Chapter 17 – Issues

Our battle had ended up in a draw, thanks to Elle's intervention. A portion of me felt disappointed and the other portion felt relieved. I came to realize that she had saved me from the darkness again and I guess I really owe her a lot. It had been three days since my fight with Melfice and I was now in my morning seat in my first class of today which was MEDFOC (Meditation and Focus). It had been a while since I attended this class so I decided to go in and get updated.

I sat on my usual seat which was at the back as I waited for the professor assigned to get in class. Elle should be here too because she was my classmate here or so she claims and it would seem that she was not lying because now, I had seen her go in the room and take her seat which was in the middle of the class. She seemed uneasy and was looking around the classroom quite a lot. Elle then saw me at the back part of the classroom and immediately got up from her seat and moved to the seat next to mine.

"Is this seat taken?" she had asked me

"No." I replied to her and she sat down on the seat next to me. I had two bandages on my face, one the left cheek and the other just above my right eye. I may be wearing a uniform now, but inside this uniform, there are a lot of bandages that covered my torso up to my abdomen. The pain from the fight with Melfice was still evident on my body and I just tried to shrug it off.

"How are your injuries?" Elle had asked me.

"Fine." I replied straightforwardly to her again.

"*sigh* You know how to form sentences right?" she had said to me wittingly, suggesting that I reply to her in sentence form.

"Don't feel like it." I replied back to her and immediately I felt a fist hit my shoulder.

"Ouch! What was that for?" I suddenly burst out in anger and irritation.

"There! That's more like it." Elle had said as she had a smile on her face. I then saw a familiar student enter the classroom and to my surprise it was Melfice. He had bandages on his face as well and his right hand was wrapped with gauze. I didn't know he had this class with me.

Melfice immediately noticed Elle in the back and I saw him sit beside her. He then looked at me with a face of what looked like jealousy. I didn't mind him at all, because for all I know I was better than him at swordsmanship and I proved that three days ago.

"Hey Elle what's up?" I heard him say. He liked her; his body language gave it all away.

"Nothing much why?" she had asked him and he seem to stutter as he tried to reply.

"He likes you." I blurted out and immediately Melfice had turned red in color. Elle had just laughed at my comment and I still remained calm and collected.

"Who asked your opinion?!" Melfice had shouted at me as he got near my seat. "Don't make me hurt you again!" he added.

"Not interested in fighting you again for you would just call your summon out again like the coward you are." I replied to him without looking at him and I knew he was beginning to get pissed at me.

"Why you?!" Melfice had said in an angry tone.

"MELFICE!" Elle had shouted as I saw Melfice go back to his seat as he let out a defeated sigh. What a man-bitch I thought to myself.

"And you're not spared from this too Seiryu!" she had said as she gave me a punch at my arm again.

"That hurts you know!" I shouted at her and both she and Melfice began to laugh at my expense. The laughter had ended though as the teacher had arrived in the classroom.

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General POV

In the fields where Seiryu and Melfice had their battle, there stood a student who was seemingly holding a sword. He had black hair that was average in length. It was not too short and neither was it too long for him and it was wavy as well as it was fixed in order to look neat. He wore the same school uniform as Seiryu and Melfice and the sword he was holding was an elegant rapier which was cerulean in color. He was the person known as Lucian and the current Prefect of Block B 2nd year.

Flashback

"I see he was quite an opponent for you." Lucian said.

"Indeed he was. He made me fight and unleash a major portion of my strength." Melfice replied as he was tending to his battle wounds. "You're not thinking of doing battle with him are you?" he asked.

"I'm too smart for that and besides I already have the data I need. All I need to do now is to convince Seiryu to join our team in the upcoming Tri Interschool Tournament." Lucian had said back to him with confidence.

"That's not going to be easy. He's not the talker type." Melfice replied to him.

"Elle might be able to convince him. I've noticed that she seems to have developed a soft spot for our prodigy." Lucian had replied.

"All this just for Seiryu to join our team?" Melfice had said to Lucian. "Why don't we just ask another person like Hugo he seems to be strong too." He added.

"Don't worry about it Melfice, I'm sure Seiryu will join us." Lucian had said back to him.

"What makes you so sure?" Melfice had asked him.

"He and I are the same. We both live for combat." Lucian had said as he walked out of the infirmary.

End of Flashback

Lucian stood and thought about the conversation that had happened between him and Melfice after the fight. He knew that with Seiryu on their team they would be unstoppable and eventually they could win the Tri Interschool Tournament championship. But, in the back of his mind he cannot help think about the power that Seiryu possesses.

"So it's true…we share the same bloodlust." Lucian thought to himself. "Living for combat huh? Just what kind of tragedy had struck Seiryu to activate a bloodlust that could be as strong as this?"he thought again.

Lucian now was charging up spirit energy on his rapier and soon it was wrapped in a coat of energy. Then in a split second, he swung his rapier and immediately a blade beam came out of it. The beam made impact with a huge rock formation and it was reduced to nothing. Smoke came out of Lucian's rapier and he now walked and made his way back to the Academy.

"Seiryu, you can't be the strongest in a batch for long…for I am gunning for that title as well" Lucian had thought to himself as he walked.

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Seiryu POV

MEDFOC class was a waste of an hour because all I heard the professor say was meditation, channeling and that kind of stuff. I'm glad that it was over and I stood up from my seat and walked towards the door to exit the room. Suddenly just as I was about to exit the room, I heard Elle's voice call out to me.

"Hey!" she had shouted as she had gotten near me. Melfice was with her as well. "Where are you going?" she had asked me.

"I have a two hour break. I'm going to see someone." I replied to her. To be honest Zaix had called me to the school gates through the mail he sent to me in my desk during MEDFOC class. I wonder what this is about.

"I'll go with you." Elle said with a smile.

"Personal matters I'm sorry." I replied to her.

"What could be so personal that you don't want us to go with you?" Melfice had asked me.

"None of your business lover boy, now you kids play nice." I said as I walked away from the two of them.

The school gates were not really far away from the second year sector. It was just a 15 minute walk from there and in time I had made it there already. I saw Zaix standing on the stairs just outside the school gate and he was smoking a cigarette. I got near him and he offered me some, but I waved my hand gesturing that I don't want any.

"So what's this about?" I asked him

"Have you heard of the Tri Interschool Tournament?" Zaix replied to me as he puffed another smoke.

"Yeah I know that. It's where the Academies around the world compete for a silly little trophy." I replied to him. It was a test of combat skills and battle intelligence, but usually the participants are snooty little nerds who have little combat experience.

"Word is that this year, 2nd years are the ones that are supposed to compete." Zaix replied to me. "And I heard that your batch is forming one hell of a team." He added.

"Where do you hear this stuff?" I asked him back. Seriously Zaix never ceases to amaze me as he picks up every detail of gossip around the Academy and he shares them to me. I think of him as somewhat of a key informant.

"My buddy Jean told me." Zaix replied. I gotta meet this guy. "And from what I heard, some of them are actually trying to reach you man." He added.

"What for?" I asked him back. They probably want me to join their team.

"What else? They want you to join their team!" Zaix had shouted at me.

"Not interested." I replied to him. I don't want to be teamed up with snooty little nerds.

"Lucian's not gonna like it when he hears that." Zaix had replied. "Seems like he was the one who sent Melfice towards you. You had a fight three days ago right?" he had asked me.

"Yeah and now that you mention it, Melfice was talking about Lucian giving me a call or something. Could it mean that they are in the team? I asked him.

"Probably, I mean you've been causing a lot of ruckus lately. It might've gotten their attention." Zaix replied to me as he finished his first cigarette.

"They can try all they want, but no way will they convince me to join. I'm not much of a team player anyway." I replied to Zaix.

We just sat down there for a while and Zaix smoked his cigarette while I was just resting myself. My class was still two hours from now and I had no idea on exactly what to do.

"So who's your partner for the formal?" Zaix had asked me.

"The formal?" I asked him back.

"Yes the Academy Formal. It's this Sunday. Don't tell me you forgot." Zaix had said.

"Oh yeah, I haven't checked yet. It's probably posted in the classroom of Block D." I replied to him. "I just wish I had the option of not going." I replied as I sighed in boredom.

"I got Reina." Zaix had sighed in defeat as well.

"The complacent bitch in your Block? Lucky you." I told him jokingly as I laughed at him afterwards.

"I'll just laugh at your face more if you get even unluckier than me." Zaix had told me as he lit another cigarette. "This is the luck I chose for not going last year." Zaix had added.

The previous batches before us can choose before on what year they attend the Academy Formal whether 2nd year or 3rd year, but now the regulations had changed in my batch. Our batch had to attend it both which made it really a living hell for me.

"At least you only get to go at it once. I have to go twice. This year and next year." I said to Zaix.

"The perks of being older *laughs* I'm just surprised that my batch chose it to be third year and not when we were second years." Zaix had replied to me.

"Whatever." I replied to him coldly

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Elle POV

It turns out that Melfice and I followed Seiryu and we had found him talking to a guy that had black hair. We hid behind a wall that was on the left side of the school gate in order not to be seen, but we were just close enough to hear their conversation.

"Why are we here?" Melfice had whispered to me.

"I just want to see how "personal" this meeting is" I had whispered back to him.

I overheard them talking about the Academy Formal event and Seiryu kept saying that it was such a drag because our batch had to go to the event two times, one this year and the other one next year. Come to think about it, it really was a drag.

"So what are they talking about?" Melfice whispered to me for I was closer so I could hear them more.

"The Academy Formal." I whispered to him and immediately I noticed Seiryu looking around the vicinity where we were at. Melfice and I hid immediately in order not to be noticed. He really was scary when he gives his "I'm going to get you" face.

Shortly after that the talking had stopped and he and his friend had just sat on the steps doing nothing. I think it was just about time to get out of this spot for we had really found nothing important about Seiryu's conversation with his friend. It was a waste of our time and I think that he just made me curious in order to mess with my head. Slowly, Melfice and I crept away from the gate in order to slip out of the area unnoticed but then, we had another thing coming.

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General POV

"It was useless to follow me like that you know." Seiryu had said out loud and Zaix had looked at him with surprise.

"Just who are you talking to?" he had asked him.

"The students hiding behind that stone pillar beside the gate." Seiryu had said as Elle and Melfice had gone out of hiding.

"Wow you're good." Zaix had replied to him.

Elle and Melfice both had surprised looks on their faces as Seiryu smiled cockily.

"How long did you know?" Elle had asked him as she went near the long haired student.

"Just had a hunch." Seiryu replied and Zaix was now checking out Elle.

"Woah man that's some chick." He said and immediately a violent reaction was seen on Melfice's face. Elle had laughed lightly at Zaix's comment towards her.

"I'm Zaix." He said as he held out his hand and Elle shook it in return.

"I'm Elle, nice to meet you Zaix." She had said.

"Woah Seiryu, looks like you got your self a keeper here." Zaix had said as he nudged Seiryu's shoulder lightly.

"Whatever." Seiryu replied coldly as he turned his back away from them and attempted to walk inside the gate.

"Yeah you better run!" Melfice had said in response.

"Pardon the other guy Zaix, he's got feelings for Elle." Seiryu had said smugly and Melfice immediately turned a bright red in color. All of them laughed at Melfice who suddenly turned even redder.

"A-anyway, I have to get to class!" Melfice had said as he rushed away from the group.

"I got class too man. Blasted F-UNIT1 (Fighting in Units 1) class." Zaix had said to Seiryu.

"Why don't you just cut?" Seiryu had said to Zaix.

"No can do sir, I've got an exam to ace in that class." The red eyed man replied as he walked ahead of the two students.

"Well peeps, smell ya later. You behave now you two." Zaix had said as he went on ahead inside the academy.

"Idiot." Seiryu had said in return.

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Seiryu POV

And in an instant, I was again alone with Elle as I walked towards the academy doors. I didn't say a word to her so I didn't really know if she had class or not. She had been silent all the while that we had been walking together. I noticed now that I still had an hour and forty five minutes of break time.

"So, you still on break?" Elle had asked me.

"Yeah." I replied to her. "I might go to the rooftop again just to take my mind of things." I added as I continued walking with her.

"Yeah me too, I'm on break as well. My next class is four hours from now." She replied to me.

"That's a long break." I replied to her. If I ever have a break that long, I might just sleep it off in my dorm."

Elle had suddenly ran ahead of me as we both made our way to the elevator that leads to the sixth floor of the academy.

"Well let's go to the roof together shall we?" Elle had said with a smile.

"Whatever." I replied to her coldly as we both got on the elevator and got up on the sixth floor.