Knight (30 page)

Chapter Thirty ♣ Roaring Tiger
 

H
er heart hammered in her chest as she took long, slow steps into the familiar arena. She fought here before against Courtney, but it suddenly felt very large suddenly. Its walls looked high and everything seemed so . . . distant.

Valeriana eyed her opponent who was standing with the same smile she last saw on him that day he challenged her. He held a lance over his shoulder, its length probably matching his own height. It consisted of a very long shaft and a blade on the end that resemble the pincers of a crab. It was painted red with an elaborate design on both the shaft and the blade, as if custom-made solely for its user. It looked somewhat heavy despite its thin frame. She didn't know how he carried it like that as if it didn't weigh anything at all, but one fact she was sure of was that she was never going to be able to wield a weapon like it. Anyhow, it suited him. It fitted his large, muscular frame.

He nodded towards her, his grin getting wider. “Give me a good time, will you? I was really bored these past days from the lack of a worthy opponent. Not to mention I had to go through that horrible probation, so you better give me what I want—if not more.”

Trying to hide her anxiety, Valeriana drew her weapon and flashed him a small grin of her own. “Exactly how did you even behave?”

“Nah, even though I hate it, I can control myself if I like it. I just don't like doing it most of the time.

“Oh, really.”

“Anyway,” he replied. “Be reminded that I'm looking for a fight worth winning. Lord Corvan gave me quite a past time. He's one of the very few that forced me to use my strongest cards, but in the end, he's just like the many others I fought. I always wonder when the time will come when I will face someone who's worthy of tasting my real power . . . but you don't have to worry, since you're weak I won't use it on you.”

“Cocky jerk.” She spat. “I may be a human, but I'm not weak.”

“Really? I wonder. You can prove me wrong in our fight. It's not usually a hobby of mine to hurt a woman, so you're lucky.”

“Underestimate me and it's your loss. Besides, if you're going to have that kind of attitude, you shouldn't have challenged me at all. Looks like the probation did not teach you any lesson at all.”

He shrugged, raking his hands through his midnight blue hair. It had a dark tone, somewhat like the color of a midnight sky decorated with stars—the color of the galaxy. It might look like a shade of black at first, but its color became more evident under the light of the sun. His electric blue eyes matched his hair perfectly.

“Let's shut our mouths,” Zion said. “And let our weapons do the talking.”

Valeriana frowned at his self-centered attitude, but tightened her grip around the hilt of her weapon nonetheless.

“I'm gonna—” She stopped short.

The girl made a mental note to teach him his place—but she doubted that would be easy. Right. More fight, less talk. If she tried saying something that was way over her head, then she would probably be pressured in doing something she couldn't do. She would not take risks.

At least, for now,
keep your damn mouth shut, Valeriana.

“The fight will start when the light signal has been launched.” Said a ceremonious voice.

Lord Aeron raised his hand and pointed it to the sky, letting it linger in the air for a good few seconds before a ball of light shot out from his palms and illuminated the whole area with an eerie glow.

Valeriana circled Zion. She began to size out the place she would be fighting in the next few moments and examined the things that would give her the advantage. Valeriana knew she possessed the ability to win, she just had to play her cards right.

While the girl acted all cautious and wary of her opponent, Zion stood there casually in the same position he was in before the fight even started. He showed no signs of movements or interest in doing anything at all.

Seraphina's voice suddenly echoed inside her mind.
'Get the flow of the battle in your favor by making sure you fight in your rhythm. Do not let Zion control the fight. You have to make the first move. Land the first strike.'

Zion eyed Valeriana mockingly, raising his brows as if urging her to make her move. The girl didn't think twice and dove forward, making sure her guards were properly put up.

With a swift clang, their weapons crossed. Zion moved much faster than she would've imagined. He was like a swift blur. Heck, she didn't even realize he moved! She was a little startled at first, but tried to make up for it by regaining her composure quickly.

“Is that seriously the best you can do?”

“Oh, shut it.”

“You'll be disappointing me then.” He told her.             

“Then you shouldn't have challenged me, idiot.” She spat at him before briefly withdrawing. The girl then made a quick barrage of attacks. Zion blocked all of them effortlessly as if he was only fighting a child. It frustrated Valeriana to no end.

The way he held that lance actually impressed her. The girl heard from Lady Seraphina that a lance was heavy since it was used by mounted knights on their horses. It was unheard of to use it in hand-to-hand combat. Lancers usually bore swords when combating, but Zion didn't. He was planning to use it as his weapon—which was not commonly done.

She watched as he gracefully twirled the object between his hands, letting it circle his body to ward off her attacks.

“Valeriana!” Tamara screamed. “Win this fight! If you don't, I'll kill you myself! I'm seriously not kidding! I'm gambling something important here!”

Valeriana's expression creased with annoyance. “I don't want to be pressured by a stupid bet.” She grumbled.

With a fast hit, he struck. His lance clashed strongly against Valeriana's sword that the force sent her shaking to her very toes, and although her hands trembled from the strong impact, she clung tenaciously to her weapon. Zion was taken aback by her determination, but smiled nonetheless. Valeriana had been pushed back by the strength behind Zion's strike, but she had managed to plant her feet to the ground and prevented herself from falling over.

She thought back and recalled the lady knight's words.
'Whatever happens, do not ever let go of your sword. If you do that, it's all over. Do you understand?'

Seraphina's advices were the only things she could cling to at times like this.

“I take back what I said.” He told her. “You're interesting.”

“How many times did I hear that already?”

“I can't exactly say it's a lie, so it's the truth.” He said with a smirk.

“That's the lamest line I've ever heard.” She said, rolling her eyes.

“Valeriana! Do your best!” She heard Keelan cheer. “I want to eat your cooking again!”

Valeriana frowned, feeling her mood worsening. “Damn. Everybody wants me to win for something stupid. I don't really understand these people.”

The fight continued and the arena was filled with the sound of the duelists' clashing weapons. There was a small chatter among the audience while Lord Aeron, Lady Seraphina, and Headmaster Kylon watched everything unfold silently.

“Hm.” Lord Aeron hummed. “I may not be an expert swordsman, but I can see that Valeriana improved a great deal—far better than anyone and even I would expect. Very intriguing.”

“What exactly did you teach her, Lady Seraphina?” The Headmaster asked. “For someone to be able to move that way in such a short amount of time . . . I wouldn't believe that she just started holding the sword a few days ago.”

“That's a question which answer I seek.” She said. “I made her do advanced exercises to see how she would fare. I know rushing was a bad idea, but the priority was to let her learn as much as possible in the short amount of time given. I never actually thought she would improve so fast.”

“So the girl has a natural talent when wielding a sword. I wonder what else she can do?” Lord Aeron thoughtfully stated.

Clang.

Valeriana skillfully brought her sword to meet Zion's lance and felt weight of the force being pressed down on her. She could tell that he wasn't being serious about this fight though. If he was, then Valeriana might've already been knocked down.

Clang.

She knew she could do only one thing—make him fight her back seriously and show him that she was capable of winning.

A swift cut from the right sent her body flying to the opposite direction. She fell down painfully on the ground and rolled a few feet away from where she originally was. The impact her body made as she landed made her gasp. She was somewhat nervous when she thought about the sword falling out of her grasp, so she clenched her already fisted hands and when she felt a hard object between her fingers, she managed to sigh with relief.

“What the—” Elfre stopped in the midst of her sentence, her jaws slacked open. “She's still holding that goddamned sword!”

Corvan felt his eyes widening at this. “That's . . . insane.”

No matter how disheveled Valeriana appeared, the glint of defiance and determination in her eyes never ceased to glow.

“Valeriana . . .” Seraphina muttered. “What in the world . . .”

Valeriana buried the sword's blade on the ground and used it to help herself back on her feet. She clung to it for support and realized how exhausted she was. The girl exerted her best efforts through and through, but no matter how good she fared for the first few minutes, she still didn't have enough stamina to last long.

With a slightly clumsy move, she held her sword between her hands properly and got into stance. She eyed her opponent daringly, breaths coming out from her mouth in short puffs. Her hands hurt a lot. Her limbs and some bruising somewhere on her body started to hurt as well.

Zion stared at his opponent. He didn't particularly like hurting women, so he admitted that he was holding back. However, he was surprised when he found himself gradually putting in more effort while the fight lasted. Time seemed to make the girl even stronger. The more he fought, the more he felt like she was becoming a harder opponent.

For some reason, he had a foreboding feeling eating away at his guts. There was an unrecognizable emotion that swelled from inside him. This girl . . . she was weak at first, but now, he couldn't find himself thinking that way when she attacked him over and over again.

He managed to push her back for the third time. No matter how the events turned, she never allowed her hands to lose her sword.

Zion stared down at her and eyed her shaky grip on the sword. The continuous impacts that would've normally knocked a sword from someone's hand brought a great deal of damage on Valeriana. She didn't want to let the weapon go, so she was absorbing a lot of injuries. The skin of her hands was tinged pink, and for a moment he thought he saw a trickle of blood drip from the hilt of her sword. He brushed away the thought and stared at the girl before him.

She was panting heavily, sweat sliding down her face. Valeriana caught Zion's look at her and saw that he was no longer smiling. He had on a pretty serious look on his face, one which she didn't expect to see from the likes of his personality.

Even so, despite the pain throbbing from her hands, she tirelessly continued attacking him. She was gritting her teeth, trying hard not to mind the pain. Fighting Zion never proved to be easy from the start. Their continuous exchange of blows was slowly tiring her out, but lethargy was a luxury she could not afford.

“Are you really this serious about proving your worth?” Zion asked, feeling his weapon vibrate as Valeriana struck her sword against his lance. “Going this far? You don't have to feel the need to satisfy other people. They don't care about you one bit.”

“I'm not doing this for other people! I'm doing this for myself!” She continued. “Do you think I like being in this situation?”

He went silent for a few moments. “Then I'll feel bad if I don't fight you seriously, seeing how much effort you're putting in this.”

“For someone like me,” she paused, a small spark escaping from the clash of their blades. “All I want is for people to see what someone like me can do. I might've been a nobody in somebody else's world, but that doesn't make me any less than what everyone is. You don't understand anything.”