Chapter 135: A Ballad for a Curious Water Sprite, Part Eight

{Rin}

With Xhez out on her date and Elisa somewhere else, Rin was left alone in her room with not much to do but think.

[Could always just go up and get some more training done,] Rin thought as she stared up at the ceiling.

A few other options ran through her mind. She could get some studying done, sit down and learn about some of the different monsters she could be fighting soon, which she hadn't done in a very long time. She could get back to reading Tristan's journal, and see how his first mission went.

Instead, something else took up most of her thoughts.

[... I should, shouldn't I?]

The Arena. A path that Rin had initially thought was made for her, given the skills she'd chosen to work on. However, that last fight left a bad taste in her mouth. And yet, she still felt a pull to that place.

Like Maria had said, if she did want to go back, she'd need to go soon so as to not lose out on her fighting edge. With that going through her mind, Rin sat up and let out a bit of a sigh, nodding to herself.

[Screw it, I'm just going to go in, ask for a fight, and we'll see what happens next time. If I lose again, then... Maybe I should just stick to adventuring.]

On that note, she got up, put on some shoes, and walked out her door.

As she exited the Academy, Rin couldn't help but wonder how things were going for Xhez. She was sure Xhez had the charm to maintain June's interest, but hopefully, she hadn't blown her cover yet.

[She'll be fine,] she told herself. [Just trust her.]

Cutting through Libera's streets, Rin mostly kept her eyes low, remaining deep in thought, right up until she was arriving at the Arena, There was no line outside, but Rin heard cheers coming from behind the building's front door.

[A fight's on?] She wondered as she walked up to the guard outside.

He recognized her, of course, and stepped aside to let her in. Indeed, as she walked into the building, she found a crowd raucously letting the fighters on the stage know they appreciated the sight of them beating the crap out of each other. Rin moved around them, only drawing a few eyes to herself, as she went backstage.

Fighters' gloves smacked against leather and pads as people trained all around the spacious room. Rin's eyes quickly found Olina behind her desk, speaking with another fighter, and she walked over to her.

Almost as soon as she arrived, the other fighter left and Olina looked up. When she saw her, the woman's brows shot up.

"Ah, Rosecaller, right?" She asked and Rin nodded. "We were wondering if we'd see you again," she said with a smile.

[Don't get too excited, if I get my ass kicked I won't be showing up again,] Rin thought as she crossed her arms.

"Uh, hey. Can I take a fight?"

"Certainly," she replied with a smile. Scanning her notebook, her eyes moved from one spot to another before she looked back up. "We have another newblood set up for a fight on Wednesday. How does that sound?"

"I'm down," Rin nodded.

"Splendid," Olina said before jotting Rin down for that slot. "Be careful about showing up without your disguise, by the way. What's the point of it if everyone learns you're a fighter anyway?"

"R-Right," Rin said with an awkward chuckle. "I just... didn't have it available today."

"No worries, no worries," Olina told her.

Then, Rin heard a voice behind her.

"Damn, you actually came back?"

She turned around and found Trodon, the man who had guided her through the process of joining the arena earlier, walking up with a smile. He was carrying a punching pad under his right arm and his shirt had some sweat stains on it.

"Yeah," Rin replied. "Figured I'd give it another shot."

"Good, good. Bit of a tough matchup you got last time. That guy you fought pretty much lives here."

[Still, I feel like I probably should have won that. I don't know.]

"Will you be training here?" Trodon asked.

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"Probably not," Rin replied. "I think I'll just keep training with Maria."

"Right, right. Understandable, with a teacher like that," Trodon nodded. "Still, feel free to stop by. I'll give you some pointers if you do."

"Yeah? Uh, maybe I'll take you up on that," Rin said.

At that moment, Rin noticed someone walking through the room behind Trodon. Seth was there, holding a thick bag over his shoulder as he paced to another part of the building, his eyes low and a distant look on his face. Rin watched him go and sighed.

[... Some day, maybe I can get a rematch.]

With that done, Rin walked out with a fight scheduled and a nervous feeling in her gut. Still, she tried to keep her chin up as she went back to the Academy.

[Just train as hard as you can, pray to the Divine that you win, and if you don't, then it is what it is. Just try your best.]

---

{Xhez}

"... And, yeah," June said, "I... I'm wondering about that."

Her eyes were half-lidded and her expression seemed almost annoyed, though she wasn't aiming that face at Xhez right now.

In fact, this entire time she'd been talking, it was like Xhez had stopped existing, outside of when she asked the occasional question.

"Do you not enjoy singing?" Xhez asked.

"No, no," June shook her head. "I do, it's just... There's so much around it that I... I don't feel too positively about..." she chuckled, though there was no sense of happiness behind the sound. "I haven't seen my family in a while, for one. Traveling from one place to another so much sounds great at first but, I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in weeks. And, well, I'm not exactly making the money one would think I would be. Even though I can afford places like these," she gestured around them. "Don't misunderstand," she smiled sadly, "I love singing. When I actually get to perform, it's a spectacular feeling. One I wouldn't trade for anything. Still, it's far from perfect."

Xhez looked away, as she thought about this for a moment. There wasn't much that she could say she didn't enjoy doing these days, but if there were, she figured it would be easy enough to simply not do it. The way June talked about her life, however, it seemed like that activity she loved was surrounded by negativity.

She had no idea what she would do if she ended up in the same situation.

"I cannot say I understand where you are coming from," Xhez told her, "but, as long as you are doing something you enjoy, I would argue that is the right path."

"Maybe," June replied. "Sure got a lot of stuff I'd rather not deal with, though."

"As long as you can keep singing, it is worth it though, right?" Xhez asked.

June paused. She crossed her arms and seemed like she was considering those words. Then, she huffed and said:

"Ignore me," June waved her hand with a sad smile on her face. "I just... You need to complain every now and then, you know? Just vent a little. I'm sorry to bore you with this."

"I am not bored at all," Xhez smiled reassuringly at her. "Whatever you wish to tell me is something I would appreciate learning about."

At that, June giggled, giving Xhez a surprised look.

"You are far too sweet."

Feeling a little warm, Xhez shrugged.

"I am simply saying how I feel," the sprite replied.

For a moment, June looked down at the table between them, her eyes flickering between their finished meals and Xhez's own eyes for a few seconds before she then stood up and walked over to Xhez's side.

With a bit of a smirk on her face, she held her hand out. 

"I'm getting a bit cold, personally, How about we get out of here?"

"Hm? Sure," Xhez said, standing up. "Where do you want to go?"

"Mm, I don't know. How about we head back to the hotel and see if we can think of anything?" She asked quietly, as she took Xhez's left hand and gently pulled her out of the restaurant.

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