Chapter 27: Training Part 1

Sweat trickled down their faces as they both fought for dominance, aiming for the upper hand. They were wearing regular protective armors for safety. The sound of sheathing echoed sharply everytime their swords meet.

Kylon, the third ranker, grunted when his opponent pushed him back by force. He was drawn back but he was strong enough to regain his balance after stumbling a few steps.

Bastion, the seventh ranker, frowned at Kylon. He quickly blocked Kylon's attack after recovering with his sword. He attempted to plug the sword towards Kylon's stomach, but Kylon easily twisted his body to the side.

Bastion froze when a cold metal came in contact with his neck. Kylon smirked at him from the back, as he lightly pressed the sword to Bastion's skin.

Bastion softly pushed Kylon's sword away, admitting his defeat.

"You got me." He smiled, panting softly.

Kylon tapped his shoulders. "You still need to work on your reaction time Bastion." He advised. "But you have improved. Soon enough, you'll be able to defeat me if you keep practicing." He smiled encouragingly. Unlike Bastion, his breathing was better.

Bastion nodded. "Got it. I'll challenge you again next time, Kylon." He said, words full of determination.

Kylon laughed wholeheartedly brushing the back of his head. "Sure Bastion, but why me? You can go after Zath and Anzai too you know. Jettam is not bad too." He suggested.

Just then Eliana who was speechless, was listening to their conversation. She turned to her side to see Zathur's reaction. Zathur broke into a small smile shaking his head.

She returned her gaze towards the two. She blinked when the two rankers who just fought walked to their spot. They shortly arrived, Kylon was holding his sword resting over his shoulder pointing it to the back. Bastion was holding his sword down. They both smiled at her.

"You're here to train, am I correct? I would like to see how you fight, Eliana." Kylon said. He was smiling like nothing hardcore had happened a few seconds ago.

"Yes..." Eliana couldn't find the words to say. She couldn't help but feel immense nervousness and fear after seeing how the rankers fought, it was almost unreal.

"Are you okay?" Bastion asked with a worried look. He noticed Eliana's profile looking overwhelmed.

Eliana snapped her attention to Bastion, she forced a smile. "I'm fine. After seeing your fight I was just-- out of words. You see, I don't really see people fighting with swords that often." She thought it was better to be honest about it. After all, she'll be training with them for long.

They all laughed, Bastion, Kylon, Larsanel did while Zathur just chuckled.

Emery came closer to their circle, along with Jett and Anzai behind her. While the two rankers fought earlier, they were at the sides watching .

"Well what do you expect? Humans are weak and ambitious, a lowly combination if you ask me." Emery gave Eliana a knowing look.

Eliana returned a blank stare.

"Uh." Jett was unsure of what to say. One thing was, he didn't like Emery's hostility towards Eliana.

"Does it hurt not to bark every time we meet, Emery?" Eliana asked with a sick sweet tone.

The girl was seriously getting into her nerves, the other Six were fine. Emery was an exception, she couldn't understand where her hatred was coming from. If the reasons she said before were all the root of her hostile attitude towards her, Eliana wouldn't accept it. How does being a human make Emery hate her so much?

Emery automatically frowned, her smug expression replaced by an angry look. "Pardon your insults human?" She spoke through gritted teeth.

Eliana stared at her for a few seconds before giving the girl a sarcastic smile. Emery struggled to keep her poise. Eliana was obviously pushing her.

"You are weak and have nothing to prov--"

Emery caught her tongue when Anzai stepped between them. Eliana was surprised, she looked up meeting the first rankers emerald eyes. Her ocean blue eyes stared at it, she felt the familiarity of the situation for some unknown reason.

"That is enough Emery." Anzai said, his eyes not leaving Eliana's. "Earthborn, you may prepare yourself in ten minutes before you start." He broke the eye contact by turning his back on her and walked away.

Eliana had a lingering feeling of his emerald eyes, they were weirdly familiar to her. It was a shame she couldn't remember where she saw it before. Her eyes followed his retreating figure.

Larsanel tugged her arms. "Let's go to the cottage, we have some armor and vests there."

Eliana and Larsanel went to the cottage which was located on the other side. The cottage was small and cozy. Anyone can mistake it as a place for a peaceful tea party which was a great irony.

Larsanel opened the wardrobe on the wall revealing the armors in different variations. Some looked barbaric than the simpler looking vests, similar to the ones Kylon and Bastion wore. Larsanel pulled out two small brown vests that looked fit to their sizes.

"Here try this on."

Eliana took it and wore it over her shirt. The vest was slightly big but it wasn't much of a problem. She tried twisting her upper body from left to right, moving around to see if it's convenient. It was comfortable enough.

Larsanel nodded approvingly. "It looks big on you but I don't see any problem with it, that should do."

"Yes, thank you."

"Over there is where we keep the weapons, you can go ahead and pick one to your liking." Lars pointed at the far end of the cottage where dozens of boxes lay around the floor. "Just be sure you can carry the weight of the weapon, otherwise it'll be hard for you to attack- defense even."

Eliana could hear the concern from Larsanel's tone. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

While Larsanel was getting ready putting on her vest, Eliana walked towards the weapon area. The wood made soft creaking sounds from each step she took. She scanned the boxes scattered around and noticed some of them had specific colours and distinguished emblems carved on them. It must belong from the Seven.

Instead of feeding her curiosity for the coloured boxes, she went to the other side where the plain boxes were. She opened one revealing a sword. One box contained one sword, the other small boxes contained different smaller equipment like shurikens and daggers.

She picked the silver sword.