Saturday morning had arrived, and though my body begged me to stay in bed, I had no choice but to ignore its desperate pleading. I had agreed to meet up with Eva for training, and after having a quick breakfast, I set out to do exactly that.

Before heading to bed the prior night, “Sensei Dioli” texted me the location of our meeting place: an abandoned warehouse somewhere by the docks.

Given that Eva was previously able to have my detention thrown out like it was nothing, I figured she was so well connected that obtaining access to the school field on a weekend would be easy for her. But apparently one of the school sports teams had practice, so we had to settle for a shady warehouse instead. She assured me the location was fine, but I had my doubts about that after looking at it on a map. Regardless of my thoughts, however, I did as I was asked and showed up to the rundown area.

And what a rundown area it was. Some kind of lingering, difficult to place smell polluted the air, growing more potent the closer I approached, and a rusted chain-link fence limply stood in a futile attempt to enclose the old section of docks. Pinching my nose, I ducked through one of the many gaping holes in the barrier. I trekked past empty, graffiti-riddled offices and aged crates as I approached the warehouse where I was to meet with my best friend and Eva.

I pushed a pile of junk out from in front of one of the building’s many doors and opened it. A loud, piercing screech echoed inside the structure, irritating me greatly.

“There you are!”

I thought I had been the first to arrive, but sure enough, my pink-haired mentor was already there, standing beside my best friend and waving me over with a beaming smile. To my surprise, she wasn’t outfitted in her typical military camo. Instead, she was clad in an open, blue, denim jacket with rolled up sleeves and matching jeans. She wore a cream-colored t-shirt beneath her jacket, and a pair of white and dark blue sneakers on her feet.

Clearly taking note of my expression, Eva snickered and asked, “what, did you think I lived in my camo?”

I was starting to think so…

“I never said that, but anyway. Hey, you two,” I said, closing the distance between us.

Mizuki waved at me with one hand while the other fiddled with a drawstring on her rabbit pattern hoodie. Her face was flush, and her eyes met mine with an apparent relief.

“How was the movie?” I asked.

“It was amazing!” Eva squealed, shaking Mizuki excitedly. “Right?!”

“Y-yeah.”

I smiled sympathetically at Mizuki and asked, “what film did you two see, anyway?”

“Melancholy Lane!” replied Eva, still hyped. “It’s the new Raven Blackwell flick. She absolutely killed it as Heather. You need to see it, Shinsuke!”

“Maybe another time. What’s in the bag?”

“Oh, this?” She slid the straps off her shoulders and unzipped the pack. From inside, Eva produced the camo I had expected to see her wearing when I entered. “I can’t train you without these!”

“So, you don’t live in your camo, you just take it with you wherever you go.”

“See, you get it! I’ll go change. Get yourself ready, my disciple!”

Eva rushed off, disappearing behind a door, and leaving me and Mizuki by ourselves.

I turned to my best friend and said, “given the look on your face, I want to hear it from you. How did the movie go?”

“It was fine, I liked it. But…” she paused to sigh. “I think I did it again.”

“What do you mean?”

“After we left the theater, she tried to talk to me about the movie, but I just blew her off. Nothing changed from last time, and I don’t think it ever will.”

“Mizuki, that isn’t true at all. This sort of thing doesn’t change overnight. And besides, Eva really seems to like you. Even if she doesn’t know what’s going on with you, it takes time to warm up to people. I’m sure she understands that. So, don’t worry. You’re doing great.”

Mizuki nodded; uncertainty written all over her face. “I’m going to go for a walk. I’ll bring back some snacks and drinks for us.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Snacks were a convenient excuse, but it was easy to see that she just needed to be alone. And as much as I wanted to stay beside my best friend through the growing pains of healing, I respected her hint at a desire for space.

“All right. Thanks, Mizuki.”

She replied with a weak, yet reassuring smile and exited the warehouse. As if on cue, I heard a loud door open and shut behind me.

“I’m back!” announced Eva. “Where did Mimi go?”

“She went for a walk. She’ll be back.”

“I see. Well, that’s fine. It’s time for us to get serious.” True to her word, Eva’s demeanor instantly grew focused. She approached me and pulled her phone from her pocket. “I took some notes on Prince LeClair, but I think I should show you something first.”

She clicked through an app on her phone and began playing a video in full screen.

The footage revealed the blonde prince attending what looked like some kind of outdoor ceremony. A grandiose band played him onto a stage where he stopped to bask in a chorus of cheers from a comically massive audience. An announcer prattled on about Emil putting on some kind of special show as women in sparkly dresses approached the prince and collected his suit jacket.

“What is this?” I asked.

“This footage is from a special celebration hosted by Emil in Gliyrhiel last year. Keep watching.”

The prince rolled up his sleeves and grinned at the camera while the announcer declared the audience was about to witness something incredible. Following that, over a dozen Gliyrhielian soldiers lined up with staves directed at Emil. On a count down from three, they fired massive bursts of magical bombs at him. A giant plume of smoke overtook the stage as continued successive, colorful blasts of different elements assaulted what I assumed had to be a very dead prince.

“Look closely,” Eva instructed.

One of the soldiers called upon the others to cease the attack, and everything came to a standstill. Slowly, the smoke dissipated. And little by little, something glowing brightly was revealed beneath it. To my disbelief, there on the stage, completely unscathed, was Emil LeClair, smirking coolly in an elegant stance. He was erecting a large, magic barrier that had seemingly absorbed everything that had been hurled at him. The crowd erupted into an enormous cheer as the object of their affection was fully unveiled.

The prince took a bow before Eva turned the video off and slipped her phone back into her pocket. “That is what you’re dealing with, Shinsuke.”

“Wonderful. So, if he can be pelted with military grade firepower and shrug it off like it’s nothing, what the hell am I supposed to do to this guy?”

“You should also keep in mind that this video was filmed a year ago. He’s surely improved by now, and he wouldn’t allow his greatest abilities to be televised either,” Eva added.

“So, you’re saying he’s probably even stronger now than in that video? Great. Did you show me that just to kill my spirits?”

“Far from it, my disciple! I think you’ll be fine despite all of what you just saw.”

“You and I have very different ideas of fine, Eva. How are you supposed to prepare me for this? Morning Dew fights aren’t going to cut it.”

“No, they won’t,” she agreed. “What you need right now is to learn the fundamentals of hand-to-hand combat. If you can achieve discipline in that, I know you’ll be able to overcome your struggles with spellcasting.”

“Not sure I get it, but I’m not in any position to question your methods. So, whatever you say is what I’ll do.”

“Excellent! On that note, it’s time to start this process. Get ready.”

For the next hour, Evangeline taught me the basics of unarmed, magicless combat. It was evident to me during our scrap in detention that she was more than capable of doing damage with just her hands and feet, but the ease with which she demonstrated her various techniques and moves made it crystal clear she was every bit the expert she was celebrated to be.

“Not like that!”

“Oh.”

“I said shoulder width part!”

“Sorry!”

“I know you’ve got a brain in there Shinsuke, use it!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Is that sarcasm?!”

“No, ma’am!”

As she had previously warned me, the training was not easy. Any incorrect form on my part was swiftly chastised and corrected by Eva, and I lost count of how many times I was tripped or flipped on my back. It seemed as though she had traded in her ordinarily cheery demeanor in favor of channeling her inner drill sergeant. And while I understood the idea, the hardball approach wasn’t making me improve any faster.

“All right,” Eva started, exiting a martial arts stance. “Let’s take a break.”

I fell back onto my rear end and replied, “please?”

Eva giggled and sat beside me. The contrast between her perfect calm and my heavy, exhausted breaths was comical. “I know I’ve been hard on you today, Shinsuke, but I’m proud of you. You’re doing well so far, all things considered.”

“It definitely doesn’t feel like I’m doing well.”

“You are. You’ve demonstrated an ability to correct your mistakes, listen to instructions, and your form is improving faster than I hoped. So…” Eva trailed off, furrowing her brows. After a few seconds, she whispered, “hey, do you hear that?”

I arced my neck, listening out for whatever noise Eva was referring to. Mumbles from deep voices were booming outside the warehouse. It sounded like two men speaking to someone.

“Come on, don’t be cold. We just want to know what a girl like you is doing in a place like this,” one voice said.

“Yeah, don’t you know girls should be nice? Give us a good smile,” the other added.

“How about no? Get out of my way and leave me alone,” a third, female voice replied.

Eva and I immediately shot up to our feet, our wide-eyed gazes connecting. That third voice unmistakably belonged to Mizuki, and we both knew it.

The two of us rushed to the door and pulled it open, finding two large, rugged men looming over a cornered Mizuki. Her hands were full with a brown paper store bag.

“He said smile!” one of the men growled, knocking the bag out of her hands with a hard swat.

“Hey!” Eva yelled. “Leave her alone you scumbags!”

The two men turned their attention to me and Eva. Shock quickly turned to laughter once they properly analyzed us.

“Oh yeah? And just who the hell do you think you are, girly?”

Eva stared the men down and grinned. “I’m her big sister.”