The Grand Magical Academy Tournament (part 3)

Day three of the tournament started with the match was between a muscle-toned young man representing the Magic Research Class against a teal-haired child from the Healing class. The child seems to be drinking from a juice box. The young man takes offense to this and runs his mana into his gauntlets as soon as the bell rings.

The commentator mentions that the gauntlets were specially designed by the Magic Research club to pass through protective mana such as shields and mana skins. The young man flints forward and punches the child. The child successfully evades a series of attacks. In frustration, the young man increases his speed in his next round of punches. As the child evades, the young man punches the juice box instead and it spills onto the floor.

The child who was keeping a fairly unemotive affect starts getting upset. She wails and mana is released from her person creating a glowing field around her. The young man jumps back ten feet but this does nothing as he was still within the glowing area of effect. For a moment, the young man looked fine. The crowd hushed all of a sudden.

Then, a drop of blood falls from the young man's nose. Then, a cut appears on his face followed by more cuts, bruises, and wounds of all kinds. The crowd is horrified. The commentator begins explaining but Althea and Ellie shot up from their seats having identified the phenomenon right away. This is a kind of healing that only great healers can accomplish. In fact, it's a misnomer to call it healing at all. This is the opposite of healing which can only be achieved by undoing healing. Some people call this ability Reverse Heal, but its actual name is Health Destruction.

It is the pinnacle of Healing since it requires the healer to scan a moving target for former wounds and diseases years after they have been healed. Some of these wounds are so fully healed that the only evidence left are some misshapen group of cells or a layer of granulated tissue. The spell also requires the identification of wounds healed from healers which when done right heal perfectly. Only a master can sense them and undo them all simultaneously.

The spell is like diagnosing an uncooperative and combative patient while doing hundreds of surgeries backwards at the same time! If the Healing class wasn't on Ellie's and Althea's list, it is now. The crowd is both horrified and impressed, but mostly disgusted. The young man is now writhing in pain huddled in a pool of his own blood. The child hasn't even laid a hand on him.

This match also ended as the quickest fight in the tournament. The crowd couldn't help but flinch at the child who seems to be cheerful again now that she was given another juice box. As she leaves the ring, she snaps her fingers. The unconscious young man, who was now surrounded by medics, was immediately healed. He slowly regains his awareness, but not his pride.

The crowd was unsure how to react. The spectators who were sitting stood up to get a better view while those who were standing up sat down in disbelief. One noble was continually pouring his drink into his lap completely missing his drinking cup. Most of the audience didn't realize what happened until the commentator explained what transpired. Ellie and Althea looked at each other in cold sweat.

As impressive as this skill is, the Health Destruction spell was considered a shady ability worthy of only the scariest master Healers of ill-repute. The only people in history to use such a skill were the worst master Healers. They were the kind who took pleasure in hurting others and mastered their craft through torture and brutal human experimentation. The two were explaining these things to Bryce and Terrick when they were interrupted by an orange-haired student sitting behind them.

The orange-haired girl explained that this was a common misconception. In the Grand Magical Academy, they are taught that motivation and context is important. She reminds them that all master healers are capable of such a feat. This level of ability is merely a part of reaching mastery over one's Healing spells. All masters are capable of tremendous and outstanding feats. It is one's moral compass that dictates how they chose to use their knowledge and abilities. The girl's brother, who was sitting right next to her, added that the magi selected to teach in the academy are exhaustively screened for their moral and ethical alignments. The incoming students are equally vetted. This is the primary reason why matriculation into the school is by a strict invitation only.

Althea and Ellie apologize for jumping into such a conclusion. The orange haired girl smiled and waves their apology off. Instead, she grins and states that they are even since she eavesdropped on their conversation. She continues, "As a student in this academy, you will see many great and terrifying skills. If you are successful here, you will learn and be able to do them as well. The academy's objective is for us to learn these things not to hurt others but to protect the weak and the innocent. In fact, there is a monitoring squad on campus that oversee students and teachers to ensure that people with nefarious intent are expelled. Oh my gosh! I'm sorry. I went on a rant without even introducing myself. I'm Lest, by the way. This is my twin brother, Vane." She cheerfully smiled and offered her hand in friendship. Her twin brother, a rather buff guys with strawberry blonde hair did an awkward grin and offered some of his popcorn to his four new friends. Handshakes and nods were shared amongst the new friends. "Forgive, my brother. He isn't much of a talker… until he warms up to you." Lest explains.

Lest comments on each and every fight from then on. Her friends welcomed this information. Meanwhile, the shy Vane was internally ecstatic. He kept offering them food, which unknowingly bonded him to Terrick and Bryce who love eating.