“I’ll go first!” Eshya says, rushing ahead as I again question my luck in drawing this course from the sorting hat.

“Very well, pick up a weapon, any of these should be fine for you,” He gestures to a collection of what look to be training weapons. Oh, boy. The memories…

Wooden swords, staffs, bows, clubs, line the walls and shelves. While there’s nothing there I’d want to get hit with, there’s also nothing that I’d want to be bringing to a real fight.

I know that from experience.

“Is there a reason these weapons are all wooden and blunt?” I ask.

“There is,” Freid replies, “What do you think that reason is?”

“We have to play with the kiddy knives before we’re trusted with anything sharp?”

He shakes his head in exasperation.

“Mana control,” Eshya concludes lifting a wooden sword and examining it closely, “This wood makes it especially easy to manipulate the mana within it, or even infuse it with our own mana…”

“Exactly,” Freid says, “These weapons are perfect for beginners because of those qualities. It also forces you to utilize mana pressure differences rather than simply cutting or clubbing your way to victory without mind for it. You’ll eventually learn Skills to release mana in various forms of attack, but for now, we’ll see how you handle yourselves.”

It’s like throwing a kid in the deep end of the pool, but these kids just came back from getting dumped in the ocean, so…

It could be that he’s trying to instil in us proper fear and respect for fighting. It could be he wants to see how we react, and what skills we’re coming into this class with.

It could also be that he’s just the sort of shithead who enjoys watching kids drown.

Without any advice, or warnings, he leaves us to go seek out the other half of this battle. He disappears through an entrance on the other side of the arena, a few beastly cries echoing out in the brief moment that the door is open.

Eshya flicks her sword through the air a few times before exchanging it for another. Satisfied with the change, she offers a little wave to Vii and I. Her smile, bright and beautiful, but villainous the same, it sends shivers down my spine.

“Wish me luck.”

“Just remember the steps we’re supposed to take in this fight,” I tell her, trying to supress my worries.

She nods quite seriously.

“You’ve got this!” Vii cries her own support.

“Don’t worry for me. Be more worried for your own fights, I won’t take long at all.”

A few of the older students start to gather around, some bored, some curious, others with notepad and quill in hand, but none of them seem willing to show much more excitement than that. Unlike what I imagine the Colosseum to be like, everyone here is maintaining an impassionate expression.

Eshya walks slowly across the sand, facing forwards towards the gates soon to reveal her foe. She stops a quarter way across the arena, her stance wide and wooden sword held up near to her face.

The world feels at a standstill, a thick silence hanging over us as we all wait for the battle to start. Her golden hair drifts lazily, shining brilliantly as a god ray shines through the canopy above us and down upon her. I wish I had my phone to catch a photo of the scene.

The atmosphere is broken by the creaking of metal rising on mechanisms of magic. Slowly, a beast is revealed from the shadows of that steel grey gate.

I don’t quite know what it is that I was expecting to see, but this… isn’t it.

A flower, vibrant red with a bulb as big as a head comes rolling into the field. Tiny roots extend into the sands as it stops, opening its petals and taking in the light. A shifting, golden eyeball is revealed within, rolling about until it sees Eshya.

In a flash of movement, she charges at the beast, which is only barely fast enough to roll away. It’s an absurd sight, the roots tucked up nice and neatly as the red flower bulb rolls around like a wheel that’s fallen off at speed and has bounced its way into an inflatable castle at a kid’s party.

It bounces off of the walls and nearly up at the crowd until a student kicks it back down into the pit.

Eshya is quick to react, moving with the same dancing steps that I’ve seen from her when she’s at her best. She anticipates the flowers path and intercepts, lashing out with her wooden sword.

She grunts, more from the effort of holding back than the strike itself, and the beast lets out an awful shriek.

Her cut isn’t clean, tearing off only a pair of petals as the flower escapes her.

It pauses a few moments later after it has gained some distance, they stand opposite each other as if in a staring contest. I think the flower is going to win at that game though, its horrendous eye doesn’t seem like it can fully close anymore.

The standoff comes to an end as the flower starts building up in size, as if taking in a massive breath.

Without hesitation, Eshya charges, the sand pounding beneath her feet as she readies her sword for a thrust. I can tell that she’s holding herself back, likely to hide her true skill from the teachers and from Adler.

The flowers golden eye glows brightly as Eshya slams her sword into it, only a moment too late.

A puff of yellow particles flood over her, while her wooden blade sink’s part way into the eye. She held back in the last moment, afraid to kill the beast.

Eshya stumbles backwards, away from the spreading mist of yellow particles.

The flower retreats the opposite direction, it’s high-pitched shrieking just shy of painful even up here in the stands.

“Oh, that’s bad.” Says the older student beside me. He’s another of the skaleed; half-human, half-lizard.

“What is that?” I ask, wondering if I shouldn’t be jumping down there to pull her out as she walks like a drunkard towards the flower that’s slowly crawling away from her, it’s eye bleeding orange ‘blood’.

“It’s pollen is numbing.” He says without turning away, wincing a little as she falls to her knees.

“Isn’t that dangerous, it won’t stop her heart or anything like that?”

“You’re thinking of paralytics, this pollen only numbs,” He shakes his head, “In theory, she can move just fine. She just won’t be able to feel where anything is, or if her feet are even touching the ground.”

It would explain her current, failing attempts at standing.

“Shouldn’t we stop this, then?” I step nearer to the arena, ready to get down there and help her.

“No, only a teacher gets to decide when it’s been enough.” He says, as Eshya struggles.

I grit my teeth, readying to jump down there myself, when she turns a little and I catch a glimpse of her expression.

She’s smiling.

Fierce and dangerous. I can tell that she must be frustrated, but that smile isn’t a lie.

She’s… enjoying this.

Biting my tongue, I hold still and watch her, promising myself that I’ll join her down there the minute things get too dangerous.

The flower, already well wounded is now turned toward Eshya, watching her with a loose petal hanging down over its bleeding eye.

She doesn’t meet its gaze, closing her own eyes, and freezing, but it’s not surrender. Rather, it’s as if she’s regained her confidence. She straightens and lifts her sword toward the flower that she can’t see, and she takes her first blind step.

And she dances.

I can almost hear an orchestra playing in the stands beside me as she strikes forwards, blindly missing the flower, but completely unconcerned.

The flower doesn’t retreat, crawling forwards clumsily, it raises its petals and waves them about threateningly. Eshya, with her eyes closed doesn’t see and doesn’t seem to care.

She steps to the side, slicing at empty air before shifting around and slashing behind her, in completely the wrong direction. Still, she does so with such confidence that the beast seems hesitant to approach, likely seeing a trap that isn’t there.

This dance cannot go on forever, and after a few more moments the flower advances on her. Its petals lash out with cutting motions, aiming for her leg, and as I watch blood is spilt into the sands.

Eshya stumbles and falls, finally opening her eyes and thrusting at the beast, but her numb hands can’t quite land the blow.

“Fuck this.” I step up to the side of the arena, grab the rail and make sure the ground is safe to land.

“You shouldn’t.” Adler says from beside me, “It may look bad, but this is part of the lesson. Trust the teacher, trust us. Please.”

Eshya rolls onto her back as the plants small roots crawl up her leg. From so close she can’t lift her sword up to fight it properly anymore.

“It can’t kill her,” The student from before says, “Not quickly at least. She won’t die.”

“Adler,” I say her name as I watch Eshya’s confidence start to turn to panic. I leap over the railing and unsteadily land on the still wet sands of the arena.

“Take a good long look at yourself right now and tell me that you’re doing something good.” I say as she scrambles down after me, “That this is good. She could’ve killed it a few times already, but she held herself back for your rules. Now you want me to hold back and watch her suffer, again for your rules.”

I get to Eshya’s side and she quickly calms down, now that she’s no longer alone. She tries to say something but the numbing effect hasn’t yet passed, and all she can manage to do is make garbled sounds that even the translator can’t help with.

The flower is worried and now trying to retreat but it’s wrapped itself too tightly around Eshya and can’t move quickly enough. I grab it around the back and threaten it with a few sparks of fire which freeze it up.

“Do you actually believe that you’re a good person right now? Because to me you seem no different from Red. She pulled this exact same fucking stunt and she had better excuses.”

Eshya struggles to roll over and get her sword when she sees that I’m not finishing the beast. This is still her test, so the coup de gras is hers.

“Kyra… things are this way for a reason.” Adler says sounding unconvinced.

“A reason that can’t be known or questioned, I’m sure.” I reply.

Eshya tries to find her wooden sword but it’s beyond reach. She’s struggling even to stay up on her knees as she faces the creature that’s now squirming in my grip.

Looking down at her hands, she nods grimly before nodding to me. She flattens her hand and draws it back, breathing slow and deep for a few seconds before thrusting her hand out and into the flesh of the living eyeball.

It shudders and whimpers in my grip, but soon stops even that.

A sickening, squelching sound echoes off of the stone walls most unpleasantly as she pulls her hand from it’s now disfigured corpse.

Still, victory is no cure-all and she falls back into the sands.

“You did good.” I say, letting the corpse fall and moving over to support her instead.

“It’s just that you don’t trust us yet.” Adler says, clearly thinking quite hard to come to that conclusion, “In time you’ll trust us more.”

I’ve already pushed too far today. I can’t afford to blow up at her here.

“It’s not the first time a fight’s been interfered with, still I would ask you to avoid it in the future.” Freid says walking into the field, “You could have at least avoided damaging the eye, it’s quite valuable to alchemists.”

He hands over a small potion to me, waving at Eshya’s struggling form. She’s choking on her own spit, and having trouble not flopping herself out of my arms. It seems the poisons effect is getting worse.

“A cure?” I ask, doubtfully.

He nods, and I begrudgingly pop the lid and pour it into Eshya’s mouth. I sit her up to help keep her from breathing it in, but I needn’t have bothered. As soon as it’s down her throat it’s as if it’s already taking affect.

“Thanks for the support.” Eshya says when she gets her voice back, lolling her tongue around her mouth as the feeling seems to be returning, “I almost had it on my own, but…”

“I know, I was watching.” I say, pulling her up beside me.

“You needn’t have harassed Adler so much,” She hisses in my ear as we walk away.

“Sorry, I got worked up.” I reply, hesitantly, “I’ve gotten away with a lot of words so far. Maybe they won’t go after me just for saying these things?”

Honestly, it’s the uncertainty of what they’ll treat as acceptable and what will lead to me losing all freedom that makes it difficult. I’m somewhat familiar with the manipulation tactic from back on Earth.

There are no clear rules, and anything could be an offense. It’s all about spreading fear to make people self-censor, and it’s something that I deeply despise.

Outside the arena we come across an older student that runs a cleansing spell over us, before healing Eshya’s injuries.

“I don’t want to find out by having you sent into a facility where they strip you of everything that makes you special,” she says.

“I know, but I wasn’t going to watch that thing start eating you alive, or whatever the fuck it was about to do.” I reply, “I’m not letting something like that happen, no matter the risks.”

“Better that we both die, instead?” Eshya asks.

“Sure is.” I say without even needing to think about it, “I can’t imagine death is that bad, not compared to letting people you care about suffer and die.”

“I see…” Eshya says with a laugh, “I guess I was being the stupid one assuming you were being dumb.”

“To be fair, you have reason enough to make that assumption.” I say.

“You okay?” Vii asks as we make it back to the stands. She’s sitting there writing in her little red notebook again. “I was going to join in, but Kyra charging in and acting like the hero. I didn’t want to interfere.”

I can’t help but cringe at ‘acting like the hero’, but I try to contain the emotion at least.

“Next up, you. The harpy.” Freid calls out to us before we even have a chance to celebrate.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stats & Skills

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 123 units

~Mana distribution:

Skin: 21%

Muscle: 8%

Mind: 8%

Cardiovascular: 8%

Misc.: 3%

Efficiency: 48%

~Skills:

-Mana skin

-Mana shield.

-Mana surge strike

-Flame burst

-Fireball

-Infused Delayed Casting