Behind me someone throws up. The crown prince I think.

I'd probably be gagging at the smell if not for how shocked I feel.

Eve can't be dead right?

She just can't, because if she was dead... then what in the world would I do?

"Damn I didn't expect to kill a kid before the school year's even kicked off," says the filthy human that did this Eve.

There's no corpse down in the arena, just a few splatters of blood and specks of ashy dust.

Eve can't be dead. Someone can't just vanish like that.

I reach out on our bond, trying to feel her energy somewhere.

Instead I'm met with cold, nothingnesss.

Like I never had a bond in the first place. As if nothing ever even mattered.

I feel like I can't breathe. My chest hurts like something's carved out a massive hole in the middle of it.

"Well I might as well turn this into a teaching moment or something. Basically the move I did, Pulse, essentially first creates a bunch of debris when I blast the floor which actually usually kills everyone anyway. But that's where the trick comes in, I use magicraft and my battle mana to infuse the debris with my battle magic. Then I send out an energy blast in every direction, which again usually kills my opponent, sending the debris everywhere. At this point if the enemy has managed to survive like Eve, then I sneak attack them with a piece of debris planted near them. That managed to get her since nobody expects the debris to be turned into weapons," smirks the disgusting human, "Pretty neat huh? Anywhoo, that's why mana always beats magic beasts. It's why we magicians tame them, and why they aren't our equals."

I try to take a deep breath but I feel like no air is coming into my lungs.

I feel as if the truth is on the edge of my thoughts.

That Eve is...

That she...

But I can't admit it because if I do, I know I'll fall down into a hole I can't come back from.

Instead pure rage fills me.

I can't think about if Eve is alive or not I just can't handle it right now.

All I know is that the filthy human down in the arena needs to die.

Everyone needs to burn to the ground. This whole disgusting arena, city, anything, everything.

Flames burst from my hands and I lift my arm up, ready to incinerate the trash prattling on endlessly in the arena.

But then I feel it, and almost collapse.

A flicker.

A flicker on the other end of the bond.

And suddenly I can't breathe for a whole other reason. Because I'm afraid if I do then time will start again and I'll realize it was all in my head.

But no, I can feel her on the other end of the bond. I can feel her warmth, her distinct energy buzzing slowly back to life.

Then quickly, getting stronger, I can feel her again.

And it feels like the sun calling out to me, breaking from the clouds, and filling me with the warmth I needed.

It's then that I notice that the stone that Eve was holding before starts moving.

I lift that stupid rock off of me, tossing it to the side, where it cracks into two.

Thank Hal for my super healing abilities. I just didn't expect it to be this strong.

Above me people gasp and scream. Some girl faints, and I think the crown prince is... vomiting?

The teacher spins around, "You... you were dead!!" he says quickly backing up, looking as if he's seen a zombie (well I guess he sort of has).

"Not quite, you see you missed a couple drops of blood," I reply. From the stands Nyx throws me down his cloak, and I catch it. I wrap myself up in it sending him a smirk which he returns.

"Anyway I'm ready to keep on fighting. Although, I can't say the same for you," I say, "After all, mana has its limits. A big move like the one you just pulled, and I'm sure you're running low on your daily usable mana. Don't tell me you're going to start dipping into your stored mana now? It wouldn't even help you though. As you can see, your mana has limits, more limits than my physical abilities."

"So you're recommending I yield?" asks the teacher.

"Doesn't really matter much to me. Either you die or you give up now. I'm getting into the academy one way or another," I grin.

He lets out a laugh, "Fair enough. I yield. You have my blessing to attend the academy. And anyway, regardless of your low mana, if you can beat me, I reckon you're one of the strongest students applicants this school has ever seen in its entire history," he explains. "if they don't let you in then I'll resign myself! Wouldn't want to work at an institution that's out of their mind!"

"Are you sure you're not the one out of your mind? This is quite the turnaround of opinion on me," I reply.

"I get that a lot," he responds.

"EXCELLENT FIGHT TROOPERS!! EVE CALLISTO WINS THE FIGHT!!!" declares Professor Strongman, "AND NOW SINCE WE'RE ALL GATHERED HERE ANYWAY, THE HEADMASTER OF THE SCHOOL WILL MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!"

A tall man with a long white and grey beard and spectacles steps out. He has on a three piece tan suit complete with a pocket-watch.

"Hello incoming students and others! I am Headmaster Sackton and I have the honor of releasing the results of the the tests," the headmaster says, "Of course, I won't list out the results of everyone. I will release first the results of everyone through your invitations, then I will release the results of the top five students. We simply don't have time to get through everyone's rank and you'll do best to learn quickly that here at Rosewood Academy we don't have have the time for anyone but the best. If you'd like the results will be posted on the scoreboard in the student dining hall. Top 50 will be in the Elite Class. Now everyone please press on the stamp on you invitation."

I press on the stamp but nothing seems to happen. Around the room people start disappearing. I'm not sure if this is good or bad.

"I've just teleported away all the failed applicants back to the entrance where I'm sure all their carriages are waiting for them. Those who remain have passed the exams and are now students of the Rosewood Academy! Congratulations! And now I shall announce the top five students!"

Well at least I'm in. I've accomplished what I wanted. My hope is that I'm in the ordinary class but I suppose even if I'm in the elite class it isn't the end of the world, it will just my job much harder. Still it would've been better than getting disowned by the Callisto family which is almost a death sentence. I don't think it will happen though anyway since I just barely managed to pass the mana test.

"In fifth place, we have Finn of the Callisto Family. Excellent stored mana score of 5,339,898 and daily usable mana score of 1,458,969. His test score however lowered his ranking with a score of 62%. Please come down and stand over here," explains the headmaster gesturing to a spot next to him. Finn awkwardly climbs past people and

Sigh, this is why I told Finn to study more before the exam but he wanted to play too much! I guess I can't scold him though when he's scored so well though.

"In fourth place is Helen Hale. She got a stored mana score of 238,945 and a daily usable mana score of 56,900. Her test score was 89%," says the headmaster.

A girl comes onto the field. I can feel my breath hitch in my throat. This must be the protagonist of the story.

The female lead looks almost exactly what you'd picture a cliche female lead to look like. Although, I'm not surprised Hal lacks creativity like this.

I can't help but compare her appearance to mine. With her golden hair and doe eyed blue eyes compared to blood red eyes and silver hair, it doesn't make it difficult to pick out who the villain is. Not only that but even looking at our powers shows who would be the villainess. She has light magic, which I can't think of anything purer than that, whereas I've got vampirism and demon wings. Makes me wonder if Eve really ever even had a chance in the original game not to be a villain.

"In third, we actually have a tie between Prince Jackson and Theodore Bourbon. While they had similar magic scores, Prince Jackson scored higher for magic but Prince Theodore scored higher on the written exam which resulted in a tied score," says the headmaster.

Both the princes go up. I'm a little surprised since in the original I'm almost sure that Jackson and Theodore ranked the highest.

"In second place is Nyx of the Callisto family with the highest mana scores we've ever seen in history of 9,999,999 for each which really means we can't even measure how high it goes. He almost got first place the teachers held a meeting and decided to change the first place ranking do to some interesting circumstances," claims the headmaster.

"And finally, in first place we have Eve of the Callisto family. She single handedly beat our top mana professor who is also the top magician in the country. She also got a perfect score on the written exam," says the headmaster, "this year of a students is definitely our most accomplished and distinguished yet, and I'm proud to announce our first rank for now is Eve Callisto. Why don't you come on up here and give a speech?"

Well f*ck.

So much for not standing out.

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