Aida woke up groggy the next morning. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what had happened with Caleb the evening before - more specifically, how it felt to be wrapped in muscular arms, and how rounded Caleb’s chest was. Even when Sue dropped by with Aida’s wand, she hadn’t been able to focus on discerning any developments with Sue’s romance plotline with Levi. Sue was still her usual chirpy self, and had brought Aida a whole list of last-minute tips (which she had been completely unable to absorb) for how to handle her match with Levan Bota the next day. She wondered if Sue’s tips would have made more sense coming from Ezra.
Dragging herself into her athletic uniform - the instructors had admonished them to wear their tracksuits for the remainder of the week - Aida trudged out of her room, met immediately by a bright-eyed Sue. Getting dragged along as an unwilling hostage of Sue’s chatter, Aida didn’t realize anything was amiss until Sue shook her arm excitedly. “Aida, they gave you your point!”
“Huh?”
Sure enough, they were standing at the cafeteria’s notice board. In thick red ink, the number 1 was printed next to Aida’s name in the Water column. Dev’s name had a 2 next to it.
“You did great, Aida!” Lily Moon, the small green-eyed girl who had given Aida news of her opponent yesterday - it felt like it was so much longer than that - exulted. “One point against Dev - that’s a huge improvement!”
“Yeah, I guess I should just keep it up,” Aida said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Surely her future opponents would be aware of what she did, and be on guard against her.
“That’s the spirit!” Pulling out a bouquet of colorful chrysanthemums, Lily handed the arrangement to Aida with a flourish. “This is for you. I grew them yesterday afternoon while training my mana.”
“Oh, thank you,” Aida said, surprised. She looked over the colorful arrangement. Lily didn’t seem to have any particular imagery in mind, as her bouquet spanned all the colors of flowers Aida had ever seen.
“Chrysanthemums are supposed to symbolize hope and rebirth,” Lily explained. “They also normally bloom later than most other flowers, which I thought also represented your performance yesterday…no offense.”
“None taken,” Aida said, a genuine smile spreading across her face. “That’s very thoughtful of you. Thank you so much.”
Giving Aida a smile and a shoulder pat, Lily skipped towards the ordering counter, hopping onto the shoulders of a tall brunette with a pixie cut.
“Lily’s sweet,” Sue said fondly. “She gifts me some tinctures and fragrances she makes sometimes to help me sleep.”
Carrying her fresh blooms with her, Aida felt like her feet were lighter as they collected their breakfast trays.
“We’re starting with the Earth matches today,” Levi informed them, dropping into the booth seat next to Sue. Aida eyed them beadily. Sue gave no indication that anything had occurred between them. “That means you’re fighting last, Sue.”
Sue sighed. “I’m going to fall asleep before then.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you awake,” Levi teased.
Aida coughed into her soup. “Gross.”
“Are you okay?” Sue asked, concerned.
Waving Sue off, Aida mimed a sipping motion with her hand as she slid out of the booth, heading to the water pitchers at the counter. As she poured herself a cup, she felt a malevolent aura trickle over her back. Releasing a sigh, she set the glass pitcher down and reached for her wand.
Sure enough, Pritchard was glowering at her a short distance away, looking remarkably short in his tracksuit. Aida leaned back against the counter, raising her eyebrow at him as she sipped slowly from her cup. Ezra’s words floated through her mind. If he tried anything, at least she had water nearby.
Behind Pritchard, Dev glanced over, seeing the trouble about to commence. With a long-suffering expression, he rose from his chair, shoulder-checking Pritchard as he headed towards Aida.
“Congratulations on your one point.”
“Thanks,” Aida said, keeping her eyes on Pritchard, who was flustered and seemed uncertain what to do. Shon Yanomo, one of the quieter ones of Pritchard’s group, had left his seat and was now pulling at his arm, trying to urge him away. Myk Chy, Pritchard’s primary yes-man, crossed his arms and scowled at Aida from his seat.
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“Sorry about that guy,” Dev said, his voice lowering. “We keep telling him to let it go, but he refuses.”
Aida blinked up at him, surprised by his candor. She relented. “Well, as long as I’m not the only one who thinks he’s being absurd.”
Dev gave her a half smile. “Hey, you better get at least one point on all of your other matches, okay? I’m never gonna hear the end of it if it gets out to my family that I was the only one you managed to score on.”
Aida bit her lip to keep from smiling. “I don’t know, that’s a lot to ask. Miracles don’t happen often, you know.”
Shaking his head, Dev returned to his table, casually catching Pritchard around the shoulders as he passed and bringing him along.
Refilling her water cup, Aida caught sight of Caleb watching her with his food tray in his hands. He seemed to have been watching her exchange with Dev, although he was standing too far away to hear anything. When he met her eyes, he flushed.
Hesitating, Aida swallowed the gulp of water she had been swirling around her mouth before she headed towards him. “Hey Caleb,” she said cheerily. “Do you want to sit with me and Sue?”
He blushed harder. “I…sure.”
The silent walk to the table was painful. “We’re still on for training this afternoon, right?”
“Yes, if you’d like.”
“I would,” Aida said firmly. “I was thinking it might be good to work on the mana ‘penetration’ you were talking about yesterday, in addition to working on the physical workout.”
“Mana penetration?” Levi interrupted. He greeted Caleb with a fistbump. “What’s this about mana penetration?”
“Nothing really,” Caleb said before Aida could elaborate. “Aida just thought it would be a good idea to review her defenses against someone piercing her mana, since she did it yesterday to Dev. And I think it’s a really good idea,” he added forcefully.
Levi’s eyes lingered shrewdly on Caleb, before he turned to Aida. “It’s definitely good to learn from different people, but if you want to practice your mana resistance, might I suggest learning from someone who isn’t a mana genius?”
“I’m not a genius,” Caleb protested, before immediately adding, “Levi’s right though, he’s a great guy to learn resistance from.”
Aida looked at Levi expectantly, waiting for him to elaborate. Sue interjected. “Yeah, Levi’s figured it out! Professor Bruce built on Levi’s explanations to help us tailor our own defenses.”
“He did not, I was just dumbing down what he said,” Levi said modestly.
“Doesn’t that mean Levi’s the actual mana genius?” Aida pointed out.
Levi raised his hands in a casual shrug, a smug look crossing his face as Aida made his point for him. Sue and Caleb groaned, chastising her for stroking his ego. Aida stifled a giggle. She hadn’t had a casual conversation among friends like this for almost a decade. She forgot how much fun it was to just talk, with no fear of judgment.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Caleb was matched against Pritchard this round, which Aida watched with interest. Caleb demonstrated superior body control, which Aida knew he had based on yesterday’s short training session. However, seeing him utilize his explanations in action was far more educational.
Pritchard’s plan was to ensnare Caleb in various potholes, which Aida had to admit would probably have worked on her. He had enough mana and control to cause the combat ring to ripple like the ocean, attempting to predict where Caleb would land next. Unfortunately for Pritchard, Caleb’s mana control was exceptional as well: he was able to override Pritchard’s Quakes, solidifying the ground underneath his feet at precisely where he stepped, barreling towards Pritchard, who was finally forced to move.
Pritchard was unexpectedly agile, ducking below Caleb’s arms. Unfortunately, he was only able to keep up the dodges for a few seconds, as Caleb fed his body with more mana to catch up to him. In a last-ditch effort to avoid Caleb’s long reach, Pritchard blew all the sand around him in a ten-foot radius at Caleb, carving out a crater in the ground in an attempt to obscure his vision. However, Caleb sliced through the sandstorm, catching Pritchard under the arms as he caught him in a rib-crushing tackle, disappearing into the dust. Everyone in the stands winced, and Professor Gemma, who was the referee for today’s matches, zoomed over, cocking her head towards the cloud as if she was listening for something.
The dust cloud immediately collapsed back into the hole in the ground. Caleb was kneeling, patting the ground carefully. He finally stood up, stepping back to reveal Pritchard’s head poking out of the ground, screaming incoherently.
Aida laughed as everyone in the stands around her cheered. Pritchard’s ire was clearly obvious on his dirt-streaked face, making him look like a toddler trapped in a sandbox.
The Metal cohort’s matches followed. Ezra faced off against Abedi Bellow, one of Pritchard’s group members. Abedi was tall, dark, and muscular, with golden curls clipped close to his head. Abedi seemed to spend all of his mana conjuring a massive metal battlehammer from the ground. His muscles flexed with the weight of the hammer, but its bulk didn’t seem to slow him down at all.
Ezra didn’t deign to use metal at all, it seemed; or at least, he didn’t bother conjuring his own weapon. He seemed to focus on redirecting Abedi’s weapon, catching the flat of the hammerhead on his fingertips whenever he couldn’t shove the head off-course. Abedi was clearly frustrated at being unable to break through Ezra’s guard, as he bared his teeth in his strain to push through Ezra’s control. Ezra’s match took much longer than Caleb’s match, as Ezra carefully and stoically wore Abedi’s stamina down. The match finally ended when Abedi’s control slipped, and the hammer quickly melted into gleaming gloves that manacled Abedi’s hands together. Refusing to give up, Abedi swung at Ezra with his much shorter bludgeoner. Ezra merely stepped out of his reach and continued manipulating the metal, spreading it all along Abedi’s body like some perverse armor, until finally Abedi was trapped in a metal cocoon.
“Aida!” Startled, Aida glanced to where her name was being called. The Water cohort was already standing at the gate, waiting for their turn in the combat rings. Lyn and Lara were waving at her urgently, as Healer Luk gestured to come down.
“Good luck, Aida!” Sue called as Aida headed down. Moving as quickly as she could without falling over, Aida couldn’t help but notice that, unlike yesterday, she was really looking forward to this match.