Heaven's Light (Book 1)

Chapter 14 - Jeriah

"Ashura? What the hell are you doing out here? You need to rest! Are you even aware of how much damage you took in Greenwood?" I nagged, waving my arms in the air for emphasis.

She pursed her lips and rolled her azure eyes at me, shaking her head. "C'mon, Jerk, it's not like this is gonna kill me. Getting exercise is good for recovery, anyway."

I face-palmed. There was no way she was serious. An entire dragon battle worth of injuries, and she thought she could fight?

She was crazy. Morbidly crazy.

"You almost died from those injuries and you think that not resting and recovering is going to heal you? I can't believe it."

She shrugged, wincing at the pain it brought her.

"See what I mean?" I pressed. "What if you actually make it on the dragon hunting team? Are you going to battle it again and get payback for what it did to you? You won't be in any condition to walk to the border, much less fight anything! How could Master let you do this?"

She suddenly held a faraway look in her eyes, staring down at the dirt under our boots. "Lighten up."

Her response caught me off guard. I blinked. "Is that supposed to be a joke, since you're a fire wizard?"

"Alright, angels!" the master suddenly announced. "Now that we have seven remaining contenders, we cannot fairly do the touching game. Because of this, we will merely have a full out brawl between the finalists. You must knock each person out as if it were a real request to take care of them. This is nothing like before; you are allowed to move wherever you desire on this ground and don't have to stand in place. The four left standing will be part of the dragon hunting team."

Ashura made a face. "Wouldn't brawling like that leave us all too weak to go dragon hunting?"

The master waved a hand. "The people too weak are the ones that'll be knocked out, not continuing. The ones continuing will be people that can handle a little roughhousing. It's fine!"

Ashura crossed her arms under her cloak in protest, but didn't press it any further. It may not have been concerning for the other wizards, but Ashura was particularly fragile at this moment. She could be knocked out right off the bat. I would be sure to hold back on her. My itchy fingers would be satisfied enough by fighting the others.

I loved to have a good fight with my fellow guild members and never lost when I did; I always gave it my all. Though, with a reward like being put on a team to visit the one thing that haunted you, I didn't know what to do. Should I knock the four of us Greenwood members out right away? Or, should I let the battle decide fate for us? Whatever happened, I had to act like I was trying my best, which wouldn't be hard, considering I usually zoned out during battles as fun as this.

This would go very badly.

"I swear, Master's trying to kill you," I whispered down to the injured Ashura.

She laughed. "Yeah, I believe it. Definitely would solve a lot of problems."

I raised an eyebrow, but kept my mouth shut.

"Finalists, take your positions!"

"W-wait!" Yura protested.

"Yes?" The master raised a bushy eyebrow almost impatiently.

Yura scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. "Well, it's just that, didn't you say the Potestatem Helix requested you to do a certain game with specific rules? Wouldn't a brawl like this be defying the government and its orders?"

Master Caelestis feigned innocence. "What? You think I would defy the council like that?"

Red crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the back of the guild hall building. "Yes, we all do," he responded.