The moment I set foot in the city, I began to feel sick again. A shock rushed through my body and I felt my insides twitch slightly. A severe headache hit me, accompanying me for the rest of the day. My organism was still re-establishing itself, or maybe a second wave of changes was taking place.

Every single whisper of the people who passed me sounded like a cacophony in my ears and the rays of the sun were like knives that cut my eyes. I could even feel the structure of the road through the soles of my shoes. More than feeling pain, I felt intense nausea, probably caused by what I could only describe as some sort of sensory overload. My senses cyclically refined and deteriorated, trying to converge towards an unidentified balance.

Trying not to show I was feeling unwell, I walked alone toward my dorm, quickly saying goodbye to my companions. Once I reached my room, I threw myself on the bed without changing and quickly fell into a dreamless sleep.

The sunlight streaming in through the window woke me up and I got out of bed and left the room. My pace was still unsteady, but my senses seemed to have stabilised. Despite all of this, there was still something bothering me, but I couldn't identify what it was.

Erik was absent. I did not perceive any presence inside his room. I went to the living room and sat down on the sofa. I remained motionless for a long time. I could not help but wait for the next day, for the duel that would nominate the representative.

I got up and walked to my room. I laid down on the bed and closed my eyes once again. I wanted to try to sleep, to speed up the passage of time. Although I did not get a real sleep, I fell into a state of drowsiness.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door of my house. The noise reached my ears, amplifying the general sense of discomfort that gripped me. I got out of bed and headed for the door. When I put my hands on the knob and unlocked it, the door was suddenly thrown open by the visitor's hand. It hit me, throwing me backwards. Although I was still somewhat unstable, I managed to keep my balance and remain standing.

A tall man with a gruff appearance and an aggressive gaze appeared in front of me on the other side of the dorway.

“John Doe?” he asked me with contempt.

Not only had he nearly made me fall, he was also behaving quite rudely.

“Come on, we don't have all day” he continued, grabbing my left arm.

I put my right hand on his forearm.

“What do you think you are do-aaaaah” he tried to say, before starting to scream at the top of his lungs.

I was squeezing hard with my hand. The man tried to free himself from my grip, but my fingers not only gave no sign of letting up, they were slowly digging into his forearm. He raised his free arm as if to strike me. I let him go, put my right hand on his chest and pushed him away from me. The man lost his balance and fell backwards, landing on his back. I started walking towards him.

“Hey you, stay away from me!” he shouted trying to sound threatening, but with a clearly frightened look and a bleeding arm.

I continued to advance slowly without stopping, while the man crawled on the ground trying to get away from me, without ever showing me his back. It was the right choice.

“Stop, you are making this more difficult than it needs to be” I said with a mostly neutral voice, but with a hint of annoyance.

“I said stay back!” he screamed.

“John! Are you okay- what's going on here?”

I turned my gaze, in the direction of the new shrill voice. Once I managed to focus my sight the person I saw was Marnie.

“A nuisance appeared” I answered, pointing to the unwanted visitor.

The man had taken the opportunity and while I had been distracted by Marnie’s sudden appearance, he had stood up and run away.

“You raised a monster, Bridges!” were the last words that reached my ears before he disappeared.

Marnie's expression, which had been of concern a few moments before, had become a mixture of confusion and alertness.

“John, what happened?” she asked me.

“A nuisance appeared” I repeated.

“That I understood. Could you be a little more specific, please? “

“Someone knocking at my door disturbed me. I was about to open, but he forcefully opened the door, almost knocking me over; and then he wanted to grab me. Naturally… “

I hesitated. "Naturally I was going to rip his arm off" was what I was going to say. I finally realised that something strange was going on. It was not uncommon for me to use force, even in preemptive strikes, in order to defend myself, but it was the first time that my instinctive reaction to a perceived assailant was to attempt to maim him.

My condition intrigued me. Clearly, something had changed deep inside of me. Not only did I feel no sense of shock at what I had nearly done; the knowledge that my aggressive tendencies had amplified didn't bother me. Apart from the annoyance caused by the man, and curiosity towards my own train of thought, I didn’t feel anything else. I had become apathetic, but I wasn't particularly interested in this either.

“Marnie, why are you here? “ I started talking again.

I tried to change the subject. Although I didn't feel guilty for my behaviour, I knew Marnie would have found my conduct to be “improper”.

She stared at me, before sighing in surrender and starting to talk about something else.

“They have changed the plans, the duel has been anticipated to today… Well, to now, to be accurate. Those bastards have come to know of your condition and they probably want to take advantage of this situation to resolve things quickly. But don't worry! I already have... “

“It’s fine. Lead me there” I interrupted her.

Marnie almost choked on her own words and looked at me like I had lost my mind.

“ ... Do you really think you are ready to sustain a duel?”

Indeed, my movements were still somewhat awkward. Although with every second that passed I felt my condition improving, it would take some time before I got back to full capacity.

I just stared at her, not knowing if my eyes looked empty or full of determination.

“All right, follow me” she finally conceded.

She led me across the campus, along the familiar path I had been walking every day for almost an entire year. We went inside the main building, walking along its corridors and moving away from the normal classrooms. We finally came to the place that had been like a second home to me: the training area.

Waiting for us were the gruff-looking man who had come to disturb me, holding his limp arm with a suffering expression, a refined-looking man in bright yellow clothes and a student a little older than me. I knew him: he was the sophomore who had attacked me several months ago and who nearly caused me permanent frostbite damage. A grin was printed on his face.

“I see you showed up. You know, I was very sorry we couldn’t meet again after our last encounter. You do not have the faintest idea of how much I enjoyed it. I hope you will entertain me again today” he told me once I had approached.

I opted not to answer. He frowned seeing his words weren’t able to entice any reaction in me.

I turned to the strange man in bright clothes. He and Marnie were scowling at each other. He was probably one of those "colleagues" she despised and whose behaviour had led her to train me personally.

“Bridges”

“Rios”

The hatred in their voices was palpable.

“Very well, I think we can start this farce. Although I can admire your protege’s courage, allowing a newborn to face my boy for the representative role is not only disrespectful, it is simply ridiculous!” said the man in yellow.

Marnie didn't answer and just clenched her fists. I turned to her, trying to catch her gaze, but she avoided meeting mine.

“I understand” I murmured.

Marnie didn't think I would emerge victorious from this fight. I was slightly disappointed. When we had met again she seemed to have noticed the change in me, but apparently she only amounted to this. I had thought her senses were keen, but clearly they were not as developed as I had expected. It was the only reasonable explanation.

After all, even though I wasn't in my best condition, there was no chance my opponent would be able to defeat me.