When they arrived, Valeriana was surprised to see that they weren't the only ones present. Instead of the school faculty and the competitors only, people swarmed in the audience's area. She wanted to take a few moments to take in the crowd, knowing that whatever happened in this fight, she was bound to embarrass herself somehow. However, she wasn’t given a chance to stall. A sword was strapped around her waist and she was immediately sent down to the center of the arena where the fight would be held. Courtney was waiting, her own weapon in hand.

“I thought we were the only ones going to be here,” she said. A drop of sweat trickled down her forehead.

“They wouldn't miss it for the world!” Lord Aeron shouted from the royal box, waving his arm passionately in the air as though reading her thoughts.

“I hate you,” Valeriana muttered.

Cheers wildly erupted from the crowd and Valeriana yanked her sword out of its sheath. Her grip on its hilt firmly tightened as she looked at Courtney's direction with unwavering determination.

What exactly was she doing?

Still, there was no turning back.

“It looks like Lord Aeron is asking the competitors to get ready! Fighters in place!”

Valeriana moved to a stance. “Remember the center point of gravity in your body. Pick a stance that's not easy to be thrown off balance.” She planted her feet to the ground.

“The fight will start in three.”

She held out her sword in front of her, making sure there weren't any available openings her opponent could use to attack. Courtney, however, seemed confident and remained nonchalant from where she was. The tip of her sword was kissing the sandy ground.

“Two! One!”

A bright light sparked on the corner of the arena. Valeriana chose to keep her eyes strictly on Courtney who immediately ran forth and brought her blade up when the signal was fired.

Valeriana held her own weapon in front of her and blocked her first attack. It vibrated sharply as Courtney's sword clashed unto hers. The intensity of the force that her opponent used for her first assault was terrifying. If Valeriana hadn’t followed Seraphina's advice, she would've been instantly pushed back.

Fortunately, she was able to block most of her attacks, but her reaction time needed working on. It seemed that Seraphina's lectures were useful, but it didn't remove the fact that, with the current pace of their fight, she would have no chance in winning.

Lord Aeron did tell her she did not need to win.

Courtney aggressively drove her sword forward but Valeriana was able to dodge it—albeit clumsily. She stepped forward with a counterattack, forcing her sword to meet with Courtney’s in hopes of pushing her back. Adrenalin rushed through her veins and, with all her might, she began to assault her opponent.

“Fight back!” she remembered Seraphina yelling. “You can't call it a fight when you're not attacking!”

“You're daring to even try and counter.” Courtney smirked at her.

“What do you expect me to do, then?”

“Oh, I don't know. Lose. Die, maybe. The latter would be better.”

The audience got even wilder.

“Knock her down!”

“Kill her!”

Now, that was a bit harsh.

More cheers came from the students among the crowd. The obvious eagerness in their voice rang all throughout the arena, nearly discouraging Valeriana from the fight. It was painfully insulting.

“So that's the girl,” a blue-eyed blonde said thoughtfully as he arranged the glasses that sat atop the bridge of his nose. “She thinks she can fight Courtney?”

“Well, she's doing a good job so far,” a redhead replied with a snort, her blue eyes rolling as she slouched and leaned back leisurely.

“Stop that,” the male blonde replied with a scolding look, disturbed by the sound she made. “Mind your manners.”

“I should mind my manners when watching a fight? Really. I'll do whatever I want and minding my manners is the last thing on my list.”

Corvan wanted to bang his head against the table at the ruckus being created by the Twelve, but that would be if he was not himself.

Lord Aeron watched the fight fervently, a loose smile hanging on his lips. His ankle was propped up to his knee and he was strangely relaxed in his seat while rubbing his chin. “A bit clumsy as expected, but she’s faring well. Don't you agree, Lady Seraphina?”

“I did teach her,” she said with pride.

“Mm-hmm. You taught her well, then. It's enough for her to hold up. To survive? I do wonder.”

Seraphina had on a perplexed expression, but looking somehow proud with the effort the girl was putting into it.

Corvan, on the other hand, did not know whether to be impressed or amused. He watched her wave her sword around with conviction—sometimes faltering. Her skills seemed adequate enough to oppose all of her attacks. Still, there were a lot of flaws and openings. This girl was hopeless. The only thing that was keeping her from being scratched was moving back.

Valeriana, obviously, was having a hard time. She lacked the stamina needed for such a demanding physical exertion. Not to mention that she was inexperienced.

Courtney, on the other hand, radiated vigor. She slashed her sword forward repeatedly, her attacks varying in movements. This caused Valeriana to either dodge or respond in retaliation.

“I commend you,” Courtney said with a mocking smile. “You're skilled enough to be able to dodge my attacks. It seems that I underestimated you.”

“I . . . told you,” she spoke in between breaths. She panted like a dog but the girl in front of her didn't even break a sweat. She wanted to curse so bad that her tongue hurt, but it was better to conserve energy.

Breathe.

Valeriana's pretentious opponent then began with her series of attack once more. Courtney came back stronger than before and the sweep of her sword became fiercer. It overwhelmed Valeriana to an extent where her wrists began to ache from countering all her assaults.

So tired.

“I won't lose,” she whispered after being thrown back. She struggled to catch her breath.

The cadence of the fight intensified. Courtney gave no room for recovery, hinting that there would only be one survivor at the closing stages. She waved her sword with such frightening accuracy that Valeriana was barely able to dodge. She felt the cold metal of Courtney's sword cut through the skin on her left, upper arm, causing her to gasp as warm, red liquid soaked the sleeve of her top. Her face twisted in agony as her wound stung. She briefly glanced down at her top to see that her sleeve was half way being cut off. It showed a nasty, deep cut on her skin that leaked a lot of blood.

“Shiznits . . . god.” She hissed and backed away from Courtney as far as she could. She could see her malicious glare from the corner of her eyes and her blood that stained the weapon she held. Valeriana pressed her lips into a thin line as she watched herself being slowly drenched in red.

She ripped off the sleeve from her arm, exposing her wound fully. She then wrapped the ripped-off cloth around her arm, tying it firmly around her wound by using her uninjured arm and clipping the cloth between her teeth. This would at least lessen the bleeding. She saw a lot of people rip a part of their clothes and use it as make-shift bandages when in the middle of war or something.

Courtney laughed. She slowly made her way to where Valeriana was.

“Don't be so confident. It's annoying,” she stated, glaring at Courtney sharply. For just once, she was going to curse. “Bitch!”

God, that felt good.

Courtney's expression faltered and she seethed. She ran forward and attacked Valeriana with a critical swing.

Valeriana was barely able to hold up her sword properly before their blades clashed again. She made a pained noise in the back of throat. Her wound hurt like hell.

“Too bad for you,” her opponent said. “You messed with the wrong person. It just had to be me.”

“You can be Madonna for all I care,” she said each word as hard as she could, moving her sword forward to block her attack. A sharp ring echoed as their blades crossed. Valeriana glowered at Courtney as they pressed more pressure onto their weapons, trying to overpower each other. “Taylor Swift or whatever. Selena Gomez if you’d like.”

“What nonsense are you babbling about?”

“I’m saying whoever you are, because you’re such a bitch, I’ll still want to crush your face.”

It seemed that this statement got on Courtney's nerves. Her opponent's eyes widened momentarily before she narrowed them and glared at her in irritation. This gave Valeriana encouragement. At first, she felt frightened because her opponent was one of the best students. But, remembering her father's advices, it made all of her worries fade away. He was right. Whoever this girl was, she wasn’t perfect. She had a weakness. She just had to find that weakness. After that, even if Courtney had the upper hand, she would have the chance to turn things around.

Seraphina did spoil her a bit of the information she needed. This girl was easily angered and, apparently, it was true.

Lord Aeron watched with creased brow. “As usual, patience is a virtue,” he commented.

Courtney's one major flaw was that her moves became reckless when she was angered.

“I do admit Valeriana's attitude can be very infuriating,” Corvan said to himself. “I found myself on the verge of reducing her to ashes the last few hours.”

“My,” Aeron said, chuckling. “You both just met and she already came so close to that already? How very impressive it is to see someone able to get under your skin so easily.”

In the middle of the arena, the fight between the two girls started to heat up. The duel became more intense during the next few moments. Valeriana did not know what she was going to do and she was wearing herself out. It wasn't noon yet so it didn't feel hot. The air was cool and refreshing. Still, her skin was covered with a sheen of sweat and her back was already soaked wet. She could feel her muscles protesting with every move she made.

“Imbecile!” Courtney yelled, striking down hard that it threw Valeriana back and sent her rolling away.

She groaned in pain as her weapon slipped from her grasp and skidded a few feet away from her. She gasped in shock and looked left and right for her sword. Courtney was just a few steps from her current position, and a victorious smile tugged on her lips.

“I'm telling you this now. You are no match for me and you will never be a part of this academy.” Her opponent sauntered confidently towards her, dragging her sword while its tip grazed the ground. This left a trail behind her, which even made the scene look ominous.

Valeriana tried standing up, but it seemed that she injured her ankle when she fell. She cursed as the ache shot up from her feet. She couldn't even bring herself to stand back up. Her quivering knees protested, refusing to heed her commands.

“I-I can't stand up!” she whispered to herself. Her legs turned to jelly and rock at the same time, barely even functioning while they were wracked with spasms.

This was what they called cramping, right? Well, shiznits.

“Agh! Not now!”

She started to crawl pathetically towards her weapon, hands trembling. The crowd was going wild in excitement as they watched the current events unfold.

“Give up! You already know that you aren't going to win!” Courtney's discouraging words rang in her ears.

“No. Never.” She reached out to grab the hilt of the sword. But unfortunately, Courtney harshly stepped on her fingers then kicked her chest and stomped on her shoulder.

“Ouch!” she cried, gritting her teeth as Courtney intentionally pressed down more pressure on her hand. “Holy crap!”

“That's where you belong.” Her eyes were wide and looked psychotic. “Dirt. Ground.”

Gosh. Did this girl have anger issues? She clearly hadn't been called a bitch her entire life.

Feet on Valeriana's hand and shoulder, her opponent bent down and picked up the weapon that was almost within her reach. She waved it around playfully which irritated Valeriana even more. This girl was acting like one of those bullies back home when she still attended elementary school!

“Give that—” Valeriana glared up at Courtney, but was only answered by having the pressure from both her feet increased.

Seraphina looked uncomfortable as she watched, her fists clenched and her foot grinding against the ground. “This is getting out of hand. Maybe we should stop the fight right here.”

“Let's give Valeriana a chance,” said Aeron.

“But . . .”

“It'll be fine.”

With her current position, Valeriana needed to be clever. She didn't have her weapon, so what exactly was she going to use to defend herself? She reached out with her free hand, patting the ground for any rock that she could use to throw towards Courtney.

Unfortunately, there was nothing but sand!

She immediately paused at the thought.

Sand!

With newfound hope, Valeriana grabbed a handful of the sand and threw it to Courtney's face. This action caused her challenger to stumble back with a loud gasp of shock. It wasn’t that effective at first, so she started hurtling all the dirt she could grab at her. The sand wouldn’t account to much injury but it was an uncomfortable sensation, like a million little needles prickling the skin at the same time. Courtney finally dropped Valeriana's sword to the ground and screamed, rubbing the dirt out of her eyes.

As she took the sword back into her firm grip, Valeriana remembered all the things Seraphina shoved into her head. She finally regained some strength in her lower body, so she forced herself to stand back up on her feet while using her sword for support. Her ankle still ached so much she wanted to slap herself.

However, she still couldn't understand what Seraphina meant. “Crap.” She could feel anxiety twisting in her stomach. “How am I supposed to do this?” Valeriana whispered, watching as Courtney opened her now red and sore eyes.

She growled. “Consider yourself dead.”

A voice then chimed into her mind. The voice echoed at the very back of her head. She didn't know where it came from, but it whispered very wise words. 'Become one with your sword. Feel it. Control it.'

“But how?” She whined.

'Be the water that flows through the rivers.'

“What the heck does that even mean? That's physically impossible!”

And she heard one word she never thought her mind would call her. 'Idiot.'

It was too freaky knowing that there was a voice talking in the back of her head. But whatever or whoever that was, there was no time left but to listen to it and heed its advice.

'Do not just rely on technique or anything you learned!' This time, the voice echoed as though infuriated. 'Be like water! Swift and fluid like water! Seraphina showed it, didn’t she?'

“Oh . . . is that you, dad?”

'I am not your dad.'

“Then who the heck are you and why are you in my head?”

'I'm your common sense. Why do you think I'm in your head?'

She thought back to their training session and wondered for a moment. Seraphina's movements when she saw her practicing wasn't how she thought it was. It took her a few hours to realize. Her grace, her poise, and the beauty of how she rhythmically moved with her weapon . . . she was like water.

“Oh . . . oh.”

Water represented grace, gentleness, life, and refinement, but simultaneously, it could bring forth destruction and demise. Water symbolized generosity as well, but it could become the hands of death.

She looked down at the weapon in her hand and took a deep breath. She curled her fingers around the hilt firmly and closed her eyes as Courtney began charging towards her with her own weapon in hand. This wasn’t the time to close eyes when the enemy was charging, but Valeriana felt as though she should calm herself. Her nerves were frazzled.

“One . . . with your sword,” she whispered again. She chanted the same sentence over and over again until everything around her faded. All she could feel was something vibrating from the blade, aside from that, she did not hear, see, or feel anything else.

Her blood pulsed and her heart thumped.

Now.

Valeriana's eyes zoomed in on her enemy and she immediately swung her blade with her right hand before Courtney even had the chance to take a swing. Her limb almost felt like it moved on its own, as if the action was innate in her blood.

Miraculously, she blocked Courtney's recent attack with ease. Everything was only made hard by a wounded arm and a sprained ankle, but Valeriana successfully managed to tolerate the pain with the thought of everything ending very soon.

Their swords clanged deafeningly in Valeriana's ears, making her grit her teeth, but she immediately willed herself to relax and go with the flow of the fight. She exerted some force once in a while, but she reserved most of her energy. The next few blows they exchanged had a different rhythm. Unlike before, Valeriana could feel every movement of her hand, every vibrations, and every swing she made with her weapon. It almost made her feel like the sword was just an extension of her arm.

“Valeriana found her rhythm,” Headmaster Kylon commented.

“She moves with precision,” Seraphina cut in. “A swordsman will know how he is supposed to move based on the opponent. Adaptation is very important in every fight. For this one, you need to be calm and go only where the fight goes. Courtney is like fire—very passionate, yet easily provoked.”

“I assume you needn't teach her how to provoke an enemy.” Headmaster Kylon chuckled.

“Yes, that does seem to come naturally for her.”

They shared a laugh.

Seraphina sighed. “To defeat fire, you need to be like water—meandering quietly down the river. Mindless of the rocks, mindless of every obstacle. After all, you can't fight fire with fire,” she whispered. “She finally got what I was trying to tell her.”

They lasted a few more minutes in that pace. Courtney was taken aback by the sudden change of character, but more than everything else, it struck fear and anger in her nerves.

Valeriana eyed Courtney's movements sharply, every twitch of her brow, the flick of her wrist, and the steps she made. There was something off with how she moved and she noticed it.

Her movements are off, she thought. She’s becoming reckless, throwing mindless strikes—like an old, boring rhythm.

Courtney swung and Valeriana eyed her moves like an eagle. Something began building up inside her, and before she realized, her blade instinctively cut swiftly through the air with an audible swish and, unexpectedly, Courtney's weapon was sliced in half. Shocked by the sudden event, Courtney stopped and watched as the top part of her blade fell to the ground.

The whole arena went silent, all eyes wide in disbelief.

“Whoooo!” Lord Aeron yelled, pumping his fist in the air. His scream ruined the wall of silence.

Everyone looked at him incredulously.

“Did she just . . .” Corvan trailed off, eyes wide.

“Apparently, she just did.” Lord Aeron grinned.

Seraphina was momentarily stunned until she smiled proudly. “The point where you find a weakness is the time where your enemy's defeat is set. If a warrior lets his guard down, his weapon will do just the same. Good work, Valeriana . . . but I never expected you to really cut Courtney's sword in half.”

Valeriana dropped her weapon. She fell down and sat tiredly on the sandy floor.

“I . . . did it. I seriously did it,” she murmured in a low voice, thankful. “That's just about everything I can do. Thank god it's over.” She sighed in relief.

“Over? I don't think so.” She looked up at Courtney in puzzlement. Her hair hid her face, so her current expression was shadowed. The only thing that was visible was her dropping the broken sword and clenching fists.

“Let’s end this, Courtney,” she suggested, hoping it would make her feel better.

“End? I won't lose to someone the likes of you!” Courtney's eyes peeked through the strands of her hair, wide and full of hatred.

This girl really did have anger issues. She was seriously overreacting. Was losing such a big deal?

Valeriana stood up, her knees shaking in weariness. “Look, if that’s much of a big deal, fine. You win. Does that make you feel happy?” she asked.

“What do you take me as? A fool?” At that statement, she opened her hands and whirlwinds appeared on her palms.

A loud screeching noise came from a distance as Seraphina stood from her seat in abrupt. “Stop it, Courtney! You are forbidden to use your element! You might kill the girl!”

A bunch of scary-looking whirlwinds appeared behind her, completely shadowing the light from the sun. Valeriana felt her heart leap to her throat as currents around her increased. The wind was so strong while it billowed at her hair.

“That is exactly the point.”

Valeriana's eyes widened and she took a couple of steps back, limping.

“Hey! Wait a minute! Have you lost your mind already?!” Even she couldn't hear herself over the wild howling of the wind, the deafening cries of the element totally muted her screams.

Courtney wasn't listening at all either. She was already blinded by her anger. She stretched her fingers before she balled her fist, causing the whirlwinds to disappear momentarily, making it seem like the calm before the storm.

She shot her hands towards Valeriana's direction. Faint figures of copious, gigantic convex lines rode the wind, heading directly to where her hands were aiming.

Dust fogged the area, clouding everyone's sight. Valeriana crossed her arms protectively in front of her, closing her eyes tightly in slight hesitance to face the rapid arrival of death. The lines in the wind struck the walls of the arena after running over the position where Valeriana was situated, leaving evident cracks before it dissipated. The audience in that specific area had already scrambled to get away.

The people present were shocked by the sudden chain of events. Mouths hang open, eyes glued to Valeriana's spot in distress and alarm.

Courtney was panting heavily. Her hands were shaking. The fog gently settled, revealing the wind-wrought markings on the sand. Everyone was watching in suspense.

Someone pointed to the spot Valeriana was standing on. The fog had cleared completely and Valeriana's condition was brought to light.

Seraphina had both her arms held out in front of her. Her brows were knitted and her eyes were hazy with focus and concentration. There were sounds that resembled crumbling and she firmly clenched her fists, the sound intensifying.

Standing there with her feet apart and arms crossed protectively over her head, Valeriana was still in one piece. It tugged a sigh of relief out of Seraphina, knowing that she was in a good state. Her wall of earth had successfully protected the girl.

Valeriana opened her eyes, arms still crossed in front of her. “I'm still alive?” She looked around and noticed that a massive piece of rock was protruding in front of her, cracked and ready to crumble after taking the brunt of the attack. Still, she could not believe it.

“Or maybe I’m just a soul . . .”

She pinched herself and grimaced.

Her eyes then widened. “Oh my god, I am alive.”

“Good thinking, Seraphina. You acted fast,” Aeron told the woman. “Though, you may have to hold up that wall. It seems Courtney isn’t done.”

At that prompt, Seraphina put more effort and reinforced the previous wall with another.

Valeriana feared for another set of Courtney’s attacks as another wall of Earth rose from the ground. Peaking past the corner of the walls that had protected her, she saw that the other girl was shaking in anger. The air around her was even worse than before. Her emotions seemed to be running out of control.

Courtney howled in rage as she released a few more of her wind blades. A small frightened shriek escaped Valeriana's lips as she pressed her back against her temporary shield. The tremor shaking the ground she was standing on made her lose her balance, but she managed to keep herself upright.

Courtney finally stopped after she tired herself out from overusing her power. “You can be assured . . .” she weakly muttered. “I will not let you off for doing this to me so easily.”

So she had too much pride and anger issues.

Her opponent looked up at her with a grimace before collapsing, passing out from the overexertion. The crowd chattered noisily, ostensibly relieved but at the same time, disappointed as well.

Valeriana felt relief pass through her. Her knees gave out and she crumpled like a heap of jelly. The wall of earth retracted and reinserted itself to the ground as Seraphina allowed her arms to fall to her sides.

“Oh, thank the gods.”

She looked at Courtney.

“The healers! Please assist Lady Courtney and take her to the medical room!” someone yelled from the crowd. “The rest of you! Please apply first aid to the other girl's wounds and don't forget to check for further injuries she may have received!”

A bunch of people rushed forward led by a woman dressed in plain, white clothes. They took Courtney to a stretcher and began attending to Valeriana.

“Are you alright? Can you stand?”

###

Valeriana was brought to the infirmary and was forced to lie down. It was the first time she got a cut so big, and since she wasn't used to it, the pain was on another level.

“No! No! That hurts!” she screamed, closing her eyes as the healer dabbed medicine around her gaping flesh.

“It'll be fine.” The healer chuckled. “It'll be over in a minute.”

“I'm gonna die. That fudging . . . argh!”

Corvan appeared from the corner. Behind him was a person who belonged to the faculty. Lady Seraphina, Lord Aeron, and Headmaster Kylon appeared after them, all wearing contented looks on their faces.

“Do you mind keeping it down? We can hear your screams on our way here,” he told her, crossing his arms irately.

“Well, it's not my faul—ah! YOU SAID IT'LL BE OVER IN A MINUTE!”

The healer laughed. “She's the noisiest patient I've ever had. Calm down, now.”

“Then stop making me scre—AGH!”

“What do you expect?” Corvan asked. “If you didn't get yourself wounded in that battle, then you wouldn't be screaming like it's the end of the world.”

The whole room was ruled with silence for a moment before Valeriana suddenly started sobbing. The girl sniffed, tears pooling in her eyes. She looked at Corvan with hurt-filled eyes.

“That wasn’t my fault! Why do I have to be blamed for things I didn’t want to happen? Why the hell are you even here? Jerk.” she blubbered.

“Wha—” The lord's eyes went wide as he watched the girl in front of him break down in tears. His mouth hung open at the sight. His reaction never seemed as priceless.

“From the start, you've been a real pain. You're so rude and you keep making me feel like I'm lower than the ground,” she cried, sobbing violently. Her tears streamed down her face and stained her cheeks.

“S-stop crying! That's—” Corvan stumbled over his words.

Lord Aeron suddenly burst into laughter. “Ah, I see. Lord Corvan doesn't know how to handle a girl who has broken down crying.”

“T-that's because . . .” he trailed off and gulped audibly.

“Alright, enough. Perhaps this might cheer you up.”

“What is it?” She sniffed.

“Valeriana Kerrigan, you are now a student of this academy,” announced a teacher with light brown hair and rust-colored eyes.

A moment of silence passed. Valeriana's mood rocketed that she almost hopped out of the bed, if it weren't for her sprained ankle. She suddenly burst into a fit of cheers.

Corvan almost fell over in relief if it wasn't for Lord Aeron who patted him on the back comfortingly. “Who knew Lord Corvan has a weakness for crying girls?”

“That's not true,” he fervently denied.

Lord Aeron shook his head with a loose smile. “If you say so.”

“Also,” the teacher cleared his throat and continued. “The faculty agreed that the fight ended exactly right after the sword in Courtney's hand was cut in half. We consider the elemental attack as an act of defiance, and temporarily suspended Courtney.”

“I don't think it's really necessary to punish Courtney for that,” she told them.

“That's right,” Corvan agreed but then added bluntly, “She was really annoyed by your pesky attitude that she almost obliterated you.”

This guy! She huffed. She just finished crying and now he started again?

The girl glared at his direction while everyone else laughed. “Shut up. The one with the pesky attitude is you.”