The end of the month finally arrived, and he had a slight headache. His work had paid off quite well. It took him quite a while to adjust to the change, especially when talking to people. Fang was the exception to this as he seemed more comfortable now that he could move faster, and he showed it by putting him on the ground even more eagerly. The worst of it, though, was the light. Everything seemed brighter, which was the cause of his headache.
He rubbed his eyes as he walked to the field with the other students and teachers. Most were talking loudly; he had learned to filter out information, so he wasn't paying attention. He felt someone tap his shoulder as he turned to see Fang looking at him, a bit worried.
"I'm fine, it's just a bit bright out today...it's giving me a headache."
He tilted his head and shrugged as he searched his pockets, pulling out a little bottle and opening it. He pulled out a pellet and handed it to him. Charlotte looked at it, a bit confused, before taking it. Fang gestured for him to swallow it.
"...you got any water? I can't swallow stuff like this without water..."
Fang looked momentarily surprised before laughing silently to himself, which embarrassed him as he handed him back the pellet.
"Never mind, let's just focus, alright!"
He was pretty happy his hair had grown out; at least it hid his face slightly and made him bear the brunt of his embarrassment. His outburst hadn't gone unnoticed, as a few people were already looking at him.
He coughed and settled down as he reached into his pocket to pull out a hair tie and tied his hair back in a ponytail. He looked a little less meek now as he pushed his hair off his face and tried to put on a glare.
"He looks a lot more adorable now, right?"
It was the first thing he heard, and it might have rattled him and made him blush if he hadn't seen the field in front of him terraform in his eyes as a circular battle arena was created in front of his eyes. The arena was quite big, not as big as the one he had battled on the first time he and Iza had clashed. But it was still impressive.
Across from the arena were the teachers, five of them, to be specific. He could recognize Reese and his teacher, of which he had yet to learn the name. The five of them seemed to be talking among themselves, and they each had a sort of presence about them; they were also gorgeous. However, from what he understood, anyone who passes the second stage always becomes more beautiful. That was something to look forward to.
Iza and her classmates were already at the front close to the arena as each class took their seats; he eventually ended up sitting with his classmates.
"Copying my look, don't get any shame, do you?"
Amber said almost in a whisper; her tone wasn't hostile—if anything, it was playful. She had her long hair tied in a ponytail, although what caught his attention was the pouch to her side.
"Wha-"
The sound of rushing air cut him off as he looked at the front. One of the teachers glared at him as he quieted down and felt hair fall onto his lap. His hair tie lay on the ground, and a clump of his hair was sliced by what seemed to be the teacher's fault. His hair barely reached his neck before it went down to his shoulders, and he had to admit it did anger him slightly.
"Now that we have everyone's attention, welcome everyone. I am happy to see you all survived your first month. I won't speak long; I'll explain a few things. You will all get to fight at least once, some more than others."
His gaze moved down to the five students with a white tunic before he brought his gaze back up to the rest.
"You will all be picked randomly and decide who you want to fight; if you beat them, you will take their spot, and they will take yours. Of course, they could quickly get the chance to rechallenge you and take their spot back, or you could get targeted by others, hoping you were weakened enough to make for an easy victory. Now, how about we find out who is to go first?"
He saw Reese step up and snap his fingers as a hat appeared, and he held it out for the other teacher. The other teacher reached inside while covering their eyes before pulling out a piece of paper. All the while, Charlotte was trying not to laugh, and he covered his face with his hand. What a stupid and funny way to decide who would go first.
"Ivan, who would you light to fight?"
A student in a light blue tunic stood up. He had light brown hair and bright blue eyes, and his expression was quite serious.
"I choose Iza."
The two vanished and appeared on the stage. Iza reached up and tapped her earring, and soon enough, a spear appeared in her hand. It was made of beautiful white metal, and the engravings on the spear seemed to run from the tip of the spear down to the heel. The engraving had a soft glow with a light blue color, and the spear almost looked as if it was breathing. The tip of the spear had a white fog almost emanating from it.
Ivan rubbed a ring on his left hand as a sickle and chain appeared in his hand. At the end of the chain was a heavyweight. He began spinning the heavyweight; the chain on the sickle seemed to glow slightly yellow as both seemed to be waiting for a sign to start fighting.
What caught Charlotte's attention, though, was that the end of the spear had a familiar engraving—it was his father's.