My New Life in TBATE

Training.

"Alright, let's begin the meeting. First off, thank you all for coming. We'll do a more official introduction between members once the new recruits are selected from the tournament. As you may be able to tell, all of you are of at least Duke/Duchess ranking. Congratulations, your hard work has rewarded you with more work." I chuckle and a wave of soft laughs follow. I look over the various faces before continuing.

"Tomorrow evening is simple, once classes end just head to the campus dueling grounds and report to Fable. He will direct you to your seats that will be to the side of the Student Council. Claire you will be sitting with them for this event, but future events you will be seated with the student council." Claire nods and I pull out a sheet of paper with a list of names of all the students that had registered for the tournament.

My eyes quickly found Arthur's and Elijah's as well as some other familiar names such as Lucas and Nicolas.

"Alright, the 2 stripes will be placed in the tournament from the very beginning, but the 3 stripes won't be filtered in until the 3rd round. This will give us the ability to see if any new students are at least rank 2 level worthy before most of them most likely get defeated by rank 3s. Honestly I only see 3 that I think can beat the rank 3s. Those would be Arthur Leywin, Elijah Knight and Lucas Wykes." They all nodded, but Feyrith spoke up.

"Why do you think those 3 can defeat rank 3s?" I looked at him for a moment before looking back to the paper.

"I've been living with Arthur and Elijah, as Elijah is staying with Arthur and Arthur's family lives with mine. I know their abilities, as for Lucas. Well let's just say I know some things and he most likely will not be getting a spot in the disciplinary committee regardless of his placing." The group nodded before I continued.

"Anyways, that's pretty much it. I won't you all to pay attention during the matches and make notes of competitors that catch your eye for good or bad. Alright, it's getting late so I'll late you get on with whatever you have planned. Remember, report to the dueling field as soon as your classes finish tomorrow. Dismissed." With that everyone rose and left, except for Claire, Kathyln and myself. Once everyone was out the room I stood as well and gestured for the 2 to follow.

Kathyln immediately encircled her arms around my left and I caught Claire's disappointed look and could only sigh to myself. I'm really going to have to do something about this crush. I was hoping that her seeing me and Kathyln being together would let her give up on it without the embarrassment of being rejected, but I guess that's not the case. We begin our walk down the corridor through the empty hallways being illuminated by candles.

Had I not walked through caverns and monster filled dens, you could almost think this place was spooky. Shadows flicking across the walls and creaks of distant doors opening and closing, but I honestly found it calming. A stark contrast from the loud bustling auditorium, or the packed crowded hallways. Here and now I could enjoy the silence and companionship of my girlfriend and a very close friend.

My thoughts drift back to Claire and I become annoyed once again, I don't want to upset her and potentially lose our friendship. But it's been a year of her seeing me with Kathyln everyday and everyday her expression contorts and it's beginning to grow tiresome. In my last life I had only had one girlfriend, that didn't last very long, and I definitely didn't have the droves of girls fawning over me like I do now. I just don't know the right way to approach this without losing our friendship we've gained over the years.

Shaking the thoughts from head, I realize we have already made it to the training hall. I feel Kathyln grip my arm slightly and see she has a concerned look on her face. Hmm guess I should have expected this when dating such an observant person like her. Even the minute changes of emotion, seemed to alert her. I'll have to be more careful in the future, I pat her hand that's gripped around my elbow and wink at her with a smile. She doesn't look convinced and gives a look that demands answers eventually.