The Infinite Bk. 03 Ch. 05

CRACK!

Everyone heard it, and so too did Alexis hear their shocked gasps, for it was her sword that had broken. Seraph interrupted her barrage with a downward swing, like an executioner, and her sword snapped like pencil lead. Her guard had been perfect, just as Lady Zodiac had taught her, but the enchanted glass simply could not withstand the force of Seraph's attack. The combination of monk and warrior magic proved too much.

She staggered back, all she could do. Blood, Alexis felt its heat on her skin as it dampened the sleeve of her uniform. Then, searing pain, as though she had been branded. She hadn't been able to dodge the swing completely, and while the damage was shallow, Seraph's blade had sheered a layer of flesh off her shoulder like a butcher's knife.

"That's it, I'm calling it. The victor is--"

"No, not yet!" Alexis shouted, clutching her wounded shoulder.

"Cadet Veres, you've been injured, and your sword..."

"As long as I'm standing, this duel will continue!"

"Alexis," Noah said.

"You stay out of this!"

Before she could react, Seraph abandoned his sword and grabbed her in a bear hug. "Then I just have to make sure you can't stand!"

He squeezed her tight, drawing a cry of agony. Was he really planning on breaking her spine?

"Cadet Albion, that is enough!"

"You heard her; she hasn't quit yet! Let's see how long she can last!"

He squeezed even tighter, and Alexis began coughing up blood.

"Stop, now! I'm warning you!" Brume thundered. Seraph ignored him and continued crushing her.

Noah cast both of his spells and drew his sword. Knowing Alexis, she'd be pissed if he intervened, but things had spiraled out of control. Then, before he could enter the ring, a voice echoed.

"The match is over! Cadet Albion, you are disqualified!" Valia stepped forward with her sword pointed at Seraph. "Let her go, or I'll take your arms!"

Seraph reluctantly dropped her to the ground. "This is ridiculous! You can't disqualify me for being stronger!"

"You're disqualified for disobeying orders and trying to inflict unnecessary harm on your opponent. Your conduct is disgraceful."

While they argued, a healer examined Alexis with Noah at her side. Alexis's breathing was pained but steady, and while she was unconscious, a pinch to a nerve cluster in her leg drew a twitch, so she wasn't paralyzed.

"You proud, beautiful, majestic idiot," he said with a sigh while wiping the blood off her chin. "This right here is precisely the reason why I wanted to avoid fighting in the first place." As she was lifted onto a stretcher, Noah stood up and turned to Seraph. "You were disqualified, so Alexis wins by default, meaning the challenger payment still has to be fulfilled. I expect you to clear your possessions out of my room before dinner. You'll be enjoying life in the barracks from now on."

"Have you lost your fucking mind?!" Seraph shouted.

"Cadet Noah!" Valia shouted with equal outrage.

"Don't you raise your voices to me." Noah's words, calm and unshaking, were frosted with killing intent, chilling the air like a winter gale. Even Valia felt her fight-or-flight instincts firing up, and when he spoke, he addressed everyone. "You chose to make this duel happen. Alexis chose to take my place to earn prestige. The academy chose to implement this ridiculous system. These are the consequences of your choices, not mine, and you will suffer them. If you people insist on making me play this game, I will hold you to the same rules you hold me." He turned to leave and then stopped. "Keep this in mind, Prince. The only reason why you're not on that stretcher is that I don't consider you worth my time."

----------

Alexis slowly opened her eyes and groaned in pain. She recognized the ceiling over her, and, more importantly, the tear-streaked face at her side.

"Hey," Sophia said with a relieved smile as she clutched Alexis's hand. She was lying in a bed in the infirmary. It was empty, as all the other healers were giving duelists first aid out in the training fields.

"Hey," Alexis replied. She coughed a few times and groaned once more.

"Don't move around. We mended your broken ribs, but the area should still be very tender."

"It is, it really is," she huffed.

"Well you took it like a champ." Alexis turned, seeing Noah sitting beside her. "Glad to have you back," he said.

She smiled. "Glad to be back. What happened to the match?"

"Seraph was disqualified, and you won by default, so it looks like I'm moving out of the barracks. I figured I owed you enough to at least be here when you woke up."

"What a wonderful friend you are. Bastard..." she said with a chuckle. She winced in pain, and her smile then faded. "Won by default... disgraceful. I wish they had just declared Seraph the winner. At least there is honor in an honest loss."

"To be fair, honor is the reason why you're here in the first place."

She groaned, refusing to admit he was right. "Sophia, this is my friend, Noah. Noah, this is my cousin, Sophia."

"We've met. I guess this explains why you still hold such a grudge against Galvin."

"My father tried to marry me off to him, but let's just say I thoroughly burned that bridge. It was the final straw in a list of rebellious acts. The Rosege family is a lower branch of the Veres family, so Sophia was chosen to take my place when I refused. I've been trying to find a way to stop it, but I have no authority or leverage left in the family."

"We're hoping that the knighthood will give me a way out. I have to do everything I can to make myself valuable, so I can go to the front lines and escape Galvin." Sophia, her blue eyes seeing the future that awaited her, spoke with a brave face. Noah admired it, the skilled mimicry. She had learned how to force a smile. She knew that someone as possessive as Galvin would surely pull whatever strings he could to keep her under his thumb forever.

"I thought that at least beating his brother in a duel might make him shudder a bit."

"A noble sentiment, but you bit off more than you could chew."

"For you to shake your finger with such dirty hands..."

"My hands are clean, but I know something that might ease your suffering. Sophia, there is a spot I need you to apply your healing energy to Alexis." He put his finger to the indent between his nose and forehead. "Right here, two inches deep. You need to channel your power into the center of her brain."

The command left them both stunned in confusion.

"Into her brain? I don't understand. How will that heal her?"

"It won't heal her, just alleviate the pain. That spot is the brain's pleasure center, the part of your body that causes numbness after injury. It's probably depleted from your battle, but stimulation with holy energy should get it working even better than normal."

Medical knowledge in Uther had yet to include the functions of the brain, and it was merely speculated that it was what housed the soul. However, Alexis decided to trust him. "Do it. For some reason, he knows about this stuff."

"Very well. Alexis, tell me if you feel better." She put her finger between Alexis's eyes and sent a rush of mana into the gray matter of her brain. Alexis shivered, her breathing slowed, and a hum of bliss was heard as if she had just received a dose of morphine.

"That's amazing. I don't want this to end," Alexis mumbled.

"Where did you learn this?" Sophia asked in amazement.

"It was a trick I picked up as an adventurer. You can use it when you're tending to the wounded and even the ill." It was a hypothesis he came up with when he caught the springburn sickness in Clive. He had learned that the diseases of this world were often immune to the effects of holy energy unless they were magic-based. Healers could do little to alleviate the suffering of the sick, so they didn't bother trying. "It will also help improve someone's mood and make them feel happy."

"Thank you, this will help so many people."

"Ah, good to see you're awake." They all turned as Valia entered the infirmary and approached the bed.

"Lady Zodiac!" Alexis and Sophia exclaimed in awe. Even after months in the academy, they hadn't gotten used to being around their idol.

"I'm guessing you're here to do some scolding and praising," said Noah. "I'm rather curious as to which side you're leaning farther to."

"I'm here to check up on my student. That was a rough battle, but you displayed your skills beautifully." Normally, praise from Valia would fill Alexis with joy, but her wounded pride throbbed painfully.

"I still lost. To call my fight anything other than a failure would be a lie. Were that not an academy duel, I would be dead."

"That's not fear talking; it's anger," said Noah. "Someone as reckless as you didn't get to this point without some close encounters. You probably would have died a hundred times by now if not for one thing or another saving you. This is something you should be used to."

"This is different."

"No, it isn't. Your life is no more fragile than it was yesterday or will be tomorrow."

"Cadet Noah, Cadet Rosege, would you mind giving us a minute alone?" Valia asked.

"As you wish," Noah said as he stood up.

"Don't go too far. I want to speak with you after."

Sophia seemed more reluctant to leave Alexis's side, but she followed him when Noah moved to the door. Out in the hallway, she spoke in a soft voice. "Cadet Noah, wait."

He turned to her. "What is it?"

"Please, don't ever let her do something so reckless again."

"I simply offered her a choice. Knowing her, she was inevitably going to pick a fight with Seraph. At least this way, my reputation takes the hit instead of hers."

"I'm begging you, don't tempt her. Sometimes it seems like she is at war with the world, and I don't want her fighting your battles on top of it."

"You truly care about her, don't you?"

Sophia spoke with a trembling voice. "We grew up together. For as long as I can remember, we had this dream that she would be the fighter, making the world better, and I would be the healer, keeping her going. She pushes herself so far, risks her life with no hesitancy. I've mended so many of her cuts and bruises throughout our childhood, I thought I was used to it, but the state she was in when she was brought to the infirmary... I don't ever want to see her like that again."

"I imagine you don't. Well, I can't promise you that she won't do something stupid on her own, but I'll abide by your wishes. No more proxy battles or anything of the sort. I won't let her get hurt for my sake."

"Thank you very much!" she said with a sharp bow.

Back inside the infirmary, Valia took a seat in the chair beside Alexis's bed, causing Alexis's heart to beat rapidly. Alone with Valia Zodiac, the woman she so admired, it was a dream come true, a sinful dream. Alexis loved Sophia, lusted for her, wanted to spend her life with her, but whenever she looked at Valia, her heart would whisper 'but what if' and the fantasies would bloom.

"I wouldn't word it the way Cadet Noah would, but he is right. I look at you, and I see someone with something to prove. In that duel, I saw a girl who confuses anger with courage and is struggling to keep it all contained."

"Not... struggling."

"How much blood would you have spilled before surrendering? How many bones would have been broken? These are academy duels, meant to teach you to answer challenges and fight for honor, not something worth getting killed over. Pride like that doesn't come without a deep rage. What is it?"

Alexis took a deep breath. "I wouldn't be here if not for you. Most of the women in this academy wouldn't be here if not for you, and I don't mean because you're a teacher. You fought for this country for decades, helped open up the knighthood for us, gave us the chance to prove ourselves. How did you do it for so long? How are we supposed to do it when we're surrounded by so much hatred?"

Valia gave a sad chuckle. "It is difficult, certainly doesn't get easier. I learned a long time ago to pick my battles. You can't convince everyone, can't argue or thrash your way to victory against those who won't change their minds. Instead of wasting your energy fighting them or shouting over them, you need to outnumber them, outshine them. Be someone others will want to look to, not someone they have to hear."

The answer didn't satisfy Alexis. If anything, a tear of frustration rolled down her bruised cheek. "All my life, I pushed myself, never quitting, never cutting myself any slack. I always told myself that Valia Zodiac would never give up. That she would keep fighting, no matter how bad things got. Was I wrong all this time?"

"You're neither right nor wrong, just young. Take it from an elf; finding the battles worth fighting for and choosing the moments to walk away takes a lifetime to learn. If you believe in something, fight for it, not to make yourself feel better, but make things better for others. Don't waste your effort on petty arguments just to stroke your ego. You don't have to win every time, just when it matters." She put her hand on Alexis's shoulder. "Get some rest. I know there is more fight in you." She left the infirmary and found Noah sitting alone on one of the benches. "Did Rosege go back out to the dueling field?" she asked.

"Not willingly. Another healer had to come and drag her away."

Valia took a seat on a bench on the other side of the corridor, facing Noah. "That was a dangerous game you played. You almost got your friend killed."

"I'm playing the same game everyone else is playing. All I did was give Alexis my turn. You hand these cadets weapons and pit them against each other for fame and fortune, and I got to tell you, this kind of environment doesn't foster that strong sense of comradery you told me about."

"You were supposed to face Seraph on your own. Deal with it yourself. Instead, you shirked your responsibility, and your friend got hurt."

"Dealing with the prince is not my responsibility. I'm here to be a knight, not a punching bag. His ego is his own problem. You want me to fight for the prosperity and people of Uther? Fine. I'll kill as many people as I'm ordered, raze any village, and erect a mountain of skulls with the Uther flag planted on top, and you won't hear any complaints. You want me to engage in childish squabbles all for the sake of bragging rights? Sorry, but I have better things to do with my time."

"You don't get to make that choice. You can't just walk away from a battle or say you refuse to participate. You have to fight when challenged."

"Oh just stop it. Don't berate me with blanket statements and short-sighted narratives when you know they are nonsense. You may live among humans, but that doesn't mean you have to think like they do."

This time, it was Valia's turn to flash her killing intent. "One more word out of you, and I'll have you thrown in stocks."

Noah sighed and let his eyes wander the corridor before settling them back on Valia. "I heard what you said to Alexis, about the battles that matter. You tell her all that and then lecture me about not giving it my all in a mock fight or not indulging the prince's bloodlust. Either you were lying to her, or you've been lying to me."

"You need to stop pretending that you know me. I am your teacher, and you're just a child who's too full of himself. Everything I do, I do for the kingdom and its people. It's my job to train you to be an honorable knight. Your laziness doesn't trounce that."

"I know you care about those who serve under you, I know you care about the citizens, I know you care about the prosperity of the nation, and I know you care about swordplay. I also know you're smart enough not to care about this academy duel nonsense. I know what it looks like when someone dumbs down to cater to those who are less intelligent. What I don't know is why you chose to go from hero to has-been.

If you wanted to train others in the art of the sword, you could have opened your own school, and warriors from all over the globe would travel to study under you. Don't get me wrong, it's a great honor to know you and learn from you. I simply find it hypocritical that you're doing the same thing I did in our mock fight: holding back. You have the wisdom and experience that none of these mortal teachers could ever achieve, so stop acting like them. Stop pretending that this shit matters. It's not worth the effort."

"So you want special treatment? You want me to exempt you from anything you find tedious?"

"As nice as that would be, I'd settle for you dropping the façade when we speak like this."

Valia's brow furrowed, and she looked away. She took a deep breath and got to her feet. "I don't know if the challenger payment will be honored. I suggest you go speak with the commandant." Those were her last words before leaving.

After bidding farewell to Alexis, Noah took Valia's advice and went to the commandant's office, where he and Seraph were loudly arguing.

"As prince, I order you to nullify the challenger payment!"

"You stand here as a cadet, not a prince! You will abide by my rules."

"Gentlemen," Noah said, stepping through the open door.

The two men turned to him, equally angry. It seemed Seraph had forgotten about Noah's warning because the shouting was immediate.

"You! You cheated me!"

Noah ignored him. "Commandant Ford, I am Cadet Noah, pleased to meet you. Would it be better if I waited inside?"

"I was just about to summon you. Now I won't have to say this twice. Sit down." Noah and Seraph each took a seat in front of Ford. The commandant took a deep breath. "I have decided that the duel shall not be recorded in the registry, but the challenger payment will be honored. Seraph, your loss will not be counted against you, but your dishonorable behavior cannot be tolerated. You have lost your dorm and will be residing in the barracks from now on. Each of you, retrieve your possessions and leave your keys on the beds."

"This is ridiculous," Seraph muttered.

"Cadet Noah, understand that this is his punishment, not your reward. You took advantage of a rule you aren't supposed to have. As penance, you'll be running double laps for a month."

"Yes sir, I understand."

"Now, both of you, get out of my sight and stay away from each other. I don't want to hear either of your names for the rest of the year."

They were both dismissed and left the commandant's office. "This isn't over," Seraph said once they were out of earshot.

"It's something that should never have even started. Just give it up already. Move on with your life and stop bothering me."

"You think you can take my room and I'll just lie down and let it happen? They say I was disqualified, but I know I won!"

"Fine, you won, whatever. It's not a matter of winning or losing; it's simply a fact that picking a fight with me cost you your room, and if you pick another fight with me, it'll cost you something else. Is a spat with me even worth it if your victories pay such a heavy price? Win or lose, a dog that attacks a porcupine will get a nose full of quills."

"I swear I'll kill you someday."

Noah didn't bother replying and simply split away the first chance he had. He had to go get his things. Many cadets were recuperating from duels or daily training in the barracks, and all of them gave Noah the stink eye when he arrived. For him to use a woman as a duel proxy and win on a technicality, it was nothing but repulsive to them. He could hear them grumbling as he emptied his trunk, and they even hurled insults his way, but he didn't so much as give them a glance. Now that he was moving out of the barracks, he no longer had to be friendly with them.

"I told you I didn't like you running from your battles, but cheating your way up to the noble dorms? Is that really how you do things?" The words came from Gideon, his now-former neighbor.