It was humid. The hot air exhaled by the blazing sun was felt by everyone in the small training ground, but they were too distracted by the even more intense battle in front of them to notice the heat that seared their skin.The two crossed blades. Ria was the first to retract, knowing that she couldn't outdo Amalia in terms of strength. She quickly followed it with a twist, sending a kick to her opponent's side. Amalia took a step back while the other seek this opportunity to whirl her wooden blade in her direction.Despite the blunt blade, the others in their seat held their breath in anticipation as the edge barely sliced past their commander's head. Amalia ducked this time instead of creating a gap for another attack and took advantage of the opening to jab the hilt of her sword into Ria's abdomen.She cannot let the flow of the fight be riddled in her opponent's hands. The fourth year's attacks were whimsical. Most often, Amalia was cornered by surprise and its 'unpredictableness'. But after letting it out long, she began seeing patterns under the disguise.Ria's style was advantageous in the early stages, but it becomes easy to predict when experienced for too long. But, of course, it was a league of its own. Many would still find it hard to fight against her. Usually, people would tire out before they'll be able to see through her.No words were traded, not even among the spectators. At first, it was merely light sparring, but then, sparks grew when their blades met. The fire in their eyes blazed with intensity, neither wanted to back down. The almighty commander and the unrestrained trickster.It was a duel of pride.As Ria bounced on her feet to regain her standing, Amalia moved to the offensive. She knocked the sword away as she held the end of hers to Ria's throat."Your cheap tricks won't work on me."Finally, she was the first one to break the hard-pulled tension. Her other arm was behind the curve of her back with dignity and poise.The other Mir rankers sat there in awe and silence, letting it sink in first. Adeleine might not have been able to witness a spectacular show of spirit beasts and affinities, but this cross of blades still had her at the edge of her seat.A lone strand of hair fell over Amalia's eyes from her neat bun. She annoyedly glared at it as she withdrew her blade. Instead of combing it back, she untangled her hair tie before gathering it all back into a neat bun."Awww bummer!"Ria hopped on her feet after her brief standstill of defeat. Her face held a grin as she bounced on her way to the benches as if she still had more energy to spare. She took large gulps from her jug and splashed herself with the remaining before wiping her chin with her sleeve."Yooo, I didn't know you could hold up that long with her." Hayden greeted Ria and gestured toward her previous opponent. "You gotta teach meee!"The senior only cackled as she slapped his back. "Good luck with your training with her."Adeleine doesn't know how training goes in the Mir ranks, but it sure does look like it's nirvana. Hayden had tears welled up in the corner of his eyes."I didn't know there was a personal training ground for Mir," Adeleine commented in wonder and curiosity."Cool, right?" Hayden wiggled his brows with a proud smirk. "It was a wish from a previous Mir student.""If I get a million points, I'll make triple-layered chocolate cake unlimited forever!"Hayden snorted. "Hah! If you ever get a million points with that slacker butt of yours.""Look whose butt is talking! Someone with a dozen of late records couldn't be any better than me.""Better late than never, amirite?" The boy swiped his nose, smugly crossing his arms."Heeey, I never 'never' did anything. I always do it and I pass it on time too. What about you, huh? Bum-bum." Her tangerine eyes gleamed as she returned the smugness."Okay, but can someone enlighten me about the wish?" Adeleine interjected, switching between the two with eyes asking for answers. "It felt like I missed something important.""YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE WISH TOO?"Adeleine had to jump back when Ria was suddenly right in her face with her wide diamond eyes staring in disbelief.Adeleine backed away to a comfortable distance. "...yeeeah, apparently.""I mean, she's a Letherian. What do you expect, dude?" Hayden sarcastically raised his chipped eyebrow to their senior.When Adeleine felt like another bickering would spark from the comment, she cleared her throat, not entertaining anymore of their diverting-from-topic. "So?""Okay! Story time~ So—!""Basically, a wish is anything you want promised to you by the headmaster." Hayden replied, cheekily stealing away Ria's spotlight, which she protested with a sulk."Anything I want?"He grinned, snapping his finger towards her. "Yup, anything you want as long as it's 'provide-able' by the Saoir Royals. But of course, it's worth a million so constant duels are the most efficient way to gather them.""Oh, and! That's why we're holding this training session right now! With us being the sprinkles over the cupcake, the bounties for our head are suuuuper high. Or else, Amalia will be the one taking our heads. Talk about double dead!" Ria giggled."Such price is only the best for someone of my caliber, amirite?" Hayden added.A wish..."Can," she hesitated, treading on her words carefully like eggshells, "can the headmaster decline a wish?"The two of them looked at each other. "Hmmm, haven't heard it happen sooo, no?" Hayden answered with uncertainty and a shrug, offering the girl a forced smile to reassure her.Adeleine kept quiet as she pondered it over. Was this intentional? A million points for a wish...anything that she wants... But she only wanted answers—answers that he kept her from having.But if he did, will the questions stop? Will it be enough to indulge her curiosity? Or will it attract more like sharks smelling blood in the water?Surely, this system was designed for something... Either to nurture competitiveness among students for performance growth or to indulge one's amusement.Yeah, the latter seems more plausible for that slimy bastard. Adeleine was sure of it. And right now, she would actually consider becoming a jester participating in that show. It was like this school was his intended playground.This might just be the only way she could get him to speak, or force the words right out of his mouth."Hayden, come here," the Mir commander called.The young man jolted up from his seat and walked to the center of the stone-plated floor. Grass jutted out between the gaps of the tiles, signifying its wear, however, the stone retained no cracks from the years of use and sparring.Hayden stood there like a deer in headlights. His movements were too rigid for a warm-up.Amalia sighed, knowing this issue would be the case. "We'll have to change our coverage today. We'll practice your prowess over your affinity."By her whim, Hayden's tensed shoulders relaxed. It's safe to know he won't get a beating today. Meanwhile, Amalia felt offended by his behavior and frowned. She wanted to strike something so badly."I won't be teaching you about control." She propped her wooden sword over her shoulder, shifting her weight from one foot to another as she condescendingly looked down on him with her cold amber eyes. "You will be harnessing your affinity by blocking my..."Before finishing her sentence, she leaped, dashing to the boy within a breeze's whistle. Hayden was too late when he brought his arms up to block it. He only felt the striking pain in his abdomen as he flung back."...attack."His arm scraped against the rough ground as his body skidded across the edge of the field. He couldn't say it hurts more than the one on his stomach, but it left a burning and stinging sensation."Get up. We're not done.""Wait, wait," he stuttered as he hastily pulled himself up, his vocal cords reaching high notes. "At least let me prepare!"His senior was not one to wait. Amalia brandished her sword to the side, the air around her shifting. "Since when does an enemy wait to strike?""But how about the floor? You're gonna make me fix it again if I ruin it!" he pointed accusingly but panic-stricken.Amalia closed her eyes and released an impatient sigh. "Then so be it."Whether he uses his affinity or not, she's fine with that. She'll just have to force it out on him, not like he could last without it anyway.She went for another forward strike. Hayden did not hesitate this time and readied himself. He motioned his arm upward and a wave of sand tore through the tiles before it hardened, clamping on Amalia's weapon.But it wasn't as strong, hence, when the senior pulled back—it crumbled. As it fell, Hayden sent a kick to her chin, one that Amalia wouldn't anticipate behind the falling curtain of sand.She had to rely on reflex to evade, letting it pass her cheek while she grabbed his ankle, leaving him vulnerable and unable to move. She wasted no moment and swung her blade to his neck.Engulfed with panic, Hayden flicked his fingers towards her eyes. A spray of dust sent her eyes burning. The blade whistled above his nose as he bent backward. The bones on his back popped in protests.He grimaced at the sound. It felt like he hadn't had any exercise. He's not one for flexibility. It only shows how much he doesn't warm-up before jumping down the boiling pot of battle.Amalia tried to cough it out of her system, feeling a bit hoarse in her throat. Hayden took this opportunity to remove her iron grip on him and pushed himself away from her range.At last, he was able to breathe. He wiped a sweat on his chin."Hey," Adeleine called the other senior beside her, "how is he doing that?"Ria shrugged with the least of concern. She was too busy stuffing her face with cupcake icings. "I know right? Didn't think he could last this long.""No, I meant using his affinity without summoning his spirit beast first."Ria looked at her with wide clueless eyes. "Summoning?" Then she giggled. "He doesn't need one, silly! He's one of the royals.""I don't...get it.""Don't you know about the blessing of the royal families? 'Because of their loyalty, the four remaining morning stars became pillars of the empire and were bestowed by Her Holy Brilliance each blessing to be passed down through generations to be remembered by their heroic deeds.' ""In conclusion, those blessings are the ability to wield affinities without spirit beasts?"Ria whipped her cupcake about before winking at the girl. "Bingo! Right, indeed-y!""They could directly wield the elements themselves? Without a spirit beast? That's—" Adeleine had it on the tip of her tongue, only tongue-tied by disbelief and amazement.Ria's smile curved wider. "Cool, right?" She's never gonna get tired of telling it."It's like they've became spirit beasts themselves," Adeleine said breathlessly, unable to snap herself from the revelation."As long as they got strong royal blood flowing in them, yup!"Adeleine cocked her head in the senior's direction, giving her full attention, as another thought crossed her mind. "If the royals have this gift then what about the imperial family? Are they...stronger?"Ria gasped loudly as if the other said something shocking."You don't know? Even a child knows, everyone knows, the whole empire knows!" Ria then leaned in, cupping her lips to whisper while Adeleine sharply inhaled as she gave between them space at the suddenness. "The imperial family are descendants of Astrea. They have her blood flowing in their veins!"A human with a celestial's blood?! How in the world had she not heard of this? This out of all things!Being close to the capital, the information here is closer to the truth more than anything and juicier than any plump.Wouldn't that make the imperial family celestials? The highest being among all?If Adeleine were the sun celestial, she wouldn't leave the kingdom she built for generations and generations to just somebody too. It should be someone whom she would consider as herself.Then what kind of otherworldly abilities do those of imperial blood possess? It surely must be the pinnacle of everything. It wouldn't be a surprise if they could even control the sun itself as Astrea does.When will she ever meet one? She has so many questions to ask.Hayden did a full circular motion with his shoulder joint, flexing it when it felt like he strained a tendon. Beads of sweat dotted around his forehead as he had a pained and tired expression on his face. Adeleine didn't realize that their session was already over and Hera was the next one to be called over."That was quick.""Quick?" Hayden abruptly turned to her, appalled. He ran his fingers through his sweat-soaked hair frustratedly. "You don't know what it felt like! It felt like nirvana chipped beauty out of my face! I was waiting forever for it to end!""Sheesh, chill, dude," Ria laughed, only fueling his misery.He turned jelly once he collapsed on his seat, emitting guttural sounds like that of a zombie. That did not stop Adeleine from pestering him with her newfound interest in the knowledge, however."Sooo..." she started out awkwardly, not particularly adept with such things. If it weren't for her curiosity... "How was it like to have a direct affinity with the elements?"Her peer made incoherent sounds, melting like a pool of sundae out in the sun. Adeleine could only guess what he said was 'what are you talking about?'"Ria told me so. She said you need no spirit beast to have an affinity. I'm asking, how does that work?"Groans and mumbles."...okay."Adeleine slowly backed away and sat upright, folding her hands on her lap as she flicked one last look at the poor boy fighting to keep himself upright. Maybe, next time, she thought.