The night after the arena, Cole was restless. He tried to sleep, tossing and turning and laying on his back countless times and just breathing. He was sweaty and his face was bright red. But why? Had seeing his dream reminded him of what he lay awake in bed thinking of all that time ago? He was confused, and wanted to get some sleep but the day tumbled around in his head in a perpetual motion. Slowly, Cole began to relax and let his mind settle. Before he knew it he was drifting off.

You got potential, kid.

You have all the characteristics of bein' a smasher. I wouldn't be surprised if you made it in.

Link's words echoed throughout his brain, and like a virus, thoughts began to spread. Majority of them were hypothetical; what if I do make it in? What if I'm denied? What if I make it in but everyone hates me? Cole panicked, thinking all the wrong possible choices that led him to grip his bed sheets and breathe heavily.

"You good?"

It was Clayton. Cole's dorm mate who had woken up to him panicking.

"I'm worried." Cole replied, looking at the ground. "For all the wrong reasons."

"Is it about Smash?" Cole looked at the ground and swallowed. He nodded ever so slightly trying not to show anxiety. But it was too late, for Clayton had already noticed it.

"Why are you worried?" he asked, smiling, just to reassure Cole that it was okay to talk about it. Cole inhaled, and prepared to open his mouth and vent.

"What if I don't make it in? What will I do then? I haven't planned for alternatives, I could find myself jobless or worse homeless!" Cole blurted, loud enough for Emmett to hear and come in.

"What's the fuss, boys? You should be asleep." Emmett wasn't an instructor, but he was training to be. He had been at the facility for nearly twenty years and it was the only life he ever knew. Considering he was in his early twenties and not qualified to be an instructor just yet, he spent his time teaching students martial arts in the dojo. As a highly trained black belt in jujitsu and other relatively similar martial arts, he knew what he was doing, and Cole regarded him as one of his most favorited teachers, as well as being a respected one.

"Sorry, sir. We were just heading to bed." Clayton replied, beaming as he did so. Cole nodded and lay down in his pillow.

Cole thought Clayton would continue the conversation, and switch to whispering rather than talking normally. But seeing as Clayton was the type of guy to suck up to instructors and teachers, he wasn't surprized when Clayton rolled over to his side and fell back asleep.

Cole lay there in silence letting thoughts consume him. He wasn't much of a sleeper anyway, he'd wake up early in the morning to outside noises but this time he was awake from the sound of his mind echoes ranting about smash. After going through the trouble several times, he managed to finally fall asleep but the scent of thoughts still wafted about.

It was early in the morning when Cole awoke to people chatting outside his window. He could hear two men specifically, whispering to each other behind the fig tree that grew in the dorm courtyard. They were both dressed in grey and Cole could faintly see the outline of a dark azure color haircut on one man's head. Ever so quietly, Cole clambered out of bed trying not to wake Clayton.

It seemed as if it were a simple plan, although it was far from it. Cole's window stretched far enough across the room to the point where if you were to cross it, you could see someone moving across from the two men's position. And seeing as Cole's bed was behind Clayton's and that he'd need to get around the bed without being seen through the window, the feat was near impossible. But due to curiosity and Cole having lessons regarding technical break-ins (it was for the stealth training, in case of suspicions), he knew exactly what to do without being noticed.

There was a closet aligned with the wall which was thick enough for Cole to hide behind. He leapt behind that, resting his head against the wall, praying the men hadn't noticed a boy in pyjamas leap across a room. The men began to argue and Cole used that to his advantage. The window had a small bench, similar to that of a bay window. He crawled beside that and peaked over the edge, just so he had the slight visual representation of what was in front of him.

The blue haired man swiped a sword from his side, threatening the other man and holding the golden sword to his chest. Cole could barely make out the conversation but slowly pieced together different phrases.

"I told you to fuck off. Now you'll see the true power of Ragnell." The sword slowly went closer to the man's chest.

"I came here by order. You have no right to kill me, I'm just obeying my orders." The sword slid back.

"You still didn't tell me who sent you. And why were we told to meet here? This is a school, if I'm correct. Kids. Kids are in danger because of your foolishness. Go back. Tell your so-called master that his plan was a flop. And return later on to a different whereabouts. Now." The man with the sword ordered, and the other nodded. He scurried off into oblivion, terrified of what this warrior would do to him.

The remaining man sat down at a bench and pulled a water bottle from his coat pocket and lightly sipped it. He looked around Cole's age possibly older by a bit, as he had pulled down his hood to reveal his face. Cole was confused on why he kept relating back to kids when from view, he looked as if he was a kid himself. But nonetheless, he kept quiet, listening to see if anything else would happen.

A loud PING! bellowed from a communicating device in the man's coat pocket. He saw it and looked up, taking in his surroundings for the last time before hurrying off, leaving a trail of blue flames in his path from the sword.

Cole watched in utter shock as he left as if nothing had happened. He felt as if he was swimming in a pool of questions at this point, relating to his entire night.

"So this is what the phrase means "drowning in your own thoughts, huh?" he said, lifting himself off the ground and hurrying back into bed.