image [https://i.imgur.com/hEftnDt.png]
Castell stopped his approach and placed his hand on a destroyed wall segment. Once his fingers made contact, the wall disappeared from its original location and suddenly reappeared above Tiaran. She quickly braced herself and assumed a more defensive stance as the wall plummeted downwards.
However, before any contact was made, a white flash occurred directly in front of Tiaran. The wall segment was sliced cleanly in two, causing it to fall in opposite directions around her. When the dust settled, she noticed a student with long, striking red hair gripping a beautiful gold and silver sword. Curiously, between the blade and the hilt, there was an orb with moving, clock-like features adorned inside.
“Miss Lofton, you shouldn’t be here. I can handle this…” Tiaran said with her typical monotone voice.
“I’m sorry Instructor Belouis, but I don’t think you’re in any condition to fight right now. I’ll take it from here.” Rosemarie replied as she noticed the lack of Core Energy coming from Tiaran.
Tiaran clenched her fist and glared but after a brief, silent deliberation, she relaxed her posture.
“Alright, but make it quick. There could still be other students that need help, so we can’t waste too much time.”
She stepped to the side and took a seat on the broken wall. Rosemarie gave Tiaran a firm nod before turning her attention back to Castell.
“Hey Castell, you in there!?” She yelled out.
Castell simply growled as he glared with his glowing, purple eyes.
“Hmm, I guess not. Well, if you do happen to remember what occurred today, just know that this isn’t personal.”
Rosemarie exerted her Core Energy, causing the clock on her sword to glow and rapidly speed up. Within that same moment, Castell proceeded to touch multiple pieces of large debris, teleporting them towards her location. However, before any of the pieces appeared in her space, Rosemarie was already on the move.
Her pace was swift and incredibly calculated as she dashed towards Castell, not wasting a single step. Despite the amount of large debris flying her way from completely random angles, she effortlessly dodged every piece. It was almost as though she knew exactly how the debris would fall, where they would fall, and the damage they would cause once they fell.
Before Castell even realized it, Rosemarie was already in his space. In an angered panic, he exerted his Core Energy as he snarled and roared. Castell threw multiple fast and erratic punches towards her face, trying to catch Rosemarie off guard. However, despite the random nature of his blows, she easily tracked his hands and created just enough distance between them to stay safe.
While he swung his arms around to keep Rosemarie distracted, Castell stomped his left foot onto the ground. Suddenly the entire marble floor they stood upon disappeared and teleported itself above the hallway. Rosemarie looked up as a large shadow draped over everything in the vicinity.
She quickly leapt backwards and assumed a new sword stance, holding her Manifest downward and to the side as though she were charging it up. The clock above the hilt stopped ticking and for a brief moment, time froze entirely.
She proceeded to slash her blade in every direction, strategically targeting multiple weak points and cutting down its size. Her movement was otherworldly as she made short work of this massive piece of solid marble. Within a single blink, her job was finished and once she returned to her original position, the clock on her blade slowly began ticking again. Time resumed and the once dauntingly large floor was reduced to a rainfall of marble dust.
However, her attack wasn’t finished. As she stood there, gripping the handle of her Manifest, the blade began glowing a bright white. Without warning, a burst of Core Energy exploded from Rosemarie as she swung her sword forward, sending back all of the damage her Manifest absorbed from Castell’s attack.
A bright white flash occurred as a massive slash of energy barreled down the hall, destroying everything in its path with near zero resistance. Once the blow connected, a large explosion rippled outwards, sending debris in all directions and shaking the ground violently.
‘I knew Rosemarie was strong, but this seems a bit excessive. This is not someone that needs to be wasting their time at a school…’
Tiaran marveled at the destruction created by this skilled Vesta, impressed that it only took her a couple of minutes to dispatch such a significant threat. Rosemarie looked up at the moon through the now fully exposed ceiling and breathed a sigh of relief.
They walked over to Castell’s location and saw him unconscious with his shirt shredded and burnt off. Upon his chest was a smoking gash that raced from his shoulder to his hip. Despite the devastating nature of Rosemarie’s attack, she was still able to hold back enough to not kill her opponent. Tiaran crouched down and placed her fingers on his neck.
“Come on, let’s go check on everyone at the arena.” Tiaran said after confirming that Castell still had a pulse. Rosemarie gave a firm nod and the two quickly made their way back to the arena.
image [https://i.imgur.com/d60vRFl.png]
As chaos continued to radiate throughout the campus, Carmen, Cassidy, and Rivell arrived at the top floor of the main building. They sprinted through the halls and found an open door with purple and yellow light flickering from inside. They entered the room and saw Headmaster Quinn stuffing papers into a suitcase, moving around in a rushed panic. On the opposite side of the room was a bright, yellow portal waiting for someone to enter it.
“Headmaster Quinn? What are you doing?” Cassidy asked with a confused cadence.
He looked up with a startled expression, caught completely off guard by their sudden appearance.
“Ah, hello students. Uh, everything is fine here. Run along now.” Headmaster Quinn said, his tone incredibly shaky as he continued packing things in a hurry.
His nervous hands trembled, causing him to drop a few items onto the floor, one of which was a bottle with purple pills inside. Once Carmen saw what hit the floor, her eyes narrowed with great anger.
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“We’re not going to let you get away with this!!” She angrily exclaimed.
The Headmaster slowly reached down and picked up the pills before giving Carmen a cold glare, changing his demeanor completely.
“Get away with what exactly?” He asked, staring at Carmen with deadly eyes.
“Killing students with those dangerous pills of yours! Everything going on right now is all because of you!! Don’t even think about denying it!”
“Ah, so you were the one that was snooping around last night… Congratulations, all the turmoil going on across campus is thanks to your actions. Had you not meddled in our affairs, things would be much different.” He replied with a devious chuckle.
“I’m sorry things had to end up like this, but sometimes fate has a different hand to deal. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really must be going.”
Headmaster Quinn zipped up his bag and began walking towards the portal.
“I don’t think so…” Carmen said, summoning forth Graviton’s Eclipse as she exerted her Core Energy.
She quickly aimed her Manifest at The Headmaster and gravity manipulated him, causing his frail body to fly backwards into the wall. He collided with the cold brick before dropping to the ground in dramatic fashion. Quinn slowly got to his feet with a menacing scowl on his face.
“Stop wasting my time!!” He replied as he summoned his Manifest.
An all white staff with a yellow crystal on the top appeared in his hands. He gripped it tightly and thrust the bottom of the staff into the marble floor tiles. A bright white wave of light shot from the crystal and barreled towards the group. Carmen quickly hopped in front of Cassidy and Rivell, causing the attack to bend and be deflected by her gravity field. The wave blasted into the walls to their left, leaving behind a mass of melted destruction.
Cassidy leapt from behind Carmen and fired off a rope of water towards the Headmaster. The water reached his area, but was immediately blown away by another light energy pulse from his staff. Carmen quickly followed up with another attack, firing void energy bolts from her rapier.
He swiftly retaliated with attacks of his own, surprisingly matching Carmen’s pace perfectly despite his old age. His final blast raced towards Carmen and once again, it was blocked completely.
‘What is that barrier she keeps using?’
The Headmaster gritted his yellow teeth as he tried to think of a way to bypass her skill. However, he was never given the chance to think things through as Carmen had suddenly appeared in front of him. She rapidly thrust her rapier at him with incredible speed, jabbing his body all over. The feeble old man couldn’t keep up with her swift movements at all and was forcefully thrown back from the volley of blows. He crashed into his desk, sending papers and various other items flying in all directions.
In a last desperate attempt, Headmaster Quinn quickly aimed his staff at the group and fired one more wave of light. Carmen dashed in front of them, allowing her field to deflect his attempt yet again.
‘Could she always fight this well? She didn’t do anything like this against Bridgette at the midterm.’
Cassidy was in awe at Carmen’s impressive combat display and wondered if she had been holding back this entire time.
When the Headmaster attempted to stand up, Cassidy joined the fight and conjured up water in the shape of a fist. The water clenched tightly as it barreled towards him, punching the Headmaster directly in the chest. He tried to fight back, but after a few more minutes of action, Headmaster Quinn was soundly beaten.
As he sat there, leaned against the wall with blood trickling from his mouth, Carmen stood over him and glared with her vivid red eyes.
“It’s over… Just give up already.” She said with a cold cadence.
“Pfft.. Give up? Such a funny child you are.” He cheekily said, slightly coughing from pain.
Suddenly, he aimed his hand towards his staff, causing it to shine incredibly bright. The whole room was illuminated in a pure white, blinding everyone inside. Carmen closed her eyes as she backed away, trying her best to shield her face.
When her vision was restored, Carmen saw the Headmaster holding the bottle of pills up to his mouth. He consumed the entire bottle, roughly fifteen pills, before tossing the it to the ground. Once the Headmaster finished swallowing, he exploded with incredible power. His body began convulsing and growing as he screamed out with a guttural tone.
Headmaster Quinn’s eyes turned solid purple while his body became terrifyingly more muscular and built. The quick growth of his body made his satin robes fray and rip in all directions. The once short and lanky old man they knew had now become an incredibly tall and shredded individual.
He reared his fist back and conjured together an immense amount of Core Energy before punching Carmen with a visceral blow. She planted her foot and prepared to block it with her gravity field, but to her surprise, the field didn’t deflect it. The Headmaster’s fist collided with her shoulder and blasted her backwards into Cassidy. The two crashed into the ground, breaking up the marble tile as they slid across the room.
‘He can bypass my gravity now!? This isn’t good.’
Carmen grimaced from the pain as she slowly got to her feet, gripping her shoulder tightly. Rivell rushed over and summoned his Manifest, quickly forcing his Core Energy into it. Green petals danced in the air before landing on Carmen and Cassidy’s bodies, healing them up in record time.
“Are you guys alright?” Rivell asked as the petals faded away, revealing their fully refreshed bodies.
“Yeah, thanks for the heal.” Cassidy replied with a smile.
“We need to be careful, guys. He’s gotta be Upper Sapphire Class now, at least.”
Carmen glared at the Headmaster while she exerted her Core Energy. Once her power reached its peak threshold, she suddenly applied a massive amount of gravity upon Headmaster Quinn. The heavy burst of weight dropped him down to his knees, prompting Cassidy to make her move.
She quickly aimed her palm forward while charging her Core Energy. Cassidy’s Manifest suddenly became enveloped by a mass of water that took the shape of a giant water snake. The snake roared and continued to grow as it ripped through the air, racing towards The Headmaster’s position. It violently crashed into him while sending bursts of water in all directions.
However, despite the seemingly devastating blow, Cassidy noticed that Headmaster Quinn was holding its mouth open as he kept it away. With a simple squeeze of his fingers, the entire snake exploded into a rainy mess. He then exerted his power outward, giving himself the strength to fight back against the immense amount of gravitational force pressing down on him.
When he got to his feet, he smiled deviously at them before letting out a light cackle. Cassidy and Carmen fired back with annoyed glares of their own as they tried to figure out their next move.
"What do we do now?" Rivell asked with a fearful expression, his voice shaking as much as his knees.
"I'm not sure. It feels like he's getting stronger the longer we fight. His Core Energy output is insane right now." Cassidy replied, sensing the rapid shift in Headmaster Quinn's power.
"He's only been fighting us in melee range, so let's keep our distance for now and try to whittle him down. Plus, he can't maintain that form forever since the pills have a time limit. He'll be back to normal sooner or later." Carmen added with a confident pump of her fist.
"But how long will that take? He's already shrugged off my Manifest's strongest attack. I don't think waiting this out is the play."
"Well, do you have any better ide-"
Before Carmen could finish her reply, Headmaster Quinn had dashed towards their location with impossible quickness. He raised his hand and slapped at the group, sending out a massive wave of light that forced everyone into the wall. The collision crushed the surface and shook the room violently, sending marble and concrete fragments in all directions.
When the dust settled, Carmen and Cassidy looked up to see Rivell standing in front of them with his Manifest in hand. The green and red book glowed brightly as it fortified a green shield around them. Rivell looked over his shoulder and gave them a determined nod, assuring them that he would have their back should things continue to go south. Carmen and Cassidy responded with confident smiles, now feeling eager to see this fight through to the end.