"Today you will learn how to fight each other."
...
Alex vs. Kate
Tom vs. Eliza
Evelyn vs. Erin
...
I looked over at Tom and he looked back at me, a grin spread over his face, wide and open, showing his slightly yellowish teeth.
I had never talked to him before but I knew that he was one of the top initiates, built tall and strong and in that moment his motives were laid bare, he was a mocker, one who enjoyed whatever torment he could inflict on others.
From the things I had heard so far I could tell that he behaved in a way that was rude and too confident towards others. Or simply, an arrogant douche.
This worried me a lot, why would they put me up against someone like him on my very first fight? I knew he wouldn't go easy on me.
I looked over to Eric and caught him staring at us, something flashed beneath the surface of his hardened expression and I tried to investigate the sudden shift, but it was too late, the emotion disappeared before I could identify it.
"I don't want to fight you." I heard Kate whisper to Alex.
"Me neither." Both sounded concerned.
I turned around and gave Kate a small side hug. No one should have to beat up their friends, even if it's just for training.
"First pair, up in the ring!" Eric's authoritative voice echoed through the room.
Alex and Kate involuntarily made their way up to the mat, which was spread out on the floor, and positioned their bodies in a fighting stance, with their arms protectively held in front of their faces.
"What are you waiting for? Begin!" Eric commanded and I couldn't help but notice that something seemed off with him today, his voice was cold and his expression stern, even more than usually. Every hint of friendliness I had seen in him yesterday was completely gone.
The first punch glanced Alex' chin. He punched back and hit her in the stomach multiple times. It went on like that until both of them had enough and Four ended the fight, Alex won.
Next up were Tom and I, we walked over to the mat and I passed by Eric. Before I could reach the mat, Eric's hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, holding me back. I didn't even have time to react to his action because it only lasted a matter of seconds.
"Go on offense. You're fast, so you can win if you attack first. You get inside, you jab to the throat."
I took my stance in the ring and once again met that wicked smile of Tom's in front of me. "Ready to go down?"
Dickhead.
"Don't hold back. You'll be ranked on this." Eric yelled.
I took a deep breath trying to blend out everyone else in the room and only concentrating on my body and the target in front of me.
Alright. Focus. Remember what Eric said.
I dodged the first few punches and then jabbed my hand to his throat, catching him off guard. He choked and tumbled back a few steps looking at me furiously.
Tom hit me again, connecting his fist with my jaw making me taste iron. I spit it on the ground and lunged at his face. My fist hit the bridge of his nose and it started bleeding.
Next he slammed his hand into my rips twice, making me wince. The pain rippled across my chest but I didn't want to give up and kicked him in the guts. We stumbled apart for a brief second to catch our breaths before diving back at each other, eyes narrowed in determination.
I jumped at him and threw him down onto the mat, for a brief instant, his emerald eyes widened before he managed to tilt his head back and slam it into mine. Stars burst in my vision but I shook it off, blinding throwing a sloppy kick.
"Is that all you got?" he crowed, blood dripping off his face. I growled and threw myself at him again, changing direction at the last minute and then his head slammed against the ground, which knocked him out.
I was lucky.
"Eliza wins." Due to exhaustion I was barely able to make out Four's voice as he walked over and took Tom's unconscious body to the infirmary.
Every muscle in my body seized up, I was struggling to get up so Kate rushed over and helped me out of the ring. Unable to move with any grace my movements were stiff and jerky, yet I was happy.
I did it. I won.
"Well done, initiate." Looking at Eric I could see a small smile tucking at the edges of his lips, almost like he was proud and it made me smile as well.
. . .
After everyone had fought their opponent and then been to the infirmary for check up or treatment, we were shown our rankings.
1. Liam
2. Noah
5. Eliza
7. Kate
8. Alex
9. Erin
"Look at us! We're getting so much better!" Kate said happily and we hugged.
I had always loved her for her positivity and I was really glad we were doing this together. Just being near her lights me up inside, gives me a serenity I can never know without her being close. It's like the breaths I take aren't full when she's away, like the smiles I smile are incomplete somehow. I couldn't do this without Kate.
"You were amazing up there!" Alex exclaimed.
"I can't even believe I did that. Actually I didn't want to hurt anyone but that dick did deserve it." I laughed and the others agreed.
. . .
Even though my body hurt like hell and my muscles were sore, I was in a really good mood. My ranking went up two places, training went well today and also it was the last day of my punishment.
"What are you smiling about?" Eric asked when I walked in.
"I'm just in a good mood." I shrugged.
"Well, you can be. You did really good at fighting." He smiled back.
"How are you feeling?" He then asked, almost sounding concerned.
"I'm fine, thanks." I assured, keeping my eyes set on the ground.
He walked over to me and took my bruised hands into his which made my blood run cold because I wasn't sure what he was up to.
But the only thing he did was gently observing my wounds, something I had never expected him to do. So I eased my face, unknitting my brows and changing my posture from anxious to relaxed.
"Doesn't look too bad, at least you didn't have to get stitches." He said while running his fingers over the bruises.
The warmth of his touch caused me to feel a weird tingling inside my stomach but it also felt good.
"Yeah, I was lucky. They just gave me an ointment and told me that the wounds would heal within a few days if I use it regularly."
"Good." He nodded.
I started cleaning the knives with the cloth Eric had given me and he took a few of them, walked over to the targets and started throwing them. He hit the bulls eye every time.
Show off.
He was standing up straight yet his body was relaxed, his right foot kept forwards and his left foot slightly behind. His thumb on top of his other fingers making sure no fingers would alter the trajectory of his throw.
He put all his strength in it, tensing his toned arms and every time a knife hit the aim it made a loud thud. I didn't want to seem like I was staring at him so I only looked up from my work every once in a while.
I had to admit that he did look really good doing it.
"Done."
He turned around and nodded his head towards the knives stuck in the wall.
"You forgot these."
I rolled my eyes at his stupid smirk and walked over to him. "Funny."
I started to pull the knives out of the targets and struggled a bit because they were really stuck in there. Apparently that amused him because I heard him chuckle.
Idiot.
He walked up to me and put his hand on mine to help me pulling the last knife out of the wall. Eric stood so close to me that I could feel his hot breath on my neck and it made my hair stand on end.
While reaching for the knife my top slipped up a bit and I could feel his fingers touch my hip from behind which made me flinch a little.
"You got a tattoo?" He said, surprise and admiration present in his deep voice, while tracing the lines of the snake with his fingers. "I like it." He then added.
I felt like he was enjoying this way too much, making me nervous and shiver under his touch but I wasn't having that.
Two can play this game.
I turned around quickly and his eyes widened. I knew Eric didn't expect that so he took a step back and removed his hands.
An idea popped into my head and I bit my lips taking another step to close the gap between us.
"How about a bet?" I asked in a sultry voice as I put my hand on his toned chest.
He rose his eyebrows at me. "A bet?"
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