Seren breathed in slowly, his eyes closed. Well, almost closed. He couldn’t help but keep one eye open ever so slightly to watch Hyrin. Unlike him, she sat completely still and perfectly relaxed next to him, breathing deeply but silently.

The way captain Harumi had made it sound, Seren had thought that the training to be able to absorb drakes would be grueling and exhausting, but honestly, a lot of it had just been meditating, breathing, and mindfulness. All of which Hyrin seemed to be especially talented at, although Seren wondered what was really going on behind those closed eyes. Not that she ever showed whatever she was thinking on her face anyway, so he was always left guessing.

He repressed a sigh. Maybe it was easier to clear your mind when you didn’t have any memories of your past life distracting you. He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. Sometimes he envied her for literally not remembering a single thing. He was pretty sure Lily did too. 

He knew Row was the one jealous of Lily, realizing she at least had some memories, but to Seren, he and Hyrin were the lucky ones.

He was pretty sure Hyrin knew. She definitely knew about Lily, Row had made sure of that. But despite the way Seren wasn’t able to hide his feelings very well, he had managed to at least keep the fact that he remembered anything to himself. He lowered his head and closed his eyes again. It’s not like he was against telling her, he just didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t have a single memory he ever wanted to put into words. Maybe that’s why Hyrin never asked. Or maybe she just didn’t because she never asked any of them much in general. She didn’t tell them much either. But she was there for them.

He had seen her trembling, crying even, in the face of every drake they had faced. She wasn’t fearless. But when any of them were in danger, she didn’t hesitate for a single second, she probably didn’t even think about it, she would just jump in and do anything she could to protect them. And not just when facing drakes. She hadn’t laughed at him when he had cried, either. He knew she didn’t feel the same way he did, but she never made him feel weird or bad about it. She had boldly stared down Niri and then instantly made Lily smile with just a few words. In the end, no matter what happened or whatever she did, he just couldn’t take his eyes off her.

"It’s getting pretty hard to focus with you staring like that,” she suddenly whispered and he gasped, quickly lowering his gaze. He hadn’t even noticed he had started staring again.

He sighed,  realizing it would be useless to continue this, and got up.

"I’m going to the training hall, it’s easier to clear my mind when I’m swinging a sword around,” he told them, although he never liked leaving just the two of them together. And not just because the Captain tended to be flirty to literally everyone he spoke to, but mostly because you just never knew what that man would be up to next.

He closed the door to that ridiculously cute and confusing office behind him and walked over to the training hall. For a base full of soldiers and trainees, it was shockingly empty. Only a handful of people had gathered in that enormous room. They had spread out all over, each ignoring everyone else and just focusing on their own training.

Grateful he wouldn’t have to talk to anyone, Seren picked up two relatively short, black training swords. They weighed heavily in his hands, heavier than he was convinced real swords would be. But that would work out positively in the end, right? He sighed and walked over to the wooden dummies in the far left of the training hall. They were coated with some sort of tough fabric that looked like leather, but he was pretty sure wasn’t actually leather. There were little differences like that between this world and his own all over the place, although he hadn’t found anything yet that was different enough to actually bother him. He did love the taste of cherry, though, a fruit that didn’t exist in his world. He actually kept a jar of cherry candies in the room he shared with Row, although he was pretty sure Row kept stealing them.

He stretched his arms and leaned over to touch the ground before he pulled his swords back and attacked the wooden dummy. One shaped like a human. He tried to remember the movements he had seen that humanoid make, but his memories were hazy at best and there were too few of them. Why hadn’t he gotten himself to his damn feet and watched every second of that humanoid’s fight with captain Harumi? 

He hit the dummy again and again, barely taking the time to breathe in between. Why did he have to come from a world that left him with no potential in this one whatsoever? Why would he have to stand at the sidelines and watch Hyrin get so far ahead that he couldn’t even keep up with her anymore? She was fully intent to take on that humanoid, he could clearly see it in everything she did and said. But how? Captain Harumi hadn’t even been able to completely defeat it and he nearly died in the process, no matter how much he tried to pretend he was okay. So what? They were going to do it together? And where did that humanoid even come from? Why had it suddenly appeared? How had it been able to control that sky class drake? Why did no one even seem to care about any of these questions?

He hit the dummy so hard that even with the plastic training swords, he sliced off a piece of the shoulder and left a cut across its chest. He stopped, surprised at himself, and took a step back, wiping his forehead with his sleeve, catching his breath.

"Woa…” Row passed him from behind and leaned over to inspect the damage he had done to the dummy. “That looked more like frustration and repressed anger than training,” he let Seren know over his shoulder with a mean grin.

Seren glared down at him, but held back any sort of response.

"So, did Hyrin tell you to get lost or were you just finally done being a third wheel?” Row asked.

Seren pressed his lips together trying not to react to Row’s provocation.

"You do realize you’re being a third wheel, right?” Row refused to give up.

"I know that!” Seren snapped back. “Don’t you think I know that better than anyone? What are you even here for?”

Row chuckled and leaned his back against the training dummy. “Then why do you keep following her around like that? I can’t say I’m much of an expert myself, but I don’t think that’s the way to get her to fall for you, you know? Especially since the Captain is already pretty much the only thing she sees.”

Seren clenched his double swords, trying to calm his raging heartbeat. “It’s not about that,” he said softly.

"Huh?” Row leaned over to him. “So, you’re not into her?”

"Shut up.” Seren took a step back as if that could somehow help him evade Row’s teasing. “Obviously, I have… feelings… for her.” He felt his face burning up. Why did he have to admit something like that to someone like Row? “But I’m not trying to… I’m just trying to…” He groaned. “I’m just trying to be there for her, you know? I think she’s someone worth protecting. Why is that so wrong?”

Row chuckled softly and moved closer to Seren, slapping him against his shoulder. “It’s not wrong.” He grinned. “Although I’m pretty sure Hyrin’s well on her way to be way stronger than you. Pretty soon, she won’t need anyone to protect her anymore,” he couldn’t help but add.

Seren grunted. How did Row, the guy with the never fading idiot grin on his face, always notice this kind of stuff so easily? Had he been some kind of mind reader in his previous life? Was he reading his mind right now?

While wondering if he would seem like the idiot for asking Row that, the training hall filled with the deafening sound of the drake alarm.

He felt Row’s hand on his shoulder tense up. Despite how quickly and easily Row seemed to have adjusted to their new life and this new world, this was the one thing he never seemed to be able to get used to.

"Let’s go,” he told his friend. “Let’s find Hyrin and get to the armor-”

"No,” Row stopped him. “Hyrin was with the Captain, right? She’ll be fine. You and I should stick together this time.”

Seren opened his mouth, ready to protest, but the frightened gleam in Row’s light eyes stopped him. He had been right. Hyrin was with the Captain, she didn’t need him. He should stick with Row and the others, the ‘normal’ trainees, like him.

He nodded his head with a painfully clenched jaw and followed Row, who ran past him with a relieved sigh.

"There’s several, right?” Row asked as they entered the armory to grab a uniform and a weapon, followed by most of the other trainees and a bunch of soldiers whose names they didn’t know yet. “That’s at least three alarms. For brick, shrine, and house classes, right?”

Seren nodded. It meant that they wouldn’t just be helping with the evacuating, they would be fighting. He stared down at the rows of rifles in front of him. Most trainees felt relieved and a lot safer to hold one of those, but he had never liked them much from the start. The only time he felt relieved or safe holding a weapon was during training.

He looked up and with a confidence he didn’t actually feel, he walked past the fire weapons and stopped at the rack of shining, polished blades. Real swords and daggers. They looked a lot more intimidating than the black plastic ones he had been using up until then.

"Woah, hey, what’re you planning there, buddy?” Row ran up to him. “We’re definitely not gonna be allowed to do more than lay down suppressing fire. You gotta grab a gun, alright?”

Seren ignored him and pulled a double blade off the rack, sheathed closely together in the same scabbard. He unsheathed them and held a blade in each hand. They weren’t lighter than the training swords at all. Would he be able to swing these around just as freely as those? And for how long? What about the reach? Would it be enough? He couldn’t help but smile. The shine on the edge made him feel excited in a way he couldn’t really explain, though.

"This time,” he told Row in a low voice, “I’m going to cut their hearts to pieces myself.”

"No,” Row jumped in front of him. “No way, Seren, you’re being an idiot.” He tried to take the blades from Seren’s hands. “Listen, I’m sorry for saying all that stuff earlier, okay? I was just teasing. It’s what friends do.”

Seren pulled the blades back and Row held his hands up, away from their sharp edges.

"Okay,” he whispered. “Okay, I get it. Hang it at your side, okay? Nothing wrong with having them just to be safe.” He took a deep breath. “But you’re also taking a gun.” He pressed his rifle against Seren’s chest. “And you can’t make a single move without me, understood?”

Seren narrowed his eyes, but Row didn’t let himself get scared so easily.

"Come on, Ser,” he said softly. “I won’t stop you, but I can’t let you do anything reckless. Not alone. If you insist on doing this, we’ll do it together, okay?”

Seren took the rifle Row had slammed against him. “Fine,” he gave in with a sigh. “We’ll start with a small one. You open up its chest, I’ll cut the heart. Let’s show them that we can do more than lay down suppressing fire.”

Row nodded. “Take this first, though.” He reached into his pocket and handed Seren a strip of small, white pills. “We’re not gonna be able to do anything if you’re just gonna end up hurling in some alley again,” he said with a mean grin.