"Sixth affinity level magic, Ice Knight!" Colin shouts at me as he flicks his wand toward the sky, his eyes widening in terror as he observes the sudden appearance of pulsating dark energy emanating from my scythe. His body suddenly radiates with the power and brilliance of a blue diamond.
Ice, in the shape of a knight's armor, quickly consumes him and takes over his body. The last touch is his face disappearing beneath the knight's helmet, giving off the vibe of frozen despair. He brings his ice shield up and goes into a defensive stance. His wand has transformed into an ice sword.
He is watching me carefully.
I study him cautiously as he watches me. Colin is now solid in both defense and offense. His ice shield protects him from attacks, and his transformed sword of ice gives him an offensive technique. He must be very tired though even if he temporarily increased his strength.
Colin's stamina is running low, and I know performing two magical techniques right after the other above the fifth affinity level is taxing on the soul. We both are giving our last shot before one of us collapses and doesn't get back up.
I will every fiber of my body to move quickly to attack him. I pour all my dark magic into this flurry of attacks. I lock my eyes on the shield. If I can't get to his armor because of his shield, I will simply break the shield.
Clash!
My scythe of darkness aggressively bites into Colin's shield of ice. The darkness of my scythe wills the shield of ice to surrender to it. It demands the shield let itself be consumed. My arms start to shake slightly as the darkness starts to overwhelm me.
Crack!
A few more aggressive, whirling strikes from my scythe finally pierce and crack his shield. With every strike I take, I feel my heart pounding faster and faster. My sweat stains the ground with determined violence with each step I take. My darkness consumes my body, feeding on the fear of losing and the fear emanating from my enemy.
Colin's shield gives out and shatters into a million pieces. The next strike pierces his armor.
The broken ice rains down onto the ground like an aggressive storm.
His ice sword breaks and his wand returns to its original form lying on the ground in very bad shape.
For a moment, there was silence.
My mind was in shock, but my body acted on its own.
Swish!
Without conscious thought, my scythe comes down with an aggressive arc, aiming for the now completely vulnerable Colin since his shield has broken and he has lost his sword. No! I scream in my mind. If my scythe hits him, his life force would be completely taken.
In other words, he would be dead.
Right before my scythe connects with his chest, he rolls to the side. The impact of my dark magic hitting the ground causes multiple cracks to appear in the ground. The noise of the impact is similar to a cannonball being launched.
As the dust and shockwaves settle, my frightened eyes notice Colin is genuinely shaking in fear. His cockiness and smirk have completely vanished from his face. He quickly raises his hands in the air to signal defeat.
There is no applause once the fight ends.
There is just complete silence. Dead silence.
The scythe of darkness vanishes. The dark energy retreats into the depths of my soul.
I return my wand to my cloak.
When the noble students leave the arena, their expressions of disbelief make my world seem monochrome.
My heart desperately craves to belong to a close-knit group of people and for them to accept me for who I am. However, my circumstances won't allow it because I am considered a freak of nature, and they completely ban my magic except for lab-like observation tests.
The Principal Keeper slowly walks up to me as the entire arena clears out. His footsteps sound like sonic booms to my soul. The Principal Keeper stops walking once he gets close enough to me. He turns to Colin and tells him to leave the room. Colin leaves with his head hanging low.
His eyes, once filled with light blue determination, now have an empty grayness to them. It's now just you and me, I tell myself as the Principal Keeper turns to face me.
"Congratulations, Nico! You made it through. Being part of the noble class is now your status. You are still required to fight the other winner of the other duel, though. I presume you will impress me more in the upcoming battle two days from now. Enjoy your day off tomorrow while you can." His words still feel so empty and calculating.
I respond with a simple, "Will do."
The Principal Keeper is already on his way out as I speak those words. Now, the only things remaining are the arena and me. The pretentious gold designs of the arena almost scream the words, Look at me! I scowl. Most of those nobles surely have god complexes, give or take a few exceptions. Now that I am a noble class student, I can give them a taste of their own medicine.
My footsteps sound like a stampede within the silent atmosphere as I head out of the arena to the Keeper Academy Library. The Keeper Academy has two libraries. People of average status use the first library on the ground floor, while nobles use the second library on the second floor.
For me to uncover the secrets of the Keeper Academy, I need to have access to the forbidden section of the second library.
As I will myself toward the common library, my mind drifts to a variety of thoughts about the magic of the world. Even without the possibility of learning about the ancient documents regarding light and dark magic, at least I can understand the foundational attributes better.
All magic is connected.
Stepping into the library feels like stepping into a castle. Even though it is meant for commoners, the library still stands impressively large. I find the book I am looking for titled Magic and Emotions and flip to the first page.