***Kaius's POV***
Days went by in the blink of an eye. Platina and I were getting quite comfortable around each other. Sure, we still argued over the tiniest thing, made sarcastic remarks, teased and overall tried to one-up the other, but in the end, I could feel that she respected me, and so did I. I could even say that our days together were… fun. Before she came here, beating Rilche in a duel and studying magic were my only form of entertainment, but now, I felt like I hadn't really lived before she came. This must be what having a friend (I still shuddered at that word) felt like. I began to think of her less as a familiar and more as someone I could trust.
Soon, the day of the performance assessment came. Platina was eager for it. Too eager, in fact. It was like she actually liked fighting or something; and I wouldn't be surprised if that was true, that girl had a violent tendency most of the time and I had numerous bruises from our training to prove it. Still, I couldn't helped but think her excitement was contagious. I was actually looking forward to the test myself, considering that I was much more confident in our abilities than before. A week prior, I had perfected how to unseal Platina's power and she assured me that as long as I could do that during the assessment, victory shall be ensured. Although I was sure Platina could beat our opponents into submission with her sword alone. That's right, people. The self-proclaimed warlock Platina was actually deadly with a sword. Who knew? I was pretty confused when she asked (no, threatened) me to buy her a sword – a claymore almost as tall as her (although not as heavy as it looked due to the extra money I had to cough up to pay for a custom one, Platina owed me). From several combat training session, I learned three very important things: 1. Never comment about how short she looked compare to that sword; 2. Never take her sweets when the sword was nearby; and 3. Never underestimate the supposedly light-weight property of the sword, it feels very heavy when you were clobbered on the head with the flat side.
"READY TO LOSE, LOSERS?!" Rilche's obnoxious voice almost made me go deaf as he half-yelled into my ears. Judging from the look of irritation on Platina's face, her ears didn't escape the damage either.
"Be quiet, Rilche! I'm about to explain the rules!" Professor Clea glared at him with her stern look and Rilche snapped his mouth shut, afraid to get on her bad side. Once the annoying guy settled down, the prof cleared her throat before speaking in a commanding voice.
"Welcome to the annual Performance Assessment. This is the opportunity for many of you to show us the results of your training and the strength of your familiars. The assessment focuses on combat abilities, meaning you will have to duel with an opponent each round. The teachers have randomly assigned each of you to an opponent in the first round, and you will have to keep winning to earn the top marks and increase your rank, similar to how a dueling tournament often goes."
Next to me, I could see Platina's eyes gleaming with delight and a sparkle of excitement. It seemed like the prospect of beating down all our opponent to become the champion had made her day. I tried to find my name on the large table hanging above the crowd. My first match was with someone named "Machoe Guy." Seriously? There was someone with such a ridiculous name in my grade?
Since my match was scheduled in the middle, we were free to either stay and watch the other matches or do anything we wanted. I was planning to observe the other students, but Platina pulled me to a secluded corner of the school instead.
"W-What is it?" I was a little nervous, being alone with her in this situation and have her blood-red eyes staring intently at me. I've noticed moments in which my heart sort of make a weird twitch when she touched me or smiled at me, and I'd attributed that feeling to what having a friend would feel like. I didn't really know what to expect since I've never had a friend before, so Platina was pretty much the benchmark for me. I was starting to feel a little comfortable, being stared at like that.
"Kaius," she started. My heart skipped a beat at hearing her clear voice calling my name. Weird, my heart never beat this fast before just by having my name called. Maybe it was out of fear? She often called my name in a threatening voice before beating me up for whatever offense I've done to her (most often involved her desserts).
"I just want to make sure that you are ready for this tournament before we start our first match," she continued, completely oblivious to my current confusion.
"Of course I'm ready. Why do you think I did all that training with you?"
She peered at me with a searching look, as if trying to judge my reaction before replying, "It's good that you're prepared."
"Jeez, was that all you called me out here for?"
"No, you idiot, that was just the preliminary stuffs we need to get over. Now I'm going to tell you why we're here."
"Then get on with it," I huffed when she called me 'idiot,' though I know she didn't mean any offense by it. Calling me an idiot had almost becoming something exclusive to her, almost like a term of endearment (though not one I was satisfied with).
"Well, since the exam was basically all about beating your opponents to a pulp, I feel that we should lay down some groundwork now. Specifically, I want you to know that I take battles very seriously, and sometimes I may not know how to hold back. When that happens, I want you to make sure I don't do something drastic," she spoke with a serious expression.
"Something drastic? Like what?"
"Like mortally injure someone or their familiar," she answered without skipping a beat, as if she was expecting me to ask. I didn't know how to react to that, especially when she had on such a piercing look. I gulped before finding the will to speak.
"I will."
She smiled at me in a way that made my heart quickened. "Thank you."
"Y-You're welcome. Now let's go see the matches!" I replied too quickly and turned to leave, but her hand grabbed my shoulder.