haven - zb1

9

 Jiwoong clapped once to grab everyone's attention, "Well, as much as I'd love for us to continue, I think it's starting to get late. We should head in and figure out our dinner situation."

Luckily, Jiwoong's worries were not an issue, as they re-entered the hall they were in when the first arrived, a large round table materialised, laden with so much food they were barely able to see past the plates and bowls.

"Free food," Taerae cheered joyfully, and after they set their weapons down or leaned them against the wall, the group sat down quickly to dine. While the rest tucked in, Jiwoong swept his eyes across the wide room, taking in the warm wood and the light scent of Jasmine flowers.

Sensing that Jiwoong had much to say, Quanrui leaned back in his chair and said, "Give us the history lesson you're so eager to tell us man."

Jiwoong shot his junior a dirty look but caved anyway. "This is the Solar Hall. He built this place himself with his own powers and named it too. This whole place, all his work. It's said that he died right here, in this very room."

That dimmed the mood instantly, but Quanrui replied, "Well, ultimately he was just some guy."

"Woah, that's kinda rude," Hanbin interjected, his cheeks stuffed with food like a hamster. "He did give us our powers," Woohyun added, pouring himself a heaping pile of food.

"If he was so great, he could have lived forever," Gunwook joked. "I think he was really great though," Zhang Hao said solemnly, "It was difficult to reach my level of ability, and I only can control water. Imagine how difficult it was for him to master all four elements."

That got everyone thinking, and they fell silent. Halting everyone's train of thought, Quanrui suddenly mentioned, "If it's okay with you, Zhang Hao, I'd like to spar with you. It'll be interesting to spar against a water user."

"You'll go down for sure," Hanbin teased playfully, "Our Zhang Hao is ranked first among us." Zhang Hao sent Hanbin a look, clearly embarrassed that such confidential information was leaked.

Quanrui's eyes were pinned on Zhang Hao, "Well, you have to admit that the rankings' pretty subjective. I'm not downplaying your achievements or mine, I'm saying that the rankings mainly revolve around the visual aesthetics and extent, you could say, of one's grasp of power."

Woohyun seemed to want to say something, but was dissuaded by Zhang Hao's now serious expression, deep in thought. Then, jerking his head up, Zhang Hao announced, "Let's spar, right here, right now." Quanrui mirrored his determination, standing so suddenly the table trembled.

Taerae protested at the location, until the duo reluctantly agreed to do it outdoors. Jiwoong's eyes flicked to the window, where the hazy darkness of the evening proved to be a potential issue.

Gyuvin looked woefully at his food that would be left to cool as they hurried behind the two competitive boys.

"But it's really dark guys-" Before Yujin could even finish voicing his concerns, Quanrui waved his hand and balls of bright fire flew to illuminate a ring above their heads. "Is that enough?" He asked Zhang Hao, who nodded, yanking his sword from its sheath and tossing it aside carelessly.

Frowning at his senior's behaviour, Woohyun snuck a peek at Hanbin, whose expression was grim and tense. The latter inched towards Woohyun, and whispered, "Zhang Hao is getting too worked up." Woohyun could only make a face of helplessness.

In the fire light, their weapons glinted menacingly. "Do you need water?" Quanrui asked as he hefted his spear. Zhang Hao shook his head, "Let's begin."

"Wait," Woohyun suddenly said, "If we think either of you are going overboard, we'll stop the match immediately." Jiwoong seconded that idea, so the two couldn't argue with him. Quanrui adopted the same tense stance he used when he sparred with Gunwook, then, his spear flashing, he raced towards Zhang Hao.

Zhang Hao slashed the empty air, water spurting out rapidly. He didn't have the collected calmness from when he first stepped foot onto the training grounds, here he was focused and fuelled by urgency. The water morphed into separate spheres, which encircled Quanrui. He tried to counter the attacks with his fire, the water sizzling as it came into contact with the intense heat.

Jabbing his spear forward, Quanrui only hit air as Zhang Hao swifted dodged, pivoting smoothly and slicing back at Quanrui, who narrowly avoided the blade by a hair. The duo both sent a stream of their respective powers, while still maintaining a good control of their weapons, the metallic clang of the two weapons clashing with a painful screech.

The water sent by Zhang Hao had shaped into flat strips, paper thin. While Quanrui successfully evaporated most of them to steam, a couple fortunate ones grazed his cheek, the man hissing as miniscule drops of blood welled at his skin. On the other hand, Zhang Hao, out of habit, flung his hands forward in an attempt to block the flames with a sheet of water, but it was too flimsy and he was thrown back from the force.

Quanrui, sensing that Zhang Hao was unsteady, readied his spear again and tried to attack again. Unluckily for him, the other recovered fairly quickly, readjusting his grip on his sword hilt before meeting Quanrui's strike.

The match went on for a while, a persistent back and forth, just when one was certain to overpower the other, the tables were quickly turned. Jiwoong's frown deepened, and he muttered under his breath, "He's gonna lose." It wasn't obvious who he was more worried about, but the observers could plainly tell that Quanrui was tiring faster than Zhang Hao.

While Quanrui had energetic attacks that hit hard and went fast, Zhang Hao beat him in grace, agility and stamina. The longer the match went on for, the more the fire brightening their surroundings flickered and wanned. Jiwoong easily replaced the flames but he never tore his eyes off the match.

The air, previously humid, had become much drier, and the cause was clear. Zhang Hao was well aware as well, his physical attacks being the brunt of what Quanrui had to deal with. Then, in a desperate attempt or perhaps an epiphany, Zhang Hao threw his sword aside and planted both hands to the ground.

"Oh my g-" Woohyun couldn't even finish his statement before the ground rumbled, not unlike what Gunwook had done previously. Quanrui, despite having experienced this twice, had the same perplexed look on his face as he stumbled. The House of water heir was summoning water from the very ground, which is where all the remnants of his magic attacks had seeped into previously.

Taking advantage of Quanrui's state, Zhang Hao unleashed a rush of water that knocked Quanrui to the floor. He winced from the pain, and when he raised his chin the tip of Zhang Hao's sword was shakily aimed at his bobbing Adam's apple. "Good match," Zhang Hao shakily managed, his hair damp from sweat and water. Quanrui panted, but the smile on his face was bright, "You truly are the best of us. I have no regrets. I did my best."

The winner helped his opponent up, the duo leaning against each other for support as their legs trembled from exhaustion. Their observers, previously frozen from the unexpectedness of the spar, all heaved sighs of relief or hurried to their sides. Hanbin immediately slung Zhang Hao's arm over his shoulder, Jiwoong attempting to do something similar but Quanrui shrugging him off. Woohyun, before moving to Zhang Hao, quickly summoned a tiny ball of water to gently pass over the little cuts on Quanrui's face, the water healing his injuries miraculously and cleaning away blood at the same time. Quanrui could hardly speak but his eyes shone with gratitude.

"Alright, everyone to bed," Jiwoong announced, after picking up Quanrui's fallen spear and collecting Zhang Hao's sword from its owner's limp hand, "And let's never do this again."