"So, why my room, exactly?" Timothy asked in annoyance while nudging his glasses.
He and other members of Karuza High's team had gathered in his hotel room. It was to spend some time together and watch a few movies.
Jin told them to relax and not train anymore, so they would be in perfect shape for tomorrow's matches. Therefore, they decided to order some food and enjoy a night of relaxation.
"We can always count on your room being tidy." Nath said with a laugh. "You're a clean freak!"
Kiernan and Ryan watched the movie that was playing on the television screen. It was an action-packed thriller with lots of blood and gore—pretty much a casual movie to watch with friends.
Knock, knock—someone knocked on the door.
"Klaus, can you get that?" Nath shouted.
Klaus, who was nearest to the door, stood up and went to open the door.
After the door opened, four familiar faces appeared—they were Kang, Shura, Leon and Jonathan.
"Oh, hello." Klaus let them in and went back to his seat before it was stolen from him. There weren't enough seats in the small hotel room anyway.
There were two beds, one of them occupied by Nath alone, and Kiernan and Ryan sat on the other one with their backs against the wall.
"Hello." Kang greeted everyone awkwardly. This was his first time gathering with others outside of school hours.
Leon and Jonathan joined Timothy—they had gotten fairly close during the training camp.
Meanwhile, Shura walked over to Nath and shyly planted a kiss on his cheek, then laid down on the same bed and cuddled up to him.
"When did that happen?" Ryan asked with a raised eyebrow.
"A few days ago." Nath replied with a smug smile and hugged his new girlfriend.
It didn't take even a minute before another knock sounded from the door.
"Don't steal my seat." Klaus said roughly and went to open the door—this time, Jin was standing on the other side.
"Coach?"
"I heard that you all have gathered here; it is a good time to talk about the strategy for tomorrow." Jin said and entered the hotel room.
"Where's Madigan?" Leon asked.
"Went to take a shower; we can do this without him." Jin said, grabbed a TV remote, and put the movie on pause. "Let's get started, shall we?"
Everyone turned to look at the coach and stopped fooling around.
"The first match will be against Seisen High School." Jin started with. "It will already be a difficult obstacle to overcome, but I feel like we have hope now."
Ryan and Nath glanced at Kiernan—a young man who suddenly advanced to Martial Fighter—and it took all of them by surprise as his rate of advancement was out of this world, but they were also happy.
There was a lot of hope.
"Their fighters will be Shanta, Rashmi, and Andre." Jin said. "From our intel, they'll start with Shanta. She should be a Middle Stage Martial Soldier, and so should her twin sister, Rashmi.
"They're doable opponents; Nath and Ryan should be able to handle them with some ease. The hard part is Andre. He has reached Low Stage Martial Fighter."
"So, we'll start with me, I guess." Nath said. "I'll try to defeat Shanta, then Ryan will take down Rashmi. We'll leave Andre for Kiernan."
"That sounds like a plan." Jin said. "Also, I don't want either one of you to fight more than one battle, if possible. The first day has three matches in total, and we can't exhaust ourselves.
"If we can't defeat Seisen like this, then we don't deserve to get through the first day."
"Excuse me." Kiernan raised his arm.
"What is it, Kiernan?" Jin looked over to the newly-crowned Ace of Karuza High. "Is there something wrong with the plan?"
"Only one thing." Kiernan said. "I'd like to fight Seisen alone."
"What do you mean?" Jin asked with rounded eyes.
"Eh?" Nath exclaimed.
"Huh?" Ryan gave Kiernan an incredulous look.
"That's very irresponsible." Jin said sternly. "What if you'll get injured? We'll need your full strength for the battle with Andre. Also, if we somehow make through, you'll be exhausted for the next matches!"
"I know my request is wild, but trust me." Kiernan said. "I know what I am doing. Please, just let me do this. For the next matches, I'll listen to your strategy."
"Agh…" Jin scratched his head and sighed. "Fine. Nath, Ryan, are you fine with it?"
"Well, I don't think it is a bad plan per se." Nath said and nodded. "I am fine with it."
"Seisen High School is greatly underestimating us." Ryan said. "They don't know Kiernan's true strength—none of the schools do—and we'll lose the surprise element if we do this.
"However… I am sure he has a good reason to do this, so I am on board as well."
Kiernan nodded to them and then turned to Jin, who unwillingly accepted the crazy plan.
"We should just focus on Seisen for the starters, so we don't discuss our possible second match's opponent yet, so I'll stop interrupting y'all. Good night."
With that, Jin left the hotel room, and Nath unpaused the movie—others chatted, played some card games, and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere before their big match the next day.
Kiernan stood up from the bed and stretched while asking. "I am going to the vending machine, any of you want some drinks?"
"Lemon Soda!" Nath shouted and saw Shura raise two fingers. "Two Lemon Soda's!"
"Water," Ryan said shortly.
"Beer," Kang said in his usual monotone tone.
Kiernan, with his hands inside his pockets, left the hotel room and took an elevator straight to the ground floor. There, he aimlessly wandered until he found the vending room in one of the long hallways of the rich-looking hotel.
He rummaged through his pockets for a few gold coins and then inserted them into the vending machine. It spat out a few drinks and snacks, which he grabbed and put them on a thin plastic bag.
"May I get a drink as well, sir?" A voice came from his left.
'Oh, fuck…' Recognizing the voice, Kiernan turned to the pointy-eared elf, whose pure smile brightened up the dimly lit hallway. "Which one…"
"You'll choose one for me." Muriel said with a playful glint in her eyes.
Kiernan inserted another coin in the vending machine, chose a strawberry drink, and as soon as the machine spat it out, he took it and tossed it over to her.
"Strawberry, my favorite." Muriel smiled, popped it open, and took a sip. "How did you know~"
Kiernan rolled his eyes and walked past her with the plastic bag in hand. He wanted to return to the hotel room as soon as possible.
"Wait." Muriel said and took out a coin before tossing it over to him. "That's the payment for the drink~"
Kiernan caught it and turned it around to see that the coin had different faces on each side—the faces were elven with pointed ears and sharp features.
'Can I even use it here?' He wondered, but decided to keep it as a souvenir regardless.
"By the way, I have a question." Muriel said with a smile. "How do you like the hair on a woman? Short, long, curly, or straight?"
"Huh?" Kiernan frowned at the odd question. "Uh, why?"
"Tell me~" Muriel said teasingly. "Or I'll have to follow you to your hotel room until you give me the answer~"
Kiernan pinched his glabella and answered randomly. "Uh, shoulder-length, I guess."
"Alright, thank you~" Muriel happily said and hopped away, leaving Kiernan feeling both confused and slightly creeped out.
'I wonder if it is too late to move to another hotel…' Kiernan sighed and saw that the drinks were about to get warm if he idled any longer.