NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20: Taking the Plunge
Chapter 20: Taking the Plunge
It was Wednesday of the second week of school. With all that had already happened, I felt like it should have been approaching the end of our first month. I arrived in the classroom and observed that all my friends were already there.
“Hey Cadel, did you rest well?” asked Kaede.
I nodded. “What was sleeping at Scarlette’s house like? Anything out of the ordinary happen?”
“Aww… look how concerned Cadel is over Kaede!” Scarlette butt in. “We slept well, thank you very much. It was quite uneventful!”
Kaede glared at Scarlette. “I would’ve slept better if it wasn’t for your snoring.”
Scarlette’s face flushed a deep hue of red. “Shut it! I don’t snore! It was probably Mira!”
We glanced to the front of the class where Mira sat. She was innocently reading her textbook. I wished she could’ve sat a little closer to us.
“I know what I heard,” Kaede jeered. “It was clearly you!”
“Wh—who was the one who was too afraid to sleep in her own room in the first place?!” Scarlette rebutted.
Kaede covered her face with her hands, defeated. “Ah! Let’s not talk about that…”
Jonah and I couldn’t help but smile at the two girls bickering. The atmosphere was a complete shift from the tension we felt yesterday. At times like this, I noted that this place was at its very foundation, still a school. It wouldn’t hurt to behave like normal students.
I glanced at Daxston, who was fiddling with his phone. I noticed that he had mellowed out recently, and while he still packed confidence, he was a lot more well-behaved. I wondered if Kazen had anythingto do with it recently.
On the contrary, Spencer seemed to be a shadow of his former self. The perky, cheerful boy from the first day of school seemed to have become a hollow shell. I figured that was understandable, given the events that had happened to him in the past few days.
Speaking of Kazen’s teammates, there was still Raven, the self-acclaimed amateur magician. As usual, she sat alone in her seat, her long, black bangs hiding her eyes as she immersed herself in a novel. I was very curious about her Ability, but it seemed I’d have to wait till the school camp to find out.
“Okay, return to your tables! It’s time for class!” My thoughtful observations were interrupted by Ms Reina’s commanding voice as she entered the classroom. There was a shuffle of seats as we settled down for class.
Time passed quickly, and at lunchtime, as we gathered at our usual table, I finally asked a question that had been on my mind for a while. “Say, Mira, I was wondering how you practice your Ability. Don’t you need someone to heal?”
Mira looked a little startled that I had focused our attention on her, but she cleared her throat. “Umm, there are a couple of ways. There are the typical locations like clinics and hospitals. Before I enrolled, I even practised at a veterinary clinic near my house!”
She rubbed her glasses as she continued, “Whenever us junior healers want to practice on an injured patient, there would be a senior healer on standby, watching over us. Our school right now also has an infirmary, and there are usually always a couple of patients there from what I heard—people who get hurt in combat training and stuff. I haven’t actually been there myself, but I probably should soon...” she admitted.
I nodded in understanding. Healers were usually in high demand across the country. Combat healers were even more rare, as seen by Mira being the only healer in our class.
“Any reason why you joined the Combat Division over the actual Heatlh Sciences Division?” Scarlette asked.
“Sometimes… getting to a hospital or something would take too long. It’s better if we have someone who can heal directly in the middle of battle,” she looked away as she said that.
I noticed her eyes disengage for a moment. I suspected there was further meaning behind her reasoning, but I decided not to press her.
“We’re just glad we managed to secure you before the other teams could,” I smiled at her.
“I—I hope I can meet your expectations,” Mira stuttered.
***
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. School was dismissed, and we returned to our dormitory. As the evening wore on, I received a text from Kaede while I was doing some homework.
“Hi Cadel, how are your revisions going? Ready for our study session tomorrow?” she reminded me.
There was no way I would forget about our planned meeting. I liked to keep things organised, meticulously recording down all my planned activities on my calendar. My meeting with Kaede was no exception. Academics-wise, there were no issues either.
“Yup. Just come over after dinner or something. Are you feeling better?”
I asked.“Yeah, I’m starting to believe Ignar and his friends won’t be bothering us again. All thanks to you,” Kaede acknowledged with a winky face sticker.
I allowed myself to relax slightly, her playful response adding a bit of levity to the evening. After a brief glance at the screen, I returned to work. There was still a lot to get through, and I wanted to be fully prepared for our upcoming study session. Apparently, we would also be introduced to a brand-new module tomorrow afternoon, titled “Combat Fundamentals.” It sounded like something to look forward to.
***
“You heard what I said.”
I entered the classroom the next day to find that the brief tranquillity of yesterday had been shattered by a ruckus. I observed students gathering around a particular table: Kazen’s. I noticed Kaede and Mira watching on in disbelief as well. Jonah wasn’t present— I assumed he was still making his way to the classroom.
Scarlette was standing over Kazen, hands on her hips. “Do you accept the challenge or not?”
Kazen looked a little caught off guard, his brow furrowing in suspicion. “What are you up to? I thought you weren’t interested in fighting me.”
“Yeah? Well, I changed my mind. I wanna duel you now,” Scarlette demanded.
What? I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Scarlette challenging Kazen to a fight definitely wasn’t on my checklist for today. A few days ago, she was shying away from a confrontation. What was with the sudden change of mindset? I had to ask her later.
Kazen scoffed. “Unlike you, I’m certainly not backing down from a challenge. Are you serious about this?” he gazed at Scarlette, his eyes cold.
“Yes.” Scarlette crossed her arms. “So you accept?”
“Show me your resolve then. A PUBLIC match, at the Colosso Dome. The same place where I fought Zoey.” His voice was calm and deliberate.
I sensed Scarlette’s confidence waver for a second. There was a slight sense of hesitation as she responded.
“Th—that’s fine by me. Is next Monday alright with you?”
Kazen waved his hand. “Sure, whatever. Don’t disappoint me.”
The class cheered as the clash between our two 5-Stars was cemented. Scarlette returned to her seat, and my team rushed over to her immediately.
“Um, Scarlette?!” Kaede exclaimed. “What happened? Is everything okay?!”
Mira gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “Is someone forcing you to do this?”
“Hey what’s up guys? Sorr—” Jonah’s words were cut off as he noticed our concerned expressions around Scarlette. “Uh, did something happen?”
“Scarlette just challenged Kazen to a fight,” I calmly stated. Frankly, I was quite excited about this.
“WHAT?!” Jonah yelled, attracting the attention of the class. “That’s crazy!”
“Shh!! I’ll explain later!” Scarlette hushed us, clearly flustered. She glanced around. “Not when everyone’s listening!”
Fortunately, she was saved as Ms Reina marched into class, commencing the lesson with her usual authority. I tried to put my mind aside over what just transpired and focused on the lesson.
***
At the cafeteria, we could finally get some time to discuss the incident. I noticed more glances in our direction than usual. Scarlette was already fairly well-known among our cohort, given her Rank, but today, it was especially evident.
“Looks like word spread around fast,” Jonah muttered. “So what’s up?”
Scarlette cleared her throat. “Don’t laugh at whatever I’m going to say next, okay? Honestly, ever since I didn’t accept his challenge, I’ve had this uncomfortable feeling. Like… I feel like I already lost. Even if I hadn’t fought him. It’s been really nagging at me for the past few days.”
She continued, "I know I said I didn’t wanna fight him because I was, uhh... scared of losing"—she said that last part softly—"but just sitting here, whiling my time away, doesn’t feel very good either.”
The rest of us listened attentively. We could tell it was hard for her to open up, especially since Kaede and I knew she wasn’t good with sharing her personal thoughts in a group setting. Still, we looked on encouragingly.
Scarlette paused, taking a sip of water. “Then there was the, ahem, incident a few days ago. Watching Cadel just own those losers felt kinda… inspiri—good!” she stammered. “I guess it really knocked some motivation into me. Besides, I wanna get better so our group can get stronger as a whole too!”
So that’s what it was. I nodded, understanding where she was coming from. “Pushing yourself will certainly make us stronger, but are you sure you’re ready for this? Kazen isn’t exactly an easy opponent,” I warned.
Scarlette’s eyes flashed with determination. “I know he’s tough, but I’ve been slacking, and I figured it’s time I step up. But still…” —she gulped nervously—“I wasn’t expecting him to make our match public!” She covered her head with her hands, clearly distressed.
“It’s okay, you still have some time before the match,” assured Kaede. “Besides, you’re still a 5-Star, as you said. Kazen would be a fool to take you lightly.” Her tone was shockingly firm.
“Yeah!” Jonah cheered. “He may seem nonchalant about it, but I bet he’s secretly training his ass off to stand a chance against you!”
“I hope he doesn’t,” Scarlette laughed weakly. “Ughh why did I do this to myself…” she groaned. I hoped she wasn’t actually regretting her decision. It was part of human nature to feel confident about something risky at first, only to start having second thoughts once you’d committed. It was starting to look like her impulsive nature was once again starting to backfire.
I didn’t want her to suffer another breakdown, so I cut in. “We were talking about a training session for the two of us, right? Let’s have it this Friday. We can practice on both your offence and defence.”
Scarlette nodded eagerly. “Yeah, that sounds like a plan.” With Kaede coming over to my room for revision later, it looked like I would be busy for both today and tomorrow.
Soon after, lunchtime was over and class resumed. A tall, fit-looking man marched into the class.
“Greetings, I’m Professor Connor. You may address me as ‘Dr Connor’, or simply ‘Sir’ will suffice. I will be in charge of your ‘Combat Fundamentals’ module,” he boomed.
I wondered how he would react if I told him about all the fights I had been involved in since the school started.
Administration Notes:
School: Horizon High
Name: Miko Mihara
Gender: Female
Year: First-year
Rank: 1-Star
Division: Combat
Ability: Has the power to know the basic profile information of people she makes eye contact with. Once triggered, she is able to retrieve the following information: Full name, Birthday (and age), Contact Number, E-mail, Nationality, Height and Weight. All information reflects the most recent or up-to-date details.
