A saw a flash fly before my eyes and the next thing I know was that I was laying on the cold hard ground being inhibited from moving by a girl with a Columbina mask. “Hey let go!!!” The level of her grip is strong in this one!!! I try moving any of my limbs, but none of them even budge. She is gonna help-she is gonna kill me-she is gonna kill me. I forgot about my clone for a minute and realized that I could get him to take her off of me. I drowned my clone with my magic.

“NOOOO-‘R’EEEEE-NOOOOO” Her arms encircles my body tighter.

Despite pouring so much she would not let go of me-wait…’R’eee? That sounds familiar…From afar I heard a voice from even further in the forest.

“ARIIIIIAAAAAAAANNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, WHEEEEEREE AAAARE YOUUUUU??!?!”

Shoot I am being surrounded. Clenching my teeth I growled “LET ME GOOO!!!!”.

*Bonk*

I was startled. “WHAT WAS THAT FOR???!!!” I felt rage building up in me…What I realized? She hit my head with a stick as if she was punishing a child.

“Bad ‘R’eeee” She looks down on me.

Awww kill me. “CLONE” I sent my clone to grab her off of me….That’s weird…I am getting tired all of the sudden. My clone who was carrying the girl disappeared. Did I use too much today?....

…

“nnnnn” Am I alright? AHHH A HEADACHE…painful. Taking a good look around I see I am surrounded by extravagantly covered walls and next to me is a girl that shoved me down….I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE…Across the room I see a window-NOWS MY CHANCE. I climbed off the bed and slowly crept near the window and slooooooooo-

“HALT, Rave!!! ” Next thing I know the window froze over. I turn around to see a shadow of someone in the door.

I quickly ready a few fire rings around my arm. “What do you want?” I put up a fighting stance.

“Calm down, Rave… It’s me Rosetta…Jeez you sure do value your freedom” A rumptious beauty walks in with a tray of food and places down on a desk. “Will you release your magic? After all you feinted after exhausting all of your magic power already.” She walks up to me and grabs my hand with both of her hands. “please” with an endearing face no person in the world can withstand.

Reluctantly…I released my fire rings. I still remain silent. I was quite surprised she still remembers…

“Thank you” she still holds on to my hand. “So now that you calm dow-RAVE!!”

For some reason I felt dizzy and the power in my legs seemed like it never existed. A second later I end up seeing the ceiling.

“Jeez Rave what exactly did you do to deprive your body of most of your magic power? Anyways just drink this tea it should help your body heal a bit” She brings my head up to the rim of the cup. “So what exactly were you doing in the forest? Isn’t that where the thrive in? I’m surprised you were even alive when we found you….” She looked depressed into deep thought for some reason.

“heh Just relax, I will have you know aren’t that threatening. In a way they are like us. If we are threatened we respond with violence. It’s the same with them. So just don’t mess with them. To answer your question, I was fishing” I relax a tiny bit, but I was still wary.

Snapping back into reality “Really? You weren’t hurt?” she looks at me intently.

“Yes I’m fine…what exactly were YOU doing in the forest?”

“I was looking for Ariana” she points towards the bed.

“Is she your sister or something?”

She gave me a confused look “You don’t remember? She was the kid we saved from the kidnappers….Rave? Rave are you alright?”

What in the…I thought she was a boy…and I pretty sure I remember…

“Rave!!!”

…that kid was pretty young…why is he…or she in a high school? AAHHH my head is starting to hurt!!! Suddenly I felt pain on my waist “AHHHHH WHY’D YOU KICK ME!!”

“CAUSE YOU DIDN’T REPLY.” Her cheeks puff up.

“alright, alright I’m sorry So he-I mean she was the little blind kid we saved from the kidnappers, why is in the same grade as we are?”

“Well apparently she has a very high amount of potential magic ability once we got her results. So we basically taught her everything we could and well…became a prodigy” Her face shows a slight case of jealousy and a bit of pride.

I stumble while I got up from the floor“….Listen I’m gonna go, and tell Airi I said ‘Hi’ alright? It was nice seeing you, Rosetta.” with that I open the window that I was stealthily melted the ice from beforehand. I thought I heard Rosetta say something, but I was moving too far to hear a word.

I was jumping roof to roof for a while still reminiscing today. “Man this is a strange start to a weekend.” Furthermore I am under a contract with her father…

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Elsa dueling someone in the courtyard surrounded by a crowd. “Hmmm what is this about?...” Noticing Harrison in the crowd I walked up next to him. “Hey Harrison, wanna catch me up on whats going on?”

“I think Elsa is dueling Mildred, nephew of the king, who is currently rank 431/5000, its an obvious win” Harrison was sure Mildred had won before the duel even started. I nudged at him for more information. “apparently Mildred insulted Elsa’s lineage for being descendants of demons. Apparently Mildred thinks Elsa relative are supplying the poor with weapons that will revolt against the king. Elsa responded by…well that” he points at the duel.

A conspiracy theory huh… I rub my forehead at the low temper of Elsa. I swear she gets mad at every little thing. This morning her servants served her soup with bread and she spot a little burnt part and she threw a tantrum. Just as the duel began a teacher appears as a witness to the duel.

“Today’s duel if filed by Else Syte against the nephew of the king MILDRED” the teacher puts and emphasis on on the name Mildred and the crowds ‘oohed’. “The duel will determine which will become the servant of the other and the loser must follow every direction without complaint. The winner is determined by whoever’s body hits the ground first.”

So this battle was a result of Elsa’s desire to protect her dignity and honor. My forehead was getting rub burns just by thinking about it. I look at Mildred who has a suspicious grin and his eyes wanders intently at Elsa.

The announcer continues “LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE.”

Elsa starts protruding ice from the ground under Mildred, she smiles in pride. Mildred was now completely surrounded by ice. As Elsa begins to spawn an huge block of ice on top of him, Mildred punches the ice wall and starts charging forward. Suddenly Before Elsa even got a chance to react, Mildred disappeared and reappeared in front of Elsa and had his sword right next to her neck and acted as is he was going to kill right then and there. Elsa who was left speechless tripped over a pebble. The battle was over before it even started. Many people were disappointed there weren't anything spectacular, but they stayed for the bet, otherwise known as drama.

“THAT’S THE END OF THE MATCH, THE WINNER OF THE 12 SECOND MATCH IS MILDRED” Elsa was still on the ground. I couldn't hear anything but Mildred appeared in front of Elsa, smiled, and told her something. In response Elsa's eyes bulged out on the verge of tears. Mildred then walks up to the announcer and whispers him something. The announcer still continues “DOES ANYONE WISH TO TAKE PART OF THE BET AND FACE THE WINNER?!?!? RESPOND NOW IF YOU WISH OR ELSA WILL BE PLACED INTO THE STOCKS.” Everyone gasped

I don’t know how to respond to a sister who was about to be placed into the stock. As I was thinking this someone bumped into me and handed me a paper. I looked around for the person who bumped into me but he was nowhere to be found. I opened the folded paper and it said “’Duel against Mildred’ signed by ‘your contract’? Damn these nobles and their so called honor. As I reluctantly started to raise my hand

“Hey Raven, what’re you doing?!?! You can’t win!!!” Harrison tried to bring my arm down.

I closed my eyes and ears “AYE I WILL STAND FOR ELSA” . All I was thinking was how I will exact my revenge against Duke Sytesque.

Announcer was surprised “I BE-BELIEVE WE HAVE SOMEONE TO STAND FOR ELSA…APPARENTLY” The whole crowd was at first speechless then everybody laughed some commented. “The freshman?” “it’s the last thousand ranker” “Who is he? I never heard of him” Elsa on the other hand ran away crying. Announcer continues “THE NEXT DUEL WILL COMENCE 168 HOURS FROM NOW, 150 HOURS FROM NOW WE WILL ADD NEW CONDITIONS THAT WILL BE DISCUSSED BETWEEN THE TWO DUELERS or you know the champion and the victim” with that everybody laughs and leaves the battlefield.

Mildred from afar starts walking towards me. “OI OI OI, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING LITTLE BOY”. By the time he finished talking his face was centimeters away from my face. The only thing that went across my mind was…how smelly his breathe was. “ SAY SOMETHING KID” He starts shoving me over and over, but my balance learned from jumping roof to roof allowed me to still stand. His friend yelled from afar yelled out “OI Don’t break him now, he’s gonna lose anyways” all his friends responded in snickers. Mildred turned back to me “Be prepared you little scum, get ready for the pain of a lifetime.” He turns back to his friends and they all leave.

From the alleyways Harrison appears “Dude you alright? My bad Raven I chickened out” Well being confronted by someone who is in the top 500, I don’t blame him.

“Yeah…I’m fine. I just hope I come out alive next week” before I turned around and I see Harrison grab my shoulders.

“Are you crazy, Raven?” he looks at me with a worried face.

“I am honestly considering that I probably am” I joked to try and calm my friend down “Cmon let’s go home, alright? And don’t worry about it”

Once we got home I told him that I forgot my fishing gear in the forest and I need to grab it-it was an excuse to leave to be honest. I was actually headed to the office of Duke Sytesque…Damn you Duke, You better have a good reason

I put on my mask and I landed on the border of his window “Why exactly did you make me fight someone that I had no chance against?” I was at that point clenching my teeth.

He slowly responds slowly “As a noble I do not want-no, I cannot allow any of my family be shamed in public. If we are publicly shamed, do you know what the king will do to me? He will strip me of my duties as the Secretary of Defense as a unworthy noble who can’t keep my family under control. If I can’t keep control of my family’s action then I will be unfit to rule the national guards. I can not allow that to happen. Do you understand now, Rave? Now you will either do as I say or I will cut the contract we made in concerns to your old town ‘Aries’. Now leave and win under any circumstance. And under no circumstance you defile my reputation, understood?”

Hesitantly I replied “Un-derstood” I left to the forest. To release my frustrations I started punching the trees in the forest. I am forced into a fight I can’t even win in. I kept punching the tree until I was exhausted. I saw my marks all over the bark of the tree. I kept going at it until..i passed out…

…

“uhhhh” I get up to the morning sun…I slowly got up and dragged my feet to the library. I need to do some research on Mildred. I kept replaying the duel between Mildred and Eris in my head over and over in my head…questions appeared like “How did he disappear?” “How did he teleport or was he that fast?” “How was he easily able to destroy the ice of wall casted by Eris so easily?” These questions taunted me. Damn you Duke, this is a tough task you are asking of me. I chuckled a bit.

Once I got to the library, I noticed Ms. Theades sitting on the table. I decided to stay away from her cause I was not in the mood. As I turn around-

“Oh Rave, is that you?”

Damn it she found me. “It is indeed so, do you need anything?”

“Yes become my apprentice!!!” She looks at me with a glare of a tiger.

Man this women is persistent. “Sorry I’m still deciding.”

She looked disappointed“I see… are you looking for something?”

“Just looking for some videos of old duels on Mildred.” I started rummaging through the shelf of recordings.

“I’m guessing you are looking for a way to counter Mildred, I suppose?” she read my mind. “If you are I can just tell you a few things about him.”

“Why exactly would you help me?” She is NOT the type of person to help anyone. Something suspicious going on here….

“Not for many reasons” she gave a innocent face suddenly it turned into a devil in a split second “although…he did choose to be a coach’s apprentice instead of mine when I asked him.” Suddenly a illusion of a winged demon appeared behind her…Frightening.

Man looking at the shelf of recordings…it’s gonna take me the whole month to go through all of these. Looks like I have no choice. I sat across from her on the table. “Alright tell me what you know!”

“…Has anyone ever tell you, you are quite rash? Well anyways that’s not the point” She pauses. “The point is you can’t beat him…like no chance….nada.”

“Has anyone told you, you are blunt with your words?” Man she could’ve at least sugarcoated it. “So I have no chance, Doesn’t Mildred have some kind of weakness? Or exploits? Anything at all!?!?!” I just realized my voice escalated a lot higher…Man I am surprisingly desperate.

“No although now that I think about it he does lack in magic abilities, however he has already found many ways to cover that up with his own strength and agility alone. Besides it seems you never have dueled before, Mildred on the other hand has already have years of experience, I highly doubt you can surpass him in just a week.”

Damn she’s got a point. What exactly can I do? Even Elsa wasn’t able to put a dent in him. I’m on my wits end. Then I remember the day I first took Ms. Theades class. “Ms. Theades, I remember some of you students talk about some skill you had that made a guaranteed win, what exactly is it?” I was waiting in anticipation for an answer to this conundrum. The atmosphere suddenly becomes heavy. Shoot did I cross the line?

“Why exactly should I tell you my skill? I will not teach to anyone who just wants to use it merely for power and dominance. And what exactly would I get out of this whole…ordeal.” Unlike the time she threw a tantrum in the middle of the class, she was…a bit more calm.

Man I knew she wouldn’t hand it over just like that. I guess I have to negotiate with her. “How about this, if I can utilize your skill to my advantage-you don’t even have to teach me- to beat Mildred, I…will be your apprentice and I promise that I will not cancel my apprenticeship no matter any circumstance.” This is a hard part for me cause I heard bad rumours about how Ms. Theades has worked her apprentices to the edge of life.

She ponders for a minute and looks up at me “You say I don’t need to teach you, correct? How desperate are you to win against Mildred?”

“Every drop of my blood, but ONLY if I am able to utilize your skill to my advantage in the duel.” I quickly reply.

“Hmmm that is quite the offer you bestow to me” She probably starts weighing the pros and cons. “Fine I shall accept your generous offer” She looks at me with-what I could tell- a devilish grin. She sits right next to me and started whispering in my right ear what her ability was.

Damn…wish I knew that before I entered this contract. What have I gotten myself into… “Alright I realized that the ‘big cost’ is …quite huge, but..”I have never thought I would be this desperate just to beat someone and keep my contract intact ”at this moment I am willing to break every bone and lose every ounce of my blood to succeed”…unfortunately.

She smiles “I guess I’ll take my leave, we shall see each other when you and Mildred work out the details ta-ta~” she waves goodbye with her back turn towards me.

I started working out all the detail and circumstance for the next duel. The meeting is in…5 days from now. Alright time to prepare…

…

“OI OI OI your death is near scum, start digging your grave” Mildred bumps his fist together. I stay silent. Me, Mildred, and the announcer who will be watching over the duel were all sitting on the table. Ms. Theades is standing behind me. Of course Elsa was there sitting on the table looking down on her table feeling depressed.

The announcer speaks “Alright the right to choose either ‘what the winner gets and loser gets’ or ‘the conditions of the battle’ goes to the person who was asked to a duel, which would be Mildred, the nephew of the King himself”

Mildred beams a smile “What the winner and loser gets.” The announcer gets out a notepad and Mildred continues speaking “I believe the winner shall have his way with Elsa of the ‘Demon lineage’ in bed.” A wicked grin stays firm upon his face. (Author: Before I continue I should let you know, do NOT expect anything ‘Mature’ out of this Fanfic). I look at Elsa to see her hug her own body in a attempt to protect herself.

“o-ok” The announcer seemed he was about to object, but it seems his fear of Mildred outweights his job. Without even looking at me in the eye “Rave, do you accept these terms? If so, you may continue to place conditions for this duel”

Elsa stares at me “I accept the terms” Elsa’s eyes began to bulge and begun to cry-soon after she runs away…probably to her dorm room. I predicted such reaction. “The conditions I set is whoever can outlast the other consciously by 10 seconds is the winner -and one more things… I will also allow each of us to bring another person into the duel that will not take part in the be.”

Announcer writes everything down “ That should do it. Both of you please sign this paper in acknowledgment of the duel, the regulations, and the conditions set. And both of you shake hands on it.”

Following the instructions of the announcer Mildred and I signed the paper and both of us shook our hands. When I shook his hands, the pressure he put on my hands by squeezing suddenly felt like my hand was crushed by a huge boulder and I look up to see his face that I read as ‘You are dead meat, scrub’