The Betrayal of the Guardians

~ (6) The Usual Spot ~

The two moons were shining brightly, illuminating the land and making the outdoor lights redundant. Arisa's legs started to get sore as she walked up to the hill behind her neighborhood.

The hill wasn't so high, but with one hand holding a lantern while the other made sure her cloak wouldn't fall, the short trip was a bit difficult.

When she reached the top, she carried on walking through the woods to reach the area she and her two friends usually chose to hang out. Nobody else seemed to go there.

She had to walk in the woodlands for a few minutes to reach the appointed place. The area was a haven for small animals, with no large predators and no portal to allow visitors from other worlds as Moonlight Forest had.

The sound of two blades clashing met her ears as she approached the place. She passed a few trees and saw two young men fighting each other. One of them was in black clothes and the other was in a marine green shirt and dark pants.

For a second she watched them battle. Both boys were showing impressive skills; it would take a long time for the winner to be revealed.

"So this is why you both best me at duels." Arisa crossed her arms. "You practice without me."

"Huh?" said the guy in dark clothes, looking at her with surprise.

Before Arisa could say anything else, Kazuya shoved his opponent's sword with his blade, using all his strength. The opponent's weapon flew sideways and fell in front of Arisa's feet.

"I win again." Kazuya smiled.

"Not fair!" complained the guy in dark clothes. "Arisa distracted me."

"Don't use me as an excuse, Zen." Arisa picked his sword. "As a warrior, you shouldn't let even the smallest thing distract you."

Zen raised a brow.

"You must have done that on purpose." He received his sword from her. "Since the gap between me and Kazuya is closing, while you still have a long way to go."

"What? That can't be, what's the score?" she asked, concerned.

Kazuya had been the best warrior since they were children, and Arisa's grandfather would always ask him to spar with her on training days.

Ever since they were children, Kazuya far surpassed her level. Out of all training and sparring for fun, she won ten times. Seven out of ten of those victories, she was sure he let her win.

"This is my hundredth win; Zen is stuck at ninety-five," replied Kazuya, playing with his sword.

"Have you guys been sparring without me around?" Arisa narrowed her eyes.

"Well," replied Zen, "conversation is not our forte when you're not around, so we talk through battles for fun."

"Yep," Kazuya agreed with a quiet chuckle.

Arisa shook her head, wondering if this behavior was typical of men. Although she thought that they were like this because even though they have known each other for eight years, they still had trust issues.

When Arisa became friendly with Zen, Kazuya didn't like the idea. As time went by, and with Zen doing his best to earn his trust, Kazuya became more open and playful with him.

"So," Arisa tried to change the subject, "why did you want to see me so late?"

Zen shook his head. "You're the one who's late; we've been here since dinner time was over."

Arisa glanced sideways. He had a point.

Zen grabbed her hand and pressed something into her palm. As she opened her hand, she saw a cream colored card with the store rune written on it. The store symbol was known to have a low complexity, containing only eight strokes.