Fenix whipped his head at the sound.
"What was that weird noise?" he asked himself. It sounded like so weird, rhythmic thumping that ca from everywhere around him.
What's strange was that he seed to be the only one who was hearing it, or else people would quickly get alard at such disturbance.
He would have quickly reported it, if not for the fact that he rembered who he was.
"Right… nobody cares," he said, laughing at himself.
Nobody would care if he reported sothing weird to the authorities. They would simply write it off as the wild ravings of a cripple. After all, that was what he essentially was. His Sword Heart was injured to the point where it basically hindered him from doing any basic sword skills that other people would be able to do very easily. If he hadn't been practising his sword skills everyday, he wouldn't have even been able to swing a sword!
He looked longingly at the center of the practice area, where Arthur and the other Knights were rrily practicing their sword skills.
In another life, he would have joined them in that place. He would have exchanged jokes with them, he would have had that friendly banter that only rivals would have.
But unfortunately, he didn't live that life. It was taken from him because of an accident.
He shook his head. There was no need to reminisce about sothing that didn't happen. He had long learned to live with his disability, to accept it for all that it was. After all, he was still very lucky that he survived at all. In the worst case scenario, he wouldn't even have had a heart to practice with.
So despite the unfortunate circumstance that he found himself in, Fenix never felt resentnt towards the people that caused his accident nor the people that tried and failed to fully cure him.
He just had to accept his current situation and live with it the best way that he could.
Of course, there were so tis that he couldn't help but feel pity for himself. Especially today, since he was seeing first hand the life that he could have been living.
Hopefully that would change soon.
Fenix unsheathed his sword. His hands were trembling, the heart in his chest beating randomly. A Sword Heart needed to be calm and tranquil to be able to cut as sharply as possible. His heart couldn't even cut a single blade of grass.
He went through his practice swings. It looked clumsy and slow compared to the Knights and Swordsn around him.
"Hey, who is that? Is he really a swordsman?"
"Don't you know him? That's Sir Fenix. You know, the guy who had that accident."
"Ahhh… now I feel bad for making fun of his sword skills. But still. Why is he even here? Not to be rude, but if he's injured, then he shouldn't be part of the competition. He should have given his spot to so other swordsman out there."
Fenix stopped swinging his sword. He could hear those sharp words clearly, and it cleaved through his heart like a spike.
He, too, didn't know why he was in this competition. Sure, the official answer was that the Order had to uphold his title as a Knight. But if they truly wanted to get rid of him, they could easily make so excuse that everyone would have accepted.
Instead, they still put his na on the ballot. They still had him go through this humiliating process of losing to his peers.
"I need a break," he said to himself.
He sheathed his sword back and walked out of his practice area.
The crowd cheered. Surely, it was because Sir Arthur perford so amazing sword stunt, but Fenix couldn't help but feel that those jeers were actually for him. They wanted him out.
Fenix found a dark corner on the Knightly Court to sit and sulk.
Just then, he heard sothing scuttling in the darkness.
"Psst."
Fenix flinched, his sword already unsheathed and ready to cut whoever had disturbed his peace.
Boing… Boing… Boing…
Suspicion quickly turned to confusion as Fenix saw a cute, violet sli co out of the darkness.
"A monster?"
A sli was still a monster through and through. But even if that were the case, Fenix couldn't help but let his guard down as he looked at the little violet blob in front of him. This was perhaps the biggest mistake he would ever make.
"I'm not a monster, I'm Master's pet!" Fudge said proudly.
Fenix sheathed his sword. "Why are you here? If the other Knights found you, they would have cut you down imdiately."
Fudge tilted his body. "Aren't you one, too?"
This caused Fenix to have a self-deprecating laugh. "Not anymore."
Seeing this opportunity, Fudge jumped atop Fenix's head. "Why not?"
"Because I'm not strong enough."
Fudge smiled. Sinisterly.
"Would you like to be? I can make that happen."
Of course, Fenix didn't believe the sli one bit. "Hahaha, I'm not sure that a sli can fix my problem. Not even the great healer Sinclair could heal ."
Fudge jumped into the man's arms to look at him directly in the face.
"My Master is better than whoever that Sinclair is," Fudge claid. "He can heal your injury, whatever it is."
Fenix almost laughed. Did the sli know he was talking badly about the woman that a Conglorate was nad after?
"Even if he can, I don't want it."
This confused Fudge. "What? Why?"
"Because after this competition, I'm letting down my sword. Hard work can't overco my disability."
Fenix decided that this competition would be the final push he needed to finally quit being a swordsman. If he was humiliated in a fight against the other Knights, then this would give him the motivation to finally let go of that hopeless dream of becoming a Heavenly Knight.
"So, thank you little sli. But I've already decided what I'm going to do. Maybe being a farr will be better for ."
As Fenix began walking back towards the practice area, a dark shadow lood behind him, a sinister smile forming on the darkness.
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