Fantastopia: The New Life (Part 1)

Ugh, this guy

Well, Aria was right about me being sore the next day. How could I not see how swinging your arms so much can cause so much pain? I mean, I used to play baseball when I was young, how could I forget the pain of swinging my arms for the first time? Thankfully, I wasn’t badly sore that I could barely move my arms, but I don’t know if I should do more training, I feel like that I should just rest my arms today.

But I did promise I would show up the next day, and since today is the next day, that means I have to go. Maybe if I explain to them they’ll understand and allow me to do something less harsh. Aria did say that they don’t train every day, so maybe today could be that day for me.

That’s okay, right? Taking a day off after my first day of training. I’m sure it’s fine. Although that reminds me, I need to work out my arms if I’m gonna be swinging a sword around.

“Phone- set a reminder to work out my arms.”

Anyway, as soon as I was done with classes that involved me wincing in pain every minute, I made my way to Fantastopia where I entered the arena expecting to see everyone waiting for me. But to my surprise, there was no one there. The arena was completely empty of anything living. All that was there was a table with some of the weaponry.

Well, if no one’s here, I might as well make use of my time, especially since I needed to rest my arms. Besides, those weapons looked so tempting to touch. I’m sure it’ll be fine if I just admire these weapons. I headed over to the table and spotted the different items it had. Swords, arrows, knives, there was even a chain mace that I just had to pick up. I picked up the weapon by the wooden handle, it was quite heavy, but it wasn’t like I was going to swing it no matter how much I wanted to try it out.

“I can see you’re still alive.”

Oh great, not this guy again.

“Did you expect me to die on my first try?” I replied while turning around and leaning against the table.

“It could’ve happened” Flint smirked.

“Well, it didn’t” I smirked back “So what are you doing here? Did you come to give me more threats? Or are you here to try to snap my wrist off again?”

“As much fun as those sound, I’m here for something else.”

“And what’s that?” I asked while crossing my arms.

“I want a rematch” he declared with a frown “You and me, math contest.”

Is he for real? A math contest? He’s just never gonna get over it, is he?

“Oh my God,” I groaned while rolling my eyes “You’re still pissed out about that? I beat you by 5 seconds, why is that such a big deal?!”

“Because before you came here” he growled while stepping towards me as I pressed back against the table “I was the top student of the whole academy. And since you’re here now, the new hero, that means you’re the top one now.”

“Oh,” I relaxed my body “So this is about popularity, huh? Well, let me tell you a little something, Flint, you don’t need to be on top of everything to be happy. Believe me, I’ve been there before, and let me tell you, it doesn’t always make you happy.”

“Oh, I know that” he nodded with a fake smile “But I have a reputation to keep up. And if that reputation gets destroyed, then I’ll destroy whatever caused it, or should I say whoever caused it.”

Man, this guy seriously needs to calm down. I took a glance down at my ring, and wouldn’t you know it, the gem had turned red. Red for anger, huh? I’m not surprised.

“So what do you want me to do?” I asked with a shrug “You want me to bow down to you?”

“You know what I want” he frowned.

“You still want a rematch, huh?” I gave a side smirk “If that will get you to leave me alone, fine, I accept. But just so you know, if I beat you in this again, you have to deal with the fact that being the top student isn’t everything, there’s more to life you know.”

“I’ll be the judge of that” he declared “Meet me in the classroom where it all started after your training, I’ll be waiting.”

“Oo, I’m so scared” I sarcastically remarked.

“You should be” he warned, “Nobody ever messes with me, and if they do, they’re in for a world of pain.”

“You know” I smirked, “I knew that from the moment I saw, I would spend the rest of my life trying to avoid you.”

“Oh you can try all you want,” he replied with a small chuckle “But I’ll always be there.”

And with that, he gave me one last glare before turning around and heading out the arena. Damn, looks like I just made my first enemy in this land, and it’s all thanks to my big brain.

“Jesse.”

My thoughts snapped out of my head as I turned to see Aria walking towards me. She must have spotted Flint leaving by concerned look on her face. But to my surprise, she wasn’t wearing her usual pants and top, she was wearing one of those medieval dresses with short sleeves. It was a dark blue color, and boy did she look good in it.

“I just saw Flint walk out of here” she reported, “Is everything okay?”

“Nope” I breathed “I have a math contest with him after training.”

“Seriously?” she responded dully “He’s still mad that you beat him by 5 seconds?”

“Apparently so, he’s got a reputation to keep up.”

“Are you going?”

“Of course I’m going. And I don’t care if I lose or not, it’s his life, not mine.”

“Well, I’m glad you feel that way. Although, if you do manage to beat him, you’ve got to seriously stay away from him. He will always push others down and he won’t stop until it’s done.”

“I can handle him” I assured, “I’ve dealt with bullies before, I know how to be careful.”

“If you say so” she sighed.

I hope so. Bullies were always a problem for me back when I was young, ever since the third grade. I won’t talk about it though, I never like talking about my past. But I’ve learned a lot from bullies and how to deal with them. I haven’t gotten bullied when I entered college, but since it’s practically happening again, looks like I’ve got to deal with it again.

“So” I spoke, changing the subject “Moving that to the side, are we gonna train? Though I should tell you, my arms are pretty sore.”

“Don’t worry” she replied with a small smile “I knew that was going to happen. I’ve actually decided that you’re not going to train today.”

“I’m not?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Well, you may notice that I’m wearing a dress today.”

“I did notice” I responded with a smile “That’s a nice color on you.”

“Thank you” she smiled back “Since today’s my casual day and I never train in dresses, I was actually hoping to use this day to get to know one another.”

My heart just fluttered. Why was it doing that? It’s not like I’m going on a date with her. But she is the princess, a really gorgeous one who wants to hang out with me.

“Really?” I remarked astonished.

“Since you’re the new hero, you’re gonna be spending a lot of time with the royal household. Every chosen hero has become friends with the royals of Fantastopia. And since you’re the new hero and I’m part of the royal household, I figured, why not get to know each other since this is going to be part of our lives now?”

Oh, I am so down for this. I’ve been dying to know some more about Aria, and it looks like it’s finally going to happen.

“I would love that” I grinned.

“Great” she beamed “Come on, I know a place we can go.”

Please be her room. Please be her room.

Uh, I’m not thinking that in a dirty sort of way, I swear. I just really want to see her room.

I swear.