara would do.

But leaving these three without an answer will leave them suspicious. She wasn't good at lying and didn't want them to ask any more questions, so she reluctantly spouted.

"I...I s-suddenly...ahh...blo- it's that time of my month."

She quickly looked towards Agnes.

"It's just that? Why didn't you tell us about it before?" Marco asked and she passed him a 'are you stupid' look. This talk wasn't normal but the boys didn't react much to it and completely understood it.

"Fine. Whatever it is. Master is still calling you." Marco said and stepped aside for Megara to walk away. With a sigh, Megara took off her sword and passed it to Evenor. The sword was hefty and it was difficult to walk around with, there was also another sole justification, she didn't know how to wield it yet.

"I'm going."

In the end, Megara had no appropriate excuse and ended up telling the truth to her master. She also had some cuts on her hands which she got while fixing the statue yesterday. These cuts were the evidence of truth.

"Since you helped that boy and because of that you missed half of your class. I won't say anything about it. Helping others always comes first." Rowan said. He sat on the buffer in front of Megara. A hot cup of tea that Rowan made was placed in front of both of them.

"Have your tea," Rowan said and Megara respectfully grabbed the tea cup in both of her hands. She thanked Rowan for the tea and started to drink it silently.

"So, what do you plan to do? Do you want to help that boy? You said his martial art skills were awful. Why not help him?" Rowan asked and Megara nodded at him. "Master is always generous but Marco said that boy has no interest in the martial arts world plus if he wanted to learn, there are many masters to teach him, if he denied their instruction, why would he accept mine?" She asked and looked up at Rowan.

Rowan took a sip of his tea before putting the cup on the table. A gentle smile appeared on his handsome face. "If he didn't like martial arts, why must he train so desperately in the bushes? Why in the bushes? That young lad... There is something about him. Something very unusual about him. That boy looks innocent and seems to have a good heart but I...I feel immense demonic energy surrounding him." Rowan said and Megara's pupils dilated.

"A demonic energy? Why didn't we feel it?" She asked, a little shocked. "No one felt it. Maybe I've spent too much of my time in demons, I've started hallucinating about them." Rowan said followed by a slight chuckle. "Still approach him. He is alone." He said and Megara nodded at him.

"I will, Master."

At first, she wanted to help the boy but was hesitant for some reason but now when her master told her to do so, she doesn't feel reluctant anymore.

"And cover the lesson you missed yesterday. You will be taking extra classes tomorrow."

Soon, she felt a brick falling on her head.

********

Megara strolled towards the training hall. Her mood was extremely bleak. When everyone was already free from the practice she alone had to practice. Well, the lesser the better. The master will have his eyes on her and would point out her errors. She can enhance more when the concentration is entirely on her.

Taking it as a blessing, she finally reached the ground.

To her surprise, she found three other disciples. She wasn't truly alone. Two of them stood together while the third one stood at a distance. She walked towards them and stood in the distance between them.

Dabbing her foot on the ground with her arms folded on her chest she looked toward her left side. Two boys were standing on her right side, gossiping with each other. Her uniform from the Front Liberation Sect was dark gray while the boys beside her were wearing a navy-colored uniform. Not knowing from which Sect they were, she looked away from them. Turning her head to the right side now.

Her eyes slightly widened when she saw a familiar figure standing on her right side.

Evandros Linya.

The boy had his head slightly low. His hands were intertwined with each other as they rested on his front. His gaze was fixated on the ground in front of him.

Such a weird kid, she felt.

She has seen many descendants from various strong ancestries, and all of them are arrogant and wicked.

She looked around him, trying to feel that demonic energy encircling him but she felt nothing. Master is seeing things just like he said. With a straight face, she kept staring at him until he hesitantly raised his hand and looked her in the eyes.

She was taken aback and quickly looked away.

He must have sensed her staring.

She slowly looked at him again.

This time black eyes were boring holes in green ones. But they were not empty. They were shining...his eyes looked like sparkling stars in the black sea.

Her lips slightly parted when the boy passed her a light smile. A smile so innocent and genuine...she paused and could not look away. She didn't even know how to react to this. Someone was passing her a smile?

Passing her a smile?

HER?

The reason Agnes and Megara did not have a friend group was because of Megara. No one ever approached her. She was always alone before meeting the other three. All she has heard from others is that she looks cold and very hard to approach. The first reason is that when she doesn't smile, she looks very serious as if angry. The second reason is that she isn't that powerful and is almost considered a loser. The third reason is that she is not very fragile and timid looking. Girls don't approach her because she looks mean and boys don't approach her because she isn't their type and none of that matters to her. All of them will have a soulmate, so their liking does not matter to her. She does not need friends because she already has three losers with herself.

But sometimes one thing worries her...will her soulmate accept her the way she is?

To find this boy smiling so sweetly at her, she forgot to process.

Until some words landed on her ears.

"Oye, look, that little creep is tryna make some friends."

"Right? I've heard he is very weird and nobody talks to him."

As soon as those words fell on her ears the smiling face in front of her vanished away. His smile dropped and he looked away, staring at the ground with an expression so heartbreaking.

They were so different, yet in the end so much the same. She was also alone like him at first but these things never affected her, he is also alone but seems affected. Judging by his shy personality....so- so she was right. Being alone is not his intention.

Her jaw twitched and she turned her head towards the two boys, passing them a cold glare. They looked at her before whispering things to each other.

With a cold glare, she looked away from them. She was slightly pissed. She kept her gaze cold until their master arrived to teach them. Unfortunately, as their punishment today they were not training individually but together.

Together as...they will have a combat match.

The two boys were already ready to practice with each other so Megara had no choice but to pair with this shy lad. When there are many disciples, he sometimes goes unnoticed. Many masters don't pay him much attention thinking he is talented and does not need their instruction.

When she looks at the situation closely. It's messed up.

He is thriving here.

If she fights against him, he will lose with those awful martial art skills. She is still not aware of his magic though. Looks like it's not very strong magic...otherwise, everyone would have known what magic the strong bloodline descendent possesses or maybe he does not have any magic.

Maybe that's why he doesn't want to be in the martial arts world. It was so much to process about this boy...so she only did one thing. She stopped thinking about him and turned towards him.

Ready to fight with him. This way she can see how much deep water he is in.

She bowed at him and he bowed at her.

"Let's do our best." She said and he looked up at her.

"Y-Yes,"