The Training Tower of Othea's Academy was anything but silent. Climbing up your floors was a challenge that separated the promising ones from the desperate ones. Five levels, each more demanding than the previous one. At the top, only the best could reach — and few returned without marks.
But Alinys wasn't training to climb. Yet.
She was downstairs, along with her group, for an intense training with the instructor Crucius. The narrow floor, covered with stone pillars and moving targets enchanted. But did not use the targets. Only a growing pile of broken wooden swords on the floor indicated the kind of exercise she was doing.
Alinys moved on her own. Rhythmic. Precise. As if dancing with an invisible opponent.
The wooden blade slammed against the pillars with enough force to echo through the tower. Each impact broke a little of the wood. And the patience of others.
"All right, young man" the instructor praised, appearing to smile amid the stern grimace, "Your movements are getting smoother, but you still make your shoulders tense."
She heard the whispers, the veiled smiles, the looks — but did not fight back.
The envy was clear.
"Just because the instructor Crucius is praising, you think you are better than everyone?"
"Look, not even thanks when it is praised, tsc."
'Don't waste energy. Don't give answers.', she thought, 'let the sound of the sword be your voice'.
But even with the discipline, something within it oscillated. No one should find out, if it happened, everything would collapse. And he will also be dragged.
It was attracting attention from the beginning of training.
There was a tension within her. Alinys knew that it was strong, but she didn't feel it was enough. The fear of failure existed. The fear of being observed beyond the instructors, and that someone would discover it... ah, would go crazy.
The whispers began to spread. Some students avoided crossing her path, while others watched from afar, suspicious. But there was one who was not content to just observe.
The thoughts hardly dissipated when the presence of a veteran was noticed.
Wileak. He wasn't exactly discreet.
Veteran, popular among the demigods for their strength and vanity in equal measure. The kind that liked to duel where there were eyes — and audience. The kind who despised hidden faces and long silences. And Alinys carried both.
The veteran crossed his arms and leaned against a column of stone, analyzing it with critical eyes. Since that fellow had arrived, he noticed her insistence on staying away from others. She did not mix, did not ask questions and also showed no interest in interacting. For Wileak, this was not humility, but an affront.
He crossed his arms, leaning against a column on the ground floor, watching. She continued to train, ignoring him. It irritated him.
He could not stand this kind of behavior.
"That damn hood...", murmured him to a colleague. "Always hiding, as if he didn't want to be seen, but is always breaking the swords like an exhibitionist. What does he want?"
"Maybe it's some fugitive?"
The colleague laughed, but did not extend much. Although some agreed with the indignation, they preferred to ignore and continue their training. However, Wileak seemed unable to escape the eyes of that hooded fellow. And as his mood seemed to be too bad to take such an affront, he decided to show off.
"Hey" he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Tired of playing with dolls? Or will face someone real?"
She did not answer.
Wileak gave an oblique smile. He wanted attention. And he would have, even if it was torn out by force.
"It doesn't seem to matter", commented one of Wileak's friends.
Wileak frowned. He felt disrespected for being ignored. He came closer and, in a quick gesture, grabbed Alinys' hood, pulling it back.
The impact was immediate.
The black hair ran down her back, revealing a delicate face and eyes that shone in an intense purple tone. Silence took over the courtyard. Although her beauty was the reason for Wileak's amazement, to a certain deity who watched the scene from afar it seemed to be a chilling revelation.
Mikhal, standing at the entrance of the tower, widened his eyes as he realized how similar those two were. His heart accelerated and his blood ran through the veins thanks to unbelief.
"But what...?", Wileak widened his eyes, surprised.
The surprise was quickly replaced by a scorned laugh.
"Did I know something was wrong with you? Why were you hiding? Are you afraid to face a real man? Or just want to pass for something that is not? What a waste..."
Alinys clenched her fists. She felt everyone's gaze upon her, and her patience, already low, was beginning to run out.
"Leave me alone", she said coldly.
"What if I don't want to?", Wileak provoked, turning his own steel sword. "Let's see if it is as skillful as you think."
However, Alinys rolled her eyes pulling the hood to cover herself again and turned her back to grab another wooden sword and continue her training alone.
"What was it? Will you pretend I don't exist?", he took a step forward, his voice full of provocation, "Or are you afraid to lose?"
This time, Alinys stopped. Slowly, she turned to face him. Her purple eyes shone under the shadow of the tower.
"I have no interest in unnecessary fights", she replied firmly, but without hostility.
"Unnecessary?", Wileak uttered a derisive laugh. "This is a warrior academy. If you just want to play with training dolls, you may have chosen the wrong place."
Alinys squeezed her fingers around the sword's hilt, keeping her expression impassive. But Wileak realized that his words had found a weak spot.
"Ah, so that's it. You're afraid to show your true strength. Maybe it's because you only know how to hit inanimate targets. I bet that against a real opponent, you wouldn't last a minute."
The challenge was launched. And all the other students around stopped to watch.
There was something intense in Alinys's gaze. It wasn't anger, nor hurt pride. It was just a silent indecision.
She didn't want to fight. But she would if necessary.
Without saying a word, she raised her sword and took up a fighting posture. Wileak smiled, satisfied.
"Finally. Let's see if you are as strong as you seem."
The crowd moved away, creating a makeshift space for the duel. The air was filled with expectation. Mikhal, who watched from afar, narrowed his eyes.
The first attack came from Wileak. He advanced with speed, the wooden sword cutting through the air. But Alinys deflected with an annoying ease, turning the body and avoiding the blow without the slightest effort.
Wileak frowned. He attacked again, this time harder. But Alinys not only deflected, she stopped the blow with precision and in a flowing movement, disarmed it with a single turn of her wrist. Wileak's sword flew from his hand and fell to the ground.
"Not bad", Wileak smiled, but there was a dangerous glow in his eyes. "Let's see how far this luck goes."
He advanced again, delivering quick and aggressive blows. Alinys deflected efficiently, but did not counter-attack. His focus was to avoid the fight, not prolong it. His frustration in feeling that girl was not taking him seriously, made his anger increase his strength.
Wileak was not an ordinary fighter. Using his own divine presence to show off his cunning, he used Alinys' hesitation in his favor. Feigned a high blow, and when she moved to dodge, he fired a sweep.
Alinys fell to her knees, surprised by the change of pace. She heard the murmurs around. Some of the students seemed surprised by the fight, while others laughed, clearly cheering for Wileak.
He, in other hand, did not take long to show his great potential to trap her and make her crawl on the ground. Losing control of his own strength, Wileak turned the duel into an unparalleled display of brute force, attracting the attention of the demigods of the Academy — especially Aries and Cale, who were already among the curious.
The veteran only stopped his punches when he finally let Alinys down, slightly wounded, tired and submissive. He tore the hood off her head again, looking at her face again.
'There it is", Wileak laughed, raising his wooden sword for the final blow. "End of game."
The spectators held their breath.
But Alinys did not stop there.
Before Wileak could react, she turned her sword and struck him with the flat part of the blade, hitting him in the chest. The impact made him back two steps, his balance crumbling momentarily.
There was strength there. Much force.
Wileak gritted his teeth, frustrated. He tried to attack again, but before he could move, a strong light was emitted from the training tower, attracting everyone's attention and forcing anyone to stop whatever they were doing there.
"Enough!"
A man entered the circle, with a serious expression. It was the instructor Crucius, known for his strict discipline.
Wileak immediately came forward, swallowing the anger. The other students also shrunk before his presence.
Crucius looked at Alinys for a moment, then turned to Wileak.
"You challenged a colleague without valid reason and lost. Accept defeat with dignity", his voice was cold. "If you want to fight, do it in an official duel, not in childish provocations."
Crucius sighed and looked at Alinys once more. Staring into those purple eyes that seemed to overflow with childish anger and hesitation.
"You are skilled. But don't waste your energy on unnecessary fights", your eyes were looking at every detail of it, as if trying to see beyond the surface. "Go back to the dorm."
Alinys lowered her head slightly, in a respectful nod, and left without saying a word.
However, from a distance, Aries observed everything.
He had approached in case any instructor needed help, but something made him hesitate. The moment when Wileak had torn the hood of the young woman, that face... his stomach turned when he realized the resemblance between her and the ungrateful boy who followed him there. They were like mirrors.
And it bothered him deeply.
Aries watched Alinys disappear from the front of the tower. Perceiving a divine presence, he raised his eyes to the top where he saw Mikhal thoughtful, also moving away.
The day was still far from over, but something said that the presence of this girl in the gym and the boy she had met before was a bad sign.