Little Fen is looking around in awe. "Big sister! I can see the entire stage from here." He points at the huge glass wall.
"I know that. But could you please show some manners and sit down?" Joselina scolds her little brother for standing on the couch.
Little Fen quickly sits down and shakes his legs in excitement. "Big sister! Big sister! Look there, is that a grill?" He points at the trolley in the corner which has a grill attached to it. "I read in a history book where old knights used this thing to cook some food. Hey. Hey. Are we going to eat food cooked on that?" He asks with big puppy eyes.
Joselina rubs her eyes in frustration. "Ugh..." She 'gently' smacks her mischievous brother's head.
"Ow! It hurts." Little Fen complains as tears forms in his eyes.
"Cry all you want. But if you utter another word...." Joselina raises her hand.
Little Fen pouts and sits properly. "I hate you. I will tell big brother about you."
Seeing her little brother pouting, Joselina smiles and starts to play along. "Oh? What are you going to tell him?"
Little Fen makes an troubled expression as he really don't know what to tell. "U-Uh. I will tell big brother that you always hit me." Joselina grabs Little Fen's cheek and pulls it.
Just then the door opens and Karl along with Alessa walks in the suite.
"Uwa! I will also tell him how you waited for days looking at your watch for his call." Joselina quickly releases Little Fen and stands up. "I-I was n-not. H-He just keeps saying gibberish. Please don't take him seriously." Her face was bright red with embarrassment. She doesn't look at Karl's face directly.
Karl responses with a tired smile.
"Big sister is lyi-" Joselina moves in lighting fast speed and shuts her brother's mouth before he could finish. "Mpmh! Mpmh!" Little Fen tries to speak but fails to do so.
"I am glad to see that you two are still…..lively." Karl says it in a low voice.
Joselina notices his tone and looks at him with questioning gaze.
Little Fen manages to escape from her grip, he runs to hide behind Karl's back. "Big brother! Help me! She is going to eat me."
With a flustered face, Joselina yells at Fen in a stern voice. "Fen! I am warning you. Behave."
Little Fen shows his tongue and stands behind Karl. "Never!"
Joselina was really starting to get angry so much so she considered disciplining him seriously. But before she could do anything, Karl puts his hand on Little Fen. He pats on his head. "Fen, we know that you are upset. But you should not answer your big sister in such way. It is not how a man should behave."
Little Fen looks at Karl. "B-But she hit me."
Karl kneels next to him. "She hit you because you misbehaved first, right?"
Little Fen nods.
"Come say sorry." He pushes the kid to face his angry sister.
"I-I am sorry. I shouldn't have said such things." Joselina is surprised to witness that her brother apologizing to her. "Y-Yeah."
Karl holds Little Fen's hand and they both take a sit at the couch. Little Fen's eyes are still on the grill on the corner. Karl notices his gaze. "You hungry?"
"Yes! Yes!" He answers with excitement.
"Alessa, if you can." Karl looks at Alessa who was standing near the door. She bows and leaves.
Joselina makes an awkward face. "You didn't have to do that."
Karl looks at the ground. "This much is fine. By the way, you were waiting for my call?"
Joselina struggles to keep a straight face. "Y-Yes. Afterall, you are my guild's vice guildmaster. I need your help to r-revive my guild. A-Also I have brought you a gift." She takes out a box from her magic ring.
Karl raises his eyebrow. "Gift? Why so suddenly?"
"It was meant to be a welcome gift for joining the guild but you can think it as a congratulatory gift for all your victories in the past phases."
"Big brother! Open it now!" Little Fen insists.
Karl nods and begins to unwrapping the box. An obsidian black sword reveals itself. His eyes loses it's light as he forces himself to smile. "Thank you."
Joselina smiles brightly, thinking he actually liked the gift. "When we were fighting in the expedition, it caught my eye that you didn't use any weapon. Then, I bought this sabre. I really pulled few connections to buy this specific blade. It is light and durable. Not to mention, it can used in high and low temperatures. It is perfect for you"
Karl swings the sabre around, trying to get a hang on it. 'Weaker than Talwar. But more comfortable.' This was his first thought after swinging it around. The black sabre was bit smaller than the Talwar but it was much easier to hold due to it's simple handle.
"Really thank you. I like this blade." He lies as he puts the sword on the table.
"Glad you liked it." Joselina says it with a relieved face. Then the conversation proceeds to die as Joselina watches Karl talking with Little Fen. An uneasy feeling dwells in her mind. Joselina is playing with her fingers while thinking whether it would appropriate to ask such question or not but in the end she decides to ask anyway.
She claps her hands together. "Leo, you look tired. Is something bothering you?"
Karl and Little Fen looks at sudden noise. "Not really. Do I look like that?" Karl looks at Little Fen's face for confirmation and he agrees.
"Hahaha. It must be the constant fights as I am not used to it." he gives an excuse.
Again, Joselina looks at him with a questioning gaze before continuing "I know that this is a personal question and we are not that close in the first place. But I want to let you know that the day I decided to make you the vice guildmaster of Sabre Guild, I was serious. I saw potential in you. That you will help me in the revival of my guild. In return, I will help you. The Sabre Guild will help you. Even if it may seem impossible, I would perform to my absolute best capabilities. Therefore, if anything. Please don't hesitate to tell me."
Karl stares at Joselina with a surprised expression before laughing out. "Hahaha! Entire Sabre Guild will help me? Hahaha! As if there is anyone else. Haha…"
Joselina quickly loses her seriousness. "Shut up. I was telling you such important thing and here you are."
Karl grabs his stomach as he tries to stop laughing. "Okay, Okay. I am sorry. Haah! I appreciate the words."
Little Fen pulls Karl's hand. "I am in the guild too."
In response Karl picks him and puts him in his lap. "You are our last line of defense. The hidden knight."
Little Fen smiles and laughs loudly. "Hehe! I am the hero knight! Hahaha!"
Joselina watches the scene with a smile. 'I guess I was worried about nothing.'
RING! RING! Karl's watch rings loudly. He sees an unfamiliar name. "Give me a second." Little Fen gets off Karl's lap.
Karl picks up Mikaela's call. "Hell-"
"Next fight is ours. Come on the stage." She cuts the call before Karl could say a word.
"Are you leaving big brother?" Little Fen asks in a sad voice.
"Yes, I have to." Karl answers as he stands up with black sabre in hand.
"May the Horizon bless you." Joselina says with her hands clasped together.
"Likewise." Karl responses. He walks to the door and opens it, only to see Alessa along with few other maids from Phirsecot estate.
"Are you heading out?" She asks.
"Yes, It's my turn. Please serve them with plenty of food."
"Of course." Alessa bows lightly as Karl walks past her into the elevator.
Once inside the elevator starts moving, he takes a look at the new sword. Then he takes deep breath before trying to summon his magic circle.
COUGH! COUGH!
Karl falls on his knees because he can feel his lungs burning as he can feel mana entering them. He tries his best not to vomit. Somehow he manages to summon his circle and suck the black sabre into the void storage. A lot of blood falls from nose and eyes. Karl was wiping his face, when he saw something strange on the ground. 'Is that hair?'
He picks up handful of his own black hair. Then he touches the back of his head and clearly feels a bald patch. Karl panics and tries to cover his bald patch.
TING! The elevator door opens. He is walking rather swiftly. The thought of end is near haunts him.
After few dozen steps, Karl sees Mikaela in a distance. She has hostile look in her eyes. "Took you long enough. I am clearing this now, this fight is mine alone. If you try to interfere." She summons her magic circle. "I won't show mercy."
Karl remains silent for second before answering. "Be my guest. I don't feel like fighting now…."
Mikaela looks at him with suspicion before turning back to walk ahead. Karl slowly follows behind.
Once outside, the screams of crowd fill his ears. 'Looks like last fight was intense.' On the contratary, when people notice that Karl has entered to fight they immediately started to insult him.
"BOO! FRAUD IS HERE!"
"DID YOU BOUGHT THEM TOO?"
Karl ignores such insults and sits down on the plain grass. His body feels exhausted just by standing. His head feels feverish.
On the stage, Mikaela stands proudly. Waiting for her opponent. She believes that actions speaks louder than words and she wants to prove every nitpicker wrong by winning flawlessly. The referee appears next to her.
A boy in red uniform steps on the stage. He has a cute baby face that looks harmless at first glance.
"State your names." The referee asks.
"Mikaela Lumineux representing Black Pegasus academy."
"Will Winston representing Blaze academy."
"Confirmed. Exchange greeting." The referee orders.
Will extends his hands and Mikaela grabs his hand for a handshake. The student of Blaze academy smirks as faint smoke comes out of his mouth. Will's hand turns bright red as he raises the temperature of his entire arm on purpose. Mikaela's expression remains unchanged.
Few seconds later, she lets go. 'H-How? My hand reached boiling point. She should be screaming in pain.'
Mikaela clenches her half burned fist in anger.
"Choose your warrior in 2 minutes." The referee says with a neutral tone.
"I am going." Both of them said at the same time.
"Very well." The referee turns back to announce. "The 12th fight in the fourth phase will began now. We have Mikaela Lumineux from Black Pegasus academy and here we have Will Winston from Blaze academy."
Will doesn't waste any time and summons his magic circles. He starts multiple barrage of fireballs at Mikaela. The fireballs collide with a golden shield that formed itself around Mikaela.
'Silent casting?' Will guesses. 'Try to block this.'
Mikaela stands on her ground, unmoved.
Meanwhile, Will is running towards her as he fires balls of fire at her. Now he is standing right in front of her. Will resummons his circles and throws a number of small lava balls at her which explodes loudly.
Leaving a large cloud of black smoke. Will smiles as he predicted the fall of a formidable opponent. The smoke dissipates and a pair of glowing golden eyes pierces through the smoke. Will's composure is shaken once more as he refuses to believe that she is standing unharmed. 'That attack even injured a low knight. How can you still stand?'
Seeing her opponent not moving, Mikaela summons her magic circle.
Will quickly backs away. 'Is it the spear? Or-'
A golden chain wraps itself around Will. "What-" He tries to struggle but the chain doesn't allow him to move an inch. Will grits his teeth before summoning a large summoning a large circle on his chest. BOOM!
A explosion large enough to cover the entire stage occurs, leaving a big cloud of black smoke. The smoke engulfs the entire dome. Everyone in the crowd shows their displeasure as they could not see the fight due to smoke.
Suddenly all the smoke is pulled into a single point. Everyone looks at the corner of the stage and sees the referee holding a green magic circle which summoned a plant. The plant is rapidly eating the smoke. Few seconds later, the smoke is gone and the stage becomes visible again.
Karl sees that Mikaela is still standing on the stage but Will is nowhere to be seen. On the wall beside the stage lies the half buried body of Will. The scene was followed by the deafening applaud of the crowd. "WOAHH!" Even if they missed the final blow everyone was astonished by Mikaela's the calmness and perfect execution.
Mikaela defeated her first opponent without moving from her original place. Karl narrows his eyes as he recalls what happened. 'I didn't see the entire thing but she definitely moved the chains. Like a slingshot.'
The referee walks up to her. "I will continue till I fall." Mikaela answers before the referee could ask.