Chapter 7

Hizu opened his eyes.

He was awake. He simply didn't need to. It's just that with his eyes closed, it's much easier to focus on his thoughts. In all the time he'd been in this place, he hadn't been able to get his memories straight. Things might have been a lot easier if instead of fog, there was just nothing there. Alas, however, Hizu had to put up with the fact that when he saw anything or situation, he had a feeling of deja vu, and a memory appeared at the edge of his consciousness. A memory that Hizu could not focus on or even make sense of. At first it was even annoying, it seemed that just a little more and Hizu could distinguish the information hidden there, but every time it did not happen.

Now Hizu tried to ignore it and concentrate on the present. That was why Hizu did not even try to find out where he got such skills and experienc, knowledge concerning these or those moments, and how in general he had a feeling that the current level was only a small part of real power. He just used them. It's so much easier that way. And even the recent fear associated with himself almost immediately overcame and made it fade away.

There was the sound of a door opening, which took Hizu out of the stream of thought. Slowly and intermittently hissing, Rachel emerged from the room. Wrinkling at every movement, the girl only briefly glanced in the direction of her bodyguard, though even in that fleeting glance it was not difficult to understand the mood of regular, which could be mildly described as "displeasure". However, Rachel said nothing, but turned around and leaned against the wall and walked down the corridor in the direction of the training ground. Hizu, however, did not follow, but went instead in the opposite direction.

Rachel... All Hizu could say with certainty was that the girl really needed protection. She was weak, and it was unlikely to be fixed by training in a reasonable amount of time. On the other hand, he had already decided to stay on the team with Rachel, though not that he cared at all about who to climb with, and neither did Hizu care about the climb at all: he didn't believe Headon's words about granting a wish. Just if Rachel really is the key to awakening memories, fine; if not, Hizu has nothing to lose.

In his thoughts, Hizu didn't notice how he reached the canteen. When he approached the counter, he looked at the menu for a while, and then chose simple sandwiches and a bottle of water to take with him. Not for himself. From a book recommended sort of as a joke by Yu Han Sung, when the bodyguard was looking at the shelf with books, showing attention helps build relationships and one example was advice to bring food. If Hizu is really going to climb up, it's a good idea to have a good relationship between him and Rachel. That would be more effective.

Regarding Androssi, on the other hand... the situation was diagonally opposite with Rachel. The princess is strong and extremely perceptive. At first glance she behaved in a friendly and even childlike manner, but in her gaze he constantly read mockery, while seemingly innocent conversations allowed her to draw out information. A dangerous and unreliable element and useful at the same time.

Speaking of which. Hizu reached the training ground and walked into it. Androssi was already standing in the center, yawning lazily. Also there was other regulars, Rachel was here, sitting on a bench that was extending out of the wall. Yuga was sitting next to the blonde, just dangling his feet, but Hizu frowned at the sight of the chameleon; there was too much black fog of fear hanging around this green-skinned guy.

Hizu approached the bench and held out some food to Rachel.

"Thank you," she thanked him in a husky voice after a short pause, taking the food. Nodding, the bodyguard headed to the center of the training ground, where Androssi was already waiting for him. She was observing the situation with some curiosity.

"It is pretty impolite to keep a girl waiting," Androssi said with a grin instead of a normal greeting.

"The officer is still not here," Hizu only shrugged, but as soon he said so the door opened and Hax, Quant and Lero Ro came into the room. Blitz put his hands on the back of his head and his face literally shone with contentment. Lero Ro was walking behind, on the contrary, was constantly frowning. What Hax was thinking was impossible to understand in view of the mask covering her face.

After the Officers took their positions near Rachel and Juga, Hax spoke:

"Let's not drag it out. The rules are simple: no extraneous weapons. Just your skills and shinsu. The fight goes on until someone passes out or accepts defeat." The officer tilts her head. "Try not to kill each other."

A wave from Hax signaled the start of the duel.

Like the previous time, Androssi decided to take the initiative in her own hands. However, now she did not have to limit her power. Hizu understood that, just as he was aware of his chances in a forceful confrontation with the Princess, and so he dodged the first blow to the side, immediately after which he shifted to the inconvenient side for Androssi, getting the necessary moments to activate the technique.

Hizu's silhouette floated as if the guy were under water. That didn't faze the Princess much, and she continued her attack, even though it was harder to focus on the target now. The bodyguard frowned, at the same time letting Androssi's fist past his head in a fluid motion. Unfortunately, the Princess was already familiar with Blur, as Hizu had used it in the very first test, and so her attacks came much closer than he wanted.

This might sound strange, but Hizu simply didn't know how to fight. To attack without the intention of killing his opponent. He realized this only now, when all the ideas given by his mind came down to blows to the neck, templeы, or chest, in the heart area. In previous sparring session the guy simply didn't put any force into the punches and therefore didn't think much about it, it was enough to mark "death blow" there. And at the end, Hizu just took advantage of the Princess' dress weakness, but in retrospect, Hizu remembered that he had to restrain his urge to deliver the finishing blow.

"Hey-hey, Dewberry, you'll never impress a girl like that," Androssi's fist came dangerously close to the boy's chin." Especially not someone like me.

Hizu sighed mentally. He hadn't been able to think of anything sensible to say in the intervening time, and the only idea that made any sense at all was to try to imagine that the vital targets that needed to be hit were anywhere but where they were actually located.

Androssi noticed the change in his stance immediately, but she didn't ease up on the pressure for a moment, and she almost paid the price for it. As the Princess swung for another strike, she was surprised to find a shinsu ball forming in Hizu's palm. She barely managed to dodge the beam, and as a result only a small part of her hair, not her forehead, was affected. This was something he had never shown on a test, which took the girl by surprise. Despite of Hizu knowledge of a similar technique based on a different energy, he had only recently been able to implement it with shinsu.

"Hey! How dare you aim at a girl's face!" Princess was sincerely indignant. "Are you out of your mind?!"

Hizu ignored Androssi's shouts and used the moment to break the distance, then immediately began to create a new Baang. This time, however, the shot was aimed not at her head, but at her left leg, forcing Princess to shift to the right, where Hizu had already swung to strike with his leg.

The Princess had no trouble blocking the attack, bu she almost immediately had to bounce back from another beam. This start to annoy the girl a little. Had Androssi been able to use her inventory, she would have activated the lapel pins, which were actually compressed shield discs, and simply covered herself from the beams with them. Not that the Princess thought the shots could really hurt her much, but getting them was hardly pleasant either.

They exchanged a few more blows. Hizu chirped unhappily when one of his attacks with the edge of his palm flew to meet the Princess's neck, but the girl evaded the attack without much trouble. But the following beam of shinsu forced her to break the distance again.

"Fight normally, Dewberry!" said the girl, once again making a dash for the Hizu. To her small surprise, he too ran towards Androssi. "That's better! Now let me punish you for aiming at my face!"

When they were literally one step away, the princess stopped. Just for a moment, but because of that, Hizu's fist fell just short of Androssi's face (again! what nerve!) while the Princess sadistically kicked Hizu in the side. At the same moment, however, the girl's shoulder burned with pain. It was nothing serious, despite Hizu's good amount shinsu it tended to come to an end and his beam was weaker.

But even so, the look on Androssi's face didn't bode well, for far more than the girl herself, her pride was hurt. Hizu had not yet had time to rise, but the Princess was already close by, swinging her leg.

"Take the punishment for your sins, Dewberry!" Hizu managed to roll away from the girl's blow, which shattered the concrete floor of the court, but the next attack he had to block, and there was a crunch of broken bones and the guy himself flew away for a good couple of meters. As soon as he landed he shouted, ignoring the pain in his broken limb:

"I admit my defeat," Hizu wrinkled as he began to rise, and Androssi came up to him and held out her hand to help him. As soon as the boy was on his feet, the Princess pulled him closer, and then whispered in a serious tone:

"Explain why you held back," and then shouted sharply with feigned amusement, "I'll take Hizu to the doctor!"

"Okay," Hax shook her head and replied. She didn't seem too happy about the fight, but she didn't say anything about it out loud.

The last thing Hizu heard before he and Androssi left the training grounds was Lero Ro giving Rachel and Juga a task, and also grudgingly starting to argue about something with Quant. It seems it was about preparing a zone for the Exam, the bodyguard didn't heard too much.

He and the Princess walked in silence for the some time, and Hizuused this time to understand a little more about the nature of the injury. After a cursory examinatio, a closed fracture on the inner side of the forearm was evident. The bone was sticking out slightly from under the skin, but the tissue was not torn and therefore there was no blood on the outside. It wasn't pleasant, it would have been better to have an open fracture, though Hizu didn't understand why.

"I know I'm dazzling when I fight, but that's no reason to hold back," Androssi finally spoke, "You acted and fought very differently in the other sparring session. It wasn't because of that little trick with the baangs, that's for sure."

"I can't fight," Hizu said, taking a few seconds to choose his answer.

"What?" The princess looked questioningly at the bodyguard with a tilt of her head." And in the first test, you were just waving your arms, you mean? That garbage really wasn't much different from insects so that could be enough for them, but still.

"I kill. Not fight," Hizu answered without much doubt. At that, Androssi stopped. She blinked twice. And then laughed out loud.

"Ha-ha-ha, God, Ha-ha-ha," Hizu looked up questioningly, and noticing that, the Princess clarified. "I know what you mean, ha ha ha, but it just sounded so cringe. Ha-ha..."

After laughing it off, Androssi exhaled and they continued walking. Another silence didn't last long.

"Okay. I mostly get the situation, but you know..." The Princess's tone become cold. "Next time, fight with me to the best of your ability, without all this nonsense. I'm not a pathetic wimp."

"Got it," Hisu nodded, taking note of the girl's words. If she understands the risks involved and is confident in her abilities, well, in that case, as long as there is no rule restricting the killing of regulars on the floor or the test, Hizu is ready to try to kill Androssi in subsequent sparring.

"Well, as long as we understand each other, that's the end of the conflict," the Princess returned her usual sneering expression with a clap of her hands." I'll figure out what kind of compensation I can get from you later.

They didn't say a word for the rest of the journey. Leaving Hizu with the local medic, the princess brushed aside the offered help and left, saying something about updating her closet.