The written exam took place in the morning, while the practical exam took place in the afternoon. The academy prepared a fancy meal today for free so that students could replenish their energy before taking on the final hurdle. It was a nice gesture to encourage the exhausted cadets, but Luciel and Violet had a different plan.
They opted for convenience store food and quickly went to the training ground to prepare for the practical exam.
"Say, why haven't you told me anything about yourself yet?" Luciel asked while swinging a wooden sword around to warm up.
"You should know why, Luciel." Also a wooden sword in hand, Violet swung it in one motion. Frigid cold emitted from the blade like a mini winter coalescing on the sword. "I need time to accept this. For all I know, we've only known each other for a week. If I was someone else, or if you were someone else, then we would practically still be strangers." Her blade stopped dancing as she stood before Luciel. "I don't want to hesitate when it comes to you, so I'll tell you when the time is right."
Luciel felt the same way. He had developed maximum sense of wariness and alertness due to the environment he grew up on, and it took him quite some time to open up to Elina and Luna. However, those walls he put up were rendered useless in Violet's presence.
"You said the same thing I said on the first day after the class tournament." Luciel scoffed, his smile bloomed. "You're right. We have all the time in the world to find out if our connection is fabricated or not."
Luciel and Violet had confirmed that the mysterious dream had something to do with them. A mechanic that let their souls resonate in a weird fashion and knot their string of fate together as one.
"I don't think it's fake. The dream might affect our first impression and how we met each other, but the relationship we've built so far is genuine," Violet said, her cheeks flushed from the cold. "If you were unpleasant and rude, do you think I would still talk to you? You know I'm picky when it comes to people."
"Now that you mention it, we have not made a single friend aside from each other," Luciel laughed in irony. He was also very selective when choosing a potential friend. It didn't make things better when most people only approached him to butter him up. Luciel didn't love the concept of making friends with phonies.
"Alright, let's warm up. Unfortunately, we don't have much time left until the exam," Luciel said, his sword had already been looking straight at Violet's face.
"Let's not overdo it, okay? No Motifs and Echo Energy." Violet took one step back and brandished her sword, her pose struck elegance and poise.
Luciel wasted no time and narrowed the space between them, thrusting the blade towards her. During the one week of training, Luciel polished his basic swordsmanship per Violet's instructions and improved tremendously. The stab that used to look flimsy now had a firm and direct flow, leaving no openings for the opponent to counterattack.
Violet sidestepped smoothly and deflected the thrust to the other side. The sound of metal clashing resounded as their blades connected.
"Not bad," she said with a soft smile. "Your form is a lot sharper and steadier."
Violet instantly retrieved her sword and thrashed out multiple jabs and slashes without stopping. "But that's it." She pressed on with her relentless attacks, her eyes cold and fearless. "It's easy to read, and you don't plan your next moves at all."
In terms of swordsmanship, Luciel was inferior to Violet and Horus. He knew that Violet was going easy on him with swordsmanship during the tournament. He had only learned it for six years, while their lives had been paved by the sword since birth. No matter how talented you are, it is hard to overcome people with experience. However, that was just an excuse to make himself feel better.
Luciel answered her eyes with his own, following the movement an tempo of the sword. He was being pushed back with his footing gradually losing balance, but his sword precisely met with hers each time without fail.
"What's the point of attacking with such force if you're going to let the opponent turn the tables on you like this?" Violet feinted a slash toward Luciel's right shoulder but then quickly reversed the motion into an upward strike, aiming at his left.
Luciel caught her intention but misjudged the speed of the attack. He only managed to bring his blade to protect his left at the last second, yet he didn't feel any impact at all. Before he even knew what was happening, the side of his stomach was struck heavily, making him want to yelp. It was too painful!
Luciel crashed on his knees and faced the ground, his hand holding the place where he was hit. He wanted to cry because of how hard Violet swatted him.
"Are you okay?" Violet dropped the sword and rushed towards him to help him sit down.
"I'm fine. Just stings a little." Luciel chuckled in pain.
Violet sighed defeatedly as she placed her soft hand on his injury and started releasing her Motif. Cold energy coursed through Luciel's skin, reducing swelling and pain. "Better now?" she asked worriedly. "Sorry. I shouldn't have hit you that hard when the exam is right around the corner."
Luciel couldn't believe she was apologizing when there was nobody at fault. He pushed her head softly to reprimand her. "Why're you blaming yourself? It's because I'm lacking."
"You're right. You're very lacking," she said unapologetically. "But what does that have to do with me injuring you? Completely different matters, you know?"
Luciel stared at her, speechless at her interpretation of the situation. Normally, it should have been her comforting Luciel, denying that statement and encouraging him, right? Wasn't that the usual reaction? Once again, Luciel was caught off guard by Violet's bluntness.
"Never mind." He shook his head in defeat.
"I'm joking." Violet nudged his shoulder.
"Doesn't seem that way to me."
"I'm serious."
"Are you joking or being serious? Pick one," Luciel shrugged.
"You know that's not what I meant," Violet huffed, her hand emitting intense coldness as retaliation.
The frigid cold coursed through and jerked his whole body. Luciel groaned in pain and donkey-rolled far away from her. "You want me to die?" he huffed.
"I'm just hastening the treatment, Luciel. Come back here." Violet patted the spot next to her, beckoning him to come over. However, her face was full of smugness and deviousness. She usually didn't show much expression, but Luciel could discern it in a second.
"I don't trust that face at all."
As Luciel crawled further away from Violet, she too was approaching him in an incredibly slow and menacing manner. It seemed they had the luxury to play cat and mouse as if they didn't have an exam in about an hour from now.
They finally came to a stop after Violet caught up with the frightened Luciel. He had to give up when Violet literally summoned a block of ice just to prevent him from moving further.
"You're getting ridiculous by the day, have you noticed?" Luciel sighed.
"It's called being efficient," Violet said. She continued the treatment by applying coldness to the injury zone. "Why is your hair white, by the way?" she suddenly switched the topic. "Did you dye it? White hair and a fire user. Isn't that contradictory?"
What a peculiar question. Luciel himself found the irony of how his hair was bleached white due to the snow while he was granted to wield the flame. "You don't like it? I can dye it black. I've been meaning to do that since white is way too conspicuous to my liking."
Violet's eyes suddenly sparkled like she heard something life-changing. "Wait, really? You actually dyed your hair, Luciel? For real?" her tone gradually turned upbeat as she fired a barrage of questions.
"Where did you even learn 'for real' from? It sounds so out-of-character. Don't pick up some dumb lingo like that." He sighed heavily. The academy was slowly corrupting the innocent and stoic Violet. He could only cry internally.
"Just answer the question," she urged.
"Somewhat, yeah," Luciel replied hesitantly. He felt the need to hide his past from her, not because of shame or anything, but simply because he wanted to forget it. The past that didn't seem human... If forgetting it could make him more human, then he would gladly do so.
Sensing her intense gaze, Luciel avoided her eyes and looked the other way. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nothing." Violet returned her gaze towards nothingness. "It's just the Luciel I know wouldn't say somewhat to anything. You've always been confident and certain about everything, so I thought it was weird."
"Have I?"
"I'm quite observant." Violet proudly raised her head.
"You? Observant? You can't even remember the names or faces of anyone in our class. You once called the girl sitting next to you woman."
"They just... don't pique my interest."
"Wow. You make it sound like they're human garbage."
"Something like that."
Even though it was a rather harsh assessment of everyone, Luciel couldn't deny it outright. He saw people the same way as Violet, only judging by strict criteria. While others made friends just for fun, he couldn't see the allure of it.
"Are we cooking today?" Violet changed the topic quickly.
"Let's think about it after the exam."
"I crave pork stew with rice today." Violet's voice turned velvety and sweet, enough to turn the dirt ground into a bed of roses.
Coupled with her pleading expression, Luciel had to give in and accepted her request. 'A beautiful girl is asking like that. Can you blame me?'