Chapter 16: Deo vs. Isabella

  It was the most beautiful period of my life.

  I didn't know that happiness could be such a calm and continuous feeling. I would wake up every morning knowing I would see Clara, mock her, fight with her, and hold her hand. Then I would spend the rest of the day training, feeling my strength grow and take shape in new ways. For the first time, I wasn't fighting to survive, I was living.

  A week had passed since my duel with Mateo. He was no longer a student at the Academy. I don't know what happened to him, and I don't care. The Academy had become a better place without him.

  Today, in Professor Gabriel’s class, the inevitable happened. Since the start of the year, Isabella had been trying to fight me in every training session, but luck or fate always intervened. But not today. Today, for the first time in history, she won a game of rock-paper-scissors.

  She screamed a maniacal cry of triumph. "Finally! Finally, I get to fight you!"

  "Isabella," Gabriel said calmly. "It's just a training fight."

  "Yes, yes, I know," she said, releasing small fire sparks from her fingers. Then, she attacked.

  The fight was balanced. She was incredibly talented. But when we started taking it more seriously, and a massive water wave from me collided with a fire wall from her, Gabriel intervened and stopped the fight.

  "That's enough for today."

  Isabella exploded. "You bastard!" she screamed at Gabriel. "After all this time I waited, the fight is stopped?! Fight me, Deo! Make it a death duel!"

  "Ouch! My stomach!" I suddenly yelled, bending over and clutching my abdomen.

  Kairo ran towards me with feigned concern. "Oh, Professor! Deo's stomach hurts!"

  Gabriel looked at us, then understood the game and started acting. "Oh no! It looks like your stomach hurts badly! Go quickly to the doctor! Clara, take him!"

  "Liar! Fight me!" Isabella was screaming like a madwoman.

  My God, why does she hate me so much? All I did was joke with her a bit on the first day, and stab her in the stomach... How strange she is.

  "Carry me," I told Clara. "I'm tired of fighting that fierce monster."

  Clara laughed. "Deo, the Star of Change, afraid of a fierce monster?"

  "I'm sure I'll defeat her," I whispered. "But she's not a nice person at all."

  "You're right," Clara said, laughing.

  Kairo said while eating a plate of pasta in my apartment "Oh, right, the mid-year exams have started," .

  "So?" I said, watching TV.

  "Don't you know what that means?"

  "No."

  "It means open duels. Anyone can challenge the ranked student immediately above them, and the other party cannot refuse. This continues until they reach the first rank. The exam period lasts for two weeks, and there are no lectures."

  I looked at him. "Don't tell me..."

  Kairo laughed. "Yes. The ranked student directly beneath you is Isabella. And the exams start... ten seconds from now."

  At that exact moment, the doorbell rang. Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

  I looked at the camera screen. It was Isabella, her eyes blazing.

  "Kairo," I said seriously. "My wonderful friend. Please. I beg you. Help me."

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  Kairo was silent, then said in a dramatic tone: "It is inevitable. You will fight the predatory monster. I hope you are happy in the afterlife."

  My phone started ringing. It was a strange number. I answered. "Hello?"

  "I am Isabella. Give me access to your floor. I'm downstairs."

  I hung up. "She has my phone number."

  "Inevitable, my boy," Kairo said.

  "My friend," I said desperately. "You challenge her. You're the third rank."

  Kairo laughed. "My current spot is very good." Then he looked at me with sarcastic seriousness. "She really is a fierce monster. When I fought her, she was scary. I don't want to fight her again. Also, she hates you."

  She kept ringing the bell and the phone for two full hours.

  "How much food do we have?" Kairo suddenly asked.

  "What?"

  "We have enough food for two days. For the two of us."

  I stood up. "Enough is enough. I'll meet her. I can't not see Clara for two weeks."

  "That's the Deo we know!" Kairo said, and hid under the table.

  I pressed the access button. Isabella entered the elevator and came up. When the door opened, she stood before me like a goddess of war.

  "Hello. Sorry for the delay, I was sleeping."

  She said directly: "Deo, Star of Change. I challenge you to a duel."

  "And I refuse."

  "You can't refuse."

  "I know I can't. But I don't want to fight you."

  "I don't care. Tomorrow. In the arena. Our fight." She looked at me, and smiled a maniacal smile. "Finally. No one will stop me." She turned and went back into the elevator.

  After she left, Kairo crawled out from under the table. "Finally! I still have a lot of life to live! I want to see Eva more!" He looked at me. "Goodbye, Deo. I wish you a wonderful life in the afterlife." And he left.

  Before I slept, I called Clara. I wanted to hear her voice.

  "Mmm?" she answered in a sleepy voice.

  "I just wanted to hear your voice," I said softly.

  "Mmm..."

  "I want to see you. I want to hug you. I want to smell your scent."

  "Mmm..."

  "I love you. I adore you."

  "Mmm..."

  "You are mine."

  "Mmm..."

  "I don't want to bother you anymore. You sound tired. I'll see you tomorrow before the fight."

  "Mmm..."

  I hung up. How beautiful her voice is. And I slept.

  I was waiting for her below the dorm. She came down looking rushed.

  "You look late as usual," I said, laughing.

  "Shut up." She held out her hand, and I took it.

  On our way to the arena, something changed. I wasn't the only one mocking her anymore. She had started mocking me too, teasing me, and grabbing my ear when I crossed the line.

  "Looks like you've gotten better at talking," I said.

  "Wonder why?" she replied with a smile.

  We arrived at the arena. There wasn't a large audience, just the students and professors. Isabella was already waiting for me, furious.

  "Finally! Let's begin!"

  Gabriel looked at me sympathetically. "I hope she doesn't accidentally kill you." Then he shouted: "One... Two... Three! Begin!"

  [Deo's Perspective - Inside the Fight]

  The bell rings. She doesn't wait.

  A wall of fire rushes toward me. I feel the heat drying the air around me. My water shield hisses sharply as it turns into steam. She wastes no time. Good.

  Another attack. Sharp earthen spikes emerge from where I stood a moment ago. Then wind blades. She switches between elements faster than I can think. She's a genius. A real monster. My body moves on its own, dodging, parrying. The Sword of Life feels heavy in my hand. My breath is already starting to quicken.

  She's pushing me back. Every attack I make, she counters with two. Her fire evaporates my water, her earth swallows my ice, her wind scatters my attacks. She is superior in everything. This is not a battle of strength, but a battle of attrition. And I'm the one being drained.

  [Gabriel's Perspective]

  This boy... he's not just defending. Look at his eyes. He's not watching her hands, he's watching the flow of Stone energy around her. He's not fighting her... he's reading her. Analyzing and dismantling her piece by piece. This is terrifying.

  [Deo's Perspective - Inside the Fight]

  This isn't working. Brute force is her game. I can't win this way. Not yet. I remember Philip's words... "Convince reality." I watch her again, with deeper focus. There. A flicker. Before she casts the spell, the energy around her compresses itself for a moment. It's a subtle, nearly invisible indicator. She wrings the energy, then injects it into her body to form the spell.

  But what if... what if I mess with the space between her hand and the energy she's trying to grasp?

  Her final attack. A barrage of earthen spears.

  I don't dodge. I focus on the space directly behind her. I don't cast a spell. I just... pull.

  For a fraction of a second, reality changes. The "Deo" she was aiming for is just a faint image, a phantom.

  I am behind her. The Sword of Life is cold in my hand. I am not aiming to kill. Only for the finish. I lunge forward. I feel the resistance of her body, then the warmth of the blood.

  It's over.

  "The winner... is Deo!"

  I was about to hear Gabriel's shout, but Isabella stood up again, the wound in her abdomen bleeding.

  "Continue... the fight."

  "If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it with that attack," I said.

  "That's... your mistake... because you didn't kill me. Come on... let's continue..." She fired a few weak earthen bullets, which I easily dodged.

  "That's enough, Isabella. You lost."

  "The winner is Deo!" Gabriel shouted this time, with a decisive voice. "I can still fight!" Isabella screamed at him.

  Gabriel looked at her with pity. "Take her for treatment."

  How strong this woman is. Even after a stab like that, she didn't faint.

  I won. It's true I manipulated and tricked her, but I won. And that's what matters. I proved to everyone, and to myself, that I am the greatest talent in the history of this Academy. Not just with strength, but with mind too.