A loud cheer rose up from the crowd, and Serapha looked up in surprise, releasing her hold on his clothing. His pants snapped abruptly back into place, making him wince. She apologized, but he was already looking to the Fighting Square to see what was the cause of the commotion. It was time for the demonstration. Xenia had emerged from the entrance to the underground facilities, followed by the four senior Fighters he had expected. No surprises there, but he was still on guard for any other strange occurrences. He examined each Fighter as the excitement of the crowd built around him.
“It’s the green-haired Stratega,” a girl right behind him shouted over the din.
“She’s so powerful,” a boy nearby squealed, “Look at her bulging muscles and boobs.”
He remembered all four of the Fighters. Maeve, Ami, Altheia, and Doreia. The girls were wearing the same tank tops and exercise pants that they’d worn before.
“Can you believe we are sitting here together at the Academy,” Serapha whispered in his ear, sliding her hand down the leg of his pants, “Doesn’t it feel like we’re girlfriend and boyfriend?”
Linhart turned back to her, her face was so close he could feel her breath on his mouth. “Is that what you want?” he asked, “I might be up for that… Let's talk about it later.”
Serapha’s eyes widened, but before she could respond, Xenia’s deep and dulcet voice rang out like a bell, silencing the freshmen.
“Welcome, new blood.” she began and then launched into her speech. As Xenia spoke of the Fighter class and got the crowd worked up, Linhart was overcome with deja vu. Everything was exactly the same, except a few small details here and there just didn’t match up. He wasn’t mistaken, was he? The most notable difference, the rainbow of panty colors, proved to him that he wasn’t just imagining things. How could that have changed?
This feeling was unsettling. Was he still in the same place as before? Could he rely on the events of his last loop to guide his actions this time? Scanning the crowd on the other side, his eyes landed on a freshman that pushed all his fears and worries away. Drystan was sitting in the front row directly across from them. He was smiling and cheering for the match to begin just like the other students around him, blissfully unaware that he had just returned from the dead! But then again… so had Linhart.
“...With more boys in the front ranks, the war will be very exciting, indeed.” Xenia was saying. The crowd of girls around him murmured their agreement, seeming even more lecherous than he remembered them. A creeping sensation was his only warning, as a hand lightly stroked his back. It was the girl sitting on his left side.
Turning to face her, he realized he recognized this touchy feely girl. The girl was thin but fit, with dyed blond hair and sun-darkened skin. It was Giselle’s friend… what was her name?
“Is your name Ayame?”
The girl looked startled for a second, removing her hand from his back. But then a playful look came over her face. “Very good, pretty one. You already know my name,” she praised him, speaking with a slight accent he was not familiar with. “Do I already have a reputation among the boys?”
“No, I just… We met before…” he said, uncertain of how to reconcile this Ayame with the terrible girl who would someday torture Serapha into the negatives. Would she still do that? Despite her pretty face and well-formed body, he didn’t feel drawn to her at all. She was probably the same now as she had been then. Like a polished apple with a rotten core, his distaste for her grew quickly, affecting his tone and body language. He pulled away from her and said, “Don’t touch me.”
Ayame gave him an evil grin, but she left him alone. Serapha noticed the words that were exchanged between them. The cheering of the crowd had drowned out their voices, and she asked heatedly, “Is that girl bothering you?”
“No, not at all.” Linhart said, panicking, “I just bumped into her on the bench.” Linhart had to keep these two from meeting if that was at all possible.
“Well, don't apologize to her, Lin,” she warned him. She eyed Ayame fiercely. “Girls like that would take your sweetness the wrong way.”
As the senior wrestlers squared off, the crowd cheered louder, calling encouragement. Both girls and boys were overly excited about witnessing their first Fighting match at the Academy.
Linhart focused on the two pairings as though his understanding of this world depended on it. Maeve with her long red braid and big tits versus the curvy, muscular girl with deep skin, Doreia. Tiny doll-like Ami against the immovable brunette, Altheia. Everything looked the same, but again… something felt off.
Ami slipped under Altheia’s lunge and tackled her from behind. She looked like a child climbing up her mother’s back. She was on the attack, but seemed to be unable to hurt the giant. Maeve grasped for Doreia’s arm, but missed the hold and instead got a punch to her face. Her nose started bleeding like a leaky faucet. Two minutes later, the two matches were resolved. With Maeve and Ami lying unconscious on the hard ground and Altheia and Doreia raising their hands in victory, the results were the same, but the way they had fought was noticeably different.
A chill went up his back. Though it was remarkably similar, this world was just different enough to keep him on his toes. He couldn’t rely on anything or anyone being the same as it was a few weeks ago. The Time Slip had not sent him back to the same world, but a different one… or did the Time Slip alter the world in some innocuous ways?
This seemed like an important point.
Xenia stood in front of the crowd, her voice cutting through the noise of the crowd and bringing an end to all talking across the Square, “All of you will have your chance in the ring in the coming weeks, but only two of you will fight in front of the freshman class today.”
Her eyes landed on Linhart as she said the line that he remembered so well. “Who among you is ready to be honored?”
Those faithful words that had sent him down the strange and twisted path. Those words that had ended with him being bonded by her. Who was ready to be honored? He would not volunteer this time. But he hadn't volunteered the first time either. He remembered a split second too late that he had been pushed into the ring. Already, Ayame was shoving his body forward, flinging him into the Fighting Square. Driven forward by the momentum, Linhart fell to the ground right at the feet of the Stratega. His hands latching onto her white silken pants, as he struggled to stop himself from falling over.
Now Xenia's focus was completely on him. “By the Twelve,” she spoke loud enough for all to hear, “This feisty flower is so fast, he caught me with my pants down!” She laughed loudly, and the crowd joined her, erupting in a sea of laughs and guffaws. Linhart was mortified to see that he had inadvertently pulled down her pants. Now, his hands still gripping the white fabric, Xenia’s gorgeous abdominal muscles and a sexy pair of forest green panties were on full display. Not in the least bit humiliated, Xenia’s muscles flexed under his hands…
“Fighter’s Green,” she intoned, obviously talking about the color of her underwear that was right in front of his eyes. Her words made him feel like a real pervert.
Seemingly unperturbed, and perhaps understanding that it was all a mistake, Xenia placed a comforting hand on his head and loudly directed him, “State your name, New Blood!”
Linhart’s hand traveled up her leg, casually running along the bare skin of her leg and over her hip as he pulled her pants back into place; he rose to his feet. Taking a deep, calming breath, he slowly turned around to face the audience in all directions, proclaiming, “My name is Linhart Aetherion, and my goal is to become an elite Fighter!”
“You’ve got guts, freshman,” Xenia exclaimed, looking more than satisfied with his confident tone of voice. She guided him to the center of the Square. “This is the spirit that Fighter boys should strive to show. Who will challenge this boy?… This Lionheart!”
Hundreds of students were shouting for the chance to go against him, but without fail, his wrestling opponent ended up being Drystan. Linhart noted that even though the order in which the two of them joined the match was different, the outcome was the same. Was it destiny that he and Drystan should face each other on this day?
“My name is Drystan Pyrion,” he declared, “And I also want to become an elite Fighter for the Eryndor Military.”
Linhart didn’t know how to react as he faced off against his recently resurrected friend. Overjoyed to see Drystan alive and well, he knew he could never tell him about the way their last bout had gone in that other world. Drystan wouldn't ever know that they’d both died and come back from the dead, so he satisfied himself with a smile and a little wave.
“Hart, I’m sorry but I’m not going to go easy on you. I need this victory,” he uttered, low enough that only Linhart could hear him.
“I understand, Stan,” he replied with a serious tone, “You do what you have to do…” then he added beneath his breath, “And I will let you win, which is what I have to do.”
The crowd was cheering loudly as they stood at the starting marks. Xenia eyed the two of them up and down, lowering herself into the ready position, crouching on her haunches, her thighs and rear end swelled like two sexy teardrops.
She looked each boy in the eye meaningfully and shouted, “Fight!”
