0̸̧̹͓͖̟̻̣̠̰͉͈͇̔́̾2̶̡̨̡͖̞̱̭̭̌̿̒ͅ7̷̬̮̠͔̗̺̳̂̒́͑̀͆̍̿

The battles were held in the arena, it was a large training ground with packed dirt and stands for people to spectate surrounding it. Pairings for the battles were determined based on a randomiser from a crystal orb, one person from each team will place their hand on the crystal ball, the crystal ball would then assign a colour for each team. Once all the teams have been assigned a colour then the crystal orb will flash two colours in succession to represent the pairs, at the end of each battle the colour representing the winners will be shown before the next pairing.

Evie had teamed up with some second-years of Division C while Corlissa entered by herself which had drawn the attention of those who had witnessed the sample of her powers in the conflict at the dining hall. Those who were unaware of her power were doubting her abilities and were contemplating whether or not she would lose within 1 round or 2.

Corlissa walked up to the orb and was assigned black, Evie on the other hand was assigned white, it was as if they were fated rivals.

The first round for Corlissa was against a group of Division A first-years whose egos were disproportionate to their actual abilities. Or perhaps Corlissa simply made everyone’s standards malfunction severely as she simply flicked her wrist causing them to be rendered unconscious from the gust of wind she had deployed.

Evie was also steadily raking in victories and there were now 4 teams remaining. Evie’s team, Corlissa, a group of Division A Class 1-S students and Division C Class 3-S applicants.

Instead of flashing two colours in succession, the crystal orb displayed all 4 colours at once, meaning that they would all fight each other.

The visitors, especially the newspaper editors and writers were suddenly keener, this was the best display of talents every year, where people demonstrate the range of their attacks and their stealth if aiming for an individual.

The instant the battle again, they all seemed to have the same thought process, stay close together with your team and aim at Corlissa. It was a rather logical approach, especially since all the other teams had an advantage in numbers and Corlissa was just one person.

“Tch. You’re all too young to be challenging me, I suppose you might stand a chance after a century. I’ll at least give you the show of using half of my power since I can’t use all of it as humans are much too fragile.”

She placed her left thumb over her right pointer finger, the rest of the fingers on her left hand rested over the back of her right palm. She applied more pressure on her pointer finger using her thumb until an audible crack resounded through the silence of the arena, the instant the crack was heard, a severe wave of wind and water shot towards the others.

They could nothing against the attack that towered over them, some were simply swept away into their unconsciousness, those that erected a barrier were swallowed by the water rendering their barrier useless, those that had sent out their own attacks had their attacks engulfed by Corlissa’s magic, the wind carried their attacks making it backfire. They were certainly too inexperienced, her intentions were unknown but the way she stared them down as they collapsed on the floor said differently. She viewed them as if they were ants as if they weren’t worthy enough to stand upon the same ground as her.

The crowd that was left speechless at her display of power found their voices again and erupted in a mass of cheers, reporters were scribbling in their notepads frantically. The power of Amiere Academy was certainly to be feared, especially with their newest addition of the greatest prodigy in history. The others that were chosen to compete in the Proelium only narrowed their eyes at her, perhaps viewing her as a threat. The First Prince’s smirk simply widened, amusement was evident in his gaze as his stare was fixated on the blue-haired girl standing victorious in the arena.

Rieval Clervan, one of the males infatuated with Evie Luxiere, glared slightly at Corlissa for harming someone he was drawn to, he himself had no idea why he was feeling such an odd emotion towards the ash blonde-haired Luxiere. He felt like he was compelled to be attracted to her like his subconscious was nudging him towards feeling affection for her.

He simply accepted that it was a sign from fate, that the emotions he was feeling were the work of fate and he didn’t need to overthink it, he will simply travel where his fate takes him and will accept everything that happens.

Therefore he simply accepted the emotions that were brewing within him, he merely ignored any details and didn’t bother to question anything. He could only feel a sense of animosity towards the young Veronique, yet he felt a fondness towards the blonde girl.

After determining further that Corlissa Veronique was indeed the one who won the event unanimously as the rest of the competitors were left pitifully collapsed on the ground unable to counterattack. Some people had now viewed Corlissa as a barbarian, a violent threat to society and a danger that should be condemned, others wrote about her in such a way that merely admired the strength that the Veronique held within her.

Another victory for Corlissa only strengthened the Headmistress’ trust in her to be able to perform well in the Proelium that was nearing closer. However, in Miss Luxiere’s mind that only meant that she had more chances to embarrass, shame and degrade the Veronique.

As she was lying in the infirmary bed, the mundane white sheets enveloping her body as she painstakingly wanted for the time to pass, she had devised that the best choice of action was to improve her standing as the innocent, pure, blessed child and demean how Corlissa is viewed in the public.

The most logical idea would be to make it appear as though the young Luxiere was unjustly injured by the Veronique who had simply wanted to test her strength. The First Prince would walk by, witness the poor Blessed Child on the floor and call for justice. Rather her reasoning was far more cunning, the First Prince needs to uphold his reputation in society as a righteous figure since he needs the support of the public to ascend the throne. She had also planned for Rieval Clervan to witness the incident so he would view Corlissa as someone who hides behind a mask, engulfing her true violent nature as someone in the right.

Despite the reason being unknown, the word had spread throughout the academy that the talented young Clervan was a person who despised unfaithful people and people that hid their true selves behind a facade, more specifically a terrifying monster encased in the body of a human.

Even though Evie was well aware of that fact, having Rieval be a testament to the case would strengthen the results she was aiming for, which was the monumental fall of the iris of society.

The naive young Luxiere couldn’t mask the cunning smirk that grew on her expression and the thoughts of the paradise that she wanted to enjoy.

At this point, it truly appeared as though their roles were reversed, a villainous heroine, truly peculiar.