I step into the arena with Rosa already waiting. Her long bleached hair rests on her shoulder as she continues to stare at me with a fierce determination. At least she's taking me seriously. The arena's spectator seats are all empty with the exception of an audience of professors watching from their perch. Ruikan is there as well but he seems to have a more passive role in this, sitting down as another professor stands up.
"Welcome, Mr Dravus. I am Professor Rook. You are here for your Physical Re-Trial, correct?"
I nod.
"Good. Your opponent here is Rosa Junil. We have decided that she would be an appropriate challenge to give you in order to ascertain whether or not you are suitable for education here in Like Academy. Please do understand that this is only because your progress in this school is not suitable. We are afraid you would end up being left behind."
Afraid? They only saw the progress of a single week. I could've...no...I was not good enough. All the other students here...they are so much better than me. But...I'm not here to prove that I won't be left behind. I'm here to prove that I can be better. That I am better than whatever the Raekol think of me. I doubt I'll be able to win. But I have to try.
" Alright, Mr Dravus if you are ready, let's begin."
I let the smoke seep out of my arms before Rosa channels her frost into her hands. I mutter 'fortify' to-
"Begin!"
A sharp spike of ice is instantly formed in Rosa's hands as she flicks her wrist and launches it, straight for my right shoulder. I dodge- more like fall, to the left as the spike tears through my uniform and slices a thin line of red into my arm. She's moving too fast. I can't-
I hear another spike speeding to me but I'm too late. A sickening feeling of tearing flash and squirting blood washes over me as the spike goes straight below my ankle. It embeds itself inside, crippling me but not permanently. The spike absorbs the heat from my leg, adding an unbearable burning sensation into the already massive wound. Rosa is...Rosa is too much for me to handle. I could barely react at the start of this battle and it already seems like it's decided. I try to stand up only to lean against the wall for support. My shoes get soaked in red as blood continues to seep out of my wound. I look at Rosa for another blow. The final blow. And yet, she hasn't done it. She continues to stand there and stare at me, stiff and unmoving. She's...
I guess I should have expected the fight to go this way. The searing pain in my foot is only amplified by the warm blood pouring out of the gaping wound in my ankle. I look up at the watchful eyes of the professors and see no worry, no remorse and no sympathy. Leyna's plan was as good as any. Being trapped in a cramped arena with someone who can control the entire field within seconds didn't leave much room for strategy. I tried to go for a quick barrage of hits to incapacitate her. Clearly, it didn't work. I was too slow, Rosa too fast. She now stands tall in the centre of the arena, calm and collected as I limp along the wall, trailing my blood on the ground.
"Do you surrender?" Rook asks.
"Absolutely not."
She sends another barrage of ice spikes directly towards me and I mutter "encase" to the smoke around my arms and legs, letting the spikes embed themselves in my magic. At least they're only pricking my limbs instead of amputating them. I continue to make my rounds around the arena, blocking spikes and bleeding out. Rosa basically forcing me to surrender is very... typical of the Raekol. What would be a more embarrassing defeat? What would be proof that you're too much of a coward to be in this school? That you go out fighting? Or that you surrendered after being cornered into a wall? I look up and see Professors yawning and sighing as they waste their time looking at a broken boy grasp at whatever hope he has left.
One of them stands up and leaves, already guessing the outcome, I assume. Ruikan watches closely and as I make my third round around the arena, he raises an eyebrow. Curious, Ruikan? Another one of the twits stand up, but this time, he takes a step forward and opens his mouth.
"Mr Dravus, you are a literal bloody mess. Would you just quickly surrender to save yourself anymore unneeded suffering?"
"Don't worry, I'm almost done," I reply.
An ice spike grazes my cheek, another warning shot fired by Rosa. "We simply do not think you are 'able' enough to stay in Liken Academy," Rook says with a sigh. "We are simply trying to prevent you from making a mistake. Please understand that we are keeping your best interests in mind. " This is irritating. I don't know exactly how much time I have before either Rosa or this professor finds out what I'm up to but if they do, I should be ready. I really hope I'm ready. Rosa creases her eyebrows as a tiny disturbance becomes slightly more noticeable to her. A cloud of trickery and deception. Rook notices it as well. A bit too late for that.
" Mr Dravus, stop fighting! You are not fit for this school! Please don't be so stubborn." That happens to be the one thing about myself that I can guarantee. Rosa wastes no time, sending another barrage of ice, this time, directly at my legs and arms but it is too late. One utterance of the phrase, "Smokescreen" and the whole arena is under my control. The thin layer of black smoke I've been trailing around the arena must have looked like a shutdown response to the professors. Like how my magic must be leaking out like the blood from my ankle did. A dying animal on its last legs. I have to admit however, I definitely look the part.
Rosa can only watch as the smoke spreads and completely encompasses the arena itself. She blindly fires ice spikes at where my body used to be, lay flat on the ground, unbeknownst to her. The first part of the plan worked. The entire area is acting as a container, keeping my smokescreen dense and overwhelming. However, we did not factor in my ankle having an ice spike sticking out of it. Pulling it out would mean losing my foot completely. At the very least, the unyielding cold of Rosa's power has kept it somewhat numb, leaving some of my sanity behind to go through with the plan.
Rosa darts her head from left to right before suddenly slamming both her hands to the ground, sending a shockwave of frost. But I hear it, a whisper from her mouth. A small, tiny whisper that I couldn't have noticed but it's all I need. I mutter fortify which protects me from the shockwave but she pinpoints my location as her shockwave temporarily displaced my smoke. Because of course I just had to be born with a gas-based power. She launches an ice spike directly at me but I block it with my arm. I scream from the excruciating pain of having ice spike embed itself into my arm. But this one is...shallow.
I pull the spike out of my arm and armour before throwing it at Rosa. As expected she just swats it away like it was nothing but it gave me time. I encase my ankle wound in a black casing, giving me just one more step. I stand up and try to ignore the feeling of my flesh tearing apart, little by little. I lunge at Rosa, tackling her down and pinning her to the ground. She brings her elbow down hard on my back, again and again as she tries to throw me off but I'm not going to lose this opportunity. I place a hand on her neck and mutter "encase" yet again, restricting the movement of her head as my magic forms an uncomfortable obsidian collar. In the few precious moments that she claws at her collar, I grab her elbows and encase them in a thick black casing. Next, her mouth, her hands, knees and ankles. All completely encased in dark magic. I stand over Rosa, a look of fear in her eyes as she's completely immobile and at my mercy. I could just knock her out. Fortify my fist and punch her face in. I could break a nose, an eye or just cave her skull in. She'll live, but she'll be out of the way. But I'm not like that. I won't be like that.
"Surrender, please. You failed at your assignment but I doubt they would kick you out. "
"That's enough." Mr Rook stands up again and has taken off his mask of empathy. "You are to leave the premises of this school by tomorrow morning, take all your things and-"
"Woah Rook, what do you think you're doing?" Ruikan stands up and pushes Rook back to the perch with a hand on his chest.
"I am not letting him stay in this academy when he is clearly nowhere near the level that any of the other students are at. I'm calling an executive decision to kick him out!"
"Hey, I thought we agreed that the reason he got into 1-A in the first place was not because of his ability but more for the fact that he got this far in the first place."
"That was Arduan's decision. You know how unreliable he is."
"Are you questioning the headmaster's decision now, Rook?"
"Ruikan, remember your place in this academy."
"It is very clear Rook, that you do not know my place in this academy." Ruikan's imposing form only seems to grow in this very moment as Rook shrinks back. Considering his relationship to the Prince, who knows exactly how much power he has in this place. The other professors present just sit back and witness the confrontation, apparently wiser than Rook. Ruikan sighs before taking his place at the front of the perch.
"Good job Dravus. You've managed to incapacitate your opponent and outsmart everyone here. An outcome, nobody here was expecting but that's also how you did it in the first place, hm?" I nod in response. No point in trying to be kind at this moment. "Well, I have some respect for you realising that. Let me give it to you straight, Dravus. You are not suitable for this school. We happen to have very high standards for the future of our kingdom and you do not meet them. However, slippery as you are, you've somehow managed to pass the first physical trial and the second wave of trials. No doubt, you've already made your connections, hm?" The other professors crease their eyebrows and tilt their heads but do or say nothing more.
"You will be continuing your lessons, starting the next week. Enjoy your weekend of recovery." Ruikan smiles and struts back, and exits the perch, the other professors, including Rook, following closely behind. I free Rosa from her binds and help her up. She seems to be distraught, probably since the professors didn't seem to care about her wellbeing once she lost. Or maybe it's because she lost in the first place. Either way, I am not the person to ask her. I try to speak or maybe even console her a little bit but as soon as I take a single step forward, the pain in my ankle gets the better of me. I fall to the ground but am suddenly caught by Rosa herself. She doesn't speak yet she looks at me with worry. I must look like a wreck for a Raekol to worry about me. She gently puts one of my arms over her shoulder and starts moving out of the arena. She walks over to the infirmary with me leaning on her for support. No words are exchanged during the whole ordeal but there was a great matter of kindness in her support. I would be shocked right now if I didn't have more urgent matters to take care of. I know that not all Raekol are selfish monsters but...the ones that I do know are. Most of them. Maybe?
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
" Ritz! Wha- you're so hurt!"
Leyna? I lift up my tired...tired head to find that both Leyna and Malik are in the infirmary.
"We figured you might end up here but not...like this" Malik says and he walks towards me. His gaze goes to meet Rosa and while I can't see her face, her once steady hands now tremble. "Thank you for carrying me Rosa but, I'm good from here." Rosa looks down at me and meets my eyes. She does a small nod before lifting me up and putting me on a bed. She lightly touches the icicle in my ankle and it dissolves, the water from the ice going back into her palms. I use whatever strength I have left and mumble "encase", closing the wound temporarily. I glance around for Emi but don't find her before another White Wing comes to my aid.
"So, how did it go?" Leyna asks. Malik is also as fiercely curious as Leyna is, yet I doubt it's for the same reasons. To be honest, I'm elated. I can finally rest a little bit easier knowing that my position in this school is secure. I can't thank the two of them enough. I couldn't have gotten this far without them. I want to try and tell them. But now...now I feel my consciousness slipping. I'll be knocked out by sheer exhaustion in a matter of seconds. So, I open my mouth and say what I never thought I would say.
"I did it."
<...............>
A few weeks have passed since my battle with Rosa and everything now seems so...normal. Classes continued on and started becoming a new routine. My trips to the infirmary lessened when I started pairing up with Leyna for sparring since she's one of the few people that don't want to hurt me. Lunches with Malik and Leyna became a regular thing as well, including the after lesson training sessions. Nothing too...special happened. It just felt like a school...I don't exactly know how to feel about that. I might be a bit disappointed that we weren't doing anything particularly exciting yet I'm relieved that the worse of this school is past me now.
There is still the occasional glare or challenge or 'duel' but with theory lessons picking up and physical lessons being more arduous with each lesson moving forward, people started to care less about me and more about themselves. Overall, however, I would say that I like this new change in my life. It's...better than I thought it would be.
"Ritz? You going out again today?" Leyna asks as she peeks into my dorm room. Well, one of the best things has to be this. After lessons started getting more difficult and the days started feeling longer and longer, I started asking Leyna to join me for more of my night talks. I've always had trouble sleeping in general. Too much to think about. My sister used to be kind enough to talk to me into late nights but even she got tired of it at some point. I knew that I was going to have face this problem here but I never thought of it as too important until it started interfering with school.
Surprisingly, when I started asking Leyna to join me, she agreed to do so. We would spend at least twenty minutes to an hour to just...talk. We would talk about school, about training or even just about how hard our professors were pressing us. Although, she never found anything wrong with it. Some days, I would try to ask her questions about Raekoft's current movements as a government. What are they doing in their fight against Kolden, what they are doing to progress our army or what she thinks of their practices. Every time I ask, however, she always dodges the question or aggressively changes the subject. She's not good at conversing but I would call it endearing. Getting anything particularly important out of her is a lost cause but, I guess that was never the point.
"Yeah. Let's go." I join Leyna as we make our way to the back of the dorms again. We both lean against the wall and sit on the wet grass, staring up into the sky again. As usual, the first few minutes are just a comfortable silence between the two of us. I keep hoping that one of these days, she'll start a conversation on her own but she always kept her words back until someone addresses her directly.
"So, Leyna...why do you keep joining me here?" Leyna looks at me and tilts her head slightly.
"I like the change of scenery. The two of us are always worrying about some, stupid facts about magic we don't need or fighting each other. I need time to relax too." She leans back against the wall and stares into the sky again. "This is pretty relaxing for me." For a second it looked as if she smiled. A smile forms on my face though. That I know. I transfer my gaze back to the sky and-
"Do you see that? That pigeon has some colours on it." Leyna points out the pigeon, carrying purple and red colours...
No...no, no, no...I know those colours. It's a Kolden pigeon.
"It's a carrier pigeon. Ritz look, it has to be a carrier pigeon."
She doesn't know the colours. I don't blame her. That's not a Kolden military pigeon. The purple and red colours...it's a distress pigeon. A refugee distress pigeon. Meant specifically for Kolden allies within Raekoft. Shit.
" Ritz? You see it right?" Leyna is on her knees, pointing up at the pigeon as it continues to circle Halsana.
"Yeah...I see it." And I need to get to it. Leyna might not know it but her father definitely would. If the military found out, that message will be gone.
"Hey, Leyna, you think we can see it up close?" Leyna looks back at me and seems confused. "I mean, you have mind magic, right? Isn't mind magic supposed to be way easier with animals? Can't you just like...bring it here or something?"
"I can try...but I don't think we should mess with a carrier pigeon. It could be for the King or someone else important here." I lean closer to Leyna and wrap an arm around her shoulder. "Ah, don't worry about it! I mean, the colours don't look like any Raekoft colours. We'll just take a look at the pigeon then it can continue on its way."
"I don't know Ritz. It could be dangerous." She pulls my arm off of her with resolve but I can't let this chance slip.
"Come on Leyna, just for a little bit. You trust me, right?"
Leyna juggles the thought in her head. She's so much of an open book that her struggles to decide whether to really trust me or not are on full display. I would find it so heartwarming if I wasn't actually lying to her.
"Okay... You get two minutes with the bird, then we are immediately freeing it. Understood?" I nod my head repeatedly. "Alright, just...give me a minute." Leyna stands up and closes her eyes. She puts her arms out and a light purple tinge of magic starts circling her fingers and palm. The magic feels...gentle and welcoming on the spine. She's clearly not trying to hide it but then again, she has to reach a very far object. The pigeon stops its circling and starts heading towards us. Right before it reaches the both of us, I swipe it out of the sky and pocket the message. Leyna snaps to attention before snatching the bird away from me and covering its eyes with her magically activated hand.
"Ritz! Why did you do that! You scared her!" The flailing pigeon was very quickly calming down in Leyna's hand. Luckily for me, reading the mind of animals is always an unreliable move. The only possible information Leyna could get is the pigeon's destination which, as we both saw, was undecided.
"I'm sorry Leyna. I got a bit excited." A little rub of the back of my neck, keeping my eyes low and remorseful. Soon enough, Leyna settles down, slapping me in the back of the head before sinking back down to the grass with the bird in hand.
"This carrier pigeon's colours are a bit odd...I've never seen them before but they seem like distress colours." Oh no. "You normally wouldn't attach colours to a carrier pigeon anyway unless it's not to a specific person and instead to...well, anyone that would find it." Leyna checks the pigeon's feet and creases her eyebrows. "Was there a message attached to the bird when you snatched it?"
"Hm? That was what I was trying to find out. It came here empty. You think maybe that it wasn't going to a receiver but back to the owner?" Please...please believe me.
"That's possible. Well, two minutes is up, I do not want anything to do with this anymore." Leyna tosses the bird back into the sky except it doesn't start flying. Instead, it returns back to my hand. Leyna raises an eyebrow and turns to me. "Are you sure you didn't...accidentally take a message or anything?" Fuck. "I know I didn't...maybe I'll just give it an empty message then it will fly off." Keep your breathing slow and steady...make eye contact. I'm not lying Leyna, you have to believe me. Leyna closes the gap between the two of us and stares directly into my eyes. They show no fear or anger but the pressure emanating off of her is almost too much to bear. She places a hand on my shoulder before speaking. "Ritz...you're not lying to me, are you?"
Her voice didn't convey the same emotions as her look. Her usual deeper, commanding voice was how she started the sentence but the Leyna I know from these little personal moments started to show in the question. She sounded angry, accusatory and...even a little sad at the end. But...she's not outright accusing me. She doesn't know and that's all that matters. That's...all that matters.
"I'm not lying to you Leyna. I would never." I gently place my own hand on top of hers. She continues to stare at me for a few more seconds before her mean face breaks into a more gentle expression. "Alright. If the bird is not going to leave, giving it a blank message might be a good idea. But you have to realise it. Tonight. You understand?" I nod my head. "Good. Let's go back in before it gets too dark out."
The two of us head back into the dorm, careful to muzzle the bird before it makes any sort of sound. We both retreat into our respective rooms where I now have to get to work and fast. I pop open the message and read the contents inside. The coded message inside was exactly what I expected it to be; a mess of symbols and numbers. I pull out the blood-stained book and quickly skimmed through the notes along the side of the pages. Soon enough, I managed to piece together the message.
In need of food and water.
Off the ridge, by to Point M.
17 people. 4 men. 10 women. 3 children.
Current supplies only last 2 days.
Request for the location of supply cache.
Reply ASAP.
Li
Li? Unfamiliar codename...
I flip through the pages of the book and find no mention of this, 'Li' person. New informant maybe? Exactly how outdated is this book anyway? Considering I got the book 9 years ago, I decided to just trust my gut instinct and believe in the credibility of this message. I skimmed through the book again and found the page for Point M; a secluded ruin in at the far end of the forest between Raekoft and Kolden. It looks like they just left Kolden too if they're that close...
I pull out a pen and paper and start writing my return messages. I have no idea if any of the supply caches are still usable but I have to give it a try. The pigeon was too close to the castle for it to make it to any ally close by anyway. It would've caught and repurposed if I waited any longer. I provide the coordinates of the various supply caches marked out in the book that are closest to Point M and of the next few supply caches they can use. Assuming I have their route correctly guessed. Finally, I sign the message off; a 'Dv' at the bottom of the message. Let's hope they recognise it. It's pretty old. I attach the message to the pigeon's feet and sneak out of my room to the back of the dorms, putting it on the ground and letting it fly off on its own instead of throwing it.
I let a sigh escape my lips. My foot hasn't stopped moving since I've stepped outside and my heart is threatening to thump its way out of my chest. I did not expect to get involved so soon. Writing that message and releasing that bird would mean I'm aiding and abetting Kolden. Kolden, the one kingdom Raekoft is almost fully at war with. I could've just doomed myself and my entire family. Relegated to the same fate as...as...Someone in my position should not have gotten involved. I should not have gotten involved at all. And yet...no. No, I have to do this. I will not forsake seventeen people to death. Especially people from Kolden. Either way, I watch with gritted teeth and jittery fingers as the pigeon continues flying further and further away until it's finally out of sight.
Li...whoever you are, I hope you get my message. I hope you remember the name, Dravus.