Before I Fall

"How long has it been since he came out of his room?"

"It's been five days." Dustan replied as he continued his practicing his swing.

Alva clicked his tongue. "I'm already up and well. Why is he acting like he's the one who got injured? What are we going to do for the tournament tomorrow? I mean, he's the one who arranged it. So why is he backing out now?"

"Patience." Hund grunted. "Instead of complaining, do your training regime."

"Like that's going to solve the problem." Alva growled. He simply couldn't understand. How can they be so calm when their so-called Master refuses to see them?

"That's it." Alva turned his back on the two. "I'm going to barge in his room."

At his words, both Hund and Dustan were quick to try and stop him.

"Alva, stop!" Dustan called out to the teen as he stomped his way to their Master's quarters.

"Unless it's a command, I'm not going to stop." Alva barked, marching towards Kari's door.

Dustan hesitated. "You know I dislike giving commands." But Alva didn't care if he was being manipulative. His rage had been boiling over since his last talk with Dustan and the only way to settle this was to get the Kari to man up.

"I'm going to give that riff-raff a piece of my mind. Today, once and for all." Alva declared as he stopped in front of Kari's door. Just as he was about to break down the door, Hund got in the way of his kick.

The lean man was able to block Alva's leg, catching it in a way that minimized the damage he took. Alva was surprised. Hund did learn some new defensive techniques from Kari. But, he didn't expect the man to be able to apply it in real battle.

It's either Hund has overwhelming hidden talent. Or, Kari is just that good at teaching. The thought itself threw Alva in a state of confusion.

That riff-raff? He didn't even supervise their training for the past few days! How is he a good teacher?!

Alva thought.

"Move." Alva growled at Hund. But the man was bigger in build and his menacing face scars added to his tenacity.

"I will not." Hund resisted, tightening his grip on Alva's foot.

"So be it." Alva snapped before he forcibly pulled his foot away from Hund's hold and did a high kick. Hund moved accordingly to block his attack, but Alva was faster.

The teen's foot collided with Hund's chin. The impact caused Hund to see stars, but it wasn't enough to defeat him. Gathering momentum, Alva did a quick 360-turn and kicked Hund's side.

This time, Hund was able to apply Kari's teaching and blocked the kick perfectly. But, Alva used the recoil to kick Hund's other side. He landed a solid blow.

Hund dropped to one knee at the impact and had his head lowered, creating an opening for Alva to strike his nape. Alva smirked, lured into a false sense of victory. Just as Alva brought his foot down to strike, Hund countered by propelling himself forward and hit Alva's weight-bearing leg.

Surprised and unbalanced, Alva started to fall. And Hund used gravity plus his weight to hasten Alva's fall. By the time Dustan reached the two, the fight was over.

Hund won.

"Let go of me!!" Alva rasped in between gasps for air as Hund pressed him down.

"Stay down." Hund commanded. He was panting, adrenaline still pumping in his veins.

He won. Hund still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that he won over Alva, a noble with strikingly blonde hair. He couldn't help but let out a nervous chuckle.

Kari was right. It was his weak mentality that cause him to appear weaker to those snot-nosed nobles.

"Alva, stop this." Dustan pleaded. Hund looked at the teen, who was supposedly a noble too. The man had never met a noble as humble and serene as Dustan. He always had a mysterious air about him.

And Dustan was probably the only noble that Hund found comfortable to be with.

"What a sight." The voice surprised all three of them. But only one of them immediately knew who it was.

"Master!" Dustan ran to Kari's side in a heartbeat. Delight was on his features. At the sight of their Master, Alva groaned.

"Great. So he decided to show up now, after all the trouble has ended." Alva grumbled to himself.

"Of course." Kari bantered. "I wouldn't want to miss seeing your ass handed down by Hund."

"Ha, ha. Funny." Alva sardonically replied with a sneer.

"Indeed, Alva. The sight of you grappling on the ground is quite entertaining." Kari shot back.

On the other hand, Dustan and Hund looked at Kari in thought. Hund couldn't help but feel worried until he realized that Kari was trying her best to appear fine. When the man looked at Dustan, he realized that the teen had reached the same conclusion.

Act normal.

Hund chanted in his head as he slowly let go of Alva. Bowing his head in respect for Kari, he greeted her.

"Master." Dustan followed his example. The greeting seemed to have caught Kari off-guard, which she quickly covered up by clearing her throat.

"... I see Hund has improved this much even without my supervision. Well done." She praised the man. Hund lowered his head even more, humbling himself before her.

"No, Master. It is only thanks to your guidance."

"Like hell it was. I was gone for the past few days. Don't give me the credit for something I didn't do." Kari growled. To which, Alva scoffed.

Alva made a face, like he was mentally saying, "See? What did I tell you?"

"The tournament starts tomorrow." Kari started. "And, I only have one thing to tell you before that."

Looking at them in the eyes, she said, "You're on your own."

Alva scoffed. He clenched his fists. This bastard was an irresponsible man.

Dustan and Hund remained speechless as Kari walked away from them, heading to who-knows-where.

"Did you see his attitude?! That smug son of a—ARGHH!!" Alva yelled out in frustration.

"Alva, calm down." Dustan chided.

"Calm down?! That piece of turd just told us that he doesn't care what the hell happens to us! What happened to maintaining his reputation?! That liar—!" Alva ranted, fuming as he tugged on his hair.