Nothing's better than a fight.

The blade of a swords flew past my left cheek, nearly clipping the tips of my sunny blonde hair. I dropped low so that my knees nearly hit the ground as the sword swiftly passed over my head. Before my opponent had time to recognize my change in posture, I lunged forward. I quickly flattened my hand and slammed my palm into his knee.

With a grunt, he took a step back. At the same time, I backed up, giving myself space to recuperate. I looked into Theo's greenish-blue eyes. He was giving me a devilish smile while gripping his knee with one hand. His knee was setting him off balance. An advantage.

"I thought being sick would've weakened you, even a little. But, no. If anything, you seem to have some new extra burst of energy."

I laughed at him.

"What can I say, nothing takes me down."

I felt a rush of air towards my feet and I looked down. By my right foot, a wooden staff was preparing to take me down. I didn't have time to move, so I let it. Showing off some of my acrobatic skill, I let the staff take my feet our from under me and landed on my hands. I did a little flip, planning on furthering myself from the two of them. They seemed to be getting faster, and smarter.

"You say that now," Levi said, looking disappointed, "but you looked pretty knocked out when you were sleeping on Theo's shoulder."

Ah, so that's why he's been so bitter lately.

Theo charged at me after my moments rest. His wooden sword swung at me with great force, from my left side of course. I dipped down and to my left. He'd have to make a whole backswing to get me from here, which would take considerable reaction and effort.

I got close to him, bringing my forehead an inch from his own. He smirked at me, a knowingly annoying smirk.

"Don't get too comfortable," I warned quietly.

He only had time to frown as my flat palm slammed into his stomach. He let out a gurgled groan as he backed up. Good. He's getting too used to being close to me. If this was a real fight, he would've been drenched in blood by now, his guts sitting in my hands. I take that back, we wouldn't have even gotten this far. He wouldn't have even gotten into a proper stance by the time I was done with him.

I could hear Levi charge behind me, after that, predicting his movements was simple. At this point, his staff would be aimed at my back, prepared to take out my spine. Cheeky bastard. He's too predictable. I twisted to my right and grabbed onto his staff, protecting a defenseless Theo from another hit.

Well, I guess it's time to wrap this up. My foot landed in Theo's chest, a much softer blow than Levi's staff would've been. Theo, who was unprepared for the hit, landed outside of the circle on his behind.

I glanced over to Levi, whose staff I still held onto. He gave me a please don't kill me smile. Too bad for him. I ripped the staff from his hands and smacked him of the left side of his ribs. I took advantage of his moment of unbalance and knocked him out of the ring with another firm kick.

"Don't get so comfy!" I yelled to Theo. "Levi! Your moves are too predictable. Change up your style every once and a while or you'll get yourself killed."

"It's not like anyone can fight better than you, dearest," he whined, adding a sweet word to it to soften the complaint. "I doubt anyone can pick out my moves like you."

"What in the hells are you talking about?" I looked at him with my arms crossed. "There are plenty of people out there who can kick my ass. But don't worry about them yet. You probably won't meet anyone that strong until you become first class officers."

Theo was standing now, looking at me oddly. "So you're actually admitting that you can be beaten?"

"Of course I am. I'm only human, after all."

This seemed like a shocking revelation to them. They looked at me with wide eyes and serious expressions. What, did they think I was some kind of hybrid human or something? Did I really look that amazing to them?

"You guys look at me like you just watched someone be brought back from the dead. Speak up. What's wrong with all of you?"

"I don't know," Mercy spoke up, covering her shock with her normally, relaxed expression. "I guess it's just kind of weird hearing someone who you thought was the strongest say that their not."

"Aww, you really thought I was the strongest?"

Mercy blushed, a ruby red spreading over her cheeks and looked away, avoiding my eyes.

Push it, or leave it? Lets push it. I strutted over to her, smiling innocently until I bent down to look at her. Deciding that bending down was too much work, I crouched in front of her.

"You just made my day," I said, smiling at her. "My dear student, admiring me is all a teacher could ever ask of. My precious children look up to me, it makes me so happy."

She still refused to meet my eyes, and I could see the blush only spreading more, like an incurable disease.

"That's enough," Theo interrupted, grabbing onto my shoulder. He pulled me back. I caught myself before I fell, having to put a little jump in my back step. "Any more of this and she might pass out."

I gave him an upset look before turning back to the others who were sitting while watching our little conversation. They had smiles plastered on their faces, even Bryce.

"Now then, if you guys wanna stand a chance in this competition, you'll have to train harder."

"What," Mercy whined, with a now regained composure, "we've been practicing all day."

"And not one of you has managed to make a real hit on me. If I fought seriously against you guys, you'd all be dead."

"Don't make shit up," Bryce complained, "admit that we've made you fight seriously at least once. I mean, come on, Levi just hit your feet."

"Because I put myself in a position where I'd let him. If I'd started that fight seriously, none of you would've been able to make a move."

Bryce stood up and walked over to me. This would end well. Using his overwhelming height of six foot something, he looked down at me with arms crossed.

"Prove it."

"Hm... Nah, I'm good. I wouldn't want to kill any of you." I placed my hand on his chest and pushed him away with great force. He stumbled a bit, then backed off, knowing there was nothing he could do. "Alright guys, who's next?"

Most of them let out long groans of complaint. I got one taker, and it was Bryce. Just great. He was mad because I told him that I almost never fought seriously against them. What, it's not like I was seriously going to fight against him. And I couldn't back down from this fight, I'd already offered.

Sighing, I backed up, motioning for him to follow. He watched me seriously, eyes following me closely. He held out his daggers. As I prepared to fight, he threw one out to me. I looked at him curiously, preparing for him to attack, he didn't. The wooden dagger fell at my feet.

"Fight me more seriously than before."

"You're sure about this? I don't wanna be in trouble for whatever bruises you could get here."

What? It's not like he was planning on giving up any time soon. Might as well show him he's not as great as he thinks until it's too late. This little bastard could get himself killed if he went out there thinking I was the best and he was pretty close.

I peeked to my left and got the okay nod from Theo. Well, at least someone was serious about this.

Holding the dagger at the ready, I mentally went through a checklist. Knees bent, single dagger held in my dominant hand, standing at an angle so that only the right side of my body was clear, arms spread a small distance from my body. My eyes slid over to him. His form was a bit lopsided, he wasn't used to fighting with a single dagger, he was stiff, maybe worried.

I waited for his motion to pass, for him to signal that he was ready. When his foot slid out in the beginning of a step, I made my move. I dove, keeping low to the ground as I covered a three foot distance in a second. When I looked up, ready to charge, he'd noticed me, but he didn't have time to react. Fear encompassed his features; his eyes wide with shock, his mouth hung slightly open, a small misstep in his breathing. Not only had I managed to get close to him, but I was now inside his guard having ducked under it.

I cant believe I fell for his taunts. Here I was, fighting my dear student seriously. I internally sighed a bit. Better finish this up.

I stood up quickly, my head still low, knees still bent. My hand was close to his throat as I pressed the dark wood against his jugular. My left hand had reacted slowly, but faster than he could comprehend. I gripped onto his right wrist holding the little bundle of nerves or whatever that was painful to pinch.

The second wooden dagger fell to the cushioned concrete floor with a clatter. His wrist shook in pain, but he didn't dare move. His mind may not have comprehended it, but his body knew full well. He could've died, he thought he was going to.

Smiling, I let go of his wrist, swiping his feet and letting him fall to the ground without much effort. I'd scared him pretty badly. He was looking down, holding onto his neck with his good hand, the one I hadn't just momentarily cut circulation to.

"Hey...you okay?" I asked, crouching down to look at him. "I didn't hurt you that bad, did I? Come on, Bryce, don't do this."

He finally looked up at me with wide, clear eyes. His hand rested plainly on his collar bone, nothing but an accessory for now.

"How'd you do that?" He asked quietly.

I gave him a strange look. It's been a while since he's insulted me, and that wasn't rude or anything.

"Hold on a second," Mercy yelled, bringing us back to the circle, "I thought you said to never take the first step. That was a real fight, wasn't it? Why'd you step first?"

I stood up, offering my hand to Bryce, who actually took it. As my mouth opened to explain how the fight went, Bryce cut in, explaining for me.

"She didn't take the first step, no one really did. She watched me and when I thought about attacking, which I guess you could say came first, and then she attacked."

"So wait a second," Mila felt like clarifying, "you read his mind?"

I sighed at this, and I think I saw Theo and Mercy do the same.

"No," I bluntly told her, "nothing like that. I saw him move his foot, just a little though, and I knew he was getting ready to attack. While he might've only been thinking about attacking, his body still moved. I took that second when he wasn't completely focused on me and attacked."

She nodded in a sophisticated way, though I doubt she understood.

"Mila," I half sighed, "why don't you come over here and have a real sparing match with me. None of that real stuff. After that, we'll hit the sack, okay?"

"Hit the sack," Levi repeated, trying the words on his tongue. I guess they wouldn't know what that meant. I didn't expect him to anyways.

"It means go to sleep," Mercy clarified for me. How is it that she knows so much of the old days? I mean, only a few people've used that saying in a few hundred years, the Koinzels being some of them.

"Anyways, lets get back to the sparing match. Mila, if you'd please."

Smiling happily, she came over to me, carrying a two and a half foot stick. The bow I'd got her made was considered too dangerous for the training room. It was kept in the weapons, shed, thing. But only she was allowed to use it.

Mila stood at the ready, a small smile playing on her lips. She took the first step, charging me with the staff held over her shoulder, ready to be brought down on me.

I let the wood hit me. It fell on my right arm. I brushed it away, getting rid of it. Continuing with the same swing, she brought the bottom of the staff up and thrust it at me. I caught it with my hand and pushed her back. She easily fell down, hitting the floor with a thud.

"Well," I sighed, rubbing the back of my head, "just don't worry about it for now. You're only an archer. You've mad good progress over the last four days though. We'll find a way to enter you as an extra in the competition, in case one of us gets hurt. Is that an option, Theo?"

I looked over to him and he nodded at me.

I looked at Mila who was watching me sadly.

"Don't worry," I continued, trying to fix what I've just gotten into. "I'll...I'll work with you in my free time after the competition. Okay."

She nodded and I let out a grateful sigh. That could've gone bad really fast.

"Alright then, all of you go put your weapons away. Let's head back to the common room."

They obeyed me, following my instructions. As I was prepared to head back with the others, Theo grabbed onto my arm. The others looked back and Theo waved them off.

He dragged me into an empty hall, looking both ways before grabbing onto both of my shoulders. Um, what was going on?

"What was that? Back there with Bryce?"

I blinked. "What?"

"That wasn't you. When you attacked, you looked like you really wanted to kill Bryce."

"Well, he did ask me to fight him seriously."

He gripped my shoulders tightly, bringing me closer to him. I felt my heart rate speed up a bit. My wide eyes looked into his own.

"I don't like you when you're like that. I don't feel like I can reach you when you're like that and it...it scares me."

He looked at me, eyes half lidded in a pitiful look. His eyes begged, pleaded to me. I took a slow labored breath, not really sure how to react to that.

As if realizing what he'd done, his cheeks lit up a bright ruby red, all the way to the tips of his ears. He let go of me, but my knees felt weak. I thought I was going to fall.

Theo ran off, mumbling sorry the whole way off. My heart squeezed inside my chest as I took big breathes, trying to calm down. He was only a few inches from me.

What. The hell. Was that?