Chapter 5
Shards and Bubbles
The atmosphere was cold. Aeris, eyes locked on Shiro, was planning something. She moved first. Shiro flinched, quickly raising his guard.
The floor, still layered with ice from her self-destruct, suddenly surged toward him. Shiro swung his blade at the massive shard coming his way only for it to shatter into hundreds of smaller, glimmering fragments.
His heart dropped.
It was a trap.
The shards hovered, then lunged from all directions.
"So your Stage One is control," Shiro muttered, forcing a grin even as the noose tightened. Aeris's dull yellow eyes gleamed with malice, her face curled into a devilish smile.
Shiro raised his hands. In a flash, reflect bubbles surrounded him. The ice struck then burst apart, every shard harmlessly bouncing off his defense and scattering across the floor in a misty shimmer.
Aeris's smile faded.
Shiro stood tall in the haze, breath heavy, sword at his side. He hadn't taken a single hit.
"…I blocked all of them?" he whispered to himself, blinking in disbelief.
Snapping back into focus, he reached for the hilt again and dashed to the side. From his hand, he launched a clear, hardened sphere a bubble disguised as a projectile.
Aeris shot it on instinct.
Pop.
Dozens more bubbles burst from it, filling the area. Aeris gritted her teeth. "How much fage does he have?!"
Shiro's voice answered her thoughts. "The regular bubbles don't use any fage."
Her eyes widened. That's why he's spamming them. That useless-sounding power is being pushed to its absolute limit.
Ice shards formed again. She fired them in a frenzy, trying to keep up the pressure but she'd lost track of him.
She felt it too late. Fage behind her.
She turned just in time to see a foot swinging toward her chin.
Her world tilted sideways.
In one motion, Shiro hooked his katana's hilt behind her neck, yanked her forward, jumped, and kneed her in the face. Her body reeled. Before she could recover, he swept her legs, sending her tumbling. His blade hovered at her throat an exact copy of Aurelia's finishing move.
It was over.
They both stayed on the ground for a moment, breathing hard. No hard feelings just a spar. But a lot had been said without words.
The sun dipped into a golden haze behind the jagged mountains, rays of light cutting through the gaps like swords. A lone figure stood in the clearing swinging his sword.
Again.
And again.
His pale skin glistened with sweat, his brown curls clinging to his forehead, dark eyes hollow with exhaustion.
"Six thousand... nine hundred... ninety-five…"
Up.
"...Ninety-six…"
Down.
"...Ninety-seven…"
On and on. Until
"Seven thousand…"
Shiro dropped like a stone, body trembling.
"You want to lose again?" Marigold's voice boomed.
Her face was flushed with fury, arms crossed.
"If you hadn't won that spar with Aeris, it would've been doubled."
Shiro didn't even have the strength to glare at her.
"Last task. Climb that mountain. Once you're at the top... bear crawl all the way down."
Shiro stared at her, dumbfounded. "Easier said than done."
Marigold just walked away.
Why did I ever spar Aurelia? Shiro thought, his eyes climbing the rocky behemoth in front of him.
"THIS MOUNTAIN IS A DAMN SKYSCRAPER!" he shouted after her, his voice cracking.
Back in the dorms, Aeris lay on her bed, rubbing her face.
I lost to a guy who uses bubbles… BUBBLES!
She groaned.
The door clicked open.
"Shiro!" she called, expecting that usual smug grin.
Instead, her eyes widened.
Leaves, dirt, and who knows what clung to his tangled hair. His face was pale as a ghost, eyes half-lidded, cheeks sunken. Cuts ran down his arms and legs. His clothes looked like they'd been through war and lost.
"You were gone for a few hours!" she shouted, rushing to him.
"Let me shower first…" His voice was dry and brittle, barely a whisper.
After a quick shower, he looked only slightly less like a corpse.
"Come on," Aeris said, taking his hand and leading him into her room.
Shiro's eyes flicked around. It was his first time seeing it.
Pink walls. A deep brown floor. A soft circle carpet in the center. Cartoon posters lined the walls one of them, he recognized, was that dumb bear show. A shelf stuffed with manga rested by the door. Her bed sat in the far corner, covered in more pink.
He sat on it, and the thought hit him instantly: Her bed is way more comfortable than mine.
Aeris sat beside him, pulled out a med kit, and gently laid his head on her lap.
Shiro's tense body began to relax.
"What happened to you? Another fight?" she asked, concern dripping from every word.
"No," he mumbled. "Lost to Aurelia… then my sister made me train more…"
"…Sister?" Aeris blinked.
"Yeah. Marigold. She's a higher-up. One of the fage instructors."
So that's how he got in…
"You never mentioned that."
"Not surprising. The world doesn't care about us if we're not legacies. Can't even use our last names."
His voice drifted off, eyes closing.
Aeris looked down at him, shocked by how quiet he'd gotten. She finished treating his injuries, then realized something.
We're going to be sleeping in the same bed.
Her face flushed red.
"O-okay. Just so it's not weird, I'll sleep facing the other way," she stammered, sliding under the covers beside him.
She stole one last glance at his peaceful face.
Then her eyes closed.
Beneath a fractured gray sky, a tiny town stood still.
One building stood out among the rest, its walls the color of old coffee, its stones fitted tightly around the building, windows fogged with age. Inside, the scent of beer clung to everything. Laughter, shouting, and the occasional fistfight echoed from every corner.
Fox-eared men. Towering giants. Short and stocky drunks. A strange mix.
At the center sat a man in a black tunic, chains wrapped tightly around his body. His hair slithered like it was alive. His skin was pale, almost fizzy, and his eyes… red, nearly black.
He raised his mug, slurring, "I bet five gold Raian wins it all…"
He swayed in his seat, barely understanding his own words.