Seifr woke up with a start suddenly. He sat up and looked around to find he was in a make-shift bed in a tent. There were a couple of other students getting healed of injuries in other beds, and from how Seifr felt, he could determine that he had already been healed. He pressed his fingers against his ribs to find they were in perfect condition. Seth was sitting on a stool next to him.

"Yeah, they've already patched you up," Seth remarked upon watching Seifr's actions. "Listen, I know you must be disappointed in losing, but you really gave it to him good. He also didn't have time to get healed completely before his next match, but he did still win, the bastard."

"I'm not as disappointed as you might think. I've already gotten over the loss. Now I just need to focus on getting tougher so I can beat him next time. This is twice I've come out on bottom against him. There won't be a third time." Determination was the only thing Seth could see in his friend's eyes.

Seth patted his shoulder as he stood up. "I'm going to get back out there. I already got eliminated, also, but Raeq is about to have his second bout in this bracket. He's probably going to get first place for 2nd Class and will probably do fairly well if he advances to the finals."

Seifr nodded to his friend as he made his exit. He was fine now, but he felt like staying in the bed for a minute to analyze what he could have done better in his fight. He had lost his bearing when he got frustrated and impatient. Patience is the key. If one has patience, they can wait indefinitely for the right opportunity and not make a mistake trying to force one. That's not to say I shouldn't try to engineer opportunities, I just have to be smarter about it. He recognized that he had fallen for a trap. Kohl was more devious in combat than he had assumed. It's not so hard to believe that he's been schooled in tactics. He is the governor's son, after all.

Seifr was lost in thought and did not notice the person take a seat on the stool next to him right away. He glanced over at the movement and came face to face with Celia. His heart started beating wildly, even more so than when he was fighting Kohl. Seifr had not talked to her since he saw her with Kohl at the 4th Class sparring match.

"How are you?" Celia reached out a hand and placed it on Seifr's arm, genuine concern in her face and voice. "I didn't realize you were the person Kohl was going to fight in the first match. That was intense."

Seifr chuckled slightly as he replied, "Yeah, well we kind of want to kill each other. And that's not much of an exaggeration."

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Celia said. Seifr snorted at this. "So you're saying that if you could get away with it, you would kill him?" Celia asked seriously.

That gave Seifr pause. He gave it some serious consideration before responding, "I don't think so. But on that stage, I wanted his blood. I got some, too. Here... And here.... Oh, and some here, too," Seifr pointed out spots of dried blood on his clothes and then laughed at the look of distaste on Celia's face. "I'm joking. I don't know if that's his blood or mine. Haha."

"Well at least you're sense of humor seems to be back. I was worried you had lost it from the look on your face before the match when I waved to you," Celia playfully pushed at Seifr's arm. "What was that look about? Did I upset you?"

Seifr squirmed a little in his position on the bed. He really did not know how to answer that without revealing too much. He did not want to hide how he felt necessarily, but this did not seem like a good time to mention it. "Nah, I wouldn't say that. Just in the zone for the match, I guess," Seifr answered. "Speaking of my absolute, everlasting hatred for Kohl, you guys aren't friends are you?"

Celia laughed softly before answering, "He's the governor's son. I don't think he has any friends. But to answer your question, I have to be friendly towards him. My father is one of the deputy directors for his father in the Vinson government office. I've known him, well more of him, for most of my life. He's usually not so bad."

Seifr snorted again, "I'm sure he's on his best behavior in front of other nobles, especially the adults. Have you ever seen him interact with commoners?" Seifr looked at Celia, and she shook her head in reply. "I get it, though. He's in your social circle, and he's above you in the peerage. But did you have to kiss him?" Seifr winced at himself. He had not meant to say that last part out loud.

Celia scoffed and playfully swatted Seifr's shoulder again, "You voyeur. So you saw that did you? That didn't mean anything. He asked me to give him a peck on the cheek for good luck. I thought he was being stupid and told him no, but he insisted and said I was the only pretty girl around who could do it. I simply amused him. If I had known his opponent was you, I wouldn't have wished him luck." Celia stuck her tongue out when she insulted Seifr in her typical cheeky manner, so Seifr knew she was only playing when she accused him of spying on her.

"Then what about around a week ago when you were sitting next to him at the 4th Class sparring ring? I was sitting across the way from you guys. He pointed at me, you looked right at me, and then shrugged your shoulders. What was that about?" Since Seifr had worked up his courage on this topic, he was bound to get to the bottom of it.

"What? He pointed at something randomly when asking me a question about something I didn't know the answer to. I just casually looked in the direction he was pointing, but I didn't even see you. If I had, you know I would have waved. And considering I didn't know you guys hated each other, I probably would have tried to get you to come sit with us," Celia cleared up the suspicions that Seifr had. The knot in his stomach from that day, that he had come to ignore, finally disappeared and a sense of relief flooded through him.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Seifr decided to go for broke, and with a grin on his face said, "Well in that case, what are you going to do to make me feel better about losing the tournament?"

Celia tilted her head to the side and rested her face in her hand, "Oh, is poor wittle Seifr sad he didn't get a sword to pway wif?" She said in a little child's voice. Seifr grimaced a bit at the teasing, but then nodded his head enthusiastically. "Well in that case, how about I take you shopping for one tomorrow. It's a day off anyway, and now that you're out of the tournament, why go watch?"

Seifr couldn't believe his luck and shouted out, "Absolutely! I mean, that sounds nice. What time do you want to go?"

Celia giggled at his antics, "First thing in the morning. The commercial districts around here open up early." With that Celia got up to make her way out of the infirmary tent. She glanced back towards Seifr over her shoulder as she walked away and said, "I'll meet you at the gate an hour after sunrise. How does that sound?"

Seifr gave a thumbs up and said, "It's a date!"

Celia paused for a brief second as she was making her exit, and Seifr was sure he could see her skin turn red on her neck. She did not turn back around this time, but gave a wave as she said, "Sure." Then she was gone.

Seifr was shocked at his brazenness just now. He had no idea what had come over him to say such a thing, but now that it had worked out, he was glad he did. He put his hands on the back of his head as he leaned back onto the pillow, crossed his legs, and began whistling a merry tune. That was how his friends Raeq and Seth found him moments later.

Raeq eyed him suspiciously as he walked up, "You are entirely too happy for someone who just got knocked out of a tournament he literally bled for. You do realize that the way to advance is to not get slammed on the head repeatedly until you pass out, right?"

Seifr slapped at his friend playfully, "Ha! While you're busy on the stage wrestling with sweaty men tomorrow, I'm going to be on a date. With a lady." Seifr stuck his tongue out at his friend.

Seth piped up at this point, "Now don't forget that it's a date, not a match. You can't slap this one around like the last girl you let get close to you. Hahaha." Seifr kicked out at his other friend. He was afraid Seth was never going to let him live that down.

Raeq snickered and said, "Like you're one to talk. The reason you're not advancing to the next round is because you got beat by a girl."

Seth placed his hand on his chest and said in mock outrage, "That is because I am a gentleman. The only one among barbarians it would seem. Barbarians."

"Yeah, gentleman," Raeq snorted. "You should have seen it, Seifr. It was love at first sight. He was proclaiming his undying love for all the world to see, saying there was no way he could ever hit the woman of his dreams. She was beat red, and I thought his strategy was to embarrass her to death until he got down on one knee and proposed marriage. That's when she gave him a tornado kick that sent him flying clear 15 meters out of the ring."

Seifr couldn't help but burst out laughing at this story as he looked at Seth. Seth turned his nose up and turned his head to the side, the utter image of indignation. "That girl will be mine one day. If you had seen her, Seifr, even you would have.... Well, ok, no, you would have tried to kick her in the face. But my point is, it was worth it. She told me her name." He waggled his eyebrows at Seifr like he had accomplished something.

Raeq bent over and slapped his knee while letting out a loud laugh, "No, she didn't! The instructor announced it! Hahahaha." Seth turned to leave and Raeq grabbed him in a one-armed bear hug. "You know I'm just playing with you. But the both of you, go ahead and chase skirts. I got no time for that. It's the spring time of youth, and I plan on winning!"

Seifr cocked an eyebrow at Raeq as he responded, "I think.... that's wrong... I'm pretty sure you're supposed to use the "spring time of youth" to act wild, but that includes girls."

"Not for this guy," Raeq exclaimed while pointing at himself with his thumb. "The only girls I'm interested in are the ones who want to wrestle!"

Seth elbowed Raeq in the ribs, "Those are the girls I'm interested in, too. Heh." Raeq slapped Seth upside the head, and Seth chuckled.

Raeq looked back at Seifr, "How long are you planning on laying in that bed here in the infirmary? You're not hurt. Let's go!" With that Raeq and Seth turned to go. Seifr sprang out of the bed like nothing had ever happened to him, despite the evidence of still having a considerable amount of blood on his clothes. I wonder if I could get an instructor to use their ki to wash this blood off? I mean it did happen in a school sanctioned event.

The trio made their way back towards the dormitory in the 2nd Class section of the campus. Seifr and Seth had finally moved there things over a couple of days ago. Seifr was in high spirits as the day came to a close. Even though he had been beaten in the tournament, he was incomparably happy at the good fortune that had come his way. He might even have to thank Kohl. If not for him, he might not have ever been in a situation to clear things up with Celia.

Seifr ended his night with high expectations for the next day, even higher than his anticipation for the tournament.