"Let's continue. Next match: Cadell vs. Gus Pabst"
The knights had already taken Valentina for medical support. The commanders personally took Annie with them for a talk. After making sure everything was okay, the sparring matches continued.
Cadell moved into the ring and stared at his opponent. It was a tall guy with average looks and brown curly hair.
"Haha, what's with the look? Oh! You angry that your girlfriend got beat up? You have Ben to thank for that! He wanted to teach you guys a lesson, so we obliged." He grinned and took out his sparring long-sword.
Cadell kept staring at him and took out his sparring weapon, a short-sword.
"Start!"
Cadell dashed towards Gus and raised his arm above his head, aiming for a vertical slash.
"A bit aggressive, no?" Gus smirked and readied himself for a vertical slash. He put up his long-sword to block the incoming attack. But what came next was not a slash. Cadell had thrown his short-sword towards him.
As Gus blocked the thrown sword and threw it to the side, Cadell had already reached him. He tried to dodge, but Cadell choked his throat and pushed him down towards the ground.
Gus felt punches flying towards his face one after the other. He tried to block them but failed. "S-stop, I'm sorry" He cried but his words didn't reach Cadell. He peeked through his arms and saw Cadell's face. Looking at his empty eyes, he shuddered.
"Stop! Stop!" The knights once again came to the rescue. This time, it was the Storm Knights. Len Beale grabbed Cadell and held him back. "Wow~ The youngsters sure are energetic!"
Other knights picked Gus up and took him to the medical tent.
---
Cadell and Annie were standing inside a tent, looking down towards the ground, as they couldn't raise their heads up.
"It seems the cadets this time around are not afraid of the authority, pulling stunts like these. Should we just expel you from the academy?", a raspy voice rang out, directed at Annie. Hearing the voice, both Annie and Cadell shuddered.
"Haah... What should we do? Impulsive and hot-headed. How should I deal with you?" Thorn shook his head.
"Si-" Cadell tried to speak, but he was cut off.
"What else!? Expel them both! And you Annie! Commoners, nobles, is this what we taught you in the academy!? Your father is going to have a nice time hearing about this!"
Annie looked like she was about to cry.
Thorn looked at them and sighed. "Avery, let it go this time. After all, both our academy are at fault. The injured cadets also seem to be fine. Lets just enjoy the camp."
"Let it go!?" Avery retorted. He then stared at the cadets. *Sigh* "Fine, but don't think this is over yet. There will be consequences. Go back for now."
Annie's face instantly changed into a smile. "Thank you Commander!" She quickly left the tent.
Cadell didn't have any expression on his face, "Thank you Commanders." he spoke and followed.
"Let's go watch the spars too." Thorn also left the tent.
Avery was looking through the tent's door, 'Consequences....' A cold smile appeared on his face.
---
"That's it for today cadets! Everyone performed wonderfully. Now line up for dinner and take a good rest! We'll have much to do tomorrow!" A Storm Knight shouted.
By the time all the spars ended, the violet crescent moon was already hanging up on the sky. The tents set up by the cadets had oil lanterns hanging from it.
Many campfires could be seen on the ground with groups of cadets huddled around them.
Edana walked over to a small campfire, there were only two cadets around the fire, like they were not a part of the academies.
"How's Val? Is she okay?" Ouida questioned Edana as soon as she neared them.
"She's fine, it was just a minor injury. She has already been healed by the knights." Edana answered calmly. Both the Nox Knights and Storm Knights had seekers with healing abilities. The Storm Knights would heal with water, while the Nox Knights, recognized for their blue flames, would heal with flames of the same color.
Ouida sighed in relief and looked towards Cadell, "Cheer up Cadell, the healing abilities of the knights are really dependable!"
Cadell smiled at Ouida and looked towards a particular campfire. Many people were sitting around the fire, joking with each other. He glanced at three people from the group, Ben, Annie and Odis.
"Ouida... Do you know if your brother was also colluding with Ben and Annie?"
Ouida widened her eyes at the question. "No! He can't be! Sure, he bullies commoners, but he has never used excessive violence! This must only be Ben's doing!"
Cadell looked Ouida in the eyes, "Are you sure?"
Seeing Cadells resolute eyes, her own eyes trembled, "Yes... Please believe me..."
Cadell nodded. "Sure..."
Edana quietly watched the interaction between the two. "Cadell, don't do anything rash. You were only let off with a warning today because it was their fault but Commander Thorn didn't want to escalate things." She warned him.
Cadell looked at her and nodded his head. "Don't worry sis, I won't."
Edana sighed and stood up. "I'm going, be sure to rest up." With that, she left.
She went towards the serving table and picked up a bowl. As she was filling her bowl with porridge, someone came and picked up a bowl beside her.
Edana looked at the person and went towards a empty place to eat her dinner. When she sat down, the person followed her and sat down beside her.
"What do you want!?" Edana growled.
"Woah, calm down. Night Commander Thorn has asked me to give you this, he wants you to investigate this area tomorrow during the competition." Haskell handed over a parchment to Edana.
Grabbing the parchment and stuffing it inside her coat hastily, she retorted, "Did you have to be so conspicuous about it? Can't you do this a bit normally?"
Haskell scratched his head, embarrassed. "What did you think I was following you because I wanted to?"
Edana stared at him.
"Haha, I was just kidding. Finish your meal and check the parchment. I'm going." Haskell got up and headed towards another corner to enjoy his dinner.
Finishing her dinner and making sure all the cadets had gone inside their tents, Edana headed towards her own tent.
Making sure no one was outside, she took out the parchment and opened it. Her eyes flickering with a pale blue flame, she scanned the contents of the parchment.
It was a map of the forest they were in, with three locations marked. Edana widened her eyes reading the words written towards the bottom of the parchment.
"Suspected hideout - Cult of Mayhem."