With what was left of the week to go, Aldrich had lived a relentless cycle training under John Foster from dawn till noon, then imrsing himself in knowledge with Professor Mariana until dusk. There was barely any ti to himself. Every available mont was spent ensuring he did not fall behind, refining his body and mind to be as prepared as possible.
Day after day, night after night, he pushed himself, knowing that the mont of reckoning drew ever closer. And now, at long last in a wait of what felt like an eternity, that mont had arrived.
---
Aldrich sat hunched over, elbows resting on his knees, hands hanging loosely as his eyes fixated on nothing in particular. The thought of what lay ahead, past the door, it pressed down on him, though he tried not to let it show.
"You nervous?" Dante's voice broke the silence. He sat across from Aldrich, arms folded, his expression unreadable.
"Should I be?" Aldrich asked, though the tension in his voice betrayed him.
He had trained. Every waking second of the two weeks given to him had been spent strengthening his resolve, sharpening his skills. He had done everything he could to be ready. Yet now, sitting here, just a single hallway separating him from his opponent, the reality of it all crashed down on him.
"You should be," Dante said, his tone calm, lacking urgency, yet firm.
Aldrich exhaled slowly, forcing himself to focus.
"I looked into your opponent? Kyle Dandada," Dante continued. "He's no easy prey."
Aldrich sat up slightly, giving Dante his full attention.
If Dante had gone out of his way to research Kyle, then it ant sothing. He was not one to pointlessly waste ti unless he found the situation necessary to do so.
Dante's investigation had primarily been centred around Dwayne Aldaman, the person who had bested him. But calling it a defeat didn't sit right with him. No, Dante refused to acknowledge it as such.
He had thought it would be a simple fistfight. Then, halfway through, Dwayne pulled out a gun and aid it right at his face.
That is what it was to Dante.
It wasn't a loss, Dante told himself. He simply hadn't been prepared. If he had known from the start that it would be a no-holds-barred battle, things would have been different. He wouldn't have been caught off guard. He wouldn't have let himself be humiliated so easily.
Ever since then, Dante had made it his mission to learn everything there was to know about Dwayne, his techniques, and the full extent of his abilities. But in the process, he had stumbled upon sothing interesting about Kyle Dandada.
Kyle wasn't just another second-year student. He was in the sa elite S-Class as Dwayne, but their relationship went beyond re classmates. Kyle was a devoted follower, an unwavering shadow trailing behind Dwayne's every step. He endured ridicule and scorn for it, yet never wavered.
What made it even more intriguing was that Kyle wasn't so weakling latching onto power for protection. He was the third-strongest among the second-year S-Class students, an undeniable force in his own right. And yet, he willingly remained in Dwayne's shadow.
"Bottom line, don't underestimate him." Aldrich summarized, cutting through Dante's lengthy explanation.
Knowing how powerful Kyle was only made things worse. The more he heard, the more his nerves twisted into knots.
Just then, the door creaked open. Saldrich and Fiona stepped inside, their expressions unreadable.
Saldrich approached first, lowering herself onto the floor so she could et Aldrich's gaze directly.
"How are you holding up?" she asked softly.
"Like I could throw up at any second," Aldrich admitted with a half-hearted chuckle.
He had been trying to suppress his anxiety, but it wasn't exactly working.
Saldrich glanced at Fiona, then at Dante, before finally returning her focus to Aldrich. There was sothing on her mind, but she hesitated to say it.
"What is it?" Aldrich asked, his heart rate spiking.
He was already on edge, preparing himself to step onto the battlefield. The last thing he needed was another unexpected complication.
"Don't panic, okay?" Saldrich began carefully. "But… when you step out there, you're going to see a lot of people watching you."
Aldrich blinked.
That was it?
"You don't look worried," Saldrich observed, her brow furrowing slightly.
"Should I be?" Aldrich asked, more confused than anything.
Sure, the thought of a massive crowd watching his every move wasn't exactly comforting, but compared to the fight itself, it barely registered.
"Yes, you should," she insisted. "You have a phobia of crowds, rember?"
Aldrich froze.
Right… He had almost forgotten.
This body wasn't originally his. Before he arrived, there had been soone else living in it. A person who had deep-seated fears and weaknesses of their own.
Had he been so consud by training that he had completely overlooked that?
"Well," Aldrich mused, forcing a smirk, "looks like even my phobia is too scared of Kyle to stick around."
Saldrich let out a small laugh, though her expression remained thoughtful.
Her brother had always struggled with stage fright. Could sothing like that just… vanish overnight? Or had ten years of being in a coma erased it?
It was a question for another ti.
"So…" Aldrich stood up, rolling his shoulders. "I'd better get out there. Wouldn't want to keep the crowd waiting, right?"
"That's the spirit." Dante grinned. "Go out there and kick so ass."
Just as Aldrich was about to leave, Saldrich reached for Dante's arm, pulling him toward the door.
"Before you go," she said, glancing at Fiona, "you might want to have a private conversation with her."
With that, she dragged Dante out, leaving Aldrich and Fiona alone.
A thick silence filled the space between them.
Awkward was what it was. And more than that, either struggled with what to say, what expression to convey to not make things worse than they already were.
"They said Trevor still hasn't woken up," Fiona finally said, breaking the awkwardness.
"Yeah. They want him to rest more," Aldrich replied, almost chanically.
Trevor's body had been healed, but his mind was another matter entirely. While Fiona had recovered quickly, Trevor's condition required more ti.
"Look, Fiona…" Aldrich inhaled deeply, pushing past his nerves.
If there was ever a ti to say this, it was now.
There's no telling what the results could bring about, but high chance says he just might never see her again.
So what's to lose that he already isn't about to?
"In case I don't make it out of this, there's sothing I want to ask you."
"Yes."
Aldrich blinked, stunned.
She had answered before he even finished his sentence.
"Wait… but you don't even know what I was going to ask."
Fiona smiled knowingly. "I'm not a child, Al. I can read between the lines. And I feel the sa way about you. So my answer is yes."
Aldrich stared at her, montarily speechless.
He hadn't expected this, not now, certainly not like this.
But sothing inside him surged, a newfound energy flooding through his veins.
Whatever fear, whatever hesitation had been holding him back, none of it mattered anymore.
Because now? He has more than enough reason to want to continue staying at Eldora.
"I will win."
With unwavering determination, Aldrich grabbed his bow, steeling himself for what lay ahead.
No more doubts.
No more hesitation.
It was ti to fight.
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