"Punches! Blocks! Kicks!" Sensei Helia commanded, and his students obeyed with precision. They had been practicing these basic moves for two hours now, and all of them silently wondered why the sensei was making them drill fundamentals they already had at their fingertips for such an extended time.
"Concentrate! Focus on the energy that surrounds you. Harden your fists! Hold your defenses! Straighten and harden your kicks!" The commands kept coming from Sensei Helia as he sat on a wooden chair he had brought from the cottage, rhythmically striking his cane on the ground.
They continued practicing until the loud alarm for lunchtime echoed throughout the institute. Exhausted, none of them waited for their master's dismissal; they simply gathered their belongings and left on their own.
"Meditation class is two hours before dinner, everyone. Do well to fill your stomachs now, for it won't be pleasant to hear the roars of the monsters in your belly during my class." Their loud laughter followed as they dispersed, one after another.
'Monsters in your belly,' Lilith thought, the phrase reminding her of her mother. She truly wished she was doing well back home. She missed her so much.
"Hey, purple head," Lyra called, walking up to where Lilith stood, gulping water from her purple bottle.
"It's even weirder that your water bottle is purple too. I'm sure if we didn't have an institute uniform, you'd look disgusting every day dressed in your usual purple," she teased.
Lilith swallowed the water in her mouth, quickly covering her bottle before responding to Lyra.
"Hi, Lyra. I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday, and I promise I won't hurt you again. If you'll excuse me, I have lunch to eat. See you at the dining hall." Ignoring Lyra's smirk, Lilith picked up her bag and headed away.
"Don't you dare walk out on me!" Lyra yelled, retreating a few steps and pulling back her hair. "Who do you even think you are?"
"What is going on here?"
"Sensei Helia," both girls bowed respectfully. Neither had noticed when the sensei rose from his chair a short distance away and approached them.
"I asked a question," he said, his tone calmer than expected.
"Oh, Sensei," Lyra suddenly collapsed to the ground, feigning a broken leg. "I was just fixing Lilith's hair like a good sister, but she gave me a hard back kick that fractured my heel, oh Sensei!" she squealed, forcing tears from her eyes to sell the act.
"That's a total lie!" Lilith barked. "That's absolutely not true, Sensei. She's lying. Sensei, she was the one who—"
"Enough, Lilith," Sensei Helia interrupted, raising a hand to silence her. "May I see your bracelet?"
"Sure," Lyra answered, extending her left arm without hesitation, though she wasn't sure what the sensei intended.
He pressed his thumb against the bracelet, and her stats projected in the air:
**LEVEL 1:** Responsibility: 5%, Exceptional Self-Defense Skills: 0%, Attack Skills: 0%, Emotional Mastery: 0%, Respect: 10%, Honor: 10%, Discipline: 15%.
"Hmm. May I see yours, Lyra?"
Lyra knew she was in deep trouble, but it was too late. The sensei was going to find out that Lilith was innocent.
"Lyra!" he called again, noticing she seemed distracted.
"Of course, Sensei," she replied, extending her right arm as well.
He placed his thumb on her bracelet, and her stats projected similarly:
**LEVEL 1:** Responsibility: 0%, Exceptional Self-Defense Skills: 0%, Attack Skills: 10%, Emotional Mastery: 0%, Respect: 5%, Honor: 2%, Discipline: 5%.
"And there you have it," he said, giving Lyra a hard glare. "Lilith, you may go. Lyra, stay back and serve your punishment."
"Thank you so much, Sensei," Lilith said with a beautiful smile as she walked away. She felt truly satisfied that Lyra was about to receive the punishment she deserved. Lyra was definitely a jerk who had ruined her afternoon. In fact, Lilith no longer felt like going to lunch, so she returned to her room to take a shower instead.
"Hey," Andreas waved from where he lay on her bed.
"Hi, Andreas," she waved back, playfully tossing her backpack onto him as she began removing her training attire. She had no plans to fully undress in front of him but intended to take off her gi and wear her inner clothes to the bathroom—just her camisole and tight shorts.
She didn't look particularly sexy in them, as her body was slim and she wasn't fully mature yet, but that wasn't Andreas's point of view.
He felt himself grow hard whenever she dressed like that before him, even though she was still young and not yet an adult.
Though he loved the view, he wasn't sure how long he could stare and do nothing. He didn't know how to explain to her that she was a young woman and should keep her body to herself.
Maybe it was his fault. He had been with her since she was five, and she had grown to see him as someone she could be completely open with. But he could swear she was going to pay for all the torment she was causing him now when she grew older.
She sat by the mirror, staring at her reflection for some time before sighing and turning to him.
"I missed lunch," she said abruptly, not expecting him to reply until she was done—and he understood well and remained silent.
"Lyra ruined my day today, but I'm happy Sensei Helia stood up for justice and will definitely punish her for trying to accuse me falsely. She just hates me, and I can't tell why."
"Are you sad?" he asked, sitting up from the bed. "Or are you hungry?"
"I'm sad she doesn't like me, but I lost my appetite."
"Don't worry about her. Maybe in your next class—which is...?"
"This evening."
"Yes, this evening. Try to talk to her first and smooth things over. I see no reason why you should have enemies in your first year here."
"I will do that. Just that," she said, standing from the chair and walking toward the bathroom. "I'll take a shower and head back out. And for the record, I had the worst first class ever, but my sensei is a wonderful man. I like him," she snapped before entering the bathroom.
"Such a cute soul. So this is the prince's secret..."