Chapter 14

Day and Rina's fight was different than the first one. Since Day was an aria, and Rina was an archer, they preferred to distance themselves from the opponent and fire long range. No one dared to fight head on, and chose to focus on calculating each other. While Rina fired her arrow nonstop, Day chanted back to counter all her attacks.

Finn was gaping at the fast paced duel between the two. The faster Rina fired her arrows, Day would chant faster too. He didn't know that someone could speak as fast as Day. The mortal was born to become an Aria.

But it wasn't half an hour yet, when Finn noticed that Day was falling behind. Rina started to move from her position. Rather than firing her arrows in one place, she started shooting aimlessly in the air, or so Finn thought.

In a blink of an eye, magic circles appeared in the air. They appeared where Rina was shooting a few minutes ago, and some where positioned behind Day, where she couldn't see them. And just like that, lights came out of the magic circles like beams, hitting Day's body all over.

Day managed to defend herself from the attacks in front of her, but she didn't notice or thought that the magic circles were also behind her. And now that she was lying on the floor, then she only realized.

Rina walked near her and offered her hand. "You're getting better and better, Day. I guess your extra sessions every night's paying off."

She accepted her hands and stood. "Thanks. That wasn't your best, though."

"You'd die if I did my best." Rina laughed loudly before going back to her seat.

Day pouted, but she let it slide, knowing that Rina was just that kind of a person. She could be really harsh without trying. But Day knew that she didn't really mean it. Rina was just confident about herself. It was her fault that she was weak, and couldn't even defend herself from an obvious attack.

"That was a great fight!" Finn beamed as soon as Day sat beside him.

She forced a laugh. "I lost, you know."

"Well, yeah." He scratched the back of his head. "But you chanted those spells like it was nothing. How can you talk so fast like that? Are you a machine?"

Day watched his amused face, and she couldn't help but smile. If Finn was trying to cheer her up, it was a success. "Thank you. I told you, memorizing is the only thing I'm good at. I might as well do my best in chanting them."

Kiel and Euben were immediately called in the middle. Finn couldn't help but fidget in his seat. After this fight, it would surely be his turn. But who was he going to fight? Honey or Justine? Day or Rina? And he thought, no matter who it was, he would certainly lose.

The moment Ronim started the fight, Euben attacked Kiel aggressively. The latter only defended using his sword, cutting each bullet from the opponent's gun.

Finn couldn't believe that a dragoon like Euben could be this aggressive. Instead of shooting from a distant, he was facing him head on, kicking while shooting the gun at a close distance. He wasn't afraid that he might hurt Kiel with his attack. All he could think of was to land a blow.

But Kiel was just as aggressive in defending. He used his sword to cut the bullets, and his feet to counter his opponent's kicks. No matter how fast his opponent was, he was confident that he could keep up just fine.

"Wow," Finn mumbled under his breath. He was astonished at how fast the two were that his eyes couldn't keep up sometimes.

"You're lucky if you don't fight any of them tonight," Day told him. "They're the most aggressive out of all of us."

"I know what you mean. But are they going to be okay? Unlike Honey and Justine, they don't seem like really good friends."

Day chuckled. "They're not. They're mortal enemies."

Finn looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Kiel is a born fighter. He's a good knight. If given the chance, he will surely get picked as the next katona. No one in here can defeat him." She looked at the other man. "Euben is a senior here. He's been with the night hunters for ten years, so I know that he must be anxious about not getting picked if a chance arises."

Gaping, he whispered, "Ten years…"

"No matter how much I feel bad for him, Kiel is just that good. I don't mind not getting picked, but for the two of them, you can say that their lives depend on it. If I'm not mistaken, their dream is to become a katona."

Dream.

Hearing those words brought back a lot of memories from the past. How Finn also dreamed of becoming a katona after discovering that his great-grandfather was one. How he wanted to become one to bring back what is supposed to be theirs.

Finn asked himself countless of times. Is it still my dream to become one? Do I still want to become a katona to serve the country and bring back what was ours? Or am I doing this only to find my family's mu.rderer? But no matter how many times he asked, he couldn't get any answer. He didn't know what he really wanted right now. He didn't know if there was still a point in all these.

Because if he was to di.e today, he didn't care. It would only become a favor to him. At least he wouldn't need to feel the pain of losing his family anymore. He wouldn't feel the anger that was surging inside him towards the murklin. He wouldn't feel the guilt eating him from the inside.

"Nice fight."

Finn snapped back into reality when he heard Kiel's voice. He saw the man offering his hand towards Euben while smirking, but the latter only slapped his hand away before standing on his own. Euben went back to his seat and bowed his head, like he was thinking deeply about the fight that occurred.

He put up a good fight against Kiel, Finn thought. But he knew why Euben was acting like this after what Day said. No matter how good he was, there was no point if he wouldn't win. If he wouldn't win against Kiel, there was no way he would get picked as the next katona.

Finn somehow pitied Euben. He had been here for a decade, and Kiel's appearance only lessen his chances of becoming a katona more. If Kiel was to get picked, Euben would need to wait another decade, and that was if no one as good as Kiel appeared again.

"Finn," Ronim said, "you're fighting me."

There's no time pitying others! But, what? "Me and the instructor?" he asked. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Ronim stepped inside the stage. "I'll go easy on you."