«1000 points!» Amy exclaimed as she sat down next to me, «what the hell are they thinking?»

«They must have realised that 50 wasn't enough to make things interesting,» I replied, scratching my chin.

«Ok, but why not 100, 200 or something? 1000 is just absurd!»

«I think that's the point. It's such a high number that whoever wins will hardly have to worry about dueling ever again. It's a prize that everyone would covet.»

«But isn't it dangerous? Having so many points is like asking to be killed!»

«Maybe that's what Skylark wants, to wreak havoc...»

The reason still wasn't clear to me.

Had he sensed that we were trying to escape and was doing everything to keep us busy?

But if that was the case, why was it not compulsory to take part in the event?

"So many questions..."

I turned to Sophia, who had been silent since we had read the notice.

The girl caught my eye and exclaimed dryly:

«No!»

«No what?»

«I'm not going to take part in this stupid tournament with you!»

'UH?!'

I couldn't help but feel a little offended.

«Who do you think I am? Do you really think I'm so stupid th-?»

«Yes.»

«Wow, you didn't even let me finish my sentence...» I commented as Amy burst out laughing.

Sophia's lips curled into a mocking smile:

«Ok, maybe you're not that stupid, but you've certainly shown me how reckless you are lately!»

«You're still implying that I'm stupid!»

«Who? Me?!» Sophia replied in a tone that was not at all convincing.

Well, I couldn't argue with her, but in this case my thirst for adrenaline wasn't enough to make me jump into an obvious death trap.

"But if you're going to tease me like this..."

«You're right! Since you won't join me, I'll have to find another partner. Maybe I'll ask Celeste, I'm sure I could beat anyone with her!»

«Great idea! I'll cheer for you!» Amy chirped, guessing my intentions.

But instead of the annoyed reaction I was expecting, a broad, unsettling smile lit up Sophia's face.

She placed a hand on my thigh and whispered:

«I wonder if they would let you compete without legs...»

I jumped to my feet, shaking.

Sophia continued to stare at me, smiling menacingly. Her expression made my skin crawl.

«I was only joking!»

I was forced to surrender.

I had suffered defeat after defeat against her lately.

Maybe I shouldn't have wished for Sophia to get used to the physical contact between us...

In any case, even if I wanted to ask her, I was sure that even Celeste would never want to take part in such a dangerous tournament.

----------------------------------------

«Please, please, please!»

I was completely wrong.

The first thing Celeste did the following Saturday was to ask me to be her partner for the tournament.

I knew she was a bit of a nutcase, but I had obviously underestimated the lengths to which she would go to get a thrill.

«For the umpteenth time, no!»

Celeste continued to plead, looking at me with puppy eyes:

«Just think how many super dangerous powers we're going to be up against!»

«That's exactly the problem!»

«Come on! If we join forces, our magic can never lose!»

There was a part of me that wanted nothing more than to take her up on her offer. A series of high-stakes duels was an extremely exciting prospect.

But I couldn't risk it. I had a promise to keep.

Besides, Sophia would probably kill me before I had a chance to fight in a single duel.

«I'm sorry Celeste, I would love to fight at your side, but in this case it's too risky,» I replied in a firm tone.

At these words, the girl finally seemed to resign herself.

«Well...» she mumbled sadly, «I guess I'll have to ask Phil to sign up with me.»

She didn't seem very enthusiastic about the prospect, after all their last duel had shown me how much she despised her fiancé's fighting style.

«Do you really think he would accept? He just doesn't seem the type.»

Celeste's pout vanished, giving way to an amused grin.

«Normally, I would think that he would never take part in something like this. But if I'm the one asking him...»

Maybe I still didn't fully understand how the relationship between the two of them worked. But I was sure that if Celeste was my girlfriend, I would do anything to keep her happy.

She could be a colossal pain in the ass when she wanted to be.

We practised for a few more hours and then said goodbye to each other.

There was still some time before dinner, so I headed for my room.

Crossing the hallways of the school without Sophia at my side had become a rare occasion.

In this solitude, my mind couldn't help but wander, imagining the mind-boggling strategies that two mages capable of double casting could use in a duel.

The mere thought of the combinations of spells we could have unleashed on our opponents was enough to make me regret having refused Celeste.

«Maybe I'm a nutcase too...»

If only death wasn't lurking around every corner of the Academy, I could have had so much fun!

But I couldn't give in to temptation, I would only be playing into Skylark's hands for the umpteenth time.

I arrived at my room to find something strange waiting for me.

Stolen novel; please report.

There was a letter on the floor outside the door.

Whoever had left it there had probably tried to slide it into the room, but the protective spell had blocked it.

I picked up the piece of parchment, wondering who had sent it.

Was it a threatening note from Sophia? Perhaps she feared Celeste would convince me to partecipate.

"Girl of little faith!"

But as soon as I read the words on the parchment, my smile disappeared and my blood froze.

"We have kidnapped your friend. If you don't want her to be killed, come to the classroom alone. Don't try anything, don't take any detours, we'll be watching you."

I immediately turned and looked around.

A couple of students were walking down the corridor, chatting happily. No one else was there.

Was it a bluff?

I couldn't be sure, maybe someone was spying on me through a spell, a familiar, or worse, an innate power.

The fact that they had struck today, when for once I was not in Sophia's company, meant that they had been watching me for a long time, studying my habits.

I remembered the words of warning the girl had spoken to me a few weeks ago:

"We have to expect that sooner or later someone will target us..."

It hadn't taken long. And they had done it by going after someone I cared about.

"A friend..."

Obviously it wasn't possible that someone had managed to kidnap Sophia, and I'd just parted ways with Celeste a few minutes before.

"That just leaves... Amy!"

I had to stop myself from running towards the classroom.

With trembling hands, I crumpled up the letter and shoved it into my pocket, my mind working frantically to decide what to do.

It was clearly a trap.

If I did what they wanted, I would undoubtedly be in danger.

They were only trying to intimidate me. After all, what would they have achieved by killing Amy?

Maybe it was all a lie. Maybe Amy was safe in her room, unharmed.

The most rational thing to do was to find Sophia and Celeste and come up with a plan of action.

But...

What if it wasn't all a lie?

What if someone was really spying on me right now?

I'd already met two homicidal maniacs in the last few months.

The possibility that Amy's life depended on my actions was not something I could simply ignore.

At that moment, the images of her lifeless body after being attacked by Chloe's familiars came back to me.

I made my decision.

"Sorry Sophia, I really am hopeless..." I thought as I ran towards the classroom.

I knew I was being impulsive again. But I would rather risk my own life than that of my dear friend.

Breathless, I reached my destination. The corridor was deserted. Probably all my classmates were on the other side of the school, ready for dinner.

I put my ear to the door. Silence.

«Mana shield,» I whispered, creating a magical barrier around me.

I was sure I would be attacked as soon as I crossed the entrance of the classroom. But I plucked up courage, I had no choice.

I opened the door. The classroom was completely dark.

I entered with my wand in my trembling hand.

Strangely, nothing happened.

Could it have been a sick joke?

But in the darkness of the classroom, a male voice spoke.

«Up here.»

I looked up at the back rows and my heart skipped a beat.

A tall boy had his arm around a petite girl's neck. Even without light, I knew it was Amy.

«Don't move or I'll cut your friend's throat open,» the boy said.

Suddenly the chandelier above us lit up, illuminating the room.

I immediately recognised Amy's abductor.

Owen Finch was holding the poor girl's mouth shut with one hand, while the other held a sharp dagger to her throat. Amy's eyes were frightened and full of tears.

«You bastard! Let go of her right now!»

Did he want revenge because my friend had humiliated him in the duel? But what did I have to do with it?

«Stay calm. If you follow my instructions, no one will get hurt,» the boy replied in a neutral tone.

«How dare you ask me to stay calm when you're threatening to kill my friend? If you were a man, you would let her go immediately and come after me!»

Finch seemed in no mood to give in to my provocation.

He continued to hold the dagger at Amy's throat.

«Lower your wand and don't make any sudden moves. I promise to release your friend if you cooperate.»

Amy began to struggle and moan in desperation, but the boy's grip was too strong for her to break free.

I had no choice but to obey.

«So? What do you want from me?» I asked.

«Very simple... I want you to agree to a duel with me.»

I was at a loss.

"Duel with him?"

From what I had seen from his confrontation with Amy, I would have no difficulty in defeating him.

If the girl had to use a special strategy to defeat his battle mage abilities, I wouldn't need to. The spells at my disposal would have easily penetrated his defences.

The only explanation was that he had an innate power that he had kept hidden and that he wanted to use to kill me.

But then... why kidnap Amy? If he had casually challenged me, I would probably have accepted the challenge without suspecting anything...

"..!"

There could only be one reason.

«What are your conditions for the duel?»

That was the only reason I would have refused to fight: suspicious conditions.

My intuition turned out to be correct:

«If I win the duel, you will have to register for the tournament.»

"HUH?!"

What was his intention?

If I were to enter the tournament, what would he gain?

If he was truly capable of defeating me, he could have easily killed me during this duel...

But if he had gone as far as kidnapping Amy... There was something behind it.

Of course, under normal circumstances, I would have refused his challenge, but now...

Seeing my hesitation, Finch pressed me:

«So? Don't you care what happens to your friend?»

I paused for a moment to think.

«You're bluffing. If you killed her, you'd be breaking the rules and Skylark would take you out,» I tried.

But Owen Finch's calm expression did not falter:

«I have nothing to lose.»

At these words, the boy pressed the knife harder against the girl's neck, wounding her and causing a small trickle of blood to gush out. Amy's muffled groans made my decision very easy.

«All right, I accept the challenge. If I win, you'll never come near Amy again.»

Immediately, the magical barrier formed around us. Amy, freed from Finch's grip, was pushed to the outside of it.

«LIZZIE NO!» she screamed desperately, pounding her fists against the magic shield.

«Don't worry, I have no intention of losing!» I tried to reassure her.

But I wasn't that confident. If Finch had decided to challenge me, he must have had something in mind.

«Lizzie, I'm sorry... it's all my fault!»

«Never mind now Amy, go and find Sophia quick!»

«I CAN'T LEAVE YOU HERE ALONE WITH HIM!»

«It's ok, really. I'm going to win. And if that was his condition for the duel, I doubt he wants to kill me.»

«I...»

But she finally listened to me and ran out of the room.

Meanwhile, the countdown was almost over.

"I must win in one move!"

If this boy was going to unleash some strange innate power against me, I wasn't going to give him the opportunity.

After what he'd done to Amy, I wasn't going to go easy on him.

3

2

I concentrated an enormous amount of mana into my wand.

1

«METEOR!»

...

But nothing happened.

"What the hell?"

Maybe the tension had played a trick on me.

This spell was definitely not easy to cast.

I concentrated again

«Fireball!»

Nothing happened.

'Why is my wand playing tricks on me now?"

I redirected the flow of mana to my free hand.

«Icicle Crush!»

No dice.

It was as if my mana was trapped inside my body and couldn't get out.

In the face of my futile attempts to cast spells, Owen Finch had stood still and watched me, not moving.

«I think you understand by now... If you give up, things will be easier for both of us.»

"Shit..."

I couldn't have met a worse opponent.

What prevented me from using magic was undoubtedly his innate power.

In front of him, I was just a helpless little girl... ....

«Surrender... I won't even think about it!» I replied gritting my teeth.

I drew my sword. I knew it would all be in vain, but I would do my best. I wanted to hold out at least until Sophia arrived. Maybe she could give me some ideas on how to defeat him.

Finch's face showed no emotion as he pulled his broadsword from its sheath.

"This looks bad..."

I still had the mana shield around me that I had casted before entering the room, but it would be useless in close combat.

I did my best to position my sword as best I could while the boy lunged at me with his huge blade.

Our weapons collided and mine flew away.

«AAAAH!» I screamed in pain. The impact had been terrible for my wrists.

I was now completely exposed.

"I'm dead..."

It was all over.

Perhaps the boy had set that condition just to give me a false sense of security.

But Finch did not strike me with his broadsword. He dropped his blade to the ground and landed a hook right in my face. I fell to the ground.

After a few seconds, groggy from the blow to the head, I began to struggle to get up.

«Well? Please surrender, I take no pleasure in hurting you.»

I spat blood onto the floor. Some of my teeth rolled to the ground.

«I-I'll n-never s-surrender!» I muttered.

My resistance was futile, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

The boy seemed to resign himself, and after a moment he delivered a violent kick to my ribs.

The pain bent me in two and I curled up on the floor.

"I'm just useless without magic, aren't I?"

I could barely form those thoughts.

Meanwhile, Finch had moved over me.

He grabbed my arm and put it behind my back.

"What is h-"

I started to feel a terrible pain.

«AAAAAAAH!»

Finch bent my arm with such force that I was sure it would break at any moment.

"I GIVE UP, I GIVE UP!"

But all that seemed to come out of my mouth were screams of agony.

And then there was a snap, and the pain was so great that I just stopped thinking.