The rise of the unorthodox

Hours had passed, and Madame Evergreen's fighting class had turned into an unexpected spectacle. It seemed everyone enjoyed watching their friends and rivals either get beaten up or emerge victorious. I can't lie; I enjoyed it too. The atmosphere was electrifying. The room buzzed with excitement, everyone eagerly awaiting their turn.

Now, nearly everyone had fought—well, except for me. I was set to be the last contender. While I was excited to get the fight over with, I also dreaded the thought of the attention it would draw.

"Okay, darlings! Time for our last contenders," Madame Evergreen called out in her usual coy voice. "You know yourselves, come on out!"

I stood up, nerves trickling down my spine. Sweat began to roll down my face as I walked toward the center of the room, my gaze fixed on the floor. I anticipated my opponent's appearance, knowing full well who it would be.

There she was—Delight, my roommate.

As we reached the center, Delight smiled brightly and waved at me. I gave a brief, polite wave back, but no smile. I didn't hate her—not by a long shot—but I wasn't exactly keen on talking to her or to Daniel until I had a chance to show them how strong I had gotten. I had been training hard, and I was ready to prove it to them.

But that's exactly why I wasn't going to fight to my full potential here. If I showed my true strength now, it would give both Delight and Daniel too much information about how I fought. They could use that against me later. No, I was playing a longer game.

It would be much more satisfying to show them my strength during the competition. And, if I held back now, I could catch them off guard then.

Plus, if I went all out now, the other squads would have weeks to analyze my abilities and figure out how to counter them. I wasn't about to make it that easy for anyone.

So, I decided to fake the match and lose on purpose.

It's what any main character in a novel would do. Don't act surprised.

Madame Evergreen called the signal, and the fight began.

Delight wasted no time. She reached into her bag and pulled out two discs. From the discs emerged two monstrous creatures: a wolf and an unusually large boar. The crowd gasped in shock, and some students instinctively backed away from the center.

If they were shocked by that, they were going to faint when they saw what Delight could do with her ability.

Delight placed her hand on the heads of both animals, and a bright light began to glow from her touch. I quickly shut my eyes to avoid being blinded by the harsh rays. When I reopened them, I saw something much more intimidating: a single chimera—a fusion of the wolf and boar. It was massive, with the front paws of a wolf and hooves for its back legs. Its tail was wolf-like, and its mouth was filled with large, boar-like teeth.

The crowd went wild, but I had seen this before. I wasn't as impressed as the others.

Delight wasn't finished, though. She pulled a bow and a quiver of arrows from one of the discs and aimed directly at me. "Pounce," she muttered, and her chimera obeyed, charging toward me with alarming speed.

I used my hair to swiftly sidestep the beast's charge, narrowly dodging its massive form. As I moved out of its reach, Delight began firing arrows at me. Each time, I used my hair as a shield to deflect her shots. The arrows hit with a thud, but my hair absorbed the impact.

The chimera stomped forward again, its sharp claws nearly grazing me with each step. I kept dodging, only giving a few weak strikes with my hair in return. Nothing too powerful, though. I had no intention of actually hurting the chimera. If I did, both animals would be injured, and though I wasn't particularly fond of Delight at the moment, I didn't want to make her go through the trouble of buying healing elixirs for her pets.

At this point, I was just biding my time, waiting for the right moment. The plan was simple: Get shot by an arrow and fall to the ground. It was all part of my act.

That moment came sooner than expected.

Delight's chimera had backed me into a corner, and Delight, seeing an opening, quickly took her shot. Instead of dodging, I stood still and let the arrows find their mark. The sharp points hit me in the hip, arm, and torso. It hurt more than I had anticipated, but I gritted my teeth and made sure to act the part.

With my best acting skills in play, I crumpled to the floor, pretending to be seriously injured. Getting hit by arrows was way more painful than it looked.

Madame Evergreen called the match, declaring Delight the winner.

"Good job, darlings!" Madame Evergreen said, clapping her hands. "I guess this means class is dismissed. Make sure you take your opponent to the nurse's office," she pointed at Delight with a smile.

Delight walked over to me, her face soft with concern. Without a word, she gently lifted me onto her back and began to carry me toward the nurse's office.

"Why were you holding back?" she asked, her voice laced with genuine curiosity.

She stopped walking, waiting for me to respond. I slowly got down from her back and began pulling the arrows out of my body, one by one, wincing slightly at the pain.

When I was done, I looked up at her with a raised brow. "Whoever said I was holding back?" I said with a playful shrug. I turned and began walking toward the nurse's office on my own.

"Beatrix, I've trained with you. You're way above that. It's not fair—you robbed me of a real fight!" Delight shouted as she followed behind me.

I stopped, turning around to face her. "Give me until after the contest the school is holding. Once we complete the contest, you and I will fight again. Trust me," I replied, a slight smirk tugging at the corner of my lips.

That seemed to satisfy her, and she stopped following me.

I continued walking toward the nurse's office, but just as I rounded the corner, I saw something that made me roll my eyes. There, standing in the hallway, were Daniel and Delight—together.

Ugh.

Seriously, those two needed to cool it with the PDA. If they were dating, they should just say it already.

And why did Daniel always come to our room? Why couldn't he invite Delight to his own room for once?

I groaned inwardly, trying to shake the thoughts from my head. There were more important things to focus on right now. But for some reason, it bothered me more than it should.