Pheera felt a blush creeping on her face. Narvari must have said something, but she didn’t hear it since her focus was on Narvari’s perfectly sculpted body. It was as if Narvari had intentionally only worn a sports bra and a pair of gym trousers to taunt her. Pheera had always hated the idea of touching people, even if slightly, out of fear of accidentally captivating them. But for some reason, she never felt that way about Narvari.

Instead, there was something about Narvari that drew her in. She always had this extreme urge to touch her soft brown skin. Narvari was the only one who had broken free of her captivation and that gave Pheera hope that she could not accidentally make Narvari do anything against her will. Unfortunately, Narvari hated it when Pheera was too close to her. She didn’t blame her.

“Pheera.”

Pheera gazed up at Narvari’s concerned face. “Are you okay?”

Pheera nodded.

“Are you going to answer my question then?”

She ran her hand through her hair. “Sorry. What was the question again?”

Narvari sauntered towards Pheera until they were only a few feet apart. “Are you sure you’re fine? You seem distracted.”

Pheera smiled, heat rushing up her face. “I’m fine.”

“Okay.” Narvari nodded, though she didn’t look convinced. So I asked if I could see your savaz before we begin our duel.”

“Oh. Sure.” Pheera took a deep breath, before chanting “Enphara.”

Her blue and white sacros appeared, suddenly transforming into her savaz.

“Wow.” Narvari’s eyes lit up. She drew closer, gazing at the blue and white savaz. “This is amazing. It’s really beautiful.” Their eyes met. “Not as beautiful as you, though.”

Pheera froze.

Narvari cleared her throat suddenly as if she had not meant to say that. Sometimes it was hard to figure her out. Usually, she was so confident and sure of herself. But then there were days like this when she acted so shy. Withdrawn.

“Is his name Enphara?” She nodded at the savaz.

“His?”

Narvari raised a brow. “Oh. Her then? Or a they?”

“I’m not sure.”

“What? Don’t you two talk?” Narvari folded her arms. “Ushama won’t shut up.”

“Ushama? That’s your savaz’s name?”

“Yes.” Her savaz appeared out of the blue. Pheera’s eyes widened. She didn’t think she heard or saw Narvari call them out.

Pheera looked at Narvari closely. That could only mean that Narvari had some form of union with her savaz. Since her sacros had appeared before transforming into savaz, that meant the union wasn’t full but partial. How was it possible that someone who was barely a class five vanquisher had achieved partial union?

“What?” Narvari smirked.

“Nothing.” She shrugged. “Are you ready to spar now? Or do you want more excuses to get away from defeat?”

Narvari chuckled. “Well, damn.” Her savaz disappeared as did Pheera’s.

They circled each other, each one waiting for the opportune time to strike. Suddenly, Narvari threw a punch towards her, but she blocked it with her sacred fist, sending a scared kick toward Narvari’s head. But Narvari’s upper body lowered almost to a horizontal level on the ground causing Pheera to simply kick the air. Narvari flipped backward three consecutive times.

“Is that the best you can do, Pheera?” She smirked.

Pheera laughed. She had no intention of going easy on Narvari. The girl may have taken only a month to train, but she by no means underestimated her. After only a few minutes of their spar, she knew that Narvari was no easy opponent.

With lightning speed, Pheera lunged toward Narvari in one single leap. She moved with precision and force warping space itself. But Narvari didn’t seem perturbed at all. On the contrary, she moved with a similar intensity, blocking all of Pheera’s punches and kicks as much as Pheera blocked hers. They seemed to be evenly matched.

Not for long, Pheera thought. She sent successive punches toward Narvari so quickly that it seemed as though her fists had multiplied. But they were merely mirages. Of course, just as Pheera expected, Narvari froze in confusion, staring at the multiple fists racing toward her. It was the Zoleris special Shadow Clone Fist. Narvari staggered backward as Pheera’s real fist punched her in the chest. She crashed to the ground and before she could get back on her feet, Pheera was already on top of her.

“Is that the best you can do, Narvari?”

The intensity in Narvari’s honey eyes sent a shudder within her body. She froze on top of her, not daring to move. Her eyes lingered on Narvari’s lips. Focus. She stood up quickly and slowly, Narvari rose looking somewhat dazed. But that didn’t stop her from lunging straight toward Pheera.

Their frenzied attacks began again followed by a lot of grunting. A sudden move by Narvari took Pheera by surprise giving Narvari the upper hand. It was a mere second, but it was enough to pin Pheera to the hard stone wall, their faces just mere inches apart. Pheera’s chest heaved with — and something more. Sandwiched between Narvari’s arms she seemed to forget how to breathe. It was hard to understand the look in Narvari’s eyes. And why was Narvari staring at her lips?

Stolen novel; please report.

Narvari took a few steps back, then walked away. She sat on the stone floor. Pheera sat next to her but made sure to put a respectable distance between them. She could see that Narvari’s walls were up again.

Pheera reveled in the comfortable silence between them.

Narvari suddenly blurted, “You are a really good fighter.”

“So are you.”

“What was that move anyway?” Narvari finally looked at her. “Your hands literally multiplied.”

Pheera smiled. “It’s called the Shadow Clone Fist.”

“Trixan never mentioned it.”

“I don’t think she knows it.”

Narvari narrowed her eyes as if to say that she didn’t believe it.

“It’s–” she paused, “it’s a Zoleris Secret Art.”

Narvari didn’t react for a while. Then she nodded. She wanted to ask a question but she kept her mouth shut. Pheera could understand why. The last time Narvari had asked about her family, Pheera had stormed off in anger. She felt bad about doing that but she hated talking about her family.

“I thought Trixan taught you to fight?” Narvari asked.

“She did. She taught me sacred combat.” She played with her hair. “But before I awakened, Jeoraz trained me in Zoleris Secret Art.”

“Jeoraz?”

Pheera nodded. “He’s the martial arts master of the Zoleris Family. He began training my siblings and me as soon as we were five years old.” Pheera paused. “I have four older siblings.”

Narvari nodded and smiled. “Now that makes more sense.” She laughed.

“What?”

“I thought you only started learning to fight three months ago. Your skill is too refined and experienced to be shaped in such a short time.”

“I only started training in sacred combat three months ago. People from the Dominant Families usually learn to fight long before they awaken. It makes it easier to learn sacred combat.” Pheera hugged her knees. “Yanvirrak had to learn everything from scratch. It’s impressive how fast he’s learned in only three years.”

“I still can’t believe he’s twenty.” Narvari grinned. “He looks fifteen. But sounds forty.”

They both laughed.

“How old were you when you awakened?” Narvari asked.

“Sixteen,” Pheera replied. She would rather not get into the story behind her awakening. Or worse, the story before her awakening. “I turn seventeen in four months. What about you?”

“Eighteen. I’ll be nineteen in June next year.”

“You’re a late bloomer but I guess Trixan has always had an eye for talent.”

Pheera laughed when she saw the shock on Narvari’s face. It was like Narvari could not believe she had been called a late bloomer. “Most people awaken before the age of eighteen,” Pheera explained. “But I guess in your case it doesn’t matter. Your progress is already incredible.”

Narvari grinned. “I’m pretty incredible, aren’t I?”

Pheera chuckled, shaking her head.

Narvari bit her upper lip. “Can I ask you something?”

The last time Narvari had asked something like this, the two didn’t talk for more than a week.

“Sure.”

“Does Trixan often do this special recruiting?”

Pheera nodded. “She has to. We are understaffed and most of the professional vanquishers have all transferred to the other schools.”

“But why?”

“The Draghein Family is why.” Pheera shrugged. “I think they have something against Trixan and they will do anything to make her job difficult.”

“That’s odd.” Narvari frowned. “Isn’t this school their family legacy? Aren’t they supposed to help Trixan get more vanquishers? I mean, logically, the more professional vanquishers from Draghein School the more money for them right?”

“Essentially, yes. But things are more complicated than that, Narvari.” Pheera sighed. “I don’t even know what’s going on between Trixan and the Draghein Family, but what I do know from experience is that the Dominant Families can be very petty against their enemies.”

“Enemies?” Narvari gaped. “You think they see Trixan as an enemy? Why did they make her Elder then?”

“They didn’t. Hellstorm did.”

“Hellstorm? The former Elder of the school?”

Pheera nodded. “It was a big issue back then. Most of the Dominant Families would never make someone from outside the family an Elder of their school. And Hellstorm defied that norm when he chose Trixan. But the Zhura of the Draghein Family supports his decision so no one can openly challenge Trixan’s authority either. All they can do is scheme behind her back.”

“So they will sabotage themselves just to make things hard for Trixan.”

Pheera smiled sadly. “Things like these are very common in Agon. But I guess, it’s a good thing anyway. The only people remaining are those truly loyal to Trixan.”

Narvari nodded. “So Hellstorm was a Draghein then?”

“Yes.” Pheera nodded. “They said he returned Draghein School to its true glory as the number one of the Twelve Schools.”

“Well,” said Narvari, “I don’t know who the hell this Hellstorm is. But I still think we are doing pretty well as a school. We may be few but we are strong because our Elder is strong.”

“I agree,” said Pheera smiling.

“Should we get back to training then?” Narvari asked. She leaned closer to Pheera until their faces were a few inches away from each other. She whispered, “Or are you scared of what I might do to you?”

Pheera blinked rapidly. Her cheeks burned. Breathlessly, she said, “I think it’s time for lunch.”

----------------------------------------

One week later, Narvari’s license and uniform were ready. She quickly made her way to Trixan’s office as soon as the Elder called her over.

Narvari studied the silver oval badge, running her index finger over the stylish inscriptions on it. Two savaz crossed each other like the letter X and a language Narvari had never seen before were inscribed on the license. She was certain this language was not even from Earth.

“What does it say?” Narvari raised her license.

“The top reads Ancient Order of Vanquishers and the words below mean Sacred is the arm that protects. It’s written in Agon.”

Sacred is the arm that protects. It had a nice ring to it.

“What about my uniform?” Narvari looked at Trixan expectantly.

Trixan pointed to a black hard case bag resting on the table and a gray garment bag. Narvari assumed that her vanquisher uniform was in the garment bag but she could not think of what might be in the hard case bag. With a quick breath, she opened the case bag. Narvari gasped as she took in the magnificent red and black xuul. She glanced at Trixan. Given how stylish Trixan was, Narvari was certain the woman had chosen a xuul that perfectly complimented her savaz.

“It is programmed personally to you, my dear. Never take it off during a mission.”

Narvari snatched the xuul and ran her fingers over its thin screen. The fabric felt so soft and yet so tough.

Her heart swelled with pride. She had her very own xuul. She could teleport wherever she wanted.

Awesome.

“There’s a manual inside the suitcase on how to use the xuul, my dear. Try not to overuse the portal function. It runs directly on your sacred energy and you don’t want to exhaust your sacred energy.”

Her dream went up in smoke. Narvari pouted, replacing her xuul in the briefcase. “So when do I start my missions?”

“As soon as one comes up, my dear, you’ll be notified on your xuul. In the meantime, you need to join a team for your missions. Azmel’s team is the most recent one and you’re already familiar with them. It should be easier to settle in.”

“You’re saying I can join Pheera and Yanvirrak?”

“Yes.” Trixan gazed at Narvari so gravely it made Narvari audibly gulp.

“Narvari.” Her tone hardened.

Narvari held her breath.

Trixan sighed, her eyes softening. “Being a vanquisher is a really dangerous job, my dear. Making even the slightest miscalculation could cost the lives of people and that includes your teammates. You can’t afford any distractions.”

Could Trixan see through her? Did she know how much Pheera distracted her?

“If being in Azmel’s team is going to be a problem–”

“It’s not.”

Maybe being around Pheera made her feel like everything was on autopilot. But that didn’t mean she would become less competent at her job.

“Okay then, my dear.” Trixan nodded, patting her on the shoulder. “Congratulations on becoming a professional vanquisher.”

Narvari beamed. “And now it’s time to vanquish demons.”