The days flew by, and while the animosity from the Archons spread like wildfire across the school after my beating of Arun, and I had the occasional insult thrown at me every time I traversed the hallways or went for a meal, I didn’t much care.

  Aeloria and her two friends remained the only people who weren’t outright hostile. That said, despite our earlier conversation, they weren’t exactly friendly either.

  That was fine by me, as the bonds with my roommates continued to grow, and the more I thought about the day I left, the more I was saddened to leave them behind. I trained every night on Torma’s hammer routine, mixed with sprints against Ellaazi to increase my explosive speed. Ressa and I were supposed to train together, with dueling as her one area of martial strength was with a saber. We ended up just talking for an hour before dinner.

  All in all, as we approached Ressa’s dreaded meeting with her brother in the city, it wasn’t a bad week, and largely uneventful until our next Unarmed Combat lesson.

  The tension was palpable as we entered, and Arun was practically vibrating with energy all through the lesson until it came to sparring time.

  As Master Yoshun attempted to split people up, Arun’s voice rose loud and clear. “I want to fight Adam Henshaw again. He cheated last time, and I don’t appreciate the inflated ego he has shown since when the method was so underhanded.”

  “Underhanded,” Torma snorted. “Perfect.”

  I had to fight the smile considering all eyes were on me.

  Another voice rose up, a female voice. “I want to fight Adam too, for the same reasons. As he has already beaten both of us, it seems only fitting that we should spar each other again, with the winner fighting Adam.”

  “That is not how this class works!” Yoshun boomed.

  As silence fell over the chattering students like a wet blanket, the Master took on a thoughtful look. “However, life is competition, and this is an intriguing development. With that in mind, I agree to this. Aeloria, you may spar Arun. The winner can spar Adam.”

  “I’ve already beaten Aeloria, but if you need to see it again, that’s no problem for me.”

  As they squared up, everyone watched. No one moved to carry out their own matches, and Master Yoshun didn’t bother to make them. I would have found it interesting if I wasn’t the prize. As if I needed any more attention.

  They began, each offering a few testing shots, but no one overcommitting. This was particularly unusual for Arun, as he so confidently predicted an easy victory.

  I’d noticed he generally liked to use his size and weight to carry the fight in the early stages, both overwhelming and wearing down opponents.

  “Come on then, fight!” someone shouted, drawing a sharp look from Yoshun.

  Arun turned, slightly to mutter something at the shouter, and that’s when Aeloria struck. A front kick straight to the chest. It pushed him staggering back, and then further still as she followed with a sublime roundhouse that had him desperately defending.

  He prepared for a third attack, but she caught him completely by surprise by dropping low and executing a low leg sweep that looked very much like what Ellaazi had done to me. I smiled in spite of myself.

  With sheer force of will, he managed to get a hand down and stop himself from falling and then lunged at Aeloria with a roar. He was furious, and interrupted Aeloria’s next attack through sheer ferocity, throwing punches and kicks like a man possessed.

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  The first thing I noticed about her defense wasn’t the smooth evasion, twisting and turning to avoid everything he threw at her, but it was the calm look on her face. Serene almost as if playing with a child.

  Arun, despite being fast and powerful, was robotic and predictable. Even when he changed things up, it was predictable.

  For a while, she was content to let him tire himself out. Though to some in among the spectators, they genuinely thought Arun was winning and cheered him on wildly. I knew different, and smiled when I saw her finally make her move.

  She ducked under a big right hand and caught him with a perfectly executed liver shot. Sharp, fast, and then she danced away as his left knee crumpled under the power and accuracy of the shot.

  I could see Aeloria considering the choke hold, but deciding against it, which I thought was the right decision. She had outclassed him so utterly that there was nothing to prove by choking him out. Instead, she stepped back, and gave him a chance to recover.

  Master Yoshun had different ideas. “Expertly done, Aeloria. The fight goes to you.”

  “I’m not finished yet,” Arun grunted, trying to get to his feet.

  “For today’s sparing practice, you are. Unless you intend to continue wildly throwing your ham fists around, using none of the skills you’ve been taught, and intend to call that training? Or did you forget our purpose here, Arun?”

  I would have smiled again, but Aeloria’s eyes were already on me. I didn’t know what kind of training she’d been doing since we had first sparred. But there was no doubt that she’d been working hard and had adapted some of the mentality, rather than just techniques that we’d spoken about.

  Once Arun was suitably silenced, Yoshun turned to Aeloria. “Will fifteen minutes be enough to recover before sparing Adam?”

  She shook her head. “I’m ready now.”

  He frowned at her, a hint of worry in his eyes. “Are you sure?”

  “I am. It’s not about winning, it is about learning, and I am fresh enough to learn more.”

  At her words, he gestured for me to come forward so that we could begin. Facing each other, I tried to read her body language. She still appeared calm, but I could sense a tension that wasn’t there earlier when she had fought Arun. Something akin to trying to hold in excitement. With Old Aeloria, I would have expected to start in the same old way. This new version…

  “Begin,” Yoshun barked.

  She moved like lightning, striking out with a push kick from her left, and following up immediately with a roundhouse. I blocked both, and the moment she saw I’d not been caught off guard, she settled back into her more relaxed fighting style.

  We traded blows back and forth, but she was very careful not to linger in close range for too long. I was proud of her for controlling the distance, and though I saw a few openings, I missed them as I enjoyed the flow of the fight. It was good practice for me being kept at range as I often would be with the taller Archons.

  Another surprising development was that they cheered her on. Despite not liking Aeloria very much, it was unanimous that they liked me even less.

  A lightning bolt idea entered my mind. I should have never showcased all of my skills here and beaten Arun. It served no one, considering my only ambition was to leave this place. But if Aeloria beat me, there was a chance it would all go away, and I could sink back into anonymity.

  Making my decision, I surprised her with a front kick. Her eyes widened from the unexpected move, but I knew from watching her that one of her best counters was defending front kicks. I knew what was coming as she desperately parried with her right hand, and almost by rote, followed up with a right-footed roundhouse.

  Even then, I had an option. A low punch to the gut would probably have seen me safe. Instead, I moved to block with my left arm, knowing it wasn’t strong enough to stop her kick.

  The top of her foot connected with the side of my head, and I stumbled to the side. She followed up with a knee to the gut, and a right hand to the side of my head. I dropped, holding up my hands to yield.

  The class went wild over her victory. Yoshun was clapping. “Excellent, Aeloria. Excellent.”

  The normally confident girl looked at a loss at the praise she usually reveled in.

  I walked unsteadily back to Torma, who was watching me with a curious expression.

  Head still hazy, I did my best impression of smile. “She’s getting a lot better.”

  His brown eyes seemed to peer into my soul. An imperceptible shake of his head. “Something’s not right. Why did you let her win?”

  “Let her win?” I laughed, trying to keep my voice down. “Hardly. That was one helluva shot. I don’t know many people who could have stood up to that.”

  “I don’t know what happened, but I know something was wrong.”

  “We’ll talk about it later,” I hissed. “For now, celebrate a great victory for Aeloria.”

  He fell silent, which pretty much covered what everyone else in the class did with regard to me. Not even Master Yoshun bothered speaking to me with Aeloria being his star pupil once again. I hoped this new attitude spread as fast as the shit I faced from beating Arun had.