Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Ender
The ground was slick from the controlled torrential downpour, obscuring my vision and hindering my traction.
I sent a string of curses at the trainer for creating the storm around me and my opponent.
Rain was more tolerable than fire—unless the rain was so fierce, it tore at your skin like sandpaper.
A rock the size of a softball hurtled toward me, and I lashed out with my hand, easily sending the piece of stone to the ground with air magic.
My opponent attacked, his fist sailing for my head—wrong move.
I grabbed his wrist and used his weight and momentum to send him to the ground.
He sat up, grumbling under his breath, his hands splayed outward with curling fingers.
Not grumbling, conjuring.
With a sharp crack, branches from a nearby tree snapped and fell to the ground.
One of the larger limbs shook and splintered, giving it the appearance of a wooden bat with nails hammered into its barrel.
Fresh green stems sprouted at the bottom, coiling into legs as it stood itself upright—alive and unnatural.
I spared a glance at Leah Murphy, the elderly head trainer and head of the guards who, along with other students, had stopped to watch our session.
Flame, her fiery red Agama lizard familiar, sat on her shoulder.
She stood perfectly placed outside the torrential downpour and shrugged, the lizard moving with her shoulder.
Only levels four and five could create a familiar, and it required creating an animal using their element, a part of their soul, and a lengthy enchantment.
Once that part of their soul was gone, they couldn’t create another one.
The task was very dangerous and could be deadly, and it was forbidden to do before graduation.
I didn’t know how I felt about risking my life for one, let alone giving something a piece of my soul.
I shook my head, focusing back on my opponent and internally grinned.
Creating creatures during training was unsanctioned, and Murphy wasn’t going to do anything about it.
That was fine. She knew I could’ve ended this fight as soon as it started.
I was merely toying with my challenger, who had requested to fight me.
I didn’t even know his name, but he apparently knew mine.
Before the magically-made creature—which now had pointed wood chips as teeth and no eyes—could make it to me, I sent a powerful swirl of wind at my opponent, lifting him in the air.
The boy’s eyes widened as I pulled the wind toward me, bringing him with it and right into my fist. I let him fall to the ground, mud splattering around him and seeping into his clothes.
If he wanted to fight dirty, then he could lie in it.
The rain stopped and I sighed at my soaked clothes.
My white shirt was entirely see-through, my darker skin tone adding to the transparency.
I pulled it over my head and balled it up, drawing unwanted gazes and flushed cheeks …
or the occasional scowl. I didn’t care if people liked me or not and the few who didn’t typically stayed clear of me.
Well, besides this fella, now down in the dirt.
Murphy’s face set, the hidden order to put my shirt back on evident in her glare.
It was a look that used to frighten me, like a kid getting scolded by his grandmother who knew ten different martial art styles.
As an elite level four fire mage with more than a few decades of training, she had earned her title.
She had trained me since I had arrived as a freshman, and she had also trained my guardian who worked for the council.
If I had called her Murphy to her face, I would feel flames lick at my toes—enough to cause pain without causing long-lasting wounds. Even her familiar would spit little fireballs at me. They were a harmless, mere burn, but nevertheless agitating.
I shrugged back at her and grabbed my water bottle, starting to feel the exhaustion from using air magic to drag a person through the air.
She shook her head disapprovingly and went on to the next training session, a much lower level.
Two lower-level earth mages fought pathetically against each other.
Though her back was to me, I recognized the contender with double braids that led into messy hair balls at the base of her head—unique but more effective than a ponytail in combat. It’s how she had worn her hair when I had last seen her Friday night, coming out of the woods.
“Boring.” Ivy faked a yawn as she came to stand next to me. “The new girl is going to get owned by a level one.”
A part of me wanted to tell her off, but she was right. The new girl received a blow to her gut.
“What’d we miss?” Gwen asked as she and Nick joined us.
“Nothing. Just the new girl getting beat,” Ivy replied. “They ask all new students before their first match if they’re willing to fight. New girl must’ve thought she could win.”
“Selene,” I corrected, not realizing I had spoken at first.
“Yeah, sure.” Ivy waved me off and continued mocking the match.
I ignored the others as I watched the tedious fight. Though Ivy was a strong level three air mage, she annoyed me, and yet, I still managed to be in her crew. The other two weren’t as terrible.
Selene tried blasting her opponent with gravel from the worn training field, but it didn’t have enough force to stop the other mage. She wasn’t manipulating her element well and her moves were slow and robotic … as if they were almost calculated.
I observed closely, watching the next strike against her. She pivoted just enough—
“Ender?” Ivy’s voice rose. “Are you coming?” She looked over her shoulder. The others were behind her, heading in the direction of the academy.
“I’ll catch up.” I looked back at the match just as Selene was slammed to the ground and the trainer ended the match.
Her opponent wasn’t a strong mage, nor was she skilled in fighting.
It was standard to see where the new student tested in their first week, but I doubt the trainer had expected Selene to do so poorly.
“Well, that didn’t last long.” Ivy let out a short, derisive laugh and clapped, sending the bangs echoing across the field.
A girl that looked similar to Selene, but with contrasting hair and eyes, went to help her up, and I figured her to be the younger sister. The Thomas sisters were the talk when they had first arrived—two beautiful new girls that no student or their family had known.
The sisters started toward the dorms, the crowd dispersing as the trainers ended class.
“Hey! New girl!” Ivy said as she, Gwen, and Nick intercepted the sisters. “That was quite the show, or lack thereof. Where did you say you were from?”
I rubbed my temple, deciding if I should intervene or just walk away.
“Nowhere important.” Gwen flipped her reddish-blonde hair over her shoulder. Hair. Something she and Ivy talked about excessively when they weren’t gossiping about others.
Selene blanched so briefly that it was hard to catch. Normally, I stayed out of Ivy and Gwen’s business; nonetheless, I found myself moving toward them. But before I made it to them, David stepped in.
“Now, mates, don’t judge where someone comes from—especially if you haven’t the faintest clue.
” David stood in front of the sisters. I’ve seen him sit with April’s crew but hadn’t expected him to step in for the sisters, given his supposed record.
Something in me ticked. I respected him for stepping in, but an unfamiliar sensation stirred internally, hating it.
The air marginally shifted and the hair on my arm stuck up.
There was static that a lower level wouldn’t pick up.
I glanced at David, but I didn’t see any sign of magic.
The water rippled inside my Fives Academy water bottle, the vibrations faintly palpable through the clear container.
Vivian’s hands clenched into fists at her sides, and Selene whispered something in her ear as she tugged at her arm.
Right before they turned, Selene’s gaze met mine and her jaw set, anger filling her eyes.
It was a look I wouldn’t be able to wash away any time soon.