Ilaya was staring at her phone. Nervous about the celebration that would happen today in the restaurant. She felt the prickling pain in her chest, knowing that soon, it would be torturous.
She thought for a bit before she sighed and said
"I'm in pain from being with them. And also the same if I leave them. Compared to choosing either way, it's much more painful in deciding what to choose"
Then. Ilaya got up from her chair as she winced in pain when she moved her body. She stared at the wooden sword and shield that's hanging on the wall. She couldn't help but grumbled
"Seriously, what is it with Kyora and Nicole? Couldn't they just give me a day off? I have so many bruises now!"
A week had passed and Ilaya did her training through the coaching of Nicole. She really did her best in her training and never skipped once. Despite her conflicting emotions, she poured out her grievances and sadness into strengthening her body
After she did her morning training, she also used her wooden sword and shield, which Ivana sent to her. She did a thousand slashes in the morning and afternoon. Of course, she nearly cheated due to the pain she suffered from that slashes
But, she endured it. She just sleeps when that pain is too much and she wakes up refreshed again. Due to her diligence, her familiarity of the sword keeps increasing to the point that she had no problem doing complicated strikes
She felt that her body can keep up with her mind now and knew that the previous her last week stood no chance to the Ilaya of today. One of the reasons is due to Nicole beating her instead of Ivana. Ilaya was really confused by Nicole's enthusiasm in sparring with her
After agreeing, she suffered a beating from the cheerful Nicole. Only then did she realize that Ivana ordered Nicole to spar with her. Sparring continued everyday and people started to notice their fight in the backyard
At first, it's only one or two, but the following days. The audience keeps increasing to the point that at least 20 people keep cheering them and even betting! Ilaya really can't focused and that resulted to her being punished by Nicole
And Nicole's fighting style really confused Ilaya. She had a habit of attacking the lower body, so Ilaya had no choice but to learn to change her center of gravity, or she's going to be toppled like a falling tree. Ilaya learned to counter her but the next problem showed itself
Nicole's weapon is a knife and she's really good at it. Rushing up to her is like asking to be stabbed. If Ilaya thought of Ivana's swordsmanship as a snake that the tip of her sword keeps appearing in unexpected places
Then, Nicole's fighting style is like a porcupine that will poke you the moment you get in her striking range. Ilaya was thankful that her knife is a blunt one or she's worried that she'll be full of holes by now
The days continued and she adapted to her movements. She even used her shield in attacking now. Because even if she managed to have an opening. Nicole used her body as a weapon. Fist, elbows, knees, and her feet. Heck, she even used locking techniques that made Ilaya cried in pain and hurriedly surrender
After that experience, she learned that not to over rely on her weapons. In the end, she was the weapon. It all depends on the fighter to make use of everything to win
She sparred with Nicole just earlier and this resulted in her being late for the celebration as she waited for her bruises to heal.
Ilaya looked at herself in the mirror to check if there's some problem in her getup. She chose a turtle neck to wear as to cover her bruises if her wounds didn't heal fast enough. She made a promise and intended to honor it
When Ilaya was sure that no evidence of the beating was showing. She walked out of her room as she headed to the lobby. On the way, she noticed that there's barely anyone in the base. She saw a man in the hallway and she approached him
When the man noticed her, he made an annoyed expression. Clearly not wanting to talk to her. Ilaya hesitated asking, but she continued forward and ask anyway
"Hello. I noticed that there's barely anyone in the base. Is there something going on?"
The man looked at her annoyingly as said mockingly
"What is it to do with you? You're even staying here for free without doing anything, and you even have the face to talk to someone here. Aren't you ashamed?"
Ilaya was hurt by his words, but didn't let it show on her face. Her smile slowly vanished as her expression became cold. She then said to him flatly
"No. I'm not ashamed. Our boss and I have a contractual relationship. She gets what she wants from me. And I got what I wanted. Including the food. So that's that. Where's Nicole? She's much better to talk to than you"
The man then leaned on her face as he said to Ilaya angrily
"Watch your word bitch. You've got the guts to argue with me when you've caused the deaths of our brothers. There's going to be a fight today too. All because of what you started. You asked where the people were? They're going to fight today in the war that you lit up"
When Ilaya heard that, she couldn't maintain her cold persona anymore as she lowered her head. She couldn't say anything back to the man
'It's all true anyway. But… still. It hurts'
Ilaya felt that she'll cry again if she stayed here. So, she continued her way and passed the man. The man saw this and said to her
"You're shameless. You even have the courage to dine with the people here everyday. You're staying in the house of the victims, when you're the one who killed their family members!"
The man's words pierced her heart as she turned back and shouted loudly at the man
"I didn't kill them!!"
Ilaya's voice echoed in the hallway. This causes some people to peek out to see what's going on. Ilaya cried as she faced the man. She really couldn't take it anymore and she let it all out. Gerisa even blamed her and said those words to her
"Why are you all blaming me!? Did I ask for all of you to save me!? No! I didn't! If you want to blame someone, blame Kyora! She was the one who wanted me! Not the other way around!"
The man grinned as he said loudly
"Did all of you hear that? Here's the woman who is shameless and ungrateful! She even mocked the sacrifices of our brothers who had fallen because of her!"
The people gathered around as they whispered to each other. The look that they gave at Ilaya turned from amusement to coldness. As Ilaya was feeling the coldness of the world, the man took out his phone as he said to her
"Here, I will record it. Say what you had said again!"
Swoosh!
Tak!
Before he even opened the camera. A knife flew out of nowhere and penetrated the phone. Then, they all looked at the newcomer except for Ilaya. She walked out of the hallway as she cheerfully said to the man
"Sorry! I missed the mark!
Nicole glanced at Ilaya who's standing still with her head lowered. Trembling and tears keeps dropping
She looked at the man and coldly said
"I aimed it at you"