Melanie ate the food, but it tasted bland inside her mouth. She sighed. Her bitterness was overwhelming her, and she could not think of anything good to comfort her. She frowned and sliced another portion of her fillet then dipped it in the cream sauce.

"Why are you alone?"

Melanie looked up when she heard the familiar high-pitched voice of the girl in front of her. She recognized that gray hair and pools of crimson red eyes and her small body build. For a moment, Melanie was reminded of Alice.

She nodded. "I was kicked out of the class."

Tamonjie raised her eyebrows then placed her food tray on the table. She sat across from Melanie.

"Getting kicked out is not really a big deal here but," she said and twirled her fork around the pasta. "I was not expecting you to get kicked out. What did you do?"

Melanie shut her eyes tightly then heaved a sigh before opening them again. She chewed some of the food inside her mouth and swallowed them in a second. "I was too...emotional."

Tamonjie stared at her intently while chewing the pasta then mumbled, "Really?"

"Yeah," replied Melanie. "It's history class."

Tamonjie shrugged and gulped her soda. "That makes sense. I remembered Adi being hysterical too when she heard the contents of the diary."

Melanie's eyes sparkled when the vice president's name was uttered. She blinked and asked, "I-is that true?"

"Yes." Tamonjie smirked as if she remembered something interesting from the past. "It also took her a while to adapt. To be honest, bullying her was worth it. You wanna hear about it?"

"Uh," Melanie winced, completely caught off guard. "No, thanks."

"Boring." Tamonjie leaned back on her chair and drew her feet close to her chest, placing her elbow over her knee. She tilted her head and her hood slightly fell back, gazing at Melanie with pure interest.

Melanie noticed her gaze and she forced herself to finish her food in an instant, but she ordered too much for her to eat. She could not consume them all for she might find herself choking and dying right on the spot.

"What you know is only the tip of the iceberg," Tamonjie stated. "There's more to this Damned and Sanctified clash of race shit than what you already know."

Melanie stiffened and looked at Tamonjie with awe. The little psychopath literally just told her that there was more to come and that she must prepare herself to take in that information again. Melanie grimaced. Realizing that her previous life was only a big fat lie already shattered her; she could not afford to subject herself to spiraling emotions again.

"How did Adi handle it?" she asked out of the blue. "I know I can't go back anymore." She felt a lump in her throat. "But I cannot stay like this, right?"

"Melanya..." Tamonjie's voice was suddenly an octave lower. "Don't make that face. You make me want to crush that determination of yours."

Melanie was taken back, but she chose to reply to the remarks with a glare. That gesture made Tamonjie wheeze.

"Oh my," she said and nodded. "You're slightly different from our last meeting, eh?"

"Just answer my question, d-d-dimwit."

Tamonjie burst out of laughter, and it echoed throughout the entire cafeteria, turning other students' heads towards them. Melanie instantly nudged the little psychopath's elbow and shushed her with a reddened face.

Tamonjie's laughs finally petered out and she inhaled sharply. "Okay, Melanya. You got me there."

"Tell me." insisted Melanie.

"Well," Tamonjie's crimson orbs looked at the ceiling then glided to the yellow and blue velvet walls. "Unlike you, she already knew what her powers were. The only problem she had was controlling it."

"And she successfully did it, right?"

"No, of course not," disclosed Tamonjie that earned her a gasp from Melanie. "I'm pretty sure you know about her past from the City, right? She was traumatized and she didn't dare to use the same power that killed her family. That made me want to break her more."

"I think the last sentence is not that...necessary," commented Melanie.

"Whatever." Tamonjie rolled her eyes. "Do you want me to continue or not?"

"Continue. I'm sorry."

"Going back to Adi, counseling gradually helped her back in the game. She also managed to befriend the Wicked Princess—thats the alias of the president by the way when she was not yet in the council, who helped her to be the person she is right now."

Melanie was about to reply when her cheek was almost grazed by the object that Tamonjie caught in her fingers. Melanie flinched upon feeling the presence of the little psychopath standing right behind her. It only took Tamojie a millisecond to flash behind the pale Melanie.

Tamonjie glares landed at the student sitting meters away from them. "That dude must be thick-skinned to pull this prank while I'm here," she said then darted a glance towards Melanie. "Stay here."

Melanie blinked and by that time the little psychopath was already in the middle of the cafeteria, standing on the table of a certain group of students who looked bewildered by her presence. Her crimson eyes darkened, and she somersaulted in the air and touched down to the boy's head, slamming her victim to the ground. She then pulled the boy by the hair and threw him towards the wall. The student coughed blood and passed out immediately over the vending machine. His friends went to him and carried his body somewhere.

"Okay, so what were you saying again?"

Melanie almost jumped from her seat when Tamonjie's spoke d. She awkwardly smiled and stuttered, "N-nothing."

"I know the president made it clear that when the school hours are over, students are free to do whatever they want to do but expect them to mess up with you using those puny tricks every now and then, especially when you're not with Axel."

"Oh." Melanie felt her heart sink. "Okay."

"What's your next class?"

"Exhibition of talents."

"That's interesting." Tamonjie smirked. "Make a good show for me."

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Melanie frowned. "What?"

Tamonjie casually shoved a meatball into her mouth and mumbled, "You're going into a battle, Melanya. Either you find yourself being beaten by your opponent to death or you beat them first."

"W-what?"

"Yeah, good for me, bad for you."

"How am I going to accomplish that?!"

"Easy," replied Tamonjie and pointed to Melanie's ring. "I heard you have an amazing familiar. Why don't you ask her?"

***

"Um, Alice?" called Melanie right after she entered the abandoned classroom at the end of the corridor. Tamonjie suggested that room would be for her to crash course a training session with her familiar, but she did not expect it to be covered with spider webs and dust. She chose to ignore it and summoned her familiar in that place.

Alice squinted at the dirt. Her eyebrow twitched, but she composed her look for her master. "I heard it all."

"Oh, okay! That's nice. Remember when you made me use that purification spell? Can you make me do that again?"

"Making you remember everything is a hassle." Melanie's forehead creased when she heard Alice's statement about remembering but her familiar continued without wasting a second. "I'll teach you one attack right now."

"Wait, what do you mean remember—"

"First, you need to build up a desire inside your heart," Alice cut her off. "Think about destroying your enemy."

"Okay," Melanie acceded and mustered all her negative energy inside her.

"Then, direct it to me."

"Okay—What?!"

Alice innocently pointed to herself with a blank face. "Attack me."

"B-but—"

"And while you do it, utter the spell Maledicere."

"But Alice—"

"Master," said Alice with gritted teeth, "don't underestimate me."

Melanie pursed her lips and did not dare to speak anymore. She brought her hands together across her chest and interlocked her fingers. She scowled and concentrated on the energy forming between her palms. The heat was the same as the purification spell, but it was more intense and ominous that her gut was churning inside her.

"I can't do this!" she cried.

"Do it!"

"I-I can't!"

"DO IT!"

"Maledicere!" Melanie shouted and released the energy from her hands. Her eyes were shut, and she did exert a lot of power in her words without her noticing. When she finally fluttered them open, Alice was smiling at her.

"Ali—" she was cut off when her eyes looked down. She gasped and covered her mouth, eyes widening in horror upon seeing the huge hole in Alice's torso.

"N-no..." She started to cry. "I didn't mean it! I swear I didn't mean to do that to you!'

"Shh," shushed Alice and gestured to her body. "It's going to be alright."

"But-" Melanie was glued on the spot when she saw Alice's body regenerating from her raw nerves and muscles, transforming to a new bundle of flesh that eventually filled her entire body. Everything went back to normal as if nothing perilous happened except for her ripped clothes.

"See? I told you it's going to be alri—"

"Good grace!"

Melanie jumped towards Alice and wrapped her arms around her familiar to give her a hug. She felt Alice stiffen from her touch, but she did not mind it for she was elated to have her familiar safe and sound. Tears of joy rolled down from her eyes.

"I'm just really glad you're okay."

"U-um," said Alice then gently pulled her away. "Thanks for your concern."

Melanie stepped back and wiped the tears. "Sorry, I was just happy."

Alice stared at Melanie intently. "You don't really know anything, do you?"

Melanie chuckled. "You're like that again. I don't do well at mind games, okay?"

Alice averted her crimson eyes and sauntered towards Melanie. "Lunch break is almost over. I'm going back to the ring."

"Um, okay. Thank you—"

Melanie pouted when her familiar touched her ring and was instantly absorbed without even saying goodbye to her.

She sighed. "I think she doesn't like me."

She then gazed at her palms and recalled the spell she released earlier. The spell was obviously an offensive type of magic and its effect was extremely promising. However, Melanie was uncertain if she wanted to use that against an opponent—a human being like her. She could not even imagine doing the same thing again while being aware that she could blast a hole in her opponent's body. Just the mere thought of it makes her nauseous.

"Maybe I can try making it weaker?" she muttered, moving her hands across her chest and shutting her eyes off. She then imagined all her negative energy inside her body and formed it into a condensed bead between her palms. Sparks of blue and black roared inside the ball as she opened her eyes and released the spell through her mouth.

"Maledicere!"

The small bead of energy floated in the air for a while and then crashed against the wooden chair where it blasted a tiny hole one after another. It travelled to different objects leaving burn marks and making some parts of them hollow.

Melanie watched her power's behaviour during that time and an idea instantly struck her mind.

"Bullets..." she whispered, smiling, "I can make them small, so I won't do much damage to the opponent!"

Melanie then practiced her new found ability using the remaining minutes of her lunch break. After being satisfied for fulfilling her aching sense of safety, Melanie ambled out of the room and proceeded to her next class, meeting Axel and Adi along the way.

"Are you really okay now?" asked Melanie with big eyes.

Adi smiled. "Yes, I'm okay. Don't worry about me, Melanie."

"I'm glad that nothing bad happened to you," she said, and her shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry because I left you. I just..." she exhaled. "I didn't know what to do."

Adi shook her head and touched her arm. "I understand. Also, don't be sorry. Yielding to the depriver was my call, not yours."

Axel grunted, "She's right, Melanie. Stop worrying about her. For all we know, she was just full of herself. As if she can control that depriver with her midget powers!"

Adi and Melanie glanced at each other and displayed their silly smiles as they entered the arena. Melanie gaped and marveled to the huge, enclosed area with leveling seats for spectators. Neon lights were illuminating the center from every corner of the room and speakers were also scattered, playing some upbeat music. Axel simply grabbed Melanie's hand and dragged her towards their chosen seats. Melanie sat between Axel and Adi.

Moments later, a woman in her early twenties climbed on the raised platform. She had mismatched eyes colors-blue and green with spiky golden orbs that matched well with her neck-length dirty blonde hair. She was quite tall, wearing black shorts and a red crop top with mesh sleeves that revealed her chestnut complexion.

"Good day, everyone!" her lively voice echoed from the speakers. "I'm Apricott Qhurtleen, your professor at the course, Exhibition of Talents! Are you guys excited?"

The whole arena hyped up with cheers and screams that followed the professor's distinctive vibe.

"She's...energetic," commented Melanie that earned her a nod from Adi and Axel.

"Man in red, give me the bowl!" the professor blurted, gesturing to the guy standing at the corner holding a cart with a huge bowl filled with rolled papers. He then walked towards the professor and placed the cart beside her. The professor kissed his cheeks and faced the crowd once more.

"Without further ado, let's select the performers for today!"

Melanie's heart skipped a beat. "L-lottery?" she whispered and clutched her chest.

The professor unrolled one piece of paper from the bowl, "Kthonia Azerie Gonzalez!"

Melanie almost felt relieved when the first name was announced, but her anxiety came knocking on her again when her professor's hand rummaged the contents of the fishbowl again.

Melanie closed her eyes tightly and prayed.

"Please, don't let it be me. Don't let it be me. Don't let it be me. Don't let it be me."

"Melanie Faye Harlow!"

Her ears rang. Her mind must be playing tricks with her. She lifted her gaze, and everyone appeared blurry. Buzzing noises filled her senses and she quickly trembled in fear.

"Hey."

Melanie was instantly brought out of the trance when somebody touched her hands. She jerked her head at the person holding her that moment, sharing her panic and fright with her.

"Axel, " She gasped, meeting those raven eyes.

Axel smiled and cupped her face. "You can do this, okay?"

Melanie blinked and nodded. She inhaled sharply. "Y-yes."

Axel gently pulled her up and made her stand on her feet. She then guided Melanie towards the arena, whispering comforting and sweet words in her ear.

"Best of luck," she finally said, helping Melanie climb up towards the stage.

Melanie did not want to let go, but Axel was stronger than her and easily freed herself from her grasp. Melanie watched her disappear amidst the crowd and darkness. She breathed in a huge amount of air inside her lungs and decided to face both the professor, who was smiling widely at her, and then her opponent.

Her opponent was a curvy, goth girl with jet black hair adorned with blue highlights. Her eyes were dark green, and it reminded Melanie of the forests that she once played in when she was still a kid.

"The name's Aze," the girl said in a cold and low voice. Melanie was about to reply when she noticed the granola bar Azel was eating. She was also munching the package between her teeth, grinding them like it was edible.

"Are you guys ready?!" exclaimed the professor. The two replied with their gazes. "Then, let the battle begin!"

Melanie positioned herself ready for battle when suddenly, a flash of blue and orange light passed by her side. She felt numb; a prickle of icy and burning spasms surged in her arms, travelling within her nerves up to her spine. She slowly glimpsed at her right arm and found an empty space which made her whole body tremble.

She stumbled back; eyes opened in horror as pain slowly crawled into her bones like a snake's venom.

She just lost an arm.