Liv quickly arrived at Murdering's class area, the dueling arena she'd made to rain with blood. There were still some signs of her fights, the sand soaked the color of dried blood. Why hadn't it been removed?

  No one was there. No other students, no instructors, simply nothing. Liv stepped to the center of the arena before waiting for something, anything to happen.

  Then it did. Liv felt a sudden sense of danger, jumping to the side. A knife flew through her previous position, and she turned, seeing nothing. Carefully, Liv listened. If she couldn't see, she should be able to hear, right? Soft footsteps, carefully muffled, sounded to her right. She immediately turned, shooting the widest wind blade she could muster in that direction. A corpse greeted her, appearing after being cut in half. It was a nondescript individual who she had never seen before. Yet, Liv didn't relax her guard. When there was one assassin, there were more.

  She had the wind pick up the body, and carefully walked out of the arena to find a simple man standing at the exit. He nodded at her. "Quick and efficient. I like it. Carrying the corpse out for further investigation instead of looking at it there. I like it. Assuming there were more assassins. I like it. However, there is something I do not like." He cocked his head. "You assumed you would be able to hear all of them."

  A blade instantly appeared at her throat. Liv froze, preparing to Whisper for another wind blade. Then the knife faded away, as if it was never there in the first place. She blinked, confused as the man in front of her nodded before pulling out a gem hidden somewhere she couldn't fathom. A sparkling diamond glistened in the setting sun as he introduced himself, his features changing, sharpening. "I am Diamond, the leader of the Gemstone Council. Master of Illusions and Belief. I taught Onyx, by the way."

  Liv let out a sigh of relief. "Why is no one else in this class?"

  Diamond raised an eyebrow. "I am Master of Illusions. Everyone has a different place to go for this class before we all meet here, at the arena. I test all of them at once, separately."

  Liv nodded, before walking to the center of the arena and waiting once more, though she did allow some of her lightning to flow to her senses, empowering them, ready for anything. Slowly, students trickled in, Diamond waiting at the front. Once a last student entered, he started the lesson. "What is murdering?"

  No one raised their hand, but Diamond continued as if he hadn't heard anything. "Killing. Now, whether you're trying to kill someone or they're trying to kill you, you're fighting for your life, yes? This class is to prepare you against all the things you may find out in the world. This is not a normal fighting class. Do not expect to learn techniques or how to stab better. You will learn to fight illusionists, beastmasters, summoners, and all sorts of esoteric folks out there."

  One student piped up. "Is it true you fought Eternity and won?"

  Diamond started laughing. The kid, slighted opened his mouth again before Diamond raised a hand. "Sorry, sorry." Diamond finally pulled himself out of the state he'd been in, giving the child an answer. "I did fight Eternity, yes. However, I did not win. He beat me soundly without even trying. And the plan of action he'd proposed as a condition of that win went perfectly. I never questioned him again. If anyone kills that old monster, we're done for."

  "What do you mean old? The kid asked. "Isn't he supposed to be like 200 years old? You're like thirty times his age!"

  Diamond froze for a moment before seeming to correct himself. "Yes, he's not old. Sorry, I misspoke."

  Liv narrowed her eyes. The kid accepted it, but she had suspicions, and so did most of the class, it seemed. Someone else, with a slower vibe around them, asked another question.

  "Why is he so strong?"

  Diamond stood up straight. "Emotions, pushing yourself beyond your limits... that's all important. Without that, you won't win the important fights. However. Friends. A reason to do what you're doing. And the willingness to stare into the abyss, even if it stares back. AND THEN JUMP IN!" The students jumped at the sudden change in volume, one raising their hand, but Diamond wasn't done yet. "Refusing to do anything imperfectly. And finally, power of your own. All of these are important. Without any of them, you will fail. And you'll fail badly. Got it?"

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  The class nodded as Liv simply stared. Jumping in to the abyss. She cracked her neck. Liv had an idea, and she felt that Jay had written something new in the book to help her.

  Diamond waved all the other hands away. His features shifted again, his clothes turning into those of a teacher and his face into one with a sharp chin and green eyes. "For today. We have a showcase of a battle between Eternity and a member of the Gemstone Council-not me, not me." His eyes sparkled as he continued. "Eternity's going to have his body limited to mortal levels, and his magic unusable. His opponent will be able to fight at normal strength, and they're on the Council for a reason. Watch carefully." His last sentence came out as he was staring directly at Liv, and she nodded, silently.

  "Alright. Let's start. The sooner we do, the sooner I can leave." Eternity sighed as he appeared, floating right next to Diamond. Liv could suddenly feel waves of power flowing away from him. A ripple ran through the students, many of them fans-though he repeatedly dissuaded them. Diamond nodded and another figure appeared next to him. Someone wearing a blue gem, rich and deep.

  Eternity landed, and Liv could immediately feel all of the power erupting from him disappear. He'd limited himself, somehow. His opponent stepped into the center of the arena, and they were immediately given space. "Don't worry, I have a barrier up!," Diamond shouted, making sure they could all hear it. "Sapphire versus Eternity."

  The battle started off with a few words from Sapphire. "This is the day I'll finally win!," He said, spiritedly. "You're basically a normal person now. There's no way you can win!"

  Eternity just stood there, waiting for him to make a move, which Sapphire eventually did. Liv felt Will expel from him, and a fireball of immense power appeared in the palm of his hand. He flung it at Eternity, who only moved at the last moment, stepping to the side and seeming to brush off the technique. It evaporated, and Eternity began walking forward. Liv's eyes narrowed. He'd hit the fireball in a very specific place, the move used enough to become casual.

  A spear of ice now shot out at an immense speed, but Eternity was already moving before it was fired, stepping to the side as soon as the magic started congealing. He was three-fourths of the way to Sapphire now, and Sapphire pulled out a quarterstaff emblazoned with immensely magical runes.

  Then they collided. Eternity gently guided the first strike a little ways off its intended path, forcing the attacking end to miss him, while the back end of the staff collided with Sapphire's chin. As he groaned in pain, Eternity dodged a kick before it even started, grabbing and pulling the leg. Sapphire, unbalanced, fell to the ground, Eternity standing above him. Diamond broke the spell cast over the audience. "Eternity wins!"

  Liv frowned. He was reacting to the moves before they even happened. That meant he was either cheating, or was reading body language. She thought for a moment. Or he could simply be making educated guesses and dodging the moves he expected.

  That was the theory she supported the most. Next. Breaking the magic. He'd struck a very specific area. Liv stepped forward to the fallen Sapphire, still lying there. Eternity had already disappeared. "Excuse me, Sapphire?"

  "Yes?," Sapphire asked from on the ground.

  "Can you make another fireball?"

  A stream of Will flowed out of Sapphire, forming into a ball before lighting on fire. She heard a sigh from below. Sapphire does not like losing.

  Liv examined the ball of flame, looking all over with her magical senses. It took multiple minutes, but she found it. The magic had a weakness. Multiple, actually. All over the ball of fire were weak points. If one collapsed, the entire fireball would along with it. Quietly marvelling at how Eternity could accomplish this so quickly while at the same level as someone without magic, Liv poked the fireball at one of the weak points. "No! Wait! You'll injure-" Sapphire cut off as his fireball disappeared, evaporating just as it had when Eternity had brushed it off.

  Liv nodded at her discovery before leaving. Diamond hadn't dismissed the class, but they'd left on their own, too excited to stay. Diamond had summarily told the rest of the class to leave, for he couldn't teach without half his students, and everyone left, with Liv staying behind the examine the fireball. She rocked back on her feet before turning around.

  Diamond's face was right in front of her and she let out a quick scream before muffling it. "So, you've found out Eternity's tricks."

  She nodded. "I have a message from him to you," Diamond continued. "If the abyss stares back, sit down and have a nice cup of tea with it."

  Liv slowly nodded once more. "Goodbye," she said, before running back off to her dorm.

  It was time to unleash some of her stupidity.