Avryn walked to the academy courtyard a new man. He had a pensive expression to his face, trying to make sense if what had just happened to him moments ago were real or not. News of his case reached to the Academy. Aldric was in the middle of announcing the squads for the upcoming year for the freshmen.

  He glanced at Avryn and smiled.

  “Ah, the man of the hour,” he thought to himself.

  The next squad had been announced: Avryn Starbright, Rinna Ingvertsen, Valoche and Tvira Wildermann comprised it. Avryn was announced as their leader. The four came up to the stage to a combination of cheers and murmurs. Rinna mustered everything in her being not to react.

  She was furious, and why wouldn’t she? She wondered if this was even a joke on Aldric’s part. She had trained at the Academy at a young age. She had been more prepared than Avryn at this moment. Now, the murderer of Sir Iver had been chosen to lead what should’ve been her own squad.

  Avryn was surprised at this more than anyone. He eyed at the headmaster who only returned a warm smile. The ceremony concluded a few minutes after. The newly formed squads are escorted to their official dorms on the ground floor of the Academy’s west wing.

  Avryn reunited with Valoche and Tvira, now as squad mates. They would spend the next four years together in training. If all goes to plan, they would head to the front lines afterwards. Rinna was noticeably absent. Avryn was worried.

  Tvira relayed to him that she saw her going after the headmaster. They made it to the headmaster’s quarters with some help from a senior. Words were exchanged within that room. Avryn volunteered to go in there by himself. He assured that hopefully it would not take too long. Valoche wished him luck.

  He entered the room as Rinna was making her case to Aldric.

  “I have been training here since I was eight, I am ready for this,” she argued.

  “Clearly not, if you’re acting that way, Ms. Ingvertsen,”

  Aldric welcomed Avryn in as he entered. Rinna turned towards the man and pointed her weapon at him.

  “Fine, then I shall prove it right now,” she eyed Aldrric.

  Avryn tried his best to calm her down. He stated all this hostility was unnecessary. Rinna hatched a scheme in her head,

  “You’re the fighting type, are you not? How about you wager the leadership spot in a duel,”she suggested, turning the headmaster to emphasize her point.

  “Trust me, I’d offer you it without the hassle, but headmaster here,” he gestured to Aldric. “He’s the type whose decisions are final.”

  Rinna swung her halberd and was met with the gunblade’s edge. The headmaster sighed, stood up, and warned the two of them,

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “If you want this fight so bad, Ms. Ingvertsen, do it outside my office,” he crossed his arms.

  “Gladly,” she replied.

  She turned and give a kick to Avryn’s gut. He flew through the door and back outside. Valoche and Tvira were looking down at him, with surprise on their faces. Rinna charged towards him.

  Avryn regained his footing and blocked her attack, holding his ground.

  “Please, I really don’t want to fight you,” he tried getting to her.

  Rinna swept his legs with the halberd’s shaft. She looked to stab him with the halberd’s spike. He rolled away and got back up. Avryn sighed. He knew what to do. Valoche looked to stop the two of them but Tvira held him back. They exchanged one look and the man reluctantly looked on.

  Avryn stayed on the defensive end for the duel. He weathered the early storm of Rinna’s offense.

  “Fight back, damn you!” She screamed.

  Avryn stood defiant, only fighting back with words. He told her he understood what she was going through but this was not how to handle that. She continued with her onslaught of attacks all the same.

  “What do you know? Judging from how you are, you never lost anyone,” she spat venomous words at him.

  Avryn blocked the last blow and got leverage on her weapon.

  “No. I didn’t,” His tone deepened. “But from how you and your mother reacted from his death, I know he meant a lot to you.”

  They both struggled to break the stalemate. Sweat ran from both their brows. Rinna hit him with a knee to the gut. Avryn stood there and just took it. It surprised everyone. He breathed deep, a small amount of blood ran out from his lips. He chose not to counter, still. His grip tigthened around her halberd, still refusing to let go.

  “I would kill to have that kind of connection to someone, you know,” He gritted his teeth, pain started to set in.

  Lights in his eyes faded away. He fell to the ground clutching his gut. Rinna stood there, trying to make sense of what just transpired. Valoche had Avryn lean on the wall while Tvira tended to him. Aldric came up to them.

  “Right, did you finally let all that anger out?” he scolded her.

  He reminded her of the conclusion of the trial. It was no trick of the mind that Hrenvar himself would intervene. He chose Avryn as leader simply for the sake of choosing one. He did not do it out of spite of her. He trusted the process and pleaded her to do the same. His last request was for her to bury the hatchet with Avryn. He returned to his office, and closed the door.

  Avryn woke up on soft fabric, realizing it was a bed. He was surprised seeing Tvira so close to him as he opened his eyes. He let out an audible gasp, much to her amusement.

  “Well, well, I say you took that beating pretty good,” she teased him.

  “Did Rinna get in trouble?” he asked her.

  She let out a chuckle upon hearing that. She simply pointed out towards her direction. Avryn thanked her as he sauntered over. He went over to Rinna’s part of their dorm room. She hung her head down. The air around her was silent.

  Avryn greeted her. She snapped up to look. Their eyes met for the first time since the battle. She looked back down quickly. Her body language expressed she was uneasy. She was clutching onto her own arms.

  He looked around and grabbed a nearby chair to sit right near her.

  “You two must have been really close, huh?” He asked.

  She looked back up. Confusion was on her face.

  “This Iver guy,” He added.

  She nodded in response.

  “A father figure?”

  Her eyes widened from that. His guess was right on the spot.

  “How did you know?” Her voice was shaking.

  Avryn leaned back, and recalled memories from his early life. He told her about having someone similar. His father figure in life tried setting him on the right path. Gave him the tools needed to survive in this world. Even supported his decision in leaving.

  “I owe my life to that man, perhaps you felt the same about mister Iver,” He sympathized.

  “He…trained me too. He visited the Academy to see me a lot,” she reminisced.

  “Wait, you trained in the Academy? But you’re a freshman like us?” Avryn leaned forward, eager for her response.

  Rinna was caught surprise by how friendly Avryn was. She tried to have him killed today, and he went on like none of that happened. She relented, and explained to Avryn her circumstance. She trained at the early age of eight years old. It was to follow the footsteps of her parents.

  Avryn hung onto every word of her story. He was enchanted by it. It was his turn to speak now,

  “I just want to put at least most of these bad things behind us,” Avryn pleaded to her. “A squad with no trust can never succeed. We don’t have to like each other, just have enough trust to work together, y’know?”

  Rinna nodded her head,

  “Yeah.”

  “And since you’re technically the senior among us, I’d love to learn from you, if you let me,” he requested.

  She chuckled from that, feeling more at ease now. Like a weight was lifted off from her.

  “Sure,” she replied.

  “I’m, uh, Avryn Starbright by the way,” he formally re-introduced himself, and offered his hand to her.

  “Rinna Ingvertsen,” she played along and shook it.

  “Great,” He smiled. “Classes should start tomorrow, so we’d best get some sleep tonight.”

  “On that, I can agree,”

  They finished up and said their goodnights. Avryn laid back onto his new bed. He closed his eyes and was laying there for a few minutes. He opened them and sighed,

  “Great, I can’t sleep for some reason.”

  He decided to sneak off for some training and would come to regret that decision tomorrow morning.