Ha... although it was difficult, at least I was able to break it. Now I need to rest, this has left me exhausted.
Now that I've accomplished what I wanted to, I'll use this time to fill all my meridians with Qi. The good thing is that it's not that difficult after this, so it won't take me too long.
Since I had completely immersed myself in meditation, I didn't realize that it was already getting dark.
"Everyone, get up, have dinner, and go to sleep," said the guy with the marks on his face.
We're finally done... I can finally go eat something, this thing left me exhausted. Anna seemed to feel the same way I did, as she landed on top of me and walked beside me.
"Let's go eat something and sleep, I'm too tired," she said, yawning as she walked ahead of me.
I thought it would be the same in the living room as it was in the morning, but luckily they seemed tired, so I didn't hear them muttering things about us. As we talked more comfortably, we saw Della, Oswin, and Thomas approaching in the distance. The three of them looked dead because their skin was whiter, and as soon as they got close, they fell face-first onto the table.
"Hey, are you guys okay?" I asked, approaching them and shaking Oswin to get him to talk.
"Do you think we're okay?" Thomas asked me as he let out moans of pain.
"What happened to you? What did they do to you?" Anna asked as she brought them food.
"They squeezed us dry. I have no mana left, and I feel like I'm going to die," Oswin told us, raising his hand as if to cast a spell, but all we saw was a small light in his palm.
We all looked at each other before shrugging and going about our business. After we finished eating, we went straight to our houses, where we threw ourselves on the floor and fell asleep instantly.
In the morning, the routine was the same to a certain extent. We ate, trained our bodies, and when we thought it was time to meditate, several people from the same place took us to the center, where we would have a sparring practice.
"The newcomers, divide yourselves on one side, and the rest of you on the other. You will have an observed practice to determine your level."
I thought the trouble we caused when we arrived was enough. Still, I have no problem with it; I can get even for what happened in the morning.
I felt motivated, so I wanted to go first, but I couldn't because another guy was already walking towards the middle, waiting for someone from the other side to go.
"Do you think Elias will win?"
"Well, he looks motivated. When we came, he took a lot of hits."
"Ah, so he wants revenge."
I turned around, listening to the conversation behind me. I smiled when I saw that it was Ghislaine and Jumyeong talking. If what they were saying was true, then I could only wait my turn. I also wanted to hit them, so I wouldn't get in the way.
Returning my focus to Elias, I saw the green-haired girl approaching with a wooden sword that her group had given her... Wait a minute, we didn't give Elias anything!
It seemed that we all realized this and began to look at each other to find a weapon.
Elias seemed to have noticed our concern, so he turned around and said to us,
"Don't worry, I can do this with my hands," he said with a smile.
Like me, we all looked at him and just thought, "They're going to make him cry." No one wanted Elias to lose, but most of us had seen how that girl fought, so it was hard to support him.
An old man stood away from the two of us, and with loud applause, the trial began.
"That girl fought Conan, didn't she? I have to be careful," I thought, getting into a fighting stance while keeping my eyes fixed on her sword.
I'm going to lunge at her before she can attack me. That's what I thought, but I ended up being surprised by the girl's sword, which stabbed toward my head.
"Shit!"
I barely managed to escape at the last moment, only to receive a kick to the chest that pushed me away. I have to react to her attacks or I won't be able to win, thinking this, I decided to go after her, throwing several punches that she dodged or blocked with her sword.
She covers herself too well, but it seems that it will only work if I aim for her body. In an attempt at a new strategy, I quickly approached her and kicked her hard in the leg, which seemed to have surprised her.
"Haha, how about that?" I thought.
All so that I ended up getting a sword slash to my side. The sting of the blow made me groan, but I decided not to back down and, while holding her sword tightly, I punched her hard in the face. This knocked her out and caused her to fall to the ground with a thud, along with her sword.
I couldn't help but feel a great sense of happiness, and I turned around to look at the others as I shouted.
"I won!"
But instead of the smiles I expected, everyone was looking behind me as they warned me.
"Back up, idiot!"
Just as I turned around, I received a sword blow to the eyes, causing me to grab my face and expose my body. I received a thrust to my chest that knocked the wind out of me and sent me crashing to the ground.
"Damn, this burns!" I thought, clutching my body.
Opening my eyes a little, I saw how the old man who was supposed to stop the fight was letting the green-haired girl continue hitting me. Isn't this old man going to stop her? Shit, if he doesn't, I'm going to end up with a body covered in red marks.
It seems that the old man read my mind, although belatedly, he stopped the fight and the girl finally stopped hitting me. When I got up, I saw her face for the first time, noticing the red mark from my blow, while her eyes were filled with tears.
"What are you looking at? Are you surprised by the beating you took?" I heard Niko teasing me, with a smile on his face.
Well, it wasn't hard to think that as we watched Elias stare at the girl.
What we didn't expect was that as they looked at each other, their cheeks would turn red and they would suddenly look away.
"AH!?" I heard Ghislaine, Anna, and several other boys and girls who were staring at Elias shout.
As Elias came back to where we were, everyone else knocked him to the ground and started kicking him while blaming him for losing.
Better not pay attention, anyway. Someone else is supposed to go now, right? Who will go? Can I go?
Answering my question, Ghislaine started walking toward the center, looking ready to fight at once.