“Wait, say that again. You asked who?” exclaimed Rhyne.

“I asked Enariss.”

“Enariss? The Enariss? The one in the special class?”

“Yeah. The one who spoke at the opening ceremony.”

“How in the—dude. Well, what did she say?” Rhyne asked, suddenly excited.

“She said, sure," replied Demund.

Riley and Rhyne both stared at Demund with their eyes wide open. They couldn’t believe their ears.

“You’re kidding me,” Riley said. “The study group isn’t even official yet!”

“You sure it was Enariss?” asked Rhyne hurriedly. “The one with the red hair? The super pretty girl?”

“Yes, I mean Enariss. I am serious. I met her during a run and asked her if she wanted to come. She said, sure! Here, I even have proof.”

Demund took out the little piece of paper Enariss had given him and displayed it to Riley and Rhyne. They looked at it in disbelief.

“You are not making this up, are you?” asked Riley seriously.

“I’m repeating myself now. Yes means yes.”

Riley and Rhyne both glanced at each other at the same time. They then looked back at Demund, and Riley placed a gentle hand on Demund’s shoulder.

“We are so screwed,” he said.

“Do you even know who she is?” questioned Rhyne.

“Well, she’s Enariss, right? The smartest person in school? And what do mean, we’re so screwed?”

Demund hadn’t expected this at all. He thought their reactions would be more…happy. Who wouldn’t want to study with a super smart and super pretty girl? But his friends looked at him with genuine worry and consternation.

“I’ll tell you why,” started Riley. “She’s the vice-captain of the MMA club. The biggest fighting club in the school.”

“Do you know what being the vice-captain means?” said Rhyne. “It means that you defeated all the other members in the club besides the captain. But since you can only become the captain after your first year, she might have defeated the captain for all we know.”

“Exactly. You don’t ever want to mess around with her,” stated Riley. “Her punches hurt. A lot.”

Demund was slightly surprised at the new information. Smart and strong? She really was perfect. But a part of him wasn’t that startled. He knew how fast she could run. He had experienced it with his body. It would be weird for a girl with that much stamina and strength to not be able to fight.

“I’m fine with that,” he told his friends. “The more the merrier, right? It’s not like we’re going to fight her or anything.”

Rhyne scratched his head while Riley shook his.

“We’ll probably just waste her time,” said Riley.

“He’s right. And Enariss? She—you know what.”

Rhyne threw up his hands in the air as if surrendering.

“If she said yes, she’s definitely coming. I guess it’s settled then.”

“You sure Rhyne?” asked Riley.

“There’s no other way, is there? Let’s just try to enjoy the moment. She is pretty, so…”

“Yeah. We’ll have soooo much fun,” said Riley sarcastically.

“Right. Should we make a group chat then?” said Demund.

“Sure. I’ll make one after school,” said Rhyne. “But you be the one to invite Enariss, Demund. I really don’t want to get on her bad side. You’ll have to mediate between her and us.”

“She’s not so bad, you know?” rebutted Demund. “I mean, if you manage to keep her pace…”

“That’s exactly the problem. We can’t keep her pace. She’s too talented,” said Riley.

“Then we better improve and catch up!” said Demund optimistically.

Riley sighed and Rhyne grinned at Demund’s response. He really was a try-hard. But that’s why they had become friends in the first place. Birds of a feather flocked together. All three of them were try-hards in their own, unique ways, and their friendship only increased their try-hardiness. Now, they would only have to become accustomed to the new challenge known as Enariss.

They exited the showers as the bell rang and headed to lunch.

〄 〄 〄

“Alright, Demund. Remember what I said. Try not to get noticed.”

Riley warned Demund as they headed towards the building for combat training, right next to the Specials’ part of the school. After much convincing, Demund had agreed to visit the MMA club. His friends wanted him to see Enariss in action to open his eyes, and he was looking forward to it. He never had seen anyone fight besides the spars Rother and Garthan did.

One of the unspoken rules of the club was that to join, you had to fight someone first. If the members mistook Demund as someone who wanted to join, he would be pressured to fight. It was best to stay unnoticed as a guest. Demund gulped as he saw the building.

He had caught glimpses of it before, mostly when he was entering/leaving school. But actually seeing it was different. The building was of considerable height, around two stories tall. It looked like it was completely built out of marble; its white exterior stood in direct contrast with the Library’s dark, old stone look. And contrary to the library, there weren’t any decorations on the outside. Its design was simple.

It reminded Demund a lot of the buildings used for the Selection. The building looked exactly like a replica, except that it was much smaller and shorter. The color and texture of the walls were identical.

Unlike the other buildings, the doors didn’t open automatically. Riley explained that it was because they almost always broke when there was a big fight between the higher members of the MMA club. To prevent accidents from reoccurring, the doors had been replaced with thick, metal ones. It was considerably difficult to push them open.

Riley and Rhyne didn’t know who would fight yet for today. However, every fight was between prominent members. There was a chance that Enariss could fight that day. Even if she didn’t, it would show Demund how skilled she was since every other fight would be inferior to hers.

Fights were held every day. It was a moment where you could show off your strength and climb the ranks in the club. It also served as examples to teach the younger members. There were no limits on the number of fights that could be held on a single day, but there had to be at least one.

Demund looked around the building. The first floor had a high ceiling and even some spotlights that were probably meant for the stages at the center of the area. Well, at least he thought they were stages. There was nothing set up but square lines on the floor. He expected that platforms could be raised from the squares.

No one was fighting there yet, but there were already people in MMA club uniforms warming up for training. Riley and Rhyne motioned to Demund to follow them into the bathroom. They quickly changed into their tight, upper uniforms and loose pants of the MMA club.

Demund watched as his friends warmed up their bodies. They started with jump ropes and carried out some stretches and brief workouts. They were here to train their fighting skills, not their muscles, so they didn’t go overboard. Rhyne explained to Demund that the workout room was on the second floor. The first floor was mainly used for fights and direct training.

The clock struck 3:30 and a low buzz went through the room. Everyone paused what they were doing as the MMA club officially began its activities.

Demund spotted Enariss behind a tall, lean student as they approached the center from the back of the building. The tall student was likely the captain of the MMA club. He had a perfectly-chiseled face with grey hair, and his muscles clearly stood out under his tight uniform. Demund was instantly reminded of the time he had first seen Enariss: people this perfect could exist.

The apparent captain of the club clapped his hands, immediately quieting the noises present in the room. Everyone turned their heads towards him and focused their attention on him.

“Let’s get started, everyone!” cheerfully began the captain. “Will any volunteers please come up to the front.”

A muscular, but somewhat short member approached the captain.

“Dranner Quesley, rank 17!” stated the student. “I’d like to challenge rank 15!”

“In this club, you can only challenge those who are higher ranked than you,” explained Riley to Demund. “If someone challenges you, you can’t refuse. Looks like we have some skilled participants today.”

Demund watched as another student came out of the crowd and stood beside the short, muscular student. They then moved to the closest square and stood there, facing each other.

The captain smiled and looked over the crowd.

“Are there any other volunteers?” he asked.

Demund watched as another student came out to challenge someone. He was rank 54 challenging rank 51. It was probably one of the freshmen.

“Any other volunteers?” asked the captain.

Enariss was also looking over the room when she matched her eyes with Demund’s. She hadn’t expected him to come so early. Most likely, he was here to observe the club. He had talked about wanting to get into the special class. Or maybe one of his friends had invited him.

She thought of an interesting idea. Maybe…maybe if she allowed Demund to see how further away she was, he would try harder to reach her. It would be more fun that way. There were times when people had completely given up after seeing her perfectness, but…Demund had managed to break her expectations. He was improving at a greater rate than any of her other toys. She wanted to take the gamble. It was just so much fun.

“If everyone is finished, then—oh, Enariss?”

The whole room froze as Enariss stepped out and positioned herself in front of the captain. Everyone became deathly quiet. No one dared to breathe a word. No one moved a muscle. All of their attention was focused on Enariss and the words she would say next.

“I, Enariss Zarke, rank 2, would like to challenge the captain, rank 1.”

The captain raised an eyebrow and gave Enariss a smile. He then lifted his hand and formed his fingers into an ‘ok.’

The room exploded into cries of delight, awe, excitement, and craziness. The club’s long-awaited fight was actually happening! It was a sort of historical moment for all of its members. Whatever the outcome was, one thing was sure: this would be one hell of a fight. Everyone who had been bored was cheering while Enariss and the captain stared at each other.

“What the heck! It’s really happening?!” exclaimed Rhyne. “And did Enariss just look at you right before she decided to fight?!”

“I don’t know,” replied Demund. He really didn’t understand the excitement that was going on. “Maybe?”

“Whatever the case, you’re one hell of a lucky guy,” said Riley. “I waited ages for this.”

Enariss was slightly excited. She had confidence that Demund would try harder after this fight. She trusted in his resilience. And finally, she could crush that disgustingly perfect face of her captain today. She wasn’t confident in winning, but at least she could try to tear his ideal mask away. She hated his quintessential way of living and his flawless physical features.

The captain calmly smiled and raised a hand into the air.

“Raise the platforms!” he commanded.

The club cheered as three platforms unleashed themselves from the ground. They didn’t care about the other two.

The fight of the year was about to begin.