Dimas pulls his head above the water, gasping for air.
[Just in time…]
He was sure a second longer underwater would've killed him. With his lungs satiated, Dimas takes a look around. In front of him was an ocean, the dark waters slowly attempting to pull him under. Behind him was a town with a pier. The pier was full of people. All of them were happy and talking to each other, oblivious to the lone boy in the distance.
Suddenly, a deafening boom comes from above. A menacing jet-black cloud envelopes the sky in an instant. The waves begin to thrash Dimas back and forth, threatening to pull him further away from the pier.
Dimas gets up as soon as his eyes open. The dream is nothing more than a faint echo which he pushes away from his thoughts. He goes to the sink to brush his teeth and puts on his shoes before exiting the room. Dimas walks past Lilee's room without letting her know that he was on his way to train.
He steps out into the fresh morning air, he lets it fill his lungs. The stale and dusty air in the inn is part of the reason Dimas tries to spend as little time inside as possible.
No one is up and about this early, even the merchants wouldn't start setting up for another hour. A perfect time for anyone who wanted to avoid contact with others to move around. Dimas had a similar schedule back on Earth. Leaving before anyone in the orphanage wakes up and returns when they were all asleep. There was a curfew but no one really bothered to check in on Dimas. He once camped out in the mountains for a month and nobody noticed. Probably would've kept it up if it hadn't been discovered by some hormonal teens that began using it as a 'romantic' spot.
"Good morning." Lilee says to Dimas. She got up earlier than usual to avoid having Dimas leave without her like he's done a couple times before already.
Dimas can tell she's still tired from yesterday's training. There's small bags underneath her eyes, her movements are sluggish, and every step appears to cause her some discomfort.
For a moment, Dimas considers to do some light training for Lilee's sake. That is, until he reminds himself how Lilee could be helping Alastor. He returns to his usual cold self, doesn't return Lilee's greeting, and starts walking to the training area.
"Hey!" The duo pause their training and turn around to see a boy around Dimas's age. The boy has straight dirty-blonde hair that reaches his shoulders. "You're Dimas, right? My name's Scott. It's nice to meet you."
Scott offers a handshake but Dimas keeps his hands to his side.
"What do you want?" Dimas asks.
The rejected handshake doesn't affect Scott's upbeat attitude.
"I wanted to meet you, you left quite an impression on everyone during the selection."
"So, you're in the tournament?"
"Yeah, we-" Scott points over his shoulder to his team. They stand a few feet back, uninterested in joining the conversation. "-just got back from submitting our goat horn. Rumor has it, you were the first team to pass the tasks."
"If you're here to gossip, I'm not interested."
"Heh, that's not why I'm here. I just wanted to meet the guy who claims he can take on Alastor. No one really ever believes they can match Alastor, let alone say it aloud."
"Why even bother competing then?"
"To get as close as they can to Alastor. That's what almost everybody aims for now these days. Which is why a lot of the other teams think you two are delusional." Scott grins. "I don't think that. If anything, I'm hoping we'll get to fight each other. To see if your skill matches your beliefs."
Dimas has been around fighters for most of his life. So much so that he can get a sense on how formidable his opponents can be when looking them in the eyes. And looking into Scott's tells Dimas that he shouldn't underestimate Scott for a single moment.
"If we do end up fighting, don't hold back." Dimas says.
It was the closest thing to a 'Good luck' from Dimas.
"Same to you." Scott replies.
Both fighters eagerly look forward to facing each other.
"What's with the wicked scar?" A boy from Scott's team abruptly asks Lilee.
"That's… personal." Lilee says. She doesn't like all the attention being shifted to her.
"Why not wear a mask?" One of the girls from Scott's team asks.
"Because I don't need one." Lilee answers politely, although she didn't appreciate the suggestion.
"Does it still hurt?" The first boy from before asks again.
Dimas doesn't see the questions ending any time soon. He decides to put a stop to it.
"We're going to continue our training." Dimas says.
Scott nods to his team and they begin walking away. Before disappearing over the hill Scott gives Dimas some advice.
"There's another fighter you should be ready for. His name's Sebastian. I've heard stories that he's able to win fights with a single punch."
[So can I technically.]
"Thanks for that." Lilee says.
"For what?" Dimas genuinely has no clue to what she's talking about.
"Stopping the questions. I don't think they were going to let up. Even after I said it was private."
"If you wanted them to shut up, you should've just told them."
"It's not an easy topic. I didn't even tell my parents the whole story until a few days later."
[You told me.]
Lilee continues. "It's kind of like your blanket bracelet, I'm sure you don't tell everyone who asks."
"Don't call it that." Dimas tugs at his blanket bracelet. "And I get it, it's a sensitive issue."
Dimas didn't know Lilee had revealed an intimate detail of her past with him. He doesn't know how to feel about this revelation.
"Are you and Scott friends now?" Lilee jumps to another topic quickly. She probably wants to put the uncomfortable experience behind her. "That should be a dramatic fight."