Chapter 18

Grin, He is a commoner and a childhood friend of Yjhan. They are from the same village and dreamt together to be a knight one day. They sometimes treat each other as rivals, but they treat each other as a precious childhood friend.

"You mean this brats right here? All they do is cause problems."

"Leader!" Nash pouted, then looked at Aidan with a blank face, causing her to laugh again hysterically. "Stop making that face, I can't breathe! HAHAHA"

"Go die!" Aidan said, glaring at Nash.

Aidan's blank expression isn't really blank and serious; rather, it's a comical expression rather than a serious one.

Aidan can't handle it any longer and smacks Nash on the head. Nash looked at him in disbelief and smacked him till they were both tugging each other's hair.

"Are they twins?" Brix asked Marais.

"How could I possibly know?" Marais responded, 'they do look like one, though.'

"You stop or I'll tie you upside down in a tree till you're bitten all over by insects!" Nash let go of her hand and closed her mouth, as did Aidan. "Aidan, wash your face. You too, Idris. Kane, follow them."

"Pft!" Nash was about to laugh again when locked his gaze on her. "Sorry."

"Tsk. Follow the others." Nash followed the other members while Yjhan stayed there with Grin.

"Stressful?"

"Very much," Yjhan looked at Grin. "So, what do you want?"

Grin smirked, you never changed.

"I want a favor,"

..

Nash waved to Marais, who waved back.

Nash walked into the training grounds and was surprised to see a shattered wooden sword on the ground. "Tsk. People can't even tidy up after themselves."

They tossed all the broken swords to the side and decided to clean them later.

They get the remaining wooden dummies. There are only 50 dummies left to use.

"Let's not use those dummies. I prefer something moving," she smirked before turning to face Jaxael.

"Would you like a duel?" Jaxael asked.

Nash shook her head. She was well aware that Jaxael's swordsmanship abilities were far superior than her own.

"Then, what?"

"You can manipulate shadows right? Can those shadows move objects?" Jaxael shook his head. Nash pouted.

'Father can move his though. Maybe they're different.'

"Where are the dummies?" Aidan returns with a wet face. His hair was up and wet, revealing his attractive face.

"Woah! You should wash your face every day! You look dashing!" Nash smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"Should I?"

Nash nodded, "Yes! Always keep it wet! HAHAHA"

Aidan glared at Nash and they began smacking each other again.

"That's all?" Idris asked, looking at the dummies available."

"There's only 50 of them," Aeries answered.

"Training with dummies is boring," Idris muttered as he stretched his body. Nash saw Idris stretching his body, so she copied him and so did Aidan.

"Everyone," they all turned to face the entrance of the training ground. Yjhan went towards his squad and stated Grin's request. "They asked a favor if we could share half of the grounds with them since they only trained for an hour."

"Sure, just help with the cleaning." Nash said this solemnly. The Squad 15 brows furrowed at Nash's changed tone, and even the Squad 14 who had seen her earlier laughing wildly became intrigued by the sudden change.

Nash stretched out her gloves and grabbed her sword, pointing at Marais, who pointed herself.

"Me?"

"Let's have a duel. I prefer moving things than plain dummies," Nash gave her a sweet smile.

"Wait. Are we using actual swords?"

"Are we not?"

"No. That's why there are extra wooden swords."

Nash glared at Yjhan. "Leader! Then why did I even bother bringing my sword!? You brought yours too, then what's the use of it?"

"Emergency," Yjhan answered. Nash looked at him in disbelief. Is he serious?

..

The others started to duel each other too, Grin vs. Yjhan, Aeries vs. Brig, Aidan vs. Jaxael, and Kane vs. Idris. The remaining members of Squad 14 are having a duel with each other.

"Fine," she put down her sword on the side and grabbed a wooden sword. "No hard feelings, just training, okay?"

"I'm scared,"

"Don't be,"

Marais was one of the examinees that caught Nash's attention, so she doesn't hesitate in having a duel with her.

Nash launched an attack, but Marais stopped her. Nash's strength causes the wood to crack slightly, which shocked Marais and caused him to jump back. "Wait! I'm not ready!"

"Strengthen your grip," Nash stated. Marais is once again taken aback.

She noticed the sword was slipping off Marais hand.

'Why is she so serious?'

Their combat lasted a long time, with both of them blocking and striking each other. Marais was able to gather herself and maintain her level with Nash, causing their combat to be close to a tie.

Yjhan and Grin, on the other hand, were engaged in a fierce battle, as were the others, particularly Brig and Aidan.

Nash's brows furrowed when she noticed a shadow surrounded in Jaxael's wooden blade.

Yes, it's different from father, father's shadow has an aura surrounding it but Jaxael's doesn't have. That means it's the demon power causing the aura from father's sword.

"You shouldn't look away!" Marais kicked Nash in the tummy, causing her to throw back yet manage to stand. While Nash was about to attack, she noticed a red light shining directly at her from the trees.

Nash slid down the dagger in her arms and threw it behind Marais but almost hit Marais face.

"Wait!" Marais yelled as the dagger passed her face.

"You! I told you we'd only be using wooden swords!" Marais approached her, mad, but Nash was focused on the red lights she saw. Suddenly, the two red light dots that resemble an eye were added with a bright curve line below...

Making it appear to be smiling.

The outside was seen within the colosseum due to a crack in the colosseum's walls.

"Nash!" Marais yelled again, but Nash's gaze remained fixed on the red lights. After hearing Marais yell at Nash, the others stopped fighting and turned to stare at the two. They instantly approached them to see what was going on.

"Shut up!" Nash let out an unintentional yell. When she realized what had happened, she was taken aback. "Wait, I'm sorry, it's just that there is..."

She pointed to the trees behind Marais, but they were gone. 'It's gone.'

"Are you okay?" Marais asked in concern.

She returned her gaze to Marais and gripped her shoulder. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell, and I didn't mean to throw the dagger!"

"No... It was my fault that I yelled. I'm sorry." Nash smiled and walked towards the trees, where her dagger was thrusted. She looks around, hoping to sense a presence, but there is none.

"What the hell is that?" She mumbled.

"What is?" Nash swung around and pointed the dagger at the one who spoke. When she saw Yjhan, she was taken aback.

"Leader! You scared me!" Yjhan gave Nash a cloak for her to wear. "Your white hair is showing, calm yourself."

Nash was stunned and wore her hood. "You knew?"

Yjhan just looked and walked away. She took a few deep breaths in and out before returning to Marais. "I'm really sorry, please forgive me."

"No... It's fine. Let's put that out of our minds, okay?" Nash nodded. Nash trained by herself using a dummy for a while, she used a new wooden sword. She hit the dummies without much strength because of the things going through her mind.

While hitting the dummies, she spotted a silhouette of someone watching her from the seats and looked up.

'Father?'

"Nash!" She turned around to see Aidan approaching her. She looked back to see whether her father was still there, but he was gone.

'That's father. I'm sure of it.'

"Are you alright?" Aidan asked. Nash pulls her hood down and glances at him.

"Yes. I'm fine already. I just thought I spotted something in the trees." Aidan patted her head.

"No need to explain. Come, let's have a duel"

Nash had no choice but to duke it out with him. They had a nice duel with a lot of laughter in between. Making Nash feel better than when she was alone with a dummy.