“Begin.”

As soon as the word was spoken, Clo leapt forward. He was maybe twenty paces from any of them, and they stood in a poorly made formation. The archer was too far away to get help from the others, and the other two were too close together. It was clearly a formation designed to protect and utilize Sean. He knew how to exploit something like that. Clo’s shoes kicked off the ground as his sword formed in his right hand. He was familiar with the process now and easily gripped the sword. He didn’t bother to move it in front of him. it couldn’t block anything but his vision, and he needed to watch them.

Sean moved an instant later than him. The man squared his stance and raised his left hand. Flames slowly rolled across his body. They started from around his heart and spread up to hand where they coalesced into a ball of flame. It wasn’t particularly large as he held it, but it would expand rapidly once thrown. Clo had read up on Sean’s information the day after he nearly killed the guy’s brother. This probably wasn’t much of an advantage since Sean had likely done the same. Clo kept him in the corner of his vision as he circled around on the left.

The man behind and to the right of Sean wouldn’t be able to do much with a great sword. The weapon was so big that it was impractical and assumed that the man had a strength-related gift. He needed to get close and eliminate the archer first. He had seen enough battles to know that the most dangerous and vulnerable person in a battle was the archer. In his mind, Sean was basically a catapult. Slow to start up but had the ability to hit hard. The man with the sword was a knight, and the final man was an archer. An archer who could easily get a lucky shot in.

Clo ran at the archer. He jumped between his left and right foot, making sure to transfer his weight as he did so. He had run a lot of simulations since getting access to his training room. One of the things he had practiced most was closing the gap against a wide variety of enemies. Transferring his weight from foot to foot made his run seem awkward like he was drunk or something. His body swayed with each step, but it was effective.

The man wasn’t slow and raised his bow with an arrow already in place. His arms swung side to side as he tried to line up a shot. If the man aimed lower, he would get a better shot, but archers liked headshots. Even the simulations had done the same. The man stopped hesitating and released. The arrow cut through the air, and it faintly glowed. Without knowing what the gift was, Clo decided to jump to the right. He shifted his weight and leapt at Sean. Sean and the archer were over a dozen feet apart, but Clo had moved to avoid the arrow rather than close the distance. He knew it worked as the arrow whistled behind him.

Bang!

The sound shook the air and sounded disturbingly like a gunshot. It erupted from somewhere to his back, but he didn’t pay attention to it. Clo ran at Sean and watched as the guy threw his half-formed fireball. Clo felt the heat immediately as the ball left Sean’s fingertips. It expanded rapidly filling the space between them. The air smoldered between them. Clo grimaced as it felt like he had just opened a hot oven. He had a plan though and activated his other gift. With his free hand, he reached into an invisible space in front of him and pulled everything out of it.

Clo couldn’t afford a whole lot, and the school’s point system didn’t really start until the first exam. As such, he couldn’t find a whole lot to put in his vault. Instead, he filled it with something he had grown familiar with over the past few days.

Sand poured out of his vault, spilling into the world from nowhere. His vault had a limit to what it could carry, but it could hold a lot of sand. At least, he considered five kilograms of sand to be a lot. The sand chased after his hand and intercepted the fireball. It fell from the sky in a very loose pile. Perfect for being scattered by something. The heat melted the outermost sand, but it worked to disrupt the fire.

Boom!

When the explosion came, shards of superheated sand billowed out like a fog cloud. Clo was the only one fully aware of what would happen and had shut his eyes and mouth. He danced on his feet, shifting his weight again and changing direction. He tried to turn his head away completely but was a fraction too slow. Hot sand crashed into the side of his head, and he grit his teeth as pain erupted. It spread across his entire right side as the molten sand clung to his vulnerable skin. He managed to keep his mouth shut. Yelling, even screaming in pain would lead to a mouthful of burning hot sand.

“Aaargh!”

Sean screamed behind him as hot sand probably entered his eyes and now mouth. Clo opened and shut one eye rapidly, to check what happened with the other man. The man with the great sword had been charging in and ran headfirst into a cloud of smoldering sand, his mouth had been open. Some people in the crowd even backed away from the cloud. Clo moved within throwing his sword in the rough direction of the archer. He moved right behind the sword, listening carefully for a reaction. There was a lot of noise in the room as the audience reacted to the hot sand. He pushed those sounds away and heard the archer block his sword. Another thing he had learned was that his sword was loud when it broke.

The sound of shattering glass was distinct from all the other noise, and he lifted one arm. His eyes snapped open as a new sword formed in his hand. He brought it down and saw the archer attempt to raise his bow in defense. The man was too slow, having just used his bow to deflect the thrown sword. Clo ignored the stinging burns coming from his arms and face, as he smiled viciously and brought down the blade. The air sang with his swing.

The man had tried to protect his head, but Clo aimed for a more angled blow. He sheered through the man’s shoulder separating his left arm and a chunk of his side from the rest of his body. The blade cut through flesh and bone so easily that he barely even slowed as he swung around. Blood trailed his blade and left a wide semicircular stain on the ground around him. His back leg swung around with the motion, and he kicked the archer in the side of his head.

One down, he ran at the other two. They were close together and reeling from the hot sand. The great-sword wielder was choking, his hands were clutched around his neck. He was actually clawing at it his own throat in desperation. Clo had gotten lucky.

The only one left was Sean. Sean forced his eyes open but they were unfocused and dull. They leaked blood and tears. Despite all that he tried to fight, and fire spread from his chest and coated his entire body. Sean roared like a desperate and dying animal. He charged forward in a suicidal dash. It was a pathetic run as he wobbled on unsteady legs. Even still, Clo had no intention to take part in that clash and threw his sword again. The half-blind Sean barely reacted as the blade plunged into the man’s gut. It took a second, but he staggered back as the flames winked out. Heat still radiated off of Sean, but it didn’t slow Clo’s next attack. Although the heat agitated the many burns on Clo’s body, he closed the distance and grabbed his sword. His fingers wrapped around the hilt as Sean’s eyes widened in fear. Clo stared into those for a single breath.

“The fight”

The referee was announcing the end of the fight, but Clo moved faster. He ignored the referee and pulled his blade sideways cleaving through the man’s stomach. Clo didn’t smile or take perverse pleasure in the motion, but he wanted to kill Sean. A dozen faces overlapped with Sean’s at that moment. He wouldn’t leave any loose ends this time.

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“Stop!”

Clo felt something wrap around him and tug him away from Sean before he could follow up with another strike. The healer moved, quick as lightning, to catch Sean. His body never touched the ground as the healer easily held up the boy. Clo’s eyes darted to the other fighters.

The archer had been healed. Clo stared at him and saw the man flinch and look away. Good, that meant that he would probably be too afraid to try anything again. The great-sword wielder was still coughing, and a pile of bloody vomit lay on the ground just in front of him. The healer hadn’t gotten to him yet. Clo looked finally at Sean, who remained unconscious even after the healing. Clo didn’t move. He waited for the referee to actually announce the end of the fight.

“End the fight.”

Clo spoke directly to the healer. She was stronger than him, he understood that but didn’t care. it was clear that she cared for Sean in some way, but this was not the kind of situation for bias. Too many people were watching and recording, and the healer knew it too. She gently let Sean lie on the ground before standing up straight. Blood covered her robes now, and she didn’t smile in the slightest. She glared at Clo but forced out the words he already expected.

“The winner is Clo Vilnius.”

That was all she said, and Clo nodded once. He learned something important from this fight. Even if every person here had trained in combat, most of them lacked any real experience. They didn’t understand how to organize or control a battlefield. More than that, they just didn’t know how to fight. None of them even considered rushing him and had chosen poor defensive formations to protect Sean. Clo looked at the rest of the students and searched for the faces that understood. Sarah, Arthur, and surprisingly Cain seemed to get it. His eyes lingered on Cain.

____________________________________________________________________________

Abigail P.O.V

The referee shouted as Clo moved his blade through Sean. It passed through his body like a hot knife through butter. Sean staggered for a step and then started to fall forward. The referee caught him, and the woman was no longer the emotionless robot of earlier. The woman glared at Clo, and he, wisely, stepped away slowly. Abigail thought that would be the end of it, but then he demanded that the referee properly end the fight. It was such a ridiculous thing to say, yet Clo looked so confident. The healer obliged, and only after that did Clo move.

Abigail knew that she should’ve left as soon as the fight started, but she had remained and watched the whole scene unfold with a morbid fascination. Everything had happened so quickly. The entire fight had lasted less than a minute. She stared at the whole scene like a deer in headlights. One of the boys clutched a recently reattached arm. His bow had long since been abandoned. His clothes had been drenched in blood. The other boy was still doubled over coughing, though he was mostly fine outside of that. She had nearly sucked in a breath of sand herself when she saw it happen to him. The hot sand had covered a lot of the room, and only Sarah’s quick reactions had managed to pull her out of the way. His injury would take the longest to heal since they would need to remove the hot sand from his throat and lungs.

Several students beyond those in the fight were coughing or rubbing at their arms and face. Cain had healed many people of their burns, but many people were still wincing. It looked like it hurt for them, yet Clo who had been closest to the sand was stone-faced. Abigail watched him carefully. Her heart was beating in her ears.

Clo’s face was disturbingly calm, but everyone had seen his wicked smiles in the fight. She couldn’t help but remember the Cheshire cat from that one movie. He had smiled despite the burns covering his face and neck. Even now the skin on his face was red and bleeding in some places. Somehow, he stood there as if he was completely fine. Abigail watched as Clo’s head spun around the room. It stopped at her table, but not on her. His gaze was unchanged from earlier. The smile of satisfaction he had worn a moment ago was gone.

Clo walked over to them as casually as possible. Part of his face was burned, and his hair was singed and messy. However, his expression was unchanged. He had fought and nearly killed three people. If not for the referee, they would certainly be dead. Just what kind of trial made someone who could do that?

The three defeated people left. The one with the great sword had been carried out by the other two. He would need more healing. The healer had left with them, without even bothering to check on Clo. That certainly wasn’t fair. Then she remembered the fight and shook her head. Clo deserved the treatment he received.

Clo approached the table. A part of Abigail told her to bring up the argument from before. A much stronger and saner part told her that was a terrible idea. For once, she decided to listen to the part of her that had some sense. She couldn’t help but gulp loudly as returned to his former spot at the table. Her grip on Sarah’s arm tensed and she braced for a fight. It never came.

“Well, I tried, and can you heal me, Cain?”

The first part of his statement was directed at Sabrina, and it took Abigail a second to even remember what he was talking about. Once she did, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. That level of cruelty couldn’t have been because of a single comment. Nobody at the table moved for a disturbingly long moment. Cain somehow managed to respond, and even more amazingly, he barely seemed bothered by the situation at all.

“Right, I can manage burns but can’t do anything for sand.”

Cain’s response gave made her arms tingle. How was he so casual? Even if he was casual about a lot, this was not normal. Clo waved away Cain’s response.

“I knew how to avoid the sand, its just burns.”

Cain didn’t respond, but he reached out and took Clo’s offered hand. Abigail watched the scene, a small bit of her fear and tension was replaced by interest. She hadn’t seen Cain heal yet. The healers at her house all had really advanced gifts, so she was interested in the process for lower-tier ones. There was no dramatic flash of light or dazzling magic. It was a slow meticulous process as the skin on Clo’s arms slowly healed. The reddened flesh returned to normal, and dead skin flaked off with some sand. Hit worked from his arms and spread to the rest of his body. It wasn’t the fast process she was accustomed to. She had several healing items in her bag that were better than this. Ok, it looks like she couldn’t rely on healing in a fight. Making a mental note of that, she examined Clo’s face as the healing finished. He grimaced a little and rubbed at his hair. It didn’t heal like the rest of him.

“Thanks. It worked too; my intuition went up.”

Clo’s smile this time wasn’t the crazed one from earlier. It felt fake now, but it worked on some people. Maya for one took it as her cue to explode.

“That was insane! The healing was cool too Cain, but how is everyone not freaking out. Clo just beat three people in like a minute.”

Maya’s earlier shyness must have vanished, as she shouted the words at a near squeal. Her words broke the silence in the room, and a commotion sprung up from nowhere. Most of the voices weren’t afraid or horrified. Too many people accepted the duel as it was and didn’t see it. It was so much violence! She tried to fight through the disgust, but it was the smell she couldn’t ignore. Even after everything was healed and cleaned the smell of burnt skin and hair filled the space.

“Sarah, I need to go. Like go, go.”

She whispered the words into the back of Sarah’s head. Well, it was more like the base of her neck with how tall she was. Sarah nodded.

“It’s been enjoyable, but we need to leave. We will see you all later, have a nice night.”

Sarah spoke with a little too much formality and interrupted Maya as she talked about the fight. The girl was singing Clo’s praises and admonishing the three boys. They had insulted her, but still, it was too much. That was what bothered her the most. Clo was too extreme about things, and he somehow pulled people along. It felt like everyone had lost their sense of normal, and she felt different, excluded somehow.

“Oh, I’ll see you around. Here’s my number. Actually, I’ll just give it to everyone!”

Maya replied quickly and excitedly sent them all an email that detailed her contact information. She said it like it was an afterthought, but the email seemed like it was drafted earlier. Abigail couldn’t help but notice that Clo was the first name of the recipient. She didn’t stick around after that, leaving in a rush. Only Sarah had prevented her from actually running out of the room.

The rest of the night went by much more quickly, even though she didn’t get a wink of sleep. It was only much later in the night that she realized what Maya had done. That was by far, one of the smoothest ways to exchange numbers that Abigail had ever seen. The rest of her night was spent trying to figure out how Maya could do that after her blubbering earlier.