The warrior parted his legs slightly and raised a single hand up his face, shielding his eyes. I glanced at Joonmyeon with drumming heartbeats, and I noticed the slight curve of his lips as he easily walked to the space in front of me, a little far away from the opponent’s warrior.

Joonmyeon sent him a small smile, in which the warrior only gave out a throaty growl back. Joonmyeon started rolling up his sweater’s sleeves, revealing his milky arms that even I was jealous of. I turned back to look at the others, and they were all looking at the two with utmost focus, as if they diverted their eyes away for a second everything might turn out horribly bad. It was nerve-wracking to watch them like that, and I couldn't stop the shudder erupting in my body.

“I’ll go easy on you,” Joonmyeon spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, and he said that to the warrior alone, as if he didn't care at all that the warrior’s master was around him watching. The master let out a growl, while the warrior didn't even blink.

I turned to look at the teacher, waiting for her to blow on the whistle to start the match. I was drowning in nervousness, and I was sure the others were too. Kai shuffled closer to me and slowly guided his big hand to where mine was lying on my side, before intertwining our fingers. I heard collective noises of gasps from the crowd, and I was aware of the reason – my interlocked hand with Kai. I didn't care that much about their thoughts and their acts, as long as I know I’m in the right, I will not make them walk all over me.

“He’ll be fine, right?” I murmured, watching Joonmyeon furrow his eyebrows in concentration and cross his arms over his chest. He didn't look that intimidated or worried, but I never was good at reading people, so I wouldn't assume.

“I hope so,” Kai murmured back. I appreciated that they don't like to lie to me, but at that moment I wanted Kai to lie and tell me Joonmyeon was going to be alright.

I heard the whistle of the teacher echo around us, and my heart fell down to my knees. I tried soothing my hectic feelings, taking deep breaths in and squeezing Kai’s hand. I closed my eyes tightly for a minute, counting down from ten to one before slowly opening them.

“Alright, Gea, attack!” the boy -- the master, the Wielder, I don't know what to call him – yelled aloud, eyes ablaze with a foreign heat I had never seen before or felt reflecting in my own eyes. The master was on fire. He was confident, I give him that, but it only made the sizzling discomfort within me grow larger. The short warrior with the heart-shaped lips – they were quite pleasing to watch – stomped his feet on the ground at the command of his master.

The minute the warrior’s feet made contact with the ground, the floor quaked horribly and started moving. Everyone yelped at the move and clutched their seats not to fall down, while I held into Kai strongly. None of my boys moved at all, they didn't even blink, and Joonmyeon looked even more amused than before.

The ground split open in a small slash under the warrior’s feet, revealing a dark hole that probably stretched down to the center of the earth. Even though it was as big as a fist, it was all he needed as a large tree grew from within hurriedly. The tree parted from the middle, creating two large twigs that stretched all the way to the ceiling, growing more and more until they grazed the students heads gently. The students all stumbled over their seats and knelt down for cover, even though the twigs didn't directly touch their heads. The twigs weren't even twigs. They were as large as their own trees, and as thick as their trunks. The sight of them was terrifying, it was no wonder the students were petrified.

I glanced at Joonmyeon, wondering if the fear growing within me at the magnificent scene was also growing within him. Unlike what I was feeling, Joonmyeon was smirking, and he was staring at the warrior like he was proud of him. The twigs sprouting out from the trees twisted in their way sharply all of a sudden, pointing at a single direction like swords. I realized they were pointing at Joonmyeon, ready to attack, and I seriously didn't want to see what was going to happen.

However, I didn't close my eyes, and watched with a palpitating heart – I could feel my pulse in my throat. Pa-dum, pa-dum – the thick twigs (or are they called branches? It looked smaller than a branch but thicker than a tree trunk) lunged themselves at Joonmyeon, and I let out a squeak of terror because Joonmyeon was just standing there.

Seconds away from Joonmyeon's face, the twigs stopped moving forward. They just stopped, and the breath inside my lugs stayed there. Joonmyeon was smirking, and the warrior's eyebrows creased and met in the middle. It was almost immediately clear that Joonmyeon was the cause of that, and I darted my eyes to the base of the tree trunk protruding from the floor. I found a huge and extremely thick rope made completely out of crystal water wrapped around the twigs, pulling them away from their route to Joonmyeon's face. The warrior boy was struggling to pull his twigs out of Joonmyeon's surprisingly solid grip, despite its liquid form.

“Gea, another one!” so, the master ordered the warrior to make another large branch or twig, protruding it out from the hole itself instead of growing one from the tree. It launched itself at Joonmyeon again, but the water-rope latched itself around the flying twig before it can even grow properly, rendering it motionless.

“Gea, what the ? Try harder!” the master cursed, and at that vulgar word, the teacher blew on her whistle as a warning, making me cover my ears since she was closer to me than the boy.

“He can't, this is the farthest he can go,” Joonmyeon announced with a smirk oozing with confidence, making the boy growl. “Poor you. I’ll give you a chance to surrender before I attack and end this,” Joonmyeon completed condescendingly, a single eyebrow up. It was a little creepy how calm and composed he was.

“Are you threatening me? Why the hell are you even talking to me to begin with!” the arrogant Wielder yelled in annoyance, glaring at Joonmyeon first before glaring at his water ropes. How can he even solidify water to this degree? I saw Joonmyeon furrowing his eyebrows at the Wielder’s tone, and I growled back at the boy and took a step closer to Joonmyeon.

“Don't talk to him like that! He can say whatever he wants!” gasps were heard from the students, and it was pretty dumb how surprised they were at my words. Joonmyeon sent me a grateful stare, the corner of his lips lifting up, before looking back at the Wielder with his blank expression.

“Like I said,” Joonmyeon's voice echoed around the quiet gym, and I couldn't help but shiver in delight at his low pitch. “You have two choices, either you surrender, or you don't. If you somehow decide to choose the other option, then I say you ready his card for us to take. What do you say?”

“Gea, do something!” the Wielder bellowed, ignoring Joonmyeon's taunting words. Joonmyeon rolled his eyes, now starting to move around the limited place he was standing on with a frown.

“Actually, either of the choices will lead to your loss. You shouldn't have decided to make it a real battle in the first place,” Joonmyeon continued, the frown on his face shifting into a look of calmness mixed with pure innocence, fooling no one, because none of the people present have ever viewed warriors as innocent creatures with the powers they hold.

“Student, control your warrior’s mouth. He shouldn't be talking without your permission,” the teacher of the opposing team turned to look at me with an angry glare, one which I wanted so badly to return too. I didn't though, because my bravery had a limit. There was no way I could have acted in a bad way towards an elder, or a more respected individual. Although, it didn't stop Joonmyeon from glaring at the teacher, turning his entire attention to the teacher.

“Excuse me? You don't tell a fellow Wielder how to act with her warriors just because it doesn't sit right with you, or that you're a teacher,” the teacher’s face turned red with anger, and he would have attacked Joonmyeon (since he thinks he is superior) if I hadn't stepped in and pulled Joonmyeon aside with his hand.

Joonmyeon turned down at me with a frown, wondering why I did that, but it wasn't exactly the right time to be fighting with an elder teacher when they have already granted our wishes for us. This was a chance to attain the warrior's card, their brother, and I didn't want it to be ruined just because we were upset.

“It's okay, he’ll behave,” I told the teacher, pulling Joonmyeon aside and giving him a stare while the teacher sneered and huffed. Joonmyeon un