Complete silence.
The field that was once filled with movement and magic was now completely still. One student unconscious on the ground and the other standing looking down at the loser.
The spectating students sat. In a word they were awestruck. And to try to describe what they were the most shocked by would be incredibly difficult. The intensity of the battle was far beyond any other duel on this day. The skill level was also on a different level. It was not surprising that .
But there was always one at least one person than knew exactly what to say. Benjamin was that student as he stood up and asked aloud to no one in particular.
"D-Did Harrison just lose to Alix?" It was Benjamin's question that roused the crowd.
"Yeah. I think he just did." said one of Benjamin's friends.
"How? What the hell did she just do?" a blonde female student asked.
"Doesn't she normally just beat her opponents with her fists? I thought she couldn't use magecraft?"
"Was that magecraft? It looked like something else?" The crowd of students were perplexed. They had no idea how this situation had occurred nor how they would describe it to anyone else. The only thing certain about the situation were the results.
"Alix beat Harrison. That insolent brat beat the genius of our age group."
"Does that mean Alix was right? Is Harrison not actually a great talent?"
"Shit! I've been trying to stay in his good graces this whole time but he was just trash. What a damn waste!"
During all of the conversation and speculations there was only one person that did not care about the results. That person was, surprisingly, the victor herself. Alix was still standing on the dueling field staring at her hands.
What had she just done? In her mind an exhausted sounding Mo spoke.
'Lexi? Ya still there?" Alix returned to reality when she heard her friend's voice. She wiped some of the dust from her robe but knew that she would need to wash it at the lake to really clean it.
'Yes, I am fine. What about you? Sounds like whatever you did took a lot out of you." Alix heard Mo let out a relieved sigh. 'Don't worry about that, Lexi. Ain't nothin' that I can't handle!" Alix smirked at the fish's comment.
'Of course. I guess you did help me win that battle somehow. Looks like we'll need to do some experimentation later." Alix walked to the field's exit but was stopped by a hand place on her shoulder.
"Excuse me, Ms. Deminal. I do not believe class is over yet so I can not allow you to leave." Alix turned to the person stopping her. It was the instructor, Winston Inengway.
"Professor, I do believe that I am done with my match and the rules of this class state that I merely must stay until I participate in a match. My match is done and so I am leaving. This is my only class for the day anyway and after that match I would really like to go home and rest." Alix looked at the man with a tinge of annoyance.
"I understand. I'll let you go if you explain one thing to me." The normally listless man smiled at the girl. He seemed strangely energetic in comparison to his normal state in this class. Alix sighed, "If it is about the last move that I did, then I am afraid that I can not give any insights." Inengway raised a brow. "Why not?"
"I simply do not know what that was either. I am certain that it was not magecraft. I mean, I am a sorceress after all." Inengway scratched the back of his head. "Looks like you figured me out. Alright, you can go. If you do find out what that was then feel free to visit my office and tell me. You have just become even more interesting to me, Alix."
Alix looked at the man with a hint of disgust. "I am not one of the monsters that you love to research so much, Inengway. So I would prefer if you didn't treat me as such." Alix pushed the man's hand off of her shoulder and left the field. "It seems like I may have overstepped her boundaries." Inengway sighed. He turned to the still motionless Harrison on the other end of the field.
"I should probably take him to the infirmary."
...
Harrison awakes. He begins to sit his aching body up to examine his surroundings. He was no longer outside. Instead he was in a stone room laying on a bed surrounded by curtains. He had never seen this place before.
"Where am I?" He questioned aloud not expecting an answer. Though, he did get one.
"You're in the school's infirmary." The curtains on the boy's left side were pulled aside revealing a girl on a bed on beside his. Harrison's eyes widened in fear as he met eyes with this girl. Her long, straight red hair. Those fierce orange eyes that caused him such torment growing up. The casual and yet stern demeanor of someone looking down one you. This girl was one of Harrison's greatest fears.
"Sister." Harrison's older sister, Angelica Floie. "Do not dare put me in your relations. I can't believe you actually lost to that weak, insolent brat! Do you have any idea what mother will have to say about this?"
"No, I-" Harrison tried to explain himself but was cut off by his sister raising her hand. "Don't even get me started on the fact that you used a third grade spell against her and still lost. If I remember correctly you begged me to teach you that spell saying that if you could learn it you would not disappoint, yet here we are." Harrison sat with his head down and his fist tightly clenched ruffling the sheets with his grip.
"Well I guess this is a good thing, Harry. Now you truly know your place as the worst fire mage that the Floie family has ever birthed. Though your loss has put a stain on the reputation of me and mother as well."
"But Alix was far more skilled than I once believed. If you had gotten the chance to fight her I'm sure even you-" Angelica scoffed before he could even finish. "I would never be caught dead fighting a weakling like her let alone losing! You truly are so foolish, Harry." Angelica stood up from the bed that she was sitting on and stood over Harrison.
"Maybe big sister didn't beat enough sense into you growing up. Don't worry, I came here to correct that mistake." Harrison's eyes filled with fear as his sister opened her palm and mana swirled into it. "Scalding Touch" the mana wrapped around her hand and she grabbed the boy by the neck. His skin started to sizzle under her touch. Harrison attempted to scream in pain but his sister was squeezing his neck so hard that he barely breathe.
"A-Angelica...p-please stop...i-it hurts." Tears started to fall out of the boy's eyes which only seemed to make the her grip stronger. "Don't cry, Harry." A sadistic grin grew on the girl's face.
"This is when the fun really begins!" The girl continued to torture her brother physically and mentally. Burning him. Hitting him. Insulting him. This went on until the boy was on the verge of unconsciousness. His skin seared and bruised. The remnants of tears and drool on his face as his sister wiped her hands with a handkerchief. During the boy's last moments awake he heard these words from his sister.
"Don't blame me for your pain, Harry. The only people to blame are yourself and that girl. Remember that in comparison to mother's rage this is nothing." With that the girl left.
In his final moments awake the boy's mind began to fill with his sister's words. "She's at fault!" The one that defeated him. The one that humiliated him and his family. The one that brought forth that tortuous beast!
"Alix Deminal." Those were the last words the boy muttered before passing out for the second time that day. On this day, the once cool-headed and hard-working boy experienced a change that would only further lead to his downfall.
...
Whilst the loser was being punished for his loss in the infirmary, the winner was at Lake Opin having just finished describing the battle to her fish friend. "So you used the Abyssal Sea."
"Abyssal Sea? Is that your mana core ability?" Mo shrugged his fins. "Don't quite understand it myself. I just know that I can summon it as I please. It sounds like ya used it to put out that boy's torchlight." Alix placed a hand on her chin.
"Well, it is understandable that you do not know what it is. You are a fish after all. The real question is how you were able to allow me to use it like that? Also, what is this string and why did it turn silver after I cast my spell?" Alix looked at Mo and saw that he was imitating her pose with his fins. This caused the girl some minor amusement.
"Looks like we have some experimenting to do, Mo." The fish looked at the girl quizzically. "What do ya mean experimentin'?" Alix stood up shaking her head.
"You have nothing to worry about for now. First, I need to go by a fish bowl for you."
"Why?"
"I need you close to me at all times. Leaving you in this lake at this point would be nothing but inconvenient." Mo looked conflicted for a moment. "Get me a tank and ya've got yourself a deal." Mo proposed.
Alix shrugged, "Sure, why not?" The fish leapt out of the water and directly into the girl's arms in excitement. "Alright, so the tank needs to have sand in it. I don't want any of those fake, colored pebbles that stupid fish be getting. I also need a treasure chest and a clam bed! These scales don't look as good as they do naturally ya know. Speaking of which I want to eat real food not that fish food. And I..." The fish trailed on as the girl walked out of the park with him in her arms.
"This may have been a mistake."