Chapter 6-

Onto the Fight

"Wow," I mumbled under my breath. The fight was intense. That beefy dude got nocked down in the blink of an eye, and that Sir Tao looked like he hadn't even moved. The beefy dude had gotten up and ran with a battle cry towards the knight but again was knocked down and my eyes couldn't register anything. This happened time and time again, until I finally decided to focus on the knight instead of the contestant. There has to be something up here  I thought as I examined Sir Tao. He had not broken a sweat where as the other guy was a sweaty pig, and under three minutes too. As I looked a Sir Tao I gasped. He's moved a few steps forward. I can see a few footprints in the sand behind him. But how? I didn't see him move at all. Once again the beefy guy got knocked down but this time I focused solely on Sir Tao's feet. One second I was looking at his toes and the next I was looking at his heels. What the hell? I tried to look for any sign of what he might be doing, how he could be moving, when the opponent was knocked down again but I couldn't see anything. "What is going on here?"

The guy on my left looked at me. "He's using his power. I've only heard rumors, but I think it has something to do with time. Or was it space?"

I blinked at the guy. "Shouldn't using their powers be against the rule? I mean, none of us have powers."

The guy sighed. "You would think that, but actually their powers are limited a lot. Look at the rings on their fingers. That's the symbol of their powers, and when they wear the rings on their fingures their powers are limited. As you can see, Sir Tao can only keep his power up and running for less than a second."

I nodded and then looked back towards the fight just to see Mr. Beef get knocked to his knees by an invisible force again. Time or space huh? That's pretty cool, but I do not want to be his opponent. I can't even see what the hell is going on.

Just then the contestant rose a shaking hand. "I-I give up. Just please, don't hurt me again!"

The guard announcer walked towards the center of the ring and nurses appeared with a stretcher to take the guy away. "This round it over, Sir Tao is the winner. Next, contestant two!" A little ways away from me a girl stood up. She had shocking red hair that was pinstraight down to her shoulders. She smirked confidently as she made her was to the center. The guard then pulled another paper out of the bowl. "Sir Joonmyung!" he called out and Sir Tao turned around to go and take a seat. Jesus imitation dude, now known as Sir Joonmyung, shook hands with the girl but seemed to be a bit dissapointed. The guard backed away as he said, "Let the second round begin!"

Immediately the girl started to run to attack the knight. Her fist was raised and aimed right for his face. He dodged it expertly and managed to get his own punch into her stomach. The girl faltered in her steps as she backed away clutching her stomach. She seemed to hiss and went at him again, this time aiming a kick at his ankles. Sir Joonmyun just stood there and I almost closed my eyes to brace myself for the impact but I didn't, and it's a good thing I kept them open. The girl's leg literally went through his ankles, he didn't move at all. That's right, his power is water. But then how is she going to land a solid hit?

The girl once again went to take another step towards him but immediately clutched her stomach and doubled over. What happened? He didn't even move! Sir Joonmyung seemed to smirk slightly. The girl glared up at him and my eyes barely registered that she got up and sent another punch at his jaw. Apparently he didn't realize what was happening either since the punch actually made contact and he backed away a little. It seems he has to turn his power on in order not to be hit, its not just automatic. Still, I doubt I'm fast enough to catch him off guard, and there's no way in hell I can win a fight where I can't even hit the opponent. The girl was back again on the ground clutching her stomach. Suddenly Sir Joonmyung called out, "Guard, she's had enough. This fight is over."

The guard stepped up to the girl, and seeing that she made no attempt to dismiss what Sir Joonmyung said, ended the fight and called for the next contestant. Fight after fight past in the matter of minutes. None of the contestants stood a chance of winning, and it really started to make me feel nervous. What am I going to do? I can't face Sir Tao since I would have no idea of what's going on if I did. I can't face Sir Joonmyung since I wouldn't be able to get a solid hit on him. That Sir Kyungsoo, his power with the earth is amazing. I almost fell out of my seat when that mini earthquake hit. Sir Baekhyun seems like the one I have the most chance against, though his power could blind me and I've just gotten used to seeing out of both eyes. What am I going to de?! I have no chance to win. I put my head in my hands as the guard called out the next contestant.

"Contestant thirty! And Sir Kyungsoo! Begin!"

. I'm next, what am I going to do? I'm sorry Chloe. The seats shook as I shoved my head further into my hands. Please let this earthquake burry me.

"Hey now, you don't have to be too depressed," the guy next to me said and I looked up at him. "Even if you lose, you just have to put up a good fight. The judges know that none of us have a chance against the knights even when their powers are limited. They judge based on how long you last, what your character is like while fighting, whether they can help you improve, and how you lose."

"So I don't actually have to win?" I asked the guy increduosly.

He shook his head. "Nope. Just give the damn knights a run for their money."

I smiled at him. "You're a pretty decent guy you know?"

He smiled back. "Well I do try."

"Sir Kyungsoo wins!" I immediately turned my attention back to the fight to see the contestant being dragged away on a stretcher. I gulped. "Contestant thirty-hana!"

I stood up and looked down to the guy. "Well, wish me luck."

He patted my arm. "Good luck miss."

With a deep breath I made my way to the center of the areana. I could feel the sun burning down on me and I cursed at why it had to be summer. Fighting in this heat was going to be killer. I looked at the guard who was pulling out a name from the bowl. My heart was pounding as he opened the paper and his lips opened. This is it.

"Sir Baekhyun!"

I internally let out a small sigh of relief as the little blond haired knight made his way to the center of the ring. As he shook my hand there was a smirk on his face and when I met eyes with him he winked. I was confused as we backed away from each other and he threw a glance towards where the other knights were sitting. He stuck his tongue out towards them and I almost laughed at how this knight who had been fighting so seriously could be so cute.

"Begin!"

Startled I put my hand on the hilt of that old sword that was on my hip. Sir Baekhyun took a step forward and I in turn took a step back. He took another and so did I. He paused and seemed to try and process what was going on for a second and I took that time to pull out the sword. Sir Baekhyun took a step back when I did.

Don't be scared. It's time to put up a good fight.

I ran forward and braced my sword in my hands. I closed my eyes as I neared, frightened of actually doing damage and drawing blood from another human being. This wasn't me. I mean I could fight when needed to, I had no problems with defending myself, but to attack with the purpose to kill like I needed to in this exam, that wasn't me.

But it needs to be.

I opened my eyes and planted my feet right when I was in front of Sir Baekhyun. I looked up into his eyes and I could feel my determination as well as something else. Is he actually... frightened... of me? As I swung my blade towards his hip I kept eye contact. This what it,  I needed to put up a good fight. I felt confident as my blade neared.

Then he closed his eyes.

I tried to back off but I was mid strike and couldn't stop the motion of the sword. I couldn't pull back so I shut my eyes as tight as possible. The light was blinding even though my eyes were closed. The colors behind my lids danced from black to red to pure white in less than a second and the pain was so intense. I heard an earsplitting scream and it took me a little bit to process it as my own. I felt the tip of my blade briefly scratch across his stomach and as the sword continued to swing since there was no impact to stop it I went with the blade and almost fell over. My sword dropped to the ground as I put my hands over my eyes but it didn't help. The pain was still there and the white was still present. There was the sound of feet falling from behind me and I spun around. As I did I instinctly opened my eyes to try and see what was happening but all the white turned to black, leaving me blind in the shadows of darkness that the light had cast and left behind. So I listened. I listened as the footsteps halted right in front of me and listened to the wind pull away from me. Suddenly the wind stopped. Now! I squated down as soon as there was no sound to be heard and I could feel the wind wisk right past where my head had been.

Sir Baekhyun had rushed forward and once he stood in front of me he raised his fist to hit me. As he had switched from raising his fist to bringing it down I squated and avoided his punch. However he seemed to have been ready for that for as soon as I squated down his foot kicked my shins and I was knocked onto the ground. I hit my head on the ground pretty hard and the impact seemed to make the blackness shiver.

I stayed down. The pain in my eyes was too intense to ignore any longer and the impact of my head to the ground was starting to cause a headache to form. I covered my eyes and let out a moan of pain.

"This fight is over," I heard from above me. "Sir Baekhyun is the winner!"

I felt a hand wrap around my own and suddenly I was pulled up and standing. "That was a good job," a sweet male voice whispered to me. I felt hands wrap something around my eyes and when I lifted my hand I felt a blindfold around my face. The blackness seemed to be impossibly darker now and it produced a slight cooling sensation in my eyes. "Keep that on for about fifteen rounds. I'll have the medics you back to your seat so that you can watch the rest of the matches once your eyes heal. Other than your eyes you're perfectly fine. Unless you count that slight headache that probably forming, but that's nothing." I felt my forehead being poked. Then I felt breath tickling my ear. "You did great Chloe."

I was about to ask who it was and how he knew my name but was immediately grabbed by another hand and a voice saying that she was a medic and was dragged back towards my seat.

A whistle sounded next to me as I sat down. "I'm glad you took my advice seriously. That was onne hell of a fight," I recognized the voice of the man who sat next to me.

I sent a smirk his way. "Thanks, but my eyes are killing me. This blindfold does seem to be cooling them down though but I still feel as if there's a fire raging behind them."

"Yeah, Sir Baekhyun did go overboard. He passed his limit since you startled him, he was breaking into a sweat right after that blast of light faded. He must've felt really bad after. That blindfold he gave you just proves that he's a very nice guy."

A frown formed on my face. "That was Sir Baekhyun talking to me? I thought it was a medic."

There was a brief pause before the guy answered. "I guess you can't see eaither? That knight really went overboard, I thought it just hurt you. Are you going to be able to see again?"

"I believe so. He made it seem like I would be since he said I should be fine to take it off after another fifteen rounds."

There was a chuckle. "I'll tell you when the fifteen rounds are over then. The first of them will probably end soon. That lanky guy doesn't look like he'll stand much of a chance against Sir Tao."

"Looks can be decieving," I mumbled to the guy. "Mind telling me what's going on?"

"Sure," he replied. "The match just started and that lanky guy has been knocked down twice already. Really, if I didn't know better I'd say Sir Tao wasn't moving at al- wait. That lanky guy, he was just standing in one spot and now he's two steps to the right of that spot. Don't tell me, he's read Sir Tao's moves and used his time or space thingy against him? That's pretty cool."

I laughed. "Like I said, looks don't mean much."

"I guess not," the guy said. "That dude just did it again. Now he's only a few steps in front of Sir Tao. If he can do it again I bet he can actually landn a hit!" There was a pause and the silence was filled with a boom. "Nevermind, I guess not. That lanky guy just got knocked down again. The fight's over."

"Sir Tao wins!" I heard the guard announce.

I sighed as the next few rounds past by and the guy next to me kept narrating the rounds. When it reached round ten out of fifteen he had to go and fight so I had no idea how his fight went against Sir Joonmyung, but it seemed to last a little longer than the other rounds. Once the guy was back next to me he began narrating again. Soon my eyes were completely cool and there was no more burning sensation.The fifteen rounds came quick but my eyes were back to normal as I took off the blindfold and I could see again.

The last few rounds went by quick as well, with none of the competitors even coming close to landing a hit. When the last fight was over it was announced that there would be a ten minute break and then the results would be announced.

I hope I did well enough. I wonder how many people they are accepting anyways. Chloe, I did my best for you.

Three men stood in the center where the fights had happened. They were old and the heat seemed to really have had an effect on them. One of them cleared his throat and declared in a surprisingly strong voice, "We will now announce the three people who have qualified to become Exo Knights." The silence as he paused was stiffling. I could feel the tension in the air and it was suffocating me. "Contestant two, Evie Glenn!" The girl with the bright red hair went and took her place on the floor. "Contestant thirty-two, Mikhail Collins!"

"Hey," the guy next to me said. "that's the lanky dude. Who'd have guessed huh?"

I hummed in response as my breath hitched in my throat. This is the last one.

"And contestant fourty-hana, Junsoo Lee!"

The guy next to me stood up and as he made his way to the center I patted his arm. "Good job." His smile was so bright, though he did pat my head in what seemed to be an apology. He was a good guy, that Junsoo. It's too bad that I didn't pass the Knight Exams. I sighed. People all around were cheering, some of the other contestants where voicing their complants. I just sat there in my seat looking at my hands. I had actually thought that I might've had an actual chance.

"I object!" a strong voice called out.

I looked up, startled as I recognized the voice. I looked around the colloseum to see where it came from just to find myself looking towards the gates at a young man with the most beautiful eyes ever. If I could see every detail from where I was sitting I would've sworn that he was looking at me as well.

"I believe that there has been a mistake. Instead of contestant fourty-hana, Junsoo, there is another that did better. I believe that contestant should be a knight instead."

"And who is this contestant?" the old man asked the younger man.

"Contestant thirty-hana, Chloe Pasteur," Sir Kyungsoo announced. This time I knew that he was looking directly at me.

Hey my dear readers, another update and a longer one at that. From here on out the real action will be starting, so I hope that you continue to read this story and share your opinions. I hope you enjoyed this chapter of To Turn a Blind Eye!