Duelcrest Academy

After opening the door of the courtyard, I peered cautiously into the corridor. Part of me expected to see a student with demonic features waiting in ambush, ready to pounce. But, of course, there was none.

"Skylark just said the curse doesn't leave any visible traces, Elizabeth, you idiot..."

Something also told me that this whole affair was not going to be as straightforward as the last big battle.

"Since we don't have to kill each other, the school building probably won't turn into a battlefield. Hastily passing the curse around isn't really a good idea anyway... things should be pretty quiet at least until tomorrow."

Still, I walked through the classroom corridor very cautiously. Ideally I wanted Sophia to be the first person I met. It was quite possible that I had overlooked something about the rules of this strange "game of tag". And who better than my extremely smart girlfriend to make me understand that? After all, it wouldn't have been the first time that a hidden meaning behind Skylark's words had turned everything I assumed upside down.

"But… where should I go? She has probably been ported to a random room like I was... maybe I should go to our room and see if we can meet up there."

I was certain the protective barrier around our quarters had been deactivated. After all the "tag" part of this game would’ve been pretty much a dud if we could just safely hide inside our rooms. Without any other idea, I kept moving towards the west wing of the school but, as I got closer to the entrance hall, I stopped when I heard a serie of voices.

«... we lost them. The tall one with red hair, Winslow, she’s way too good…» wheezed a girl's voice, seemingly out of breath.

«I see,» a boy replied camly.

«Why don't we all go together and see if we can find where they hid?»

«No, Andrea. Catching them while they were still separated was our only chance. If we can’t even handle Winslow, running into Thornton or Fitzroy would be very bad news.»

Hearing Nicole's, Sophia's and Celeste’s family names in quick succession, instantly set off an alarm bell in my head.

"What is going on…?"

From the sound of it, these two students had a bone to pick with out with our alliance. But why?

"Are they… working for Skylark?"

I sneaked with my back to the wall, trying to make as little noise as possible, and peeked into the large room around the corner. There were six people in there, not two. Andrea, the student I had heard talking, was leaning against the handrail of the stairs, a hand to her chest as she was catching her breath. In front of her was a tall, lanky boy with pale skin and messy tufts of raven hair.

"That's Samuel Rover, I think... the guy just below Sophia on the leaderboard."

We'd never spoken and I didn't know much about him. From the duels I had seen him in, he seemed quite skilled, but that was about it. Near the couple, another student lay on the floor, his head resting on the knees of another rather chubby boy whose face I could not see clearly. Finally, sitting shoulder to shoulder on the steps were Jen Corbain, the last student in the rankings, and her friend Annete Walker, both looking like they'd rather be in their rooms right now.

"Are they all allied like us?"

Maybe they thought we'd tried to crush them during this game and wanted to take the initiative.

«If you come with us this time Sam... with your power we can catch at least one of them and then...» the girl called Andrea started to speak again.

«I told you before, I have no intention of using it against them,» Samuel Rover cut her off.

«But...»

«My decision is final,» he interrupted her again, but then he put a hand on her cheek and continued in a softer voice, «I know you did your best, Andrea. Don't worry, we'll find another way for all of us to survive this. For now, let's get John to the infirmary. It's probably nothing but it would be better to have him checked out. A blow to the head can be dangerous.»

I had to quickly hide before he could see me peering from the corner.

"Damn... they'll be coming this way. Should I run away?"

Since they were dragging their wounded companion, I could've probably outrun them.

"But... the corridors of the east wing are long and straight with no good place to hide."

If they'd seen me before I turned a corner, it could have been bad news. I'd have been cornered with nowhere to run.

But what was the alternative? Facing five people head on?

For some reason I felt something inside me light up. I knew this feeling very well, although it had been a long time since I had felt it: excitement. It had been a while since I had fought seriously against one of my classmates. In fact it had been since before I had fought Aldric. Maybe facing him had completely dulled my sense of danger.

I knew it was stupid, but as much as reason told me to run, I didn't move.

"Me against five students... compared to Aldric, it doesn't sound so bad."

But the voice of reason, which sounded oddly similar Sophia's, spoke again:

"This Samuel dude seems to have an innate power, and perhaps his companions do too!"

"They couldn't even defeat Nicole! I'm much stronger than her!"

It wasn't just my urge to duel. I was also curious: Samuel Rover didn't sound very enthusiastic about the prospect of facing off against my allies. But why were he and his friends trying to pick a fight with us, then? Were they working with the Headmaster, as I had immediately thought, or was there another reason?

As I heard a sound of footsteps, I understood my reckless side had again won against the rational one.

So I went out into the open, wand in hand, ready to respond to any attacks that might come my way. The atmosphere in the entrance hall changed immediately as I came face to face with my classmates.

«Fuck! It's Belvoir!» exclaimed the girl called Andrea, moving her blonde bangs out of her eyes as she pulled her wand from its holster. But before she could utter a single spell, I aimed at her right hand and yelled:

«Sonic Boom!»

Her wand immediately flew out of her hand and hit the wall. I had deliberately held back the power of the spell so as not to hurt her, but it was still strong enough to make her fall backwards on her butt.

"Opsiee."

But I had not time to apologize. The guy who had been helping the student called John had laid his friend down on the floor and thrown a fireball in my direction, as had the two girls on the stairs.

"Should have mixed it up a bit" I thought as I neutralised the three spells at once with a single water barrier.

I was about to counterattack when someone shouted:

«STOP!»

I turned to see Samuel Rover waving his hands desperately in front of him.

«Stop!» he exclaimed, «Stop, please. We don't want to fight, we just want to talk.»

«Uh?»

I looked at him in confusion. Was this some kind of diversion tactic? But, to my surprise, his companions immediately lowered their wands. Taken aback, I decided not to cast the spell I had already thought of. Instead, still on alert, I asked in a sarcastic tone:

«Just talk? Sure, you think I'm going to fall for that?»

Sam, who seemed very relieved that I was at least willing to hear him out, shook his head:

«I'm serious, I'm not trying to trick you or anything. I really just want to talk to you... Elizabeth, may I call you that? I'm Samuel, but you can call me Sam like everyone else,» he said, holding out his hand. He quickly pulled it back when a few sparks shot out of my wand. So he stood back and gave me an awkward smile.

"What's with this guy?"

I couldn't detect any malice in his slightly childish face or his calm tone. If he was acting right now, he was damn good at it.

"But then..."

«So how does 'just talking' fit in with you wanting to catch one of my friends?» I replied, ignoring his question.

Sam's eyes widened slightly and his pale cheeks quickly turned pink.

«Oh, you heard that part... it sounds bad, doesn't it? Eh, eh,» he chuckled nervously, scratching his head, but quickly turned serious and continued, «I swear we didn't really mean to hurt any of you. It's just... complicated.»

"He didn't mean to hurt us..." I thought, staring at Sam's smiling rover face. I didn't know why, but there was something about this guy that made me want to trust him. But I quickly shook my head:

"Maybe his innate power is charming me or something. "

«Complicated, eh? Let me guess, one of you has the curse and wanted to pass it on to one of my friends, or maybe you wanted to steal their cards,» I countered, my wand still pointing at his chest.

«I can see why you are suspicious, but... why would we do that? The game has only just begun, to pass the curse now and possibly incur the retaliation of your alliance would hardly be beneficial to us. As for the cards, we really have no way of knowing who has what at the moment. So...»

«Then why? Why were you after Nicole?» I cut him off.

Sam seemed to hesitate at this direct question for the first time:

«A-as I told you, I-I know it sounds bad, but... we were looking for a bargaining chip,» he said in a low voice.

«A... bargaining chip?» I repeated, confused.

Sam looked uncomfortable, but after nodding to the chubby guy on his right, he replied:

«In this game, trusted allies are the most important thing... and your alliance is half the student body. If we are to get out of this alive, we need a way to deal with you. Even though we are numerous... you are much stronger than us so...»

«You were going to take a hostage,» I finished for him scornfully, «so this is your idea of 'barganing'.»

Sam seemed even more embarrassed and looked down at the ground:

«I understand how it looks, but it's the only way.»

«The only way? What a load of rubbish. Do you know what Skylark is doing right now? Laughing under his stupid moustache. Pitting us against each other is exactly what he wants! You seem to understand that working in a group is the right idea. So why are you working against us instead of trying to cooperate?» I interrupted him again.

I expected Sam to look at me with sufficiency and hit me with a 'don't be naive'. But that didn't happen. Instead, the boy seemed surprised by my words and remained silent with a confused look on his face. It was his friend Andrea, now back on her feet, who broke the silence.

«Don't let this hypocritical bitch bully you, Sam... you're too nice as usual,» she snapped, standing in front of him and pointing her wand at me.

«Hypocritical... bitch?!», I repeated.

I was too shocked by that outburst to even get angry at the insult this girl had just thrown at me.

"I mean... she's not wrong about the first part but... I never even talked to this girl! Is she pissed because I knocked her down?"

«Don't be like this, Andrea. I think there might be a misunderstanding,» Sam said, pushing her behind him and giving me a meek smile.

"What's his problem...?"

Against my better judgement, I lowered my wand a little.

«What do you mean by misunderstanding?» I asked, confused.

«You see... I agree with everything you said, that's why I already asked your friend Fitzroy if we could be part of your alliance and she's the one who refused.»

«Huh?»

This time it was me who looked at him with my mouth half open. What he was saying didn't really make sense. Of course, I had stayed in the courtyard for a bit, but...

«Are you telling me that between the start of this event and now, you managed to talk to Celeste, team up with your allies and then hunt down Nicole? It's only been 5 minutes at the most!» I asked, raising an eyebrow.

But Sam shook his head again:

«I spoke to Fitzroy about a week ago, the day after the dungeon trial to be exact.»

"What?!"

Of course, I was in the infirmary at the time, but there was no way Sophia wouldn't have told me about something like this.

"Could it be... that she doesn't know either?"

But then... why didn't Celeste talk to us about it?

«I see this is news to you,» Sam commented, looking at my expression.

"Shit."

There was no reason to lie at this point.

«It is. I'll have to talk to Celeste about it,» I said, lowering my wand further.

«I see... do you think she'll reconsider?» Sam asked after a short pause.

«I don't know. If she refused, she must have her reasons,» I replied.

As much as I was irritated by the situation, I still trusted Celeste's judgement.

"Maybe she knows something about Rover that I don't. But I really wish she wouldn't hadn't kept me in the dark. Now I can see why this Andrea girl was angry with me!"

«You may be right. She seems like a capable leader to me,» he replied with a small nod, «but... Elizabeth, would you consider staying here with us and waiting for her to come and talk to you? I think you could help us convince her that fighting together is the best option.»

I saw his hand drop to his wand, still in its holster.

I sighed.

"So it comes down to this. I was kind of pumped about it, but right now I'd rather avoid hurting this guys... even though she called me a bitch."

«You want me to be your hostage?» I replied, preparing myself for battle.

Instead of making excuses, Sam looked me straight in the face again with a bitter smile:

«Yes. We're pretty desperate right now, Elizabeth. As I said, we have no hope of beating your group in a straight fight. It really pains me to use these methods, but I have to do what is best for my friends, would you consider surrendering without a fight?» he asked, his wand now ready in front of him.

He seemed genuinely saddened by this development, but my arm remained firmly in front of me. I had friends to protect too, and allowing myself to be captured could have put us at a disadvantage in the game of tag. There was also something that didn't add up. Why did Celeste refuse Rover's request to cooperate? From what I could tell, he seemed like a good guy. And that had been enough for her in the past to let people join our group.

"I need to know the whole story."

«I'm afraid I can't do that. I'll talk to Celeste and see if I can persuade her to reconsider,» I replied, my voice as firm as my hand.

«I understand. Then we have no choice but to use force. Andrea, you know what to do. Ian, you handle the defence. Jen, Anne, I'll need you two to help.»

The awkward boy with the nervous smile in front of me had completely vanished. Perhaps, like Sophia, Sam Rover had a switch that turned him into a steadfast commander when the situation demanded it. As I was being surrounded, I looked into my opponent's determined face and asked:

«You seem to be a pretty tight-knit group. Have you fought together for long?»

I was curious, but I also wanted to buy some time to work out a strategy.

"That couple on the stairs seems pretty weak, I should be able to ignore them. The chubby guy will be on the defensive, if I crush him first, I should have an easy time handling the rest."

«Since the battle. We've never really hidden our cooperation, but I guess when you're on a pedestal, it's hard to notice the people below you.»

Those words interrupted my planning.

"On a pedestal? Who does he think I am?"

But I quickly calmed down. There was no contempt in Sam's voice, in fact I could hear a certain admiration coming from him. He was probably just trying to provoke me.

«You should get your unconscious friend out of here or he might get hurt,» I said after a moment's silence.

Sam gave a small smile:

«That's exactly why we're not moving him. The rules say you can't kill, remember?»

"...Cunning bastard."

I had fully intended to blow up the whole entrance hall to get out of this conundrum, but of course I couldn't risk doing that with a defenceless person lying in here.

"But... does he really think I would do something like that if it were not for the rules?"

From the looks between fear and resentment from his other allies, it seemed I wasn't very popular in their little group.

"If they think I'm a jerk, I might as well play the part."

«I see, you're not very confident, are you? Having to use underhanded tactics when you're already 5v1,» I taunted Sam, ready to react to any sudden movements.

«I'm just giving you the respect you deserve, after all you were ready to fight us from the start. I can see it in your face, even though you are outnumbered you are sure you will win, aren't you?»

"Crap..."

I had been smiling, I had just realised that.

"And I have the nerve to call Celeste a thrill-seeker."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jen waving her wand. At the same time, Sam rushed forward, drawing his sword in one fluid motion.

«Fireball!» I heard two female voices shout to my right as Sam Rover, after muttering something, dashed towards me at supernatural speed.

«Water Shield!»

A huge barrier of water shielded me from the spells as I swapped my wand to my left hand while drawing my blade. Before Rover's slash could hit me, my weapon was there to intercept it.

«Shock Absorption!» I shouted just before the impact.

Sam didn't seem surprised when his powerful strike was easily blocked by my glowing blade. He shifted his sword to the right and prepared to lunge at my side.

"Even with a speed buff, he's far too predictable."

I dodged to the left and prepared to swing at his defenceless shoulder:

«Stone shield!»

My blow was blocked by a piece of rock that the guy called Ian had conjured up. At the same moment, the girls on the stairs shouted again:

«Fireball!»

«Lightning Bolt!»

"Looks like they learned not to use the same element. Guess I'll take a leaf out of good old Chloe's book."

«Mana shield!»

Their spells fizzled in mid-air as Sam slammed his hand to the ground:

«Stone Spike!»

«Typhoon!» I used the wind spell to propel myself into the air just in time before the stone spike erupted at my feet.

«Mana Shield!» yelled Sam, managing to avoid being thrown off balance by my spell. As he did so, his sword suddenly left his hand and flew towards me at high speed.

"So he can doublecast as well."

«Stone Shield!» I shouted as I reactivated the mana barrier to protect me from new spells coming from the stairs.

As the stone barrier shattered, I saw Sam charging towards me again. He caught his sword in the air and was soon on top of me, ready to pounce.

"Relentless..."

«Typhoon!» I shouted again, trying to get some distance.

But before I could fly away, something suddenly forced me to the ground.

"What the..."

Lowering my eyes, I saw that something that looked like a vine had wrapped itself around my foot and was slowly climbing up my leg, gripping it in a steel grip.

"Ouch!"

But there was no time to think about the pain: Sam's blade was coming down on me.

«Fire-»

«Watershield!» his ally shouted before I could even finish.

«Fuck it!... Phase shift!»

I let out a quick sigh of relief as Sam's slash pierced my arm, passing through without causing any damage. At the same time, I extended the spell to my leg, freeing myself from the vine's grip.

Almost in slow motion, I saw a slight look of surprise on Sam's face and understood that I had an opening. But we were so close that a strong spell would've hurt me too. Then I had an idea:

«Strength!» I shouted.

My opponent seemed to have guessed what I was up to and yelled:

«Stone Shield!»

The stone barrier instantly shattered against my fist. My blow struck his chest. I heard his ribs crack as I sent him flying.

«SAM!»

I turned my eyes to the girl called Andrea to see her running towards his motionless body. A strange looking flower was sprouting where she had just stood, its roots stretching across the ground like snakes.

"So that's what grabbed me before, it must be her innate power."

But that wasn't a problem now. I turned my attention to Ian, who was now alone. The duo's weak spells on the stairs fizzled against my Mana Shield again.

"I should finish this quickly, better save some mana for later."

I quickly began to bombard Ian with a wide variety of spells that quickly proved too much for his barriers. It wasn't even a minute before he was knocked out by a rather powerful bolt of lightning.

"Now the two on the-"

But before I could turn around, I saw something move to my left.

"Is Andrea-"

«Dark Lash!»

I barely had time to hear Sam's voice shouting that strangely named incantation as a giant shadow erupted in the entrance hall.

"What the...?!"

«Firewhirl!» I shouted, coming to my senses before a huge mass of darkness engulfed me.

A roaring tornado of flames surrounded me, just as the light in the room seemed to vanish in an instant. I saw my fiery barrier tremble and shake, and had to strengthen it several times before I felt the abyss recede around me. Finally, as my spell ended, I stood unharmed in the now dark entrance hall.

"What... the hell was that?!"

There was only one explanation, but it made no sense.

After all, dark spells were something that humans should never be able to cast. They devoured everything they touched like ravenous beasts. There was no way the human body could handle mana with such properties. That was why I had never seen one in action, in fact I had only read about them in books about their natural users: demons.

"..."

All the torches on the walls had been extinguished, as had the huge chandelier in the ceiling. I quickly lit them. Sam was standing now. Andrea was by his side, her hand on his chest and a worried look on her face.

«So you knew the fire was the counter, I'm not surprised,» Sam said in a strangely cold tone.

«Counter? Not really. I just used brute force against it. Only light spells can really deal with demonic magic,» I replied, looking at him warily.

«That used to be the case. But Aldric has somehow shown that heroes aren't needed anymore. Strong magic is enough,» Sam replied with a slight smile.

"Who... is this guy?"

I had already guessed, but now it was obvious that there was more to him than met the eye.

«Are you a demon?»

My question seemed to surprise Rover, who looked at me with his eyes wide open before chuckling:

«Wow, you are really direct!»

«People have said that to me before. Answer my question.»

«I'm not. But I won't blame you if you don't believe me.»

As Andrea moved her hand away from him, I saw what looked like a tiny flower attached to his chest. Whatever it was, it seemed to have healed him of all the damage I had done to him.

"Not a demon... then could it be something to do with the Demon card? But Skylark didn't say anything about it giving you powers. So... could this be about the innate power he didn't want to use?"

If that was the case, I could understand why.

«Were you trying to kill me?» I asked.

I glanced behind me. Jen and Annette had lowered the wand and seemed very frightened by what had just happened.

«Not at all. I know it looked a bit scary, but it would've just knocked you out for a while. I had to take my chance as it seemed things could get dangerous if we continued.»

«Dangerous, huh? Well, I'm afraid it didn't really work out, did it?» I replied.

Despite my cocky tone, I was a little worried.

"Dark magic... I'm not looking forward to facing it."

The ability to consume everything it hit was frightening to say the least.

"But maybe it's like he said. I'll do what Aldric did and completely overwhelm him with my spells."

To be honest, I felt great. I didn't know why, but ever since my trip upstairs, I could feel my mana flowing seamlessly inside my body. Every spell was coming out of my wand as naturally as a breath. I had even been able to cast a buff spell strong enough to send a big guy like Sam flying.

I looked at him with a defiant expression on my face:

«Looks like you're going to have to do better than that.»

But Rover didn't return my smile this time, instead he sighed:

«That's what I said, Andrea, if we couldn't deal with Winlow, we have no hope against this kind of monsters. And I must say, Elizabeth, you are much scarier than I thought.»

"Strange words from someone who just used demonic magic."

But I couldn't help blushing as I saw him pick up his sword from the ground.

«I haven't shown you half of what I can do.»

"Why am I so weak when it comes to compliments?"

«I thought I could overpower you in melee combat, but you are much better at it than I am.»

«I had a good teacher. So are you going to let me go? Or are you going to throw some more demonic crap at me?»

Rover turned to his blonde friend with a serious look on his face.

«Andrea, go all out. I'll try to end this in one strike.»

«Roger, leader.»

Before the girl could move, I quickly launched two huge fireballs at her, but Sam quickly blocked them. At the same time, I heard quick footsteps behind me. I turned to parry Jen's blade and block Annette's with a stone shield.

«Move!» I heard Andrea yell from behind me. My two followers quickly jumped back.

As they did, I quickly saw something tumbling at my feet.

"Are those... seeds?!"

«Phase Shift!» I barely had time to shout before a jungle of vines erupted around me. I quickly tried to run away from them, but the living plants seemed to be able to follow me.

"She's trying to wait for my spell to run out!"

Fortunately, I had no trouble keeping it active, but mana consumption was going to be a problem.

"And the moment I get out of Phase Shift, Sam will try to strike me down... but I won't go out easily like that!"

«Fire Whirl!» I shouted, doublecasting it.

A fiery hell erupted around me, much stronger than I thought. Even though I still had Phase Shift active, my second spell didn't seem to have lost any power. But even as the vines were being incinerated, I could see them growing back at my feet.

"I need to keep the vortex active, but that will prevent me from moving... unless..."

I had an idea. Something I had never tried before.

"Alright, steady..."

The swirl of flames shifted around me, coming closer and closer. I could feel the beads of sweat on my forehead as the temperature quickly became unbearable.

"Any closer and I'll burn myself... so... NOW!"

In an instant I deactivated Phase Shift and at the same time conjured a layer of water around my body. The fire quickly surrounded me, creeping close to my body but unable to harm me. Soon I was enveloped in fiery armour.

I had just time to see Sam's stunned expression before I launched myself at Jen and Annette. They screamed in terror as the fire around me roared and closed in on them, blackening the end of their skirts.

«Stop it! Elizabeth!» I heard Sam shout.

I saw him running frantically towards me, casting water spells.

But when he was only a few feet from me, I shouted:

«Typhoon!»

I was not aiming at him, but in the opposite direction. As my cloak of fire dissipated, I saw his face light up in stupefaction as I flew towards my true target.

My foot collided with Andrea's chest before she realised what was happening. I used my hand to break my fall and landed close to her body.

«Are you going to let me go now?» I asked Sam, pointing my sword at her neck, «or are you finally going to go all out?»

"I really sound like a villain right now... and the worst part is that I'm actually having a lot of fun."

Rover raised his hands with a defeated expression:

«No, you win. I should have known you wouldn't have hurt these two... but you looked pretty scary. I guess it wouldn't have changed much anyway, you were just playing with us.»

Something in those words didn't sit right with me. Perhaps it was because they cheapened my victory.

«Would you stop with this defeatist attitude?» I said irritated as I put my sword back in its sheath, «You held back too. If you really wanted to win, why didn't you use all your power? Or do you really think I would die if you did? I came out of my fight with Aldric alive, you know?»

As cocky as I was, boasting wasn't really my intention. Something in Sam's awkward smile really made me want to force a spur of pride on him. But his smile only seemed to turn bitter:

«I'm not worried about you, I'm worried about myself.»