Chapter 17 - Spar

"Number three Orpheu and number thirteen Ava".

 'These are two of the premature awakened ones.' Assessed Gerald as he read the names on the cards he'd collected.

 Orpheu was still as small as Pan remembered, being no more than 1.55 meters tall, he was dark with brown hair and didn't use weapons. As for Ava, she looked stunning in the blue apprentice robe, wore a spear, and her hair was black with light blue touches acquired after awakening.

 'Did it stay that way because she held the state of clarity for too long?' Pan reflected.

 "Ava, blue apprentice," greeted Ava.

 "Orpheu, brown apprentice," replied Orpheu.

 When the signal was given, Orpheu cracked the ground underfoot and flew towards Ava, there was no hesitation in his gaze or movements, it seems that facing a horde of the fallen forced him to grow emotionally.

 'So his name is Orpheu? Noted.' Pan and of course, would keep the name of those who stood out, especially those of mundane and common origins like him.

 When Orpheu was within half a meter of Ava, her body then snapped an electric blue and dodged Orpheu who ended up passing straight through. But the little brown had no intention of stopping and continued to throw himself at her like a tiger while masterfully avoiding the spear thrusts.

 'How can they evolve so fast? That doesn't even make sense.' Questioned Pan indignantly, as he knew he was incapable of even swinging his sword decently.

 After two minutes of fighting, they were both panting, but Orpheu seemed to have a slight advantage. A few red and purple bruises could be seen on Ava's right arm, which was used twice to parry Orpheu heavy punches.

 However, she still gripped her spear tightly and remained on the defensive, trying to tire the little brown.

 Orpheu then threw himself at Ava once more, his small size allied to his ferocity, allowing him to sneak up and deliver vicious attacks from below.  Ava tried to lunge at his leg, but the little brown one punched the side of the spear making her jump back, a smirk appearing on his face as his fist was inches from his target. One punch and victory would be him.

 However his smile soon froze as he realized he couldn't go any further as it wasn't just his smile that was frozen. The ground under Orpheu feet had a light layer of almost transparent ice, which was connected to it by Ava's feet. And before the little brown was able to break the ice hard, Ava spear was already with the point against his neck.

 "Ice? Did she use lightning and ice?" Someone from the audience said in amazement.

 The professor raised an eyebrow in surprise at the performance of the two awakened ones, but he didn't lend himself to giving praise and just continued with the practical class.

 'Too much praise and they'll have a straight path to death.'  Thought Gerald.

As soon as Ava left the arena Pan walked towards her.

 "Congratulations Ava, that was amazing," said Pan in a soft voice, surprising Ava.

 She felt embarrassed in his presence. Back at Lark she would do anything for him to take the initiative to talk to her, he was tall, handsome, honest and hardworking, ever since Ava can remember, she always had a crush on Pan. But he never reciprocates her feelings, especially after Nanna's death.

 And when she was chosen as a crusader and thought her life was over, the thought of Pan being chosen also always brought her comfort. But during the journey she didn't seem to exist for him. She wanted to get closer to him, but she was too ashamed to step forward. 'What if he ignores me? Worse, what if he shoos me away?' Those were the thoughts that ran through her head when she thought about talking to Pan.

 She knew he wasn't like that, but after losing his parents and then losing Nanna and being selected as a crusader soon after, he looked…bitter.

 But Ava still remembered how they used to play as children and hoped he would come and talk to her at one time or another.  But then came the Fallens and Pan lost one of his arms. And she thought he would never give her another look. She even thought that he might hold a grudge against her for the loss. Even she resented it. Thinking about it, she can't help but look at Pan's right shoulder.

 Noticing the subtle look, Pan felt uncomfortable and placed his left hand on her shoulder.

 'By the light, I'm so stupid.' Thought Ava as she noticed Pan's discomfort.

 "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, hmm, you…" As Ava fumbled with an apology, Pan started laughing like a fool.

 "I'd forgotten how clumsy you are with words," he said.  "Anyway, it was quite a performance there."

 Pan's smile made Ava blush slightly, even without an arm he seemed like the most handsome guy in the world to her. As for Pan, he felt a little hot talking to her, he didn't know why he was trying to renew their bond after spending so much time trying to break it. Maybe it was because they were both in the same boat now, maybe it was because she saved his life, who knows.

 "Number five Pan, number twenty-six Avalossa," called Instructor Gerald, forcing Pan to save musings for later.