Nicholas's POV :
The aftermath of last night's incident didn't die down at all, I had this ominous feeling of this getting more torturous for me and the fact that I didn't get to apologise to the victim yet, made me beating myself. The whole day had been passed with the single thought of finding that person and apologize as soon as possible, however I did not succeed in at all and it's already afternoon, our Defence Strategy practical classes are almost about to start. Dreading about the Red Card thing that professor Klein had warned me about, I waited at the entrance of the arena in hope to see my roommate too, if he ever attended this class by any chance.
The waiting was the least relaxing thing ever, my nerves were eating me up and the glares and murmuring of the passerby students didn't help me with this at all. Thankfully, not much time after, two very known figures appeared in the last few groups, one being the HOD of the department, our professor Klein and the other one is prince Tristan.
With a curt nod, I greeted them, "good afternoon professor Klein. Good afternoon Tristan."
"Good afternoon Nicholas! What are you doing here?" Professor Klein responded naturally.
"Uhh... I wasn't sure if I'm still allowed to enter the arena after last night's incident. You warned me with a red card!" I could feel my voice fading away in nervousness.
"Ohhh...that? Nicholas that incident had nothing to do with the arena, so it is totally out of the count, don't worry. But did you apologize to Mr. Chase yet?"
"Umm... I had been looking for him the whole day, but I couldn't find him at all. Even I got up really early to search in every..."
"Wait a moment! You don't know his major?!"
Tristan incredulously asked me as if I should've known that tiny bit details about this FELIX CHASE!
So that's his full name is and I just came to know that!
It was professor Klein who helplessly answered me with a soft smile "Nicholas, he is a medical student. Of course you won't see him attending his major classes inside the main academy building. But doesn't he have Advanced Political Ethics classes too?"
As if to confirm that, he looked at the other young man who shrugged his shoulders and answered in a matter of fact manner "he had it initially. But when I checked his schedule last night, he had Ja-....err professor Palmer in the list. So he is taking the Basic class again."
Tristan looked troubled after answering as I wondered that this roommate of mine seems to be really close to the members of The Knights.
Breaking my trance, professor Klein continued "well that explains you not seeing him in your class. Com'on get in first, you'll be able to meet him here, if his left hand is all set."
"Huh?! What about his left hand?"
Gesturing towards the entrance of the arena, the two older male walked inside, so did I, keeping close to them as I'm afraid of getting any more hate and with professor Klein being so close to me, they won't dare to do anything. However entering the arena, a very unexpected scenery got us dumbfounded, that roommate of mine, whose name is Felix Chase and is a Medical Science student, was spontaneously sparring against none other than Harris Clive and most importantly with his LEFT HAND!
Professor Klein and Tristan hurriedly moved to Jeremy Jensen who was amusingly watching the match, I followed immediately.
"What's happening here?" Surprisingly professor Klein didn't stop the fight, he casually inquired about the happenings.
Not taking his eyes off from the fight, Jeremy answered "Harris tried to flirt with Felix..."
Immediately enough, Tristan retorted "he dared?!!"
As professor Klein gave him a stern cautious look, he shut up and Jeremy continued "...and as usual Felix tried to be as humble as possible but Harris didn't back off. So..."
"...so Felix snapped!" Amusingly watching the fight, the crown prince of the Kaisers completed the elaboration.
This time it was Jeremy who gave Tristan a dangerous side eye, seeing me curiously watching their gestures, both of them decided to keep complete quiet.
That quietness didn't last long as professor Klein suddenly pointed out "Clive is using left hand too!"
"Hmm. When Felix declared that he won't be using his right hand due to the injury, Harris took it to his benevolency for a fair match. Thus you see him really struggling hard with his attacks." Jeremy reluctantly answered.
After analysing Harris's strategy in his mind, professor Klein spoke again "Well it seems like I need to change my training methods. I mean, Harris is almost an eighth grade master class, however his left hand hardly managing sixth grade. How on earth he stands a chance against Felix?!! Where as Felix is already a seventh grade master class with his left hand. I wonder how much potential he can show us with his right hand?!"
Commenting that, he definitely looked at me, then returned to watch the duel.
Indeed Felix looked so relaxed and he didn't even try to attack Harris first, he was simply cutting Harris's every move mid through. His right hand was reluctantly kept at his back, he didn't even try to swing it for once, and his left hand was working wonders, as it blocked, hacked, jabbed on his opponent's joint muscles, those which will be easily sore and stuffy, as expected from a medical person. However, doing so much at once, his facial expressions remained same, the stoic, focused one, a mischievous smirk appearing occasionally, his sweat soaked face glistening in the setting Sun, and his usually fluffy blonde hair tied up in a high bun, gave him an ethereal look.
Avoiding a slice from Harris's sword, Felix's eyes finally landed on us, they had a glint of smugness, however when his eyes met mine, they turned into those cute wide doe like shape and my breathing stopped as I felt my heart skipping a few beats then beating wildly, the same reaction as last night's. His eyes might've lingered a bit too much, as I horrifically watched Harris gripping his sword into his right hand, lounging at Felix, my eyes widened in terror, and Felix simply went back to his calm controlled demeanor as he ducked a little to avoid the obvious strike, I let my held breath finally go.
The match got a lot serious as Harris took charge with his right hand and kept using seventh grade, Felix looked too much relaxed for his own good, his moves were precise yet agile, like if you missed one millisecond, your throat will be split open. However Harris was almost an eighth grade master class and that fact got him upper hand when he started applying his notorious brutal assault. In the beginning Felix still managed to attack back, but the more Harris felt that someone inferior to him was actually still keeping up with him, his movements became aggressive and my blood ran cold.
"Professor Klein." I called for the only person who could help me in this.
However, professor Klein simply shook his head, saying "don't worry. Felix's defence is far more strong and dangerous than his attacks. Still if something happens we're here."
Only then, I returned to watch the duel yet again, Felix reluctantly dodged every attack of Harris, it's true that he wasn't able to attack back, but his body and legs languidly worked through the whole ring, making himself almost hard to watch. His posture was ever calm, but we all could see Harris's attacks getting sloppy as he was getting tired of so much muscle work. At one point, Harris targetted for Felix's right side, the most vulnerable point, but missing it by few inches, thanks to Felix's insane reflex, that surprisingly reminded me one person who had this kind of speciality, he is none other than the crown prince Matthew Lawrence.
Come to think about it: they both have that Ryotle accent, both have the similar sword techniques which belongs to the Lawrences, both have the same kind of reflexes and the insane agility. Moreover though both of them usually keep stoic face, they have this undeniable kitten like features, I wonder if Felix is actually a distanced cousin or some kind of relative to the Lawrence royal family.
I was so immerged in my mind that I didn't notice that Felix took that attack as an offense and surprisingly he managed to charge towards Harris. First his sword sliced horizontally over Harris's collarbone, I almost thought he had cut him there, however no blood stains were seen, then swinging the sword upside down on both sides, Felix finally kneeled to give another long upside down cut over Harris's right leg and there was no blood too.
What exactly was he...
My thoughts were not still in full process, as my eyes watched in awe, Harris standing on the ring half-naked as his shirt fell to the floor and his whole right leg on full display as his pants weren't intact anymore.
The whole arena seemed to feel the shock too, no one dared to utter a sound, Tristan's quite snort got me back from the trance and I looked back at Felix again. He was totally unbothered by any kind of consequences and Harris was in no state to look up at Felix again, dropping his sword on the floor, picking up his shredded shirt, he tried to cover himself as much as possible. By my side professor Klein who also watched all these happenings with a blank expression, finally gestured Jeremy to get some clothes for Harris. As Jeremy left, Felix's eyes finally landed on us again, and I swear I saw a smug, proud glint washing over them.
Coming down from the ring, he nodded to professor Klein and Tristan, greeting them.
Professor Klein just nodded in response, however Tristan remarked "it's only the first day and you're already marking your territory I see!"
Shaking his head, Felix's voice sounded so shy as he spoke "what territory? I simply gave him a friendly warning. That's all."
Hearing this, professor Klein finally decided to speak "fair enough. Now let's get you introduced to all the classes."
With Jeremy coming back with the clothes, Harris was finally dressed and went back to his friends and I bet after this day, he will definitely loose many of them. Professor Klein took Felix back to the ring again to officially introduce him to us.
Surprisingly, his all stoic, serious face was gone, his eyes were sparkling with joy, as a soft smile played on his facial features, making my heart feel the warmth.
Then his voice boomed "Hello everyone. Good afternoon. I'm Felix Chase, a first year student with Medical Science major. I have Defence Strategy as a supportive subject and Political Ethics as another. I hope to get along with all of you and make the years spent here, happy memorable moments through my life. Thank you."
As everyone heard that introduction of his, a lot murmuring were heard, except for few people, me, professor Klein, Tristan, Jeremy and the three from the Lawrence royals looked unbothered too and if I'm not wrong, I saw the same proud face from Matthew too. So my roommate isn't only close to The Knights but also to the Lawrence royals.
Interesting.
Coming down from the ring, he was about to go to the Lawrence trio, when Tristan gestured him to come to us and patting my back, he left to arrange the groups by their grades. As Felix approached me with a frown, I felt my nervous system breaking again, but I needed to it, so bracing myself for the worse, I looked at him and boy he looked more handsome closely.
He stood at one hand distance, expressing a soft smile again, he initiated "hey."
My throat felt so dry as I managed to reply "hey."
Clearing my throat, I continued "I wanted to apologise for last night's incident."
One of his eyebrows raised in questioning as my eyes darted to his hand and finally he realised what I meant. Did he really not feel offended by my actions?!
"Ahhh...that. you don't have to apologise for that. It wasn't your intentional plan to hurt me anyway."
The soft smile was still on his face.
"Still, if I was careful enough to look around while walking this would never happened." Again him not accepting my apology made me feel more at unease.
And as if he sensed my dilemma, Felix assured me with the most softest voice, which I didn't expect from him either, "hey. That's really okay. It's not that serious, it'll heal in just one month. Still if you want to be ensured then I accept your apology. Now don't sulk like that, you look like a toddler when you do that. How cute!" Chuckling lightly, he added.
I could feel my cheeks getting warm by heat, so did my ears, my heart felt so much overwhelming emotions altogether that I feared it will burst out, did he just call me cute?! And why on earth my organs are reacting over such a compliment?! I could not move any muscle of my body to say something back and he was already walking towards his grades' line, class was about to start.
It was Christopher's voice that brought me back to reality, "hey cute boy!"
He had this playful smirk on his face and that immediately caught me red-handed, he was teasing me.
I blushed horribly, remembering Felix's remarks again and again.
And my brother's statement hit me hard "looks like someone got a crush on a certain blonde boy!"
Wait, what?! I've got a crush on Felix?! I don't even know him fully! That's impossible! Right???