Shortly after the instructor announced the imminent start of the team fights, Lucian and Kael regrouped with us. They didn’t bring anyone back, yet Lucian had a smug smirk playing on his lips. My bad feeling about him grew. There was no way this guy hadn’t planned something.

  But that was good. A bit of a challenge is always welcome. We moved away from the arena. Two teams were left behind. Both of them had five members and each one had a Core Formation student. These teams probably were also made based on social circles. So, I carefully observed their dynamic.

  The Core Formation student of one of the teams was listening to another student, seemingly taking commands. There was a layer of tension to these fights. At least to me. Depending on the kind of Core Formation mage they had, the two teams would have to fight in different ways.

  A warrior type was limited in his ability to target people, while mage types were not. They had a range bigger than twenty meters at this stage and their attribute spells and various projectiles were troublesome.

  My lack of knowledge and understanding of the fighters made the duel particularly interesting. Who knows? I might actually see something useful.

  We climbed up in the seats surrounding the arena, chatter filled the air as everyone got seated with their teammates. I saw Lucian whisper something to Kael. Kael slipped away in the crowd for a bit, then came back and nodded to Lucian. ‘This is a black flag with a skull on it if I ever saw one…’

  I squinted my eyes and concentrated on the teams in the arena, leaning slightly forward in my seat. It turned out the Core Formation guy that was being ordered before, was a warrior type. They were really facing a caster type.

  In this scenario, the question was if the caster type’s team could slow the warrior type long enough for the caster to take out the entire other team. It was like modern warfare, with gunmen and tanks.

  He tried to shield his teammates by taking the brunt of the fire from the opposing team, charging through the barrage of spells like a bull through brush. His aether flared at each impact, reducing the force of the collision. He most probably aimed to cover for his teammates to engage with their opponents in the other team.

  However, the first spell wave was a cover. The caster type circled around and directly attacked everyone else on the team. The charge of the warrior type, slowed by the spells, only served to enclose him in the new encirclement.

  The warrior type succumbed, getting pummeled and struck from every direction. He fell on one knee, then on his side. An effective use of strategy from the caster. In the seats, Lucian kept side-eyeing me. I had to brace myself for a hard fight and find a way to keep Cassia out of harm’s way.

  A few fights later four members teams started to show up, mixed with five members teams. The results were also mixed, a demonstration that numbers were just addition, while realm was a multiplier. A single Core Formation champion was stronger than four Gathering fighters.

  “Cassia team! Ederic team! Come forward!”

  The instructor suddenly called us out. I was surprised, but felt it was Lucian’s scheme unraveling. I threw a glance towards Lucian and saw his smirk deepening into a smile. ‘Sure enough…’ All four of us stood up and started walking, going for the stairs that led us into the corridor.

  I nudged Cassia. She wouldn’t listen if I told her these two were up to no good, so I had to get creative.

  “Stay in the back when the fight starts. Be ready to charge forward as a surprise strike. Avoid being noticed in the beginning.” I whispered.

  “Why?” Cassia looked at me confused.

  “Just listen. Not enough time to explain.” I stepped forward and didn’t let her put any other questions.

  The four of us got to our place in the arena. Our opponents were also ready straight ahead of us.

  “What’s the plan?” I asked, wanting to probe and see what the outcome would be.

  “You are a warrior type right, Cato?” Lucian asked and I nodded.

  “Then you should stay at the very front. I am a caster type while Kael is a warrior, same as you and Cassia. The three of us will stick together in the back and follow you closely.”

  I didn’t answer. I looked at the other side. He was describing the same tactic that got the first team defeated today. He failed the last test. ‘Seems like I’ll have to win this alone…’

  A sharp crack of wood hitting the ground marked the start of the fight. Unlike everyone before I walked leisurely, no intention to rush in the fight. Behind me the three were walking as well. What this accomplished was that the other team had to run towards us.

  This made their formation clear. Spread like the corners of scale on a turtle’s shell with the third stage guy in the back. This meant he was either using his teammates as cannon fodder to grasp my style or he was a caster type. I wasn’t going to play to his advantage either way.

  As they got close their formation changed to a V shape pointed away from us. Suddenly Lucian and Kael stopped walking. Kael turned and grabbed Cassia by her waist and ran a bit further away. Lucian fired a stone bullet at me. The stone gathered from the ground and jutted out with incredible strength.

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  I ducked and dodged. Luckily, he only wanted me to not have time to follow the two of them and to let myself get surrounded. The formation of the Ederic team tightened around me, like a net with five points o pressure closing in on the center. Lucian ran to support Kael who was getting a beatdown from Cassia.

  Kael’s pitiful screams filled the air as I had my scheduled, but undesired face off with the caster of the other team.

  “Why did you agree to this? Don’t you think it’s beneath you?” I looked at the three in front of me. The Core Formation was flushed. Tell-tale sign he’s a caster. Two of the others were, likewise, breathing harder than the others.

  “Why wouldn’t I take a free win? Don’t you know these wins count towards the passing grade?” The caster answered. This also meant he was Ederic, the team leader. The two of us smirked at the same time, but for different reasons.

  Five opponents, but only Ederic could actually pose a threat. This meant He was the one I had to take out. The fact that he’s also the leader simply solidified the conclusion. Ederic raised his hand, pointing his palm towards me.

  “Do you surrender?” He asked confidently. Only ten meters separated us.

  “To someone like you? No way!” I replied mockingly.

  “Destroy him!” He roared, as flames gushed forth from his hand.

  I smirked. A week or two ago another fool tried using flames on me! I reinforced myself and burst forth, bending forward, tensing the fingers of my feet to grip the ground as I pushed aether in my legs to strengthen them, using qi and jing to tighten my tendons.

  I sprung forth meeting the flames head on after the burst brought me two meters forward. The two warrior types from the opposing team struck each other, heavy thuds sounding out as their fists did not find their expected target.

  Unlike Elian however, Ederic did not hesitate. Seeing me doing just fine in the flames he switched up to wind. He fired condensed air blasts in quick succession, even one of them could throw me back. My confidence took a hit. These weren’t like the explosions Elian was proud of.

  They were bullets of attribute aether moving at high speed, while Elian’s explosions were subtle manipulation of aether to make it condense and explode. I was forced to detour and duck to avoid the brunt of the whistling barrage of high-pressure air projectiles.

  I lunged in a roll to the side and sprung forward in a diagonal. Ederic raised his other hand and created another line of fire in front of me. There were still five meters between us, I had to cross four more to get within strike range.

  I braced myself and as he brought his hands together to combine the fire lines I jumped, pushing off the ground with aether and all my strength, getting back out of the fire zone. I ran with all my force, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to use the same trick twice.

  I managed to cover another two meters before he pincered me again between his two blast lines. I clenched my teeth taking another step forward and mimicking another jump. Ederic, used to my speed brought one of his hands up, to where I should have been.

  But now I had clear way to him. With one last push I closed the distance. He brought both of his hands together gathering wind between them, trying to jump back. I didn’t give him the time. My toes pressed down on his, reinforced with aether, pinning him in place. His boots scuffed under mine, as he desperately tried to free it.

  I pushed the ground with my other foot, rotated my knees, twisted my hips, rippled my spine and launched my fist forward. All the while qi and jing were tautening my tendons and aether was firming my flesh and bones.

  My fist sunk in the soft spot below his sternum. His focus broke, the air he was gathering burst out pushing me away and throwing him across the ground. He rolled on the stone floor of the arena, his face pale, his mouth opening and closing, like that of a fish, desperately gasping for air for a few moments before going limp.

  The roar of battle, the explosions of his air balls decompressing in the distance, and the attacks of the other students that couldn’t keep up with me, died, replaced by a horrific, ragged, rhythmic gulping for air of a boy trying to breathe in a paralyzed chest.

  “Make way!”

  The instructor appeared behind me all of a sudden. I moved to the side while he checked on Ederic.

  “Luckily, he’s fine. Falling unconscious seems to have allowed his body to relax out of the shock you put him in! Do you know no other rhythm than 'lethal,' boy? What is it with you and excessive force?” He emphasized the word you.

  “Perhaps the fact that I got no other experience from the last fight didn’t help. Nor the fact that my first ever fight in this world was against people willing to kill or sell me. Perhaps if you stepped in faster there would have been no problem. I couldn’t stop, or a charlatan like that would have used the pause to regain distance instead of admitting defeat.”

  I was angry with this old, wrinkled ass too. The fact that unlike in my fight with Elian he didn’t manage to stop me, means that if I used qi and jing too, I could have a chance against him.

  “You could have hit his temple to knock him out. Besides I’d have taken him out of the arena if he was so shameless! Admit your faults or you’ll never learn, boy!”

  He made a good point this time, so I shut up. The rhythmic, wet slide of dragging weight reached us before she did. It was the sound of skin and fabric grinding against the unforgiving stone. She came over, her slightly bloodied hands gripping the collars of the unconscious Lucian and Kael. She looked less like a noble lady and more like an asura coming back from the pits of hell.

  Her hair was disheveled, her face red with suppressed anger and her brows deeply furrowed. Lucian and Kael had their faces distorted by rapid swelling. Here and there, thin pieces of skin were hanging loose. Their faces were of a raw, angry red. Kael’s jaw hung loose at an odd angle, while Lucian’s eyes were hidden, mere slits behind puffed up lids.

  “Why did you not stop this the moment these two caused troubles? Lucian almost hit Cato! How could you allow this kind of behavior within a team and let the fight go on? And then you have the guts to blame Cato for hitting?”

  “That is a lesson you had to learn. Choosing your partners is just as important as fighting well. In a dungeon, idiots like them will get you killed faster than the monsters. It’s not my fault you stepped in the arena with vipers behind you.”

  “That’s sophistry!” Cassia slammed Lucian and Kael on the ground as she shouted. “My father will hear of this!”

  The instructor ignored her and talked to me. “I will not punish you this time, there are circumstances and Ederic is going to be fine. Next time I won’t be lenient.” He started walking away. “Team Cassia wins!” He declared.

  I got closer to the fuming Cassia and patted her back. “He has a point. Even if it’s all fucked up. Just leave it be.”

  “How can you be so calm?” She snapped at me.

  “I’m unhurt, aren’t I?” I shrugged. “Why bother? He decides right and wrong, not us. And as I said, he’s right about choosing teammates. I noticed them plotting earlier, but didn’t want to bother you. It’s all good in the end, isn’t it.”

  Tension faded and I could hear soft sobs coming from her. Being betrayed by her only teammates must feel terrible. I stroked her back and led her back towards our seats for the rest of the class to continue. ‘What am I even going to do with her?’

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