Day 263, 13:45

  Jiho yelled, “Hwayeon-noona, fighting! Yerin! I can’t wait to see you lose!”

  “Oh shut up!” Yerin glared at him from the arena.

  Taeseok sat down on the floor as he munched on some snacks he took from the cafeteria.

  Seohwa stayed quiet and observed.

  Their elements are completely incompatible. I guess the one who wins will be determined by stamina.

  Rhino raised his hands and…

  Phweee!

  Hwayeon surrounded her gauntlets with fire while Yerin stayed still.

  Hwayeon raised her brows, “Are you not getting ready?”

  “Of course not. I’m planning right now, unnie.” Yerin raised her hands and made 4 ice swords with decent power. About 50 ice spikes equal one ice sword. Yerin held two in her hands while the other two floated in the air behind her

  They both went into battle stance waiting, observing.

  Jiho was bored as he asked Seohwa, “Why aren’t they moving?”

  Seohwa chuckled, “They’re watching each other. They’re using their heightened senses to analyse each breath, each gesture and any small movement. I expected this of Yerin-unnie but I didn’t expect Hwayeon-unnie to be able to do this… actually, no, maybe it is possible considering her smithy work back with Dr 5.”

  “They’re both quite detail-oriented.” Taeseok commented, munching on a chip packet.

  Jiho’s mouth twitched as he looked at the pile of 20 chip packets on the floor, “Hyung, how many are you going to eat?”

  “…I just got here… the food at Sector B was only this weird porridge… they said if I awakened, I can have proper food here.”

  Jiho closed his eyes and realised his hyung was both lazy and a glutton.

  He awakened for the food?

  Then, finally, both Hwayeon and Yerin dashed forward. Hwayeon punched with her gauntlets and Yerin struck with her dual swords in her hands.

  Whoosh!

  Slash!

  Bam!

  It was a battle of speed, precision and endurance. They seemed to be of equal footing. Hwayeon threw a fire ball to which Yerin threw the two swords in her hands one after another to cancel the fire ball and counterattack.

  Hwayeon caught the ice sword and melted it with her fire hands. She dashed forward for her attack.

  Yerin then grabbed the other two swords in the air as she stabbed them on the ground creating a miniature ice floor. Hwayeon slipped but acrobatically flipped in the air while firing fire balls at her.

  Yerin somersaulted back dodging the fireballs as she created a slide to catch Hwayeon and control the direction to which she slid off.

  Hwayeon flew back because of Yerin’s slide to which she blasted fire from her feet and smashed the ice slide. But what awaited her was Yerin’s ice bazooka cannon.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “See you later, unnie!” Yerin shot the bazooka cannon at Hwayeon as she fell down, exhausted. Hwayeon quickly raised her hands and blasted a long heated flame to melt the condensed ice ball towards her. Hwayeon increased the flame output until the ice ball melted just before it reached her.

  The two panted breathlessly. Yerin used up her physical stamina after creating a bazooka cannon and the condensed ice ball. Hwayeon eventually used up her energy in order to melt that said ice ball.

  Jiho curiously asked, “Why didn’t noona dodge just now?”

  Taeseok munched, “Because she boosted her speed forward to head to Yerin but the ice ball was also heading towards her at an incredibly fast pace.”

  “…So?”

  “She didn’t consider her lack of maneuvering when she fire boosted herself. She had no choice but to face it head on.” Seohwa explained.

  Phwee!

  “Draw!” Rhino declared. “Good work, cadets!”

  Hwayeon sighed as she walked to Yerin and raised her up, “That was a splendid move.”

  Yerin chuckled, “That fire output was amazing, unnie!”

  “Really? I realised that my maneuvering was lacking. If I had dodged, I would still be able to fight.”

  Yerin gasped, “If you did, I would have lost since I exhausted myself.”

  The two girls giggled as they headed down.

  ***

  Same day, 18:30.

  Jiho and Taeseok were waiting their turn for the showers as they played card games.

  Seohwa, Yerin and Hwayeon were showering as they talked.

  Hwayeon asked Yerin, “How long ago did you awaken your powers?”

  “Not that long ago… maybe a few days? Seohwa has been here for a few weeks with Jiho.”

  Hwayeon gasped, “That’s amazing.”

  Yerin nodded, “Right? She is also a tri-awakener too!”

  Hwayeon pondered before asking Seohwa, “Tri-awakener? I thought you were just a Dual awakener for wind and earth?”

  Yerin paused, “Actually, now that you say that, I have never seen you use your third element.”

  Seohwa froze before lowering head, “…My third element doesn’t have many uses in training.”

  Yerin asked, “What element is it?”

  Seohwa hesitantly replied, “…It’s poison.”

  Hwayeon hummed, “Yeah, no wonder you don’t use it then, since we don’t have a healer awakened to counter it in the cadet hall.”

  Seohwa nodded.

  When the girls left the shower and were fully clothed, it was 19:29.

  “You girls took too long!” Jiho complained as he then faced the napping Taeseok and shook him, “Get up, hyung. Showers are ready.”

  Taeseok snorted awake. He yawned, nodding as they headed in the bathroom.

  At 20:00, the lights were out.

  Seohwa couldn’t sleep. The conversation in the shower rang in her mind.

  Wind and earth are going smoothly but I need to train my poison somehow…

  Just as she was thinking, Jiho quietly popped down, hearing her rustling on the bed which was quite unusual. He sat on her bed and asked in a whisper, “Can’t sleep?”

  Seohwa turned and nodded.

  Jiho hummed, “Want to talk about it?”

  “…” Seohwa whispered, “Yeah… I do…”

  She shuffled back and patted the free space next to her. Jiho lay beside her and faced her.

  Seohwa glanced at Jiho’s yellow eyes and ruffled his blonde hair. “Thank you…”

  “…That’s what friends are for right?” Jiho chuckled quietly, not wanting to disturb the rest.

  Seohwa then said, “I… was thinking about my third element… and how to train it.”

  Jiho paused, “…right, you’re a tri-awakener… I keep forgetting that. Sorry, go on.”

  Seohwa continued softly, “…it’s poison… I don’t know how to train it without it hurting everyone else.”

  Jiho asked, “What can it do?”

  “I can absorb poison and release it as my own attack. I can also transform into a poison body if I wish… but the problem is I lack understanding of poison compared to wind and earth.”

  Jiho then suggested, “Why not practise absorbing poison for now then? There might be a limit to how much poison you can take or something?”

  “…But how would I do that when there is no poison around to absorb?”

  “Isn’t there a simple way?”

  “What?”

  “Ask Rhino or Hawk… they’ll help you.”

  “…” Seohwa didn’t reply as she hesitated. Jiho realised what the problem was as he asked, “It isn’t how to train it. It’s if you want to train it, isn’t it?”

  Seohwa nodded, “…Poison is like an element that people would consider for villains… It harms people.”

  Jiho froze a bit shocked, “Is that why?”

  “Why do you look shocked?”

  “Just, you always seem mature, that's all. So I never thought there would be a day, I would ever be the smart one.”

  Seohwa frowned, “That’s somehow quite insulting.”

  “Shut up, will you?” Jiho huffed before saying, “What do you think of medicine? It helps people right?”

  “Yeah, obviously.”

  “Then what if people take more medicine than the prescribed amount?”

  “…They’ll overdose.”

  “Exactly. Why is it that people keep taking medicine despite the fact it can also lead to harm when not taken properly?”

  “…Because it can still save people.”

  Seohwa thought carefully. Jiho knew she was almost convinced as he continued, “So if medicine has two sides, one that can save and one that harms, wouldn’t it be the same for poison?”

  “…” Seohwa glanced into his eyes and saw his smug smile and nodded. She felt better as she said, “Thank you.”

  Jiho whispered, “Good, now off to sleep.” He tucked her into her blanket before he headed up his bunk.