(Cole’s point of view)

Carletta was right; I knew she was, but I still didn’t feel right standing behind her. Letting her take hits for me and protecting me from harm seemed like the coward's way. She might be my knight, but that didn’t mean I had to treat her like a human shield.

She had grown by leaps and bounds from how she was when we were kids, but I still saw her as the girl that struggled to keep up.

In our little clique, Carletta was always the weakest. It was to the point that her sister Lenora would intentionally screw up spells so that Carletta didn’t notice the gap between them. I wasn’t sure if Carletta ever picked up on it, but she frequently reminded Mai, Fin and I that we didn’t have to hold ourselves back for her sake.

When it came to magic, Carletta was still only average, but none of us could hold a candle to her skill with a blade. That wasn’t enough to change how I saw her.

In theory being a knight was the perfect role for her, but if it meant putting her on the front line while I hid safely behind her, that would never sit right with me. I wanted to protect her and I thought she’d appreciate my concern; instead, I was only driving a wedge between us.

“Are you seriously going to fight like that?”

“Cocky brat! Better pray you survive.”

“This won’t even last a minute. We might as well call the medical squad now.”

Nearly the entire class had gathered around one of the upperclassman dueling rings. Commander Black stood on a referee’s platform above the ring, with a girl I didn’t recognize.

She was young and far too polished to be a knight. Her visage was pleasing to the eye, although a bit jarring in this setting. With her sweet smile and heavenly aura, she was like an angel watching over what would surely be a brutal battle between two muscle brained idiots.

“You’re new so maybe you don’t know, but Gavin is undefeated. You’re insulting all of us right now, you piece of shit.”

“Gavin’s fighting!” Carletta chirped ecstatically.

“Sounds that way.” I grumbled, disinterested.

“We should go watch the match.” She tried to suppress her excitement, but couldn’t hide the lust in her eyes.

I knew she had a thing for strong men, but I didn’t think Gavin, of all people, would be her type.

Having forgotten her anger and not really giving me a choice, She grabbed me by the wrists and pulled me through the crowd. I wanted to pull away, but when someone in the crowd shouted, “the inept actually thinks he can beat Gavin, he’ll be lucky if he’s alive when this is over.” I became curious.

They can’t be talking about…

When I finally saw the combatants I nearly leapt into the arena to stop my new friend from acting foolish.

Before I got over the metal barricade, the barrier activated, stopping me from interfering, then Commander Black began the countdown that would start the match.

Gavin and Fey each stood on opposite ends of the arena. Gavin, posing for the crowd then raising his arms to tell them to cheer louder. Fey nervously shuffled his feet in the dirt. With an arm tied behind his back, and no weapon, I wasn’t sure what he was thinking. Not only was he inept, but even if he could use magic, Gavin had three years of training and experience on him.

“3… 2… 1…” When Menaius lowered his arm the boom of cannon fire rang through the air.

Within seconds, Gavin had crossed the arena, already his practice sword was descending towards Fey for a decisive blow to the head.

The crowd roared with excitement seeing their senior about to win another match before it even properly began, if it could even be considered a match. I started to turn away, disappointed and unwilling to watch Fey embarrass himself.

Then the mood turned sour. The crowd roared again but this time it was in outrage. I turned back to see that Fey managed to side step the blade. Gavin was clearly not expecting this, but he immediately brought the weapon up in a cross slash that Fey leaned back to avoid.

Gavin gritted his teeth and went for a stab. Fey spun around it. At some point Fey had managed to slip his foot behind Gavin’s lead foot and during his spin he swept Gavin’s foot out from under him. The larger boy barely managed to plant his foot and keep from falling. Then, while he was still off balance, Fey hit him with a spinning jump kick in the back of the head, sending Gavin’s face crashing into the ground.

It seemed like the tables might have turned. Rowdy onlookers became like statues in various stages of awe. Silence enveloped the crowd long enough for Gavin’s pained grunt to echo in my mind.

Gavin took a hard hit, if I didn’t know he was excellent with body reinforcement spells then I might’ve thought the fight was over.

Fey had good instincts. While Gavin laid motionless, Fey retreated. The duel wasn’t over and he knew it. This was a trick, one I’d seen Gavin use before, but as long as Fey stayed away and didn’t get close then it’d be ineffective.

The other students were awed as they tried to make sense of what was happening. Murmured theories spread among the crowd. One that made its way to my ear suggested Gavin was faking or not taking the fight seriously.

I found myself leaning forward over the railing as my anticipation evolved into exhilaration. As Gavin stood up the crowd roared to life with cheers.

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“Kick his ass Gavin!”

“Don’t let him show you up.”

“Come on Gavin, get serious!” They shouted.

Cracking his neck Gavin uttered a spell, but I couldn’t hear the incantation over the noise of the crowd. A moment later Fey was launched into the air when the ground beneath him sprang up.

Gavin leapt up towards Fey with his blade ready to slash the defenseless boy. This would be the end for sure, I knew it, but I wasn’t going to turn away this time. If Fey lost here, he’d lose with pride and bragging rights.

Using that spell was like admitting that he couldn’t beat Fey in combat even with Fey at a severe handicap. Gavin might not have thought about this yet, but I was sure the idea was already spreading among the crowd. Whispering to those near me, I decided to help it along.

Fey twisted in the air and with a well placed kick, knocked the weapon out of Gavin’s hand. Then the two collided and fell back to the ground together. Fey ended up landing between Gavin and his sword, but that made no difference since Gavin could use magic.

“Motte ku sword.” Gavin called, summoning his blade at lightning speed.

By spinning to the left and jumping over it, Fey dodged the blade as it returned to its owner's hand.

Gavin was now visibly frustrated. He tried to maintain his composure as he continued to hack fruitlessly at the magicless Fey, but his vain efforts soon saw him roaring as his strikes grew wider and more clumsy. No matter how Gavin attacked, his blows never landed.

Gavin was starting to lose steam, but Fey was starting to weave counters into his side steps and dodges.

Gavin probably realized that he wouldn’t beat Fey in close combat so he created distance.

Using body enhancing magic, Gavin shuttled around the perimeter of the arena. At random, he sped towards Fey then continued to circle before trying again.

Earlier I might’ve believed the match was over, but now I wasn’t so sure. After each pass, Fey seemed unharmed and Gavin certainly wouldn’t be able to keep this up forever.

I had been wondering how he survived the battle in the cave, when both Byron and Sydney died, but seeing him in action, I was starting to understand how he’d made it this far without magic.

He wasn’t particularly fast or powerful, but he had good intuition, and endurance. Not only that, but had a totally different aura while fighting. He seemed more comfortable dueling than he did in conversation. The longer the fight went the more confident he became and the smoother his moves.

The exact opposite was true for Gavin. Each blow that Fey landed was also a blow to his ego and confidence. Before long, frustration overcame his form and his moves grew increasingly sloppy.

Gavin raced in for another attempt at Fey. He held his sword low, dragging its point along the ground as he went. He raised the blade, but then his speed ran out. As he slowed to a normal pace, Fey seized the opportunity to deliver a series of devastating kicks to Gavin’s abdomen then a right hook, followed by a low kick to sweep him off his feet.

Gavin landed on his back with a thud. Giving no quarter, Fey stomped on his wrist forcing Gavin to release his sword. Then stopped short of placing his other foot on Gavin’s neck when a loud boom signaled the end of the match.

With the match over I noticed the crowd around the arena had over doubled in size. The other duel had attracted attention from other classes, and all of them stood awed. Gavin was well known even in the other classes since he’d mainted an undefeated record for so long. Fey was a new student, but his status as inept made him unique, and that meant people would recognize him.

Not only was the champion, Gavin, beaten by a new student on his first day, but that student couldn’t use magic. When the barrier went down Carletta and I were the only ones cheering. Surprisingly Fey didn’t bother celebrating his victory. Instead he untied his arm and reached down to help Gavin up.

Gavin stared up at his opponent, but rather than take his hand, Gavin grabbed Fey’s forearm. Fey struggled, but couldn’t break Gavin’s grip. Gavin cast the same spell that had launched Fey into the air earlier, only this time a pillar of rock rose up diagonally into Fey’s sternum.

There was a muted thump and crunch as the rock made contact with his chest then Fey’s body went limp.

Gavin stood up victoriously flexing his muscles. He even kicked Fey’s limp body, as if he’d actually accomplished something grand, but no one cheered for him.

An evil, almost demonic aura crept over the crowd, stifling the air and drawing everyone’s attention to the “angel” above the arena. She looked the same, but somehow it felt dangerous to even glance at her. Wrath transformed her glorious visage into the image of a demon.

“There! I landed a blow.” Gavin called, as he spun to face the girl. “Now you… have… to…” his speech slowed to a halt as the enraged goddess jumped down from her perch to approach him. “What are you doing?” He whimpered as he scrambled backwards, tripping over Fey in the process.

“I have to train you. Is that what you were going to say?” She asked in a most calm, saintly voice, but her words felt charged with malice.

“D… d… don’t hurt me.” Gavin stammered as he continued to slither backward.

The girl smiled and picked up Gavin’s practice sword then tossed it to him. “You earned it, so I’ll give your first lesson. You didn’t seem to notice that you’d been defeated, so let me show you what it feels like in a way you’ll never forget.” Her wicked smile sent chills down my spine. I had no idea who she was, but already, I knew I’d been wrong about her not being a fighter.

I watched, speechless and terrified; as she repeatedly beat Gavin to the cusp of death then forced the standby med team to heal him so she could start again. Even commander Black only stood by and watched as the woman pounded Gavin’s face against the stone pillar he’d hit Fey with.

I took no pleasure in watching, but my feet refused to move. It felt like if I took a step she might take notice of, and include me in his punishment.

Someone should’ve called a medical squad to come and help Fey, but there was this odd sense like the woman would disembowel anyone who got close to him, even if it was to help.

When she was done with Gavin he was trembling so much that I thought he might be having a seizure. His mind was probably broken and doubted he’d be able to fight again.

“If you can’t even handle this much, then you’d never survive my training.” The woman chided then waved him away dismissively.

I wanted to help Fey, but the woman scooped him up then left the training field.

Commander Black seemed a little off after the incident.

I wasn’t sure which bothered him more between Fey beating Gavin or the woman’s sadistic lesson.

When he went to check on Gavin, the battered boy collapsed into the commander’s arms. As I watched his body tremble and twitch it occurred to me that he might actually be suffering from hypothermia due to blood loss. The medical field team could close his cuts and heal the bruises, but they couldn’t put blood back in his body.

Vanessa, the first class instructor, dismissed the class. The medical squad loaded Gavin on a hovering gurney and the two instructors went with them.

I turned to Carletta, who was still staring wide eyed after the woman who took Fey.

“Who was she,” Carletta asked.

“Not a clue.”