Part 1

[It’s soo boring] I thought to myself.

It had been already ten minutes ever since I finished my fight with Danthe and the others, yet not a single opponent came searching for me. I was expecting them to take advantage of the situation as soon as I finished fighting and try to get rid of me while I was tired. Instead, I was left free to catch my breath and to recover, even if little, my strength. It unsettled me. I was sure Gallher wasn’t someone who’d be so chivalrous to let an enemy recover so there must’ve been another plan going on seeing as how flares were being shot left and right. Yet all I could do was wait.

[My left arm hurts like hell, my whole body is stiff as a log, I’m hurting everywhere and I’m almost out of mana…Fuck! I shouldn't have used the thunder boost armor soo much!... I didn’t want to use too much natural mana since it’s bound to attract unwanted attention but I guess I don’t really have much choice at this point]

The sound of leaves rustling and branches cracking coming from the forest alerted me as I chugged down whatever remained of the water in my bottle. Soon, one after the other, human faces began to show up from between the trees. I was surrounded.

“Took you long enough, eh!-” My tone was clearly sarcastic though it felt somewhat different from my usual. I have always been aware of the fact that my voice sounded composed yet as I said those words my voice felt wilder. Standing up I quickly looked around me and tried to get more time to assert the situation “- You know it’s bad manners to leave a guest waiting…So, where’s Gallher? Is he not coming to greet me himself?”

“We are sorry for the wait-” Replied one student with curly orange hair “- Lord Gallher sends his regards but it won’t be necessary for him to intervene. We are enough to deal with you!”

“Oh my, confident are we? But then, what about all those who are watching us? I’m pretty sure there was a rule against allying with other groups”

“Haha! There won’t be anyone seeing this since Lord Gallher bough-” The one who seemed like the spokesperson got interrupted by a soundly slap from one of his companions before he could finish his phrase.

“Ah, whatever! But I warn you-” I said as my tone darkened together with my mood “- I won’t be able to hold back in my condition”

My words must have felt menacing to them, but the effect I was looking for did not occur. Actually, the complete opposite happened. I hoped for some of them to be scared and back off from the fight, but instead, my words only fueled their spirits and soon, a little more than twenty opponents came running toward me.

- CONSTANTINE GILDOR’S POV -

I was watching the projection on the wall. The focus was on a group of four walking through the trees when the projection abruptly disappeared. Shouts of complaint rose up from all over the academy from both students and professors. Feeling betrayed by the sudden lack of my main source of entertainment, I hurried back to Ekisora’s tent.

“Oi oi Eki, oi oi oi!-” I shouted as I slid inside, unable to stop my rush “- What’s happening? Why are you not showing anything!?”

“I-I don’t know Gil-” Panicaly answered the woman “- this thing just stopped working! I can’t seem to power it. It’s like it broke!”

“NOOOOOO!-” I shouted as I fell to my knees. Tears almost wetting my eyes “- What do we do now!? There were just soo few left! It was almost over!”

“I-I don’t know Gil! I’m trying to fix it b-but it’s just not working! Maybe it’s-”

“I know Eki!-” I interrupted the woman as I grabbed her shoulder and shook her “- The headmaster bought it, right? So he must know how it works and probably how to fix it! Imma run there right now!”

“N-n-no wait Gil!-” Shouted the woman as her eyes widened alarmingly so “- There’s no need to bother the headmaster! I’ll find a way to fix it!”

“Don’t worry Eki! I’m sure it doesn't bother him, plus it’ll be faster this wa-” My words were cut short by a familiar voice though rarely heard around the academy.

“Professor Gildor!-” Said the boy with pale skin and dark circles around his eyes. The one who I introduced to Raphael as his guardian “- professor Mattens requires your presence at this moment!”

It was a lie of course. No professor would send that boy on errands. Not that the boy himself would want to be an errand boy. As he called out to me, his expression looked heavy and pearls of sweat were falling from his forehead and neck. It was too much of a coincidence that he came looking for me right after the projection item stopped working.

After a few words with Ekisora, I followed him to a place where no ears could catch our words. Finally, air could come circulate in his lungs once again. With panic and a sense of urgency in his words, he began explaining the situation. The sudden absence of projection, the task Raphael gave him, the forfeit of three members of Danthe’s group and what was bound to happen inside the forest. I silently listened as I slowly connected all ideas that bothered my mind until it all became clear with only one possible outcome: Raphael’s death.

“Shit!-” I silently shouted. My fist now embedded into the grey stone of the outer walls of the academy “- This is the worst possible outcome! How did it end up like this?”

“I don’t know professor…I came looking for you as soon as I found out. Sorry, if I were stronger I could have learned of it sooner”

“*Sigh* Don’t say that, you’ve done plenty-” I said just before the sick-looking student in front of me could retort “- We are still in time to fix this. I’m here, am I not? The one and only Constantine Gildor, ruby adventurer!”

“...Tell me what to do” Replied the boy with decision blazing inside his eyes.

“That’s the spirit! I’ll handle Raphael, you’ll have two tasks. First, run to the headmaster and tell him about the situation. ALL the situation, don’t miss a single detail. Then keep Eki in check. We don’t know what might happen. Understood?”

“But, what if the headmaster doesn’t believe me?” Worriedly asked the student.

“He’ll believe you…but just to be on the safe side tell him this “The snake’s den is brimming with swords and gold”. He’ll take what you say as my own words”

“I-I don’t really understand. What does it mea-”

“You don’t need to know that. It’s just something between me and him, just worry about relaying him that message and explaining the situation”

“I got it but professor…how do you plan on going there?”

“Why? By running of course!” I said as I stripped off my jacket.

The forest where the event was taking place was indeed far away from the academy. By the time I reached it by horse or carriage, Raphael would have already been a corpse. But I wasn’t in need of a horse to begin with. With the sound of stones and soil breaking, I took off on my run. My legs felt heavier than a year ago. It had been a while since the last time I went all out just to run. I felt naked without my sword but there was no time to take it. Every second wasted was one second closer to the death of one of my students. One I was especially interested in.

It took me only a little more than ten seconds to traverse the full length of the academy. Alamara’s colorful roofs were now on full display in front of my eyes.

Part 2

- RAPHAEL BLUESCALE’S POV -

[One coming to the left….What spell is it? I don’t recognize it…What did she shout? “Graveyard”?...Oh, that spell! I don’t think I even need to dodge…rather, those “Stone bullets” are way too many. Better raise a shield!]

How long had it been since the fight started? I couldn’t tell. It was too chaotic. It reminded me of my very first fight. That time, in the woods against the pack of wolves. My opponents fought in the same way, just a little more human-like. But there was something different this time. When I fought against the wolves, I knew they came at me with the intention to kill me. I had to defend, to kill them first. Yet I didn’t feel anything, as if those wolves were just dolls who simply moved on instinct. This time though, it felt different. I could feel it. The clear intention to kill. The will, the need to take my life. It was like a tingling sensation in the back of my head, right where the neck connects to the skull. As if I could see who wanted me dead and who didn’t, like a thread of blood connected to my neck.

Thus what stranged me. Not everyone wanted to kill me. It cannot be described with words as it was just an innate feeling, but I could tell that some of those attacking me didn’t really want to kill me. I felt pity for them…since I had readied myself to answer in the same manner as those who came at me.

My vision was fuzzy. Blurry at times. The cause was probably the fact that I was heavily relying on natural mana. Using only my own would have permitted me to cast only up to five, six spells if I were to be cautious. On the other hand, using only natural mana came with the cost of endangering my own life. Hence, I was using an advanced form of what Kyvern taught me. Not simply using the connections between natural mana to slide my own but also adding said natural mana to a drop of my own to form a spell and cast it. Like a marble gathering speed on a leaning surface, so did the seed of a spell gathered mana.

Such a way to cast spells was convenient since it required me little of my own mana. But as with all things in life, what is given is also taken. This way of casting had it’s drawbacks. One of such being the humongous strain on my brain. One single error could potentially prove fatal. If I were to mislead my mana, there was the possibility that the trails left by it would have been filled by natural one. And, what was at the end of such trails? My mana flow.

Dodging the incoming enemy spells, evading the daggers secretly brought in the event, choosing which spell to cast, choosing where to cast and when to cast and finally leading my mana through the labyrinthic connection of the natural. All this was required of me to be done at the same time. It was, in a word, overwhelming.

By the time my sense of time stopped working, five of my enemies were laying on the ground. One had a hole in his shoulder, two had their own spells blown up on their faces, one had his back burned while the last found himself pierced by his own dagger. Many others suffered injuries, but only those five were rendered unable to fight. Yet none was shooting a flare. They were only pawns. Ready to be discarded once they had outgrown their usefulness while on the back, the three queens watched as the fight took place, ready to come into action at the optimal time. Then, what piece was I? Where was their king?

“Kill him!”, “He’s already taken down Phos and Karl!”, “Stop his movements!” and many other of such phrases ran rampant through the air. It was chaotic. Deep down I…liked it. I felt something akin to enjoyment as I watched the beautiful colors of the various spells fly by me, the expressions full of anger of my opponents, the smells and taste of mine and my enemy’s blood. In a way it was nostalgic. A primordial memory. No, rather, a fragment of it, as if a small shard of a broken glass reflected my sight directly into my head.

I felt pain. Strong and weak in equal measure. My limbs were heavy. The sword I carried in my hand felt weak as if, slowly, my grip on the handle was coming undone. My head was hot, no, my entire body was hot. The feeling of fever could come close to it. I was probably hit by a fire-type spell. My vision reddened, only on my left eye. A dejavù. Stinging pain over my left eye. The same pain that left a deep scar over it. The same scar that scared some of the kids in Alamara. That time was a wolf’s fang fault, this time, it reopened due to that spell.

I heard screams but I did not understand them. I saw their lips moving but no sound came out of them. I moved too. On instinct. I cast spells too. On instinct. How long did it go on? Maybe seconds. Maybe more. I couldn't tell. I was simply following myself as if, deep down, into the meanders of my memory, I had already experienced all of that. A fire spell came. I countered it with a water one. A hole formed beneath me. I filled with another earth spell. A knife came close to my neck. A thrust. I dodged it easily. It was slow. Then breaking the arm of my assaulter was kids’ play. Water wetted my bare feet. [Strange] I thought, there was no water before. My balance came undone and three different spells hit me. It hurt but not much. A shield had appeared on my forearm.

[I’m tired-] I thought as I watched another spell fly my way only to end up missing and creating another hole on the dusty ground [-but I don’t want this to stop!]

“What are you waiting for?! Kill him!” Shouted a boy looking a little older than me.

He had white hair and carried a serious and composed expression. At least he used to carry it, now it became more of a grimace of discontent. He had lost his composure. The answer was a simple matter. Seven more of the people attacking me were now laying on the ground. The brown and green soil had now fused with the savage red of fresh blood. The thick smell, intensified by the heat of the fire spreading around the clearing, was greedily absorbed by my nostrils. The more I smelled it, the more I felt…awake. But it was strange. I was sure I didn’t kill anybody, though I was prepared for it, I never felt the urge to deal the finishing blow. Yet blood still gushed out on the grass. All was still. Favorable condition to look around for the first time in a while.

A boy way older than me holding his belly as blood profusely flowed out. One of my age, desperately crawling towards the forest as one of his legs was torn where the knee should have been. A girl, with beautiful blonde hair, laying on her stomach as she violently gasped for air. A dagger covered in blood from handle to blade, sat still on the thigh of one of the academy’s students. Two fingers, an index and a thumb, crossed each other further away from another student vigorously holding his hand as his throat filled with screams. That, was the sight that greeted me as soon as I had time to take breath.

Everyone’s expressions, they intrigued me. One moment they were filled with anger and resentment, the other, fear took over the flames inside their eyes. What did I look in those eyes of theirs? Why were they looking at me like that? All I did was defend myself. They were the ones who sought my neck, so why were they looking at me like that? I was in the right. I’m sure of it. So their eyes bothered me and intrigued me at the same time.

“M-m-MONSTER!” Screamed one of those who still retained their consciousness but was unable to fight anymore.

“H-how can this be?!” Asked a boy backing away.

“Jonas…HE GOT JONAS!” Screamed another.

“H-He’s only one!-” Shouted the boy with white hair as he tried to incite his faltering troops. The two others who stood beside him had disappeared “- If we all attack at once we can fucking kill him! E-EVERYONE GET READY TO-”

“KuhehahaHAHAHA”

I laughed. I laughed without even knowing it. I couldn’t control it. Killing me? They had been trying to do so for more than a year yet it never succeeded. How could I not laugh? They were fools. Fools who spoke words they didn’t even know the meaning of.

“W-what’s so funny!? Eh?! You piece of trash! You’re nothing but a fucking peasant bug! J-just go crawl back to yo-” Panicaly spoke one of my opponents. One that looked fairly healthy.

“What’s funny? Killing me?-” I said in a tone both angered and excited “-Death here, I’ll kill you there, peasant, bug, bla bla bla… your words hold no meaning to me. How could they?-” I asked finally facing the leader of my opponents with a half bloodied sight “-You all crawl below my boots-”

“BASTAAAARD!” Shouted everyone as a choir.

“- YOU FUCKING SMALL FRIES!” I shouted in return.

My arms were widened by my sides. My palms straight. The sword and shield already broken into bits. I waited as I observed the people approaching me. This time everyone was. Even the white-haired boy. And everyone emitted killing intent.

My voice was low. So low that it was almost imperceptible, yet it was as clear as the image I pictured inside my head.

“...Savage howling”

I could feel most of what little remained of my mana being drained. My body, my head, everything felt heavy as if gravity itself doubled on the spot. Yet it also felt liberating seeing the thousands of small blades of wind cruising through the air, crashing into my enemy's flesh and creating a beautiful rain of crimsoned drops. It was, to them, unexpected. None had time to counter, since I made sure that the timing was perfect. Nonetheless, my spell was way more than I required. The area it covered reached all the way to the border of the forest and beyond. I simply stood, in awe, as I enjoyed the sudden silence my spell brought, in spite of the fact that the grimaces my opponents were showing were clear screams.

“Flame coffin!” Was the shout that suddenly interrupted my moment of absent mindlessness.

My spell was cut out from working as a dome of scorching hot flames befell upon me and my surrounding. It wasn’t wide enough to prevent me from dodging but it served it’s purpose in stopping me from continuing [Savage howling].

“Look, look, look-” Said the croaking voice of that spiteful son of a duke “- and here I thought my minions were enough to take care of one small peasant. Even you, Argus, I thought you were more capable than this. Tch, tch tch!”

“HA! Finally decided to show yourself… you damn asshole!” I violently replied.

“Oh my, what an uncivilized language! How very peculiar of trash like you!”

“Pfft, do you speak with that same mouth you suck dicks with?”

“Tch, fucking son of a dog! How are you even alive?!” Shouted the blonde as his prideful expression came undone.

“What? Did I ruin your pretty plans? I gotta tell you this, you’re not the smartest of the bunch, uh? You’ve sent people to kill me for over a year yet you still fail to the very end. Funny how I even snatched one of your guys! Why don’t you just surrender and stop with this “cleaning my name and reclaiming my honor” farce?”

“What? Feel like begging for your life?” Cockyly said the noble as he fixed his hair in the unfashionable lick on his head.

“As if! I’m doing this for you!-” I scoffed off with my shoulders to then point to the ones laying on the ground around me “- Those ones are already done for. With the rules being as they are, bringing weapons and pairing up with other groups, not to mention the fact that they tried to actively kill me. Do you think the academy will let them go unpunished? I’d feel sad if the son of the great Duke Gallher ended up being kicked out of the academy or worse, imprisoned”

“Pfftt, that’s your reasoning? What makes you even think that anyone will ever know what transpired here?”

“Eh? What do you-” I stopped my words before going further. There was no need to ask. I had already realized it “- So she was into this too, uh? This whole event was just a pretext for you to get rid of me. I’m guessing even your father pushed for this event to be held…I almost feel honored!”

“Oh my, seems like you’ve realized it. What a shame. Oh well, at least you’ll die knowing how much of a thorn in my side you were!”

“What makes you think I’ll even die? You know, I’m planning to kick your ass right here and wait until the end of the event. My words will make for a good story, I’m sure of it”

“A shame none will be there to hear them…-” Said the boy as he reached for the bag one of his companions on his side was carrying.

From it, he took a shiny gem, a few centimeters bigger than his fist. It was of a deep purple with a silver-like metal running around it’s hexagonal edges. In it’s center, embedded into it, a tear-like needle of a deep, dark black, pulsed as if alive. I was away from it yet my instincts were screaming for me to run. An ominous energy was being held inside that gem. I didn’t know what. I didn’t know how. All I had to do was run…alas, my tired and injured legs didn’t react fast enough.

“Embrace mine foe and leadeth those astray-” Said Gallher as he seemed to pour mana into the gem “-Alloweth their conceit turneth into flesh and their fears into voices. Open, Oneiro’s heart!”

In an instant, the metal running around the edges crumbled and turned into fine silver sand. At the same time, the black needle rippled through the gem and broke it apart. The next second, that same needle had pierced my forehead and everything was as dark as the deepest pit.