CHAPTER VII: TURN OF EVENTS
In the training room, everyone was astonished. Normally, given Martis's mediocre level, he should have already been unconscious, but he stood facing Halnea as if he wanted even more.
Halnea looked at him, a little nervous, but she calmed herself by thinking:
If he's not unconscious, it means the blow I inflicted wasn't very strong. Now, I need to soften my blows if I don't want trouble with the administration.
Halnea didn't even give him time to breathe. She charged straight at him, pivoted in a perfectly controlled circular motion, then struck Martis with a brutal staff blow to his left flank. The impact was so sharp that a jet of blood escaped Martis's mouth.
The worried professor opened his mouth to stop the fight... but stopped dead.
Martis was smiling.
Smiling while being demolished? It was incomprehensible, almost unsettling.
Halnea, for her part, hadn't noticed anything. She fluidly followed up, aiming a violent blow at his head. But just as her staff grazed Martis's face, she saw his smile... and heard an almost amused whisper:
« Nice. »
Martis dropped backward, dodging by a breath. With a supple, almost unreal movement, he used Halnea's staff as a pivot point and delivered a dazzling heel kick straight to her face.
The shock resonated in the room like a brick crushed against a wall.
Halnea was thrown backward. The entire class jumped up, stunned.
Halnea, hit by an amateur?
Impossible. Unreal. Unthinkable.
« What the hell is this?! » shouted Charlipé, completely shocked.
Halnea wasn't about to stop there. She regained her stance and attacked with a spinning kick, then followed up with three rapid thrusts to Martis's abdomen. The breath was knocked out of him, and he staggered.
She lunged at him again.
But this time, Martis saw the attack differently.
As if everything was moving in slow motion.
He deflected her movement, struck Halnea on the back of the neck, then used the momentum of her weapon to unbalance her and delivered a sharp blow to her face.
She collapsed to the ground.
The room exploded.
Shouts, yells, students running everywhere as if it were a national celebration.
Halnea — the Valkyrie — had just been taken down.
But Leonard and Charlipé did not share the general joy. None of this was normal.
Martis, meanwhile, tried to catch his breath.
But the professor intervened, an almost dangerous smile at the corner of his lips:
« Good match for an amateur. Halnea... show him your true level. Increase by 2%. »
What followed was immediate.
Halnea placed a hand on the ground, contracted her entire body, then propelled herself toward him like a cannonball. Her fist slammed against Martis's chest.
An atrocious cracking sound rang out.
His rib cage had just shattered.
Martis recoiled, suffocating. His vision blurred, sounds became distant.
« What... what was that? A hammer? A wall? I... I... »
His knees gave way.
He fainted, while the professor's voice echoed in the distance, muffled as if through water.
« And the victory goes to Halnea. »
« What is this girl? » he thought before falling unconscious.
A few hours later, he woke up on a bed in the infirmary. The room was filled with machines, and when he looked to his left, he saw Leolio staring at him, then he yelled:
« Hey buddy! »
Martis jumped out of bed, nearly having a heart attack.
« Oh my God! »
Seeing Martis's reaction, Leolio burst out laughing:
« Hahahaha! Oh my, that sounds like the distress cry of an Almarian! What a face! Hahaha! »
Martis wanted to start yelling at him, but he noticed that the coldness he had towards people had disappeared. Since he had recovered some of his memories from Wukong. Instead of pushing him away, he started laughing too.
Leolio looked at him suspiciously, saying:
« Wait, since when do you smile? The Martis I know laughs less often than a Teragon. What's with the sudden change? »
Martis remained silent for a second before saying:
« Ah, it's just that I'm trying to open up to people, to improve my knowledge. That's kind of it. »
Leolio knelt down and raised his hand to the sky, saying gratefully:
« Wow, even ice cabinets can turn into rabbits? Miracles exist. Thank the heavens for changing Martis. »
Martis was thinking of another explanation.
« No, I think it's more because of the memories I'm recovering from Wukong. I think they're bringing back past character traits. » he thought internally.
Leolio stood up and walked towards the door, saying:
« Uh, Martis, wait for me a bit. The nurse told me to let her know if you woke up. I'll be quick. »
« Okay » Martis said, letting him leave.
But he realized he hadn't asked him how the fight ended, and Leolio was already outside.
When Leolio smiled and turned right, Halnea arrived in the left corridor. Her head was bowed, but her face was quite normal, but beneath that face was a tormented soul, a person who was at her limit because of consecutive harassment.
« I can't take it anymore... I feel like I'm going to break... I'm tired of being humiliated. If it were up to me, I would have already left the Academy or wouldn't be in this world anymore. But my mother needs me, I can't falter... I can still hold on a little longer. Three years isn't much... » she thought internally.
She walked right up to Martis's door, she seemed to hesitate, her hand trembled, then, forcing herself, she opened the door and walked towards Martis. Martis saw her enter, head bowed. He wanted to greet her, but Halnea fell to her knees in front of his feet, face to the ground, she declared in a loud voice:
« My Lord, forgive me for this affront I made you suffer. Because of me, you have been unconscious for five hours, for this I beg your pardon. »
After saying this, memories came back to her: she, who is not from a noble family, whenever she won against a noble, she would apologize on her knees so that they wouldn't try to get her expelled. Because of the hatred she was subjected to as a peasant, she always ended up being trampled, insulted, splashed with water, beaten up, rolled in the mud, and much worse. Now, she expected the same treatment. But instead of a slap or being trampled, Martis's words greatly disconcerted her:
« Why are you asking? »
She replied in a trembling voice:
« Uh... I... I came back to apologize. »
Martis saw a bowl filled with fruit, he took an apple, bit into it, then asked another question.
« Why? »
« For the outcome of the fight. »
Martis lowered himself to her level, Halnea was already trembling in anticipation. Martis told her:
« Raise your face. »
She slowly raised her face until their eyes met. Martis added:
« So if I understand correctly, you're coming to apologize for winning? »
« Yes... T... That's why » she stammered.
Martis sighed and then said, getting back onto his bed:
« That's the stupidest thing I've heard in my entire existence. You can stand up. »
Halnea couldn't believe it; for once, she was told to stand up without being insulted. She still didn't believe it, she stood up, asking:
« You... You're not going to trample me or throw a bottle at me? »
« That's not my style of behavior » he replied.
He took a banana from the fruit bowl and threw it to her.
« Here, eat. It's my way of saying sorry for being a mediocre opponent. »
She caught it, looked at it for a second, then started crying. Martis didn't know why she was crying; he found it strange.
« Wait, why are you crying? Are you allergic to bananas? »
She wiped her tears, saying:
« No, it's nothing, I'm just not used to kindness towards me. »
She curtsied before saying:
« Thank you for the fruit, I have to go. »
She wanted to leave, but Martis stopped her before she turned around:
« Wait a minute, miss, you beat me up so hard that I don't remember much. What's your name again? »
She hesitated to say her full name, but she did it anyway.
« Halnea Valkyrie »
She was nervous saying her full name because Valkyries were not appreciated in the kingdom. But Martis didn't care about Valkyries.
« Okay, I'm Martis Leomor, nice to meet you. »
Shocked, Halnea thought to herself:
« He doesn't care that I'm poor, he doesn't care that I'm a peasant, and the craziest thing is that he doesn't care at all that I'm a Valkyrie. To him, I'm just a living being, just a person, not a creature. »
She looked at him and then smiled, a tear ran down her cheek, she thought.
« This is the best day of my life. »
Martis added:
« By the way, can you tell me how the fight ended? I don't really remember it well. »
« Oh yes, well... »
Just as she was about to answer, several girls entered with gifts and flowers, shouting:
« GET WELL SOON MARTIS! »