Preparing for The Big Day

“Okay Alet, let's work on your close combat. On our next match we are going to face Flyn and Fiona.” Says Io as he picks his sword from the dueling field menu.

“Do you have any idea how we going to pull this? I mean they are ruler of the Siluma and the Capla, they must be really strong.” Alet sounds nervous.

“All we have to do is survive. I can’t give you specific training because they can fight with many styles and abilities. The only information I can give you is that Fiona will be using a gun in this fight, a sniper rifle to be precise.”.

“Ughhh… that’s sound terrible already… how about Flyn?”.

“Sword, he will be using a sword. He also got the title ‘master of the blade’ since no one can match his ability in using blade-typed weapons, especially swords.”.

“I see where this is going, you want me to at least be able to save myself if Flyn ever gets near me.”.

“Yep, that’s right.”.

“So, how are we going to do that?”.

“Nothing special, I’m going to attack you using my sword and try to survive from it.”.

“Okay, let’s do this,” Alet gulped.

They start the training, at first Alet is really struggling to keep up with Io. Since Io himself is a natural fighter, he has a lot of experience in close combat. Meanwhile Alet is only good at supporting her partner or team with her spell casting ability. Even though Alet had a sword, she almost never used it to strike back. The reason why Alet has the sword is only to block melee attacks.

Their training lasts about 30 minutes. Everyone in Quinn university has to hear some loud noises if they walk past the dueling field, some of the students even peek inside to see how they train.

“Huff… huff… wait… let’s take a break for a moment.” Alet tries to catch her breath.

“Good idea, I will give you some feedback while we do that.” Io also tried to catch his breath before his asthma flared again.

They sat on the side of the field.

“Okay, you already did well to survive-”.

“Not now, Io… let's save that for later, I can’t think right now.” Says Alet as she is too tired to think.

“My bad, let me know if you are ready to hear it.” He leaned back on the chair.

They sat for a while, resting all their muscles after an intense training session. At that moment Io is also trying to keep his head up as he gets sleepy.

“I’m so tired… I can’t sleep here. Come on stay awake… I… have… to… zzz” Io finally fell asleep next to Alet.

“Huh? Oh Io fell asleep…” She noticed it.

“Hey Io… you can sleep here.” She spoke softly trying not to wake him up and gently put his head on her lap.

“Huh…? Okay…” He changed his position and lay down sideways.

As Io fell back to sleep, Alet started to pet him.

“He must be really tired. His fur is so soft…” She can’t stop petting him and stare at his face.

Alet started to yawn, a gentle wind started to blow and the warmth from the sun made Alet unable to keep her eyes open. She leaned back to the chair and also fell asleep. After about 20 minutes, Ms. Claire comes to the dueling field looking for them. She wants to retrieve the field’s key because she has to do some upgrades on the field. After looking for a while, she finally found them in the far corner of the field.

“My my look at them. They are so cute! I have to take a picture.” She reaches into her pocket and grabs her phone.

After she is done taking the picture, she gently taps on Alet’s shoulder to ask about the field key.

“… Wh…!? Ms. Claire-” Alet opens her eyes and is shocked.

“Shhh… Don’t wake him up.” Ms. Claire put her finger on her lips.

“Ohh… right. What can I do for you?” Alet whispers.

“I need the field key. I want to do some upgrades to the field.”.

“Here you go.” Alet takes off the key from her neck.

“Thank you, you guys can stay here for a while.” She starts to walk away as far as possible.

After leaving Io and Alet, she started to upgrade the field by casting a magical spell to the key and several holographic screens appeared. Since Alet is already awake, she continues to pet Io’s head. Io slowly rotated his head facing upward.

“Hmmm… yes… keep doing it.” He was delirious.

“Hmm… Am I in heaven? It’s so comfy and I can sense Alet so close to me… Wait- Alet?” He starts to open his eyes and realize that he is laying down on Alet’s lap.

“WH- WHA! I’m so sorry! I’m going to change now!” He jumps from her lap and starts panicking. His face is as red as an apple.

Alet was shocked and chuckled a little and she also stood up and headed to the changing room. Meanwhile, Io stared downward with water running down from his head.

“That was too close, what am I thinking… Sigh… should be more careful. Damn season.” His face is still blushing.

After about ten minutes, Io comes out from the changing room and notices Ms. Claire standing near the entrance. He walks up to her to say hi.

“Ohh I’m just upgrading this field. Principal Shepherd says that this field needs to meet several requirements in order to prepare every student that later is going to be a fighter just like you.” Explain Ms. Claire after Io asked what the upgrades are about.

“I see, well I think Principal Shepherd is not as cold as I thought he was. Is there any environment update for the field?” He asked again.

“Yes of course. That is the one that is important. There are also demo modes to fight with several beasts.” She continues pressing the holographic screen.

“Wow! That would be awesome!”.

“Of course! Oh by the way, how long have you guys been together?” Ms. Claire asked.

“Oh… Since the first time we met here.”.

“Ah yes, the day where the intense fight between you two. To be honest I didn’t expect that. I was wondering, did you have any match records?” She shows a curious expression.

“Oh, about that… I recently learned about this. Do you know the immortal Silumas?”.

“Of course, I do. They brought peace to this city when the beast outbreak occurred about three or four years ago. I read every single story and for some reason there is one story that is being changed during that time.”.

“That must be The Legend of Io.”.

“Yeah, that’s the one. Wait a second, you- your name matches with the story. Could it be?”.

“Yes. That was me. My best friend, Flyn, told me everything. The title should be called The Legend of Dione Ruba. He also mentions that the title changed after I was about to review my own story and nearly killed the writer after I read my own name.” He looks down and his ear droops down.

“Oh my… what happened next?”.

“My life started again from the beginning. It all happened because I got one of the beast curses. I finally can read or hear my own name after I hit 20 years old. The reason why I’m here now is that I want to restore myself after locking myself away from society since the death of my parents.” Explains him.

“Oh dear… I’m so sorry about your parents. It must be a tough time for you.” She taps his shoulder.

“Yeah, it’s pretty tough. Everything started to change after Alet started a conversation with me.”.

“Good for you. I believe you two can get along together. In fact you guys are already almost ready for the last stage in the Lion Cage tournament. Next match may be going to be a hard time, but I believe the two of you will win that tournament.”.

“Thank you, Ms. Claire. I started to feel better now.” He smiles.

“Oh there is your lover. Good luck to you two! Also I will lock the field soon.” She smiles and is almost done with the upgrade.

Io’s face started to blush. Soon Alet and Io say goodbye to Ms. Claire.

“Fufufu… What a cute couple~” Ms. Claire started to walk away.