Arthur didn’t look up as he took another bite of his grilled chicken, ignoring Ryan’s presence completely. Shutting the conversation off, completely didn’t want to talk about this topic because he felt that it was useless.
Ryan blinked, surprised by how easily Arthur changed the topic. "But—"
Arthur looked up then, eyes like cold steel. "You want to win tomorrow, right?"
Ryan’s eyes twitched as his lips parted to speak but no voice came out of his mouth.
With that sentence, Arthur slowly returned to his meal. The conversation about this topic was over.
Ryan sat there in silence, processing the quiet weight behind those words of Arthur. He didn’t understand everything about Arthur yet.
Maybe he never would—but he knew one thing for sure and that is Arthur wasn’t the type who would give up or run from a fight.
’There might be some type of situation which made Arthur give up or else he would have definitely won. No matter what, I’ll figure it out.’
[Host, We can find out about this later. For now, just focus on your matches.]
Ryan just gave a small weak nod, trying not to look so desperate in front of Arthur as he again started eating his food.
There was something else there, behind that calm personality of Arthur.
As they both finished their meal, both made their way back to their class as they both sat down on their seats. Ryan was still thinking about the conversation which happened between those two students and Arthur.
Ryan didn’t approach Arthur about that incident again, not yet at least.
The rest of the classes went by in the blink of an eye as Ryan barely heard any words during the class sessions. His mind kept replaying that cafeteria scene over and over again and he also was worried about tomorrow’s inter-school competition.
Arthur’s silent demeanor taunted Ryan multiple times during the classes. "Giving up" and that strange glint in his mentor’s eye that didn’t match his usual cold indifference.
When the final bell rang, Ryan exhaled hard as he stretched his arms. "Finally... The boring part of the day is done."
Arthur was already packing up his stuff, moving with the same composed efficiency as always.
"No training today," Arthur said without looking up. "Rest well and eat a lot, sleep at least 8 hours to be fully refreshed for tomorrow."
Ryan hesitated at first but he muttered under his breath. "Right, got it. I will not do any reckless thing and just do what you just told me to."
Arthur’s gaze lifted for a brief second—something almost human flickering in his eyes—before he slung his bag on top of his right shoulder and walked out of the classroom, leaving Ryan behind.
Ryan stood there for a brief moment before sighing. ’He just left like that? No training, well that’s a good thing because I’m already aching all over the body. One rest day is something which I deserve after those two weeks of torture.’
[Yes, host. You have suffered quite a bit, but it was for your own good. I agree with Arthur about your resting well today.]
[Resting and eating well will boost your energy and your senses will be in the best condition. Your tomorrow’s efficiency will increase too.]
Ryan gave a nod as he picked his bag up and slung it over his shoulder and headed towards his home.
When he reached his home, he threw the bag at the table and took his clothes off and headed towards the bed for a quick nap.
When the nighttime hit, sleep refused to come to him. Ryan was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, his thoughts were a bit tangled.
’Tomorrow’s it, huh? My first inter-school. My first test.’
He turned his head towards the digital clock — 2:47 AM.
’It’s already past midnight and I’m still awake thinking about tomorrow or I’d say today. Well, I can’t help myself because I have trained quite a lot for this.’
[Yes, host. But, you should now sleep.]
’But, what if I lose? What if I freeze again? It’ll all go to waste.’
[DING!]
[If you lose, you train harder. If you freeze, you move next time. That’s how growth works, Host.]
Ryan let out a shaky laugh. "You’re bad at pep talks, system. You know about that, huh?"
[And yet you’re smiling.]
He was. He slowly turned onto his side as he pulled his blanket closer to his neck. "Guess I am."