After getting the necessary preparations done, Valeriana was dragged towards the arena. Quincy, Poulette, and Zoel looked more nervous than she was.

Valeriana groaned. The school's policy was seriously harsh. It was kill or be killed or eat or be eaten type of system, so it wasn't pleasing at all. Now, the girl was getting the reason why some students died or if they simply quitted.

The girl sat anxiously. She looked up from her seat. The Celestial Circle were all present and they took their seats. All of them, including Corvan, were patiently reclining until the start of the fight. She noticed Lady Seraphina, Headmaster Kylon, and Lord Aeron as well.

“Really. I wish that Zion tried to misbehave,” she muttered, rolling her eyes.

The duelist's waiting area was a small cavity under the numerous seats in the arena. It was where the competitors take their place and prepare for the upcoming fight they were participating in. Valeriana tapped her feet nervously while her aides merely cowered in their seats in anticipation.

“Can you guys stop that? You're making me more nervous with the way you're acting,” she told them, frowning in displeasure.

“W-were so sorry, M-miss Valeriana,” Quincy whispered.

“Nah, stop shaking. It's fine.” She stood up from her seat. “I'll go to the bathroom to wash my face first. I'm going to die of anxiety just sitting and waiting here.”

“B-but the duel . . .”

“The duel won't start anytime soon since it's still a bit dark out,” she said before turning towards the direction of the public bathroom. “I'll be back in a jiffy, don't worry.”

The three looked at her worriedly before reluctantly nodding, their eyes watching her as she disappeared around the corner. Valeriana flashed them a reassuring smile before she walked out of their sights. Despite the smile, she could feel her knees shaking uncontrollably. Her hands trembled uneasily, so she clenched them and tucked them in her pockets, trying to get herself to relax.

She breathed deeply. “You can do this, Val!”

Although she originally wanted to go to the bathroom to refresh herself and get rid of her apprehension from the upcoming fight, she figured taking this walk was enough. Still, she wanted to make sure she wouldn't piss herself in the middle of the duel, so she chose to continue.

Valeriana grinned and started jumping on the balls of her toes as she neared one of the corridor's sharp turns to the left. She curled her hands into a fist, mindlessly punching them in the open air while envisioning an imaginary opponent. Seraphina said that there was a possibility that the weapon would get knocked out from her hands, so she needed to know how to defend herself properly without a sword just in case. She already got the basics from her father, but she wasn't an expert. If it was self-defense, she knew a bit of karate . . . from watching movies.

She threw a right uppercut right just when someone suddenly rounded from the corner. Her fists collided with the person's chin and he was thrown back by the strong force that he fell directly on his back. Shocked, Valeriana gasped as she watched the person she accidentally punched fall with a thud.

“Oh my god!” she cried, placing both of her hands on her cheeks while the feeling of utter guilt and shock welled up inside her.

He groaned in pain and rubbed the part where she hit him. He rose slowly and the hood covering his face fell, revealing a young boy about her age. Golden locks with stripes of black fell on his face, framing eyes of molten gold with darkening specks. His hair was short, layered into short tresses that framed his handsome and fair face.

He wore a simple brown cloak that covered his entire body.

He looked up and met the eyes of the girl, who stared back at him with wide eyes. Seeming to have realized that his hood fell, he scrambled from his position and pulled it back to cover his face before rushing past Valeriana hurriedly.

“Wait!” she screamed, running after him and firmly circling her hands around his wrist.

He halted and looked back at her, his boots making a loud squeak as he was abruptly pulled to a stop. His eyes looked like they were glowing despite the shadow that hid his face. They stared at her with great intensity that Valeriana swore she almost felt an ever familiar chill run down her back.

“You . . .” she trailed off.

He tensed. The boy's eyes widened again and he tried wrenching off his hands away from her hold.

“Are you okay?” she asked worriedly, tightening her grip around his wrist to hold him in place. “Look, I'm really sorry for punching you like that so suddenly but you don't have to run away! I wasn't trying to bully you or anything, I'm so sorry,” she told him, staring straight at his face to show her sincerity. “Please don’t tell the Headmaster!”

At first, he looked panicked, but when she asked him her question, he looked more than surprised. She released her grip around his wrist and reached towards his face, trying to examine the damage she had done. He flinched from her incoming touch, but immediately allowed her to examine the bruising part of his chin. It started to swell and when she traced it with her fingers, the boy flinched.

“I think we should get you a first aid,” she muttered. “I'm really sorry about this. Let me patch you up.”

“N-no . . . I'm fine,” he said and turned his back on her, taking long strides away.

“Wait!” she yelled after him. “At least let me take a little bit of responsibility . . .”

He stopped. He spun around to face her, seeming hesitant. “Are you not . . . scared?”

“Huh? Why would I be?” she asked, confusion riddling her gaze.

“My . . .” His hand reached to touch the multicolored locks on his head.

“You don't look hideous or anything.” Valeriana smiled. “It looks good! Don't worry! I know a lot of people who does highlights, and you suit the color very much.”

He stared at her in confusion. “High . . . lights?”

Unable to say anything, the boy remained quiet and stared at her before his shoulders visibly relaxed. She smiled at him before holding out a hand for him to take.

“Why don't you come with me? There must be a first aid kit in the duelist's waiting area . . .” she muttered unsurely. “Or something.”

The boy reluctantly took her hand and she pulled him with her towards the arena. Although the way they met was certainly awkward, there was no feeling of hostility between the two of them.

When they reached their intended destination, her three aides bounded up to her worriedly. “Miss Valeriana!” they all shrieked. “You're back!”

“Were you expecting me not to return?” she asked them, and they all shook their heads. “I see. Do we have a first aid kit, guys? I accidentally hurt him, so I wanted to patch him up,” she said.

The boy stared at his feet and refused to meet any of their gazes. He could sense them looking at him strangely so he tried to hide his face from them. The three regarded the hooded figure cautiously before Quincy fetched the medical kit.

“I was reserving this for later, Miss Valeriana,” the girl told her. “Are you sure?”

“What's there to use a bit?” she asked with a small smile.

Quincy grabbed a small box from the corner and handed it to the fifth-ranker. “Here you go.”

“Thank you, Quincy,” she said.

“We're sorry none of us have any healing power. It would've been useful,” she told her.

“Don't worry about it. I had to deal with a lot of situations like this back home. Mostly because of my brother,” Valeriana answered, turning to the guy with her and urging him to sit down on one of the benches.

“You have a brother?!” the three exclaimed in chorus.

“Yup!”

He chose to sit on the bench farthest from where the three were and turned his back on them warily. Although it was odd, Valeriana decided not to ask anything and proceeded to apply an ointment on his wound. She wanted to pull back his hood, but he immediately stopped her before she could do anything and shook his head.

Seeing as he wouldn't agree, she chose to attend to him that way. It was hard to see what she was doing, but once it was finished, Valeriana smiled down at him as she stood from her crouched position on the ground.

“All done!” she said. “I didn't catch your name, though. What should I call you?”

“Be—” He stopped. “Kyrell.”

“Kyrell . . . my name's Valeriana.” She offered him a handshake and he accepted, quite reluctantly at that. “I'm really sorry. Let's start over, shall we?”

“It's fine,” he answered. “It's half my fault suddenly appearing.”

She chuckled and scratched her head.

“Everyone, your attention please!”

“The duel's starting! Miss Valeriana!”

Her heart suddenly jumped to her throat that her breath stopped as well.

The whole arena quieted down and the Headmaster's voice became evident. The girl turned and looked out from where she was. She realized that the sun's rays had finally broken through the clouds and that with this sign, the duel would commence.

“Thank you all for coming,” he said. “A ranker's second duel is always regarded to be the most important. Today we witness, the newly appointed fifth-ranker of the Celestial Circle and a student with a famed reputation.”

Valeriana tensed. “Oh, god. I'm nervous again,” she whispered.

“Are you saying . . . I thought you were merely going to ask for the medicinal kit! You are the duelist?”

“As of today, Valeriana will prove her worth as a titleholder. Zion Brunhild stepped up to challenge her for this very reason. As all of you may know, Valeriana is not of this world. Just as rumors say, she's not a Valemnian, but a human.” He made a dramatic pause.

“Human? You? I certainly did not hear of this when I . . .” Kyrell trailed off and stared at Valeriana in shock.

“I know it's shocking. But don't look at me like that,” she told him.

“Oh—pardon me. So that's why . . .”

“In short, she has to rely solely on her swordsmanship and physical capabilities to win this fight. This is bound to be thrilling. With everything they have on the line, let the duel between the two commence!”

Valeriana stood. “Disregard your fear for it is transient, focus on the battle for glory lasts forever,” she muttered before taking a deep breath. She diverted her gaze at Kyrell and smiled. “Dunno where I heard that but . . . wish me luck.”

She caught him looking at her dubiously.

She then walked towards the three, who automatically strapped a scabbard that held a sword around her waist. After they finished putting the weapon in place, they crushed Valeriana into a tight embrace. The girl was shocked at first, but patted each of their heads and smiled affectionately down at them.

“I'll be back,” she said, before breaking away from the three and walking out into the battleground.

“Miss Valeriana will be fine!” Poulette told the other two. “Zion always loses anyway.”

“It's not just about that, idiot!” Quincy shrieked, horrified by his naivety. “Are you not aware of the possible injuries Miss Valeriana will get? Nor the possible state of humiliation she would have to go through?! If Zion does that sort of stuff again, it'll be over for Miss Valeriana!”

“Yes,” Zoel stated. “Whatever the result in here would decide whether Miss Valeriana gets the respect she's aiming for.”