To Fight or Run away... No choice really.

"OY," Teach stamped her foot angrily. The students around Eric had been leaving the Arena, assuming the lesson to be over. It appears that their teacher had one more thing to talk about. "If you think you can leave without my permission, you haven't learnt a thing these last few months. Now that you can both attack and defend yourself, I will allow you to duel each other for positions or material. You must agree to what is to be up for grabs before the match. Finally, the match will be watched by one person who decides who ultimately wins. That's all."

After that, she pushed her way through the mass of shocked students, patted Opal on the shoulder with a smile, and left the Arena before any of the students could react. Well, except for a small group of high nobles. They were whispering to what seemed to be their leader, a smug prick who thought everyone else should make way since he was so special and they were just trash. Even members of the higher houses were treated that way, even though they were his equal, if not his superior. The leader of the group stepped in front of Opal with a cocky grin.

"So you're the bitch who thinks she can take top spot without going through us nobles, the ones who have been training their entire lives to be here? You don't deserve to be first place, so that is what we are fighting for. If I win, you will give up your top of the class place to me. Also, you will comply with one of my requests. If you win... how about I treat you to a week of free lunches? A commoner would love several decent meals, so are we agreed? Cool? Cool."

He didn't give Opal a chance to respond. One of his friends came over and announced that it was an official duel. Before he could announce that he would stand as judge, Hatch placed a hand on his shoulder, killing intent clearly visible in his eyes.

"Let me do the judging friend. We need to be as impartial as we can." he said with a polite smile on his face, clearly intending to do it anyway, even if he had to commit genocide to do it. Hatch had always been serious, so this wasn't too much of a shock. At least for Eric and Mat. To everyone else Hatch had just seemed to be the quiet kid. Now he was the silent protagonist.

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It was about thirty minutes later in the arena, with the entire class sitting in the stands around the place, except for the three commoners who had to sit in the arena. Those were Eric, Mat and Serina, who seemed quite happy just sitting next to Eric, even if it was in the dust at noblemen's feet. Opal stood at one end of the arena taking off her jacket to reveal a green tank top. She wrapped cloth around her fists, as though she expected the battle to be a close range fisticuffs match. The stuck up noble, who was called Dwane by his friends, had already began forming balls of earth, which apparently wasn't an illegal move.

Opal rolled up her figurative sleeves and struck a fighters pose, while Dwane sauntered forward, thinking this would be an easy win and would instate his dominance for the rest of the year. Hatch held a ball of fire and tossed it into the air. It went upwards, peaked, then fell back down again, striking the centre of the arena. The following explosion announced that the battle had begun.

One after another, bullet after earthen bullet was sent whistling across the field towards Opal. She casually raised a hand and grabbed the first one. It moulded around her fist like slime, forming a gauntlet of hardened rock. Using this new weapon, she smacked each of the other bullets down, making it seem both graceful and reflexive, as though swatting a fly hovering around her head. Dwane still had the same grin, all knowing and cap like that. He created a large earth bullet, then put it in a fire ball, creating a stone bullet that could pierce through any shield that any of them could form. Eric and Mat shared a grim look, but Serina still seemed upbeat.

"Dont worry," her annoying grin plastered to her face as she told them, "Opal wont let that douche beat her. She's trained for years to be on par with any noble brat." Eric wasn't so sure. Opal wasn't moving to stop Dwane, she was almost asking him to throw everything he had at her. And so, he did.

He ran forward a few steps, curled back his arm, holding his ace in his hand. He then threw it forward with all his might, running after it with two flames in the palms of his hands. However, Opal didn't block the strike, she caught the bullet in a ball of air, spun on her heel then, as Dwane ran to punch her with his fists, she sidestepped him and slammed it straight into his back with a satisfying smack. Dwane was sent sprawling, but still had the intuition to place a wall of fire between them.

This was a close match as far as Eric could see. Both combatants were coated in sweat, the draining of mana taxing on their bodies. Dwane had finally lost his smug grin, looking pale and angry, disgusted that a commoner dare try to beat him at his own game. He pulled up another earth bullet, this one in the shape of a shield, held it, then burst through the fire wall he had created, using his new shield to protect himself from the worst of the flames. He then threw the shield at the unprepared girl, who had to block with her earth gauntlet. Dwane was right in front of her, grappling her arms to try and force Opal into submission.

Then, it appeared as though Dwane whispered something in her ear, his smug smile back on his face. Opals eyes widened, then squinted in disgust. Dwane laughed, as though he had already won, then grabbed a hold of one of Opals breast, squeezing it in front of the entire crowd.

The reaction was extremely mixed. The other noblemen cheered, as though he had won a great victory. All the girls cried out with disgust, the most vocal of them all being Serina. Hatch's face had lost all hint of emotion, and he began to walk towards the combatants, cracking his knuckles and rolling his neck. Mat jumped to his feet and ran to assist, which Eric noticed as he too leaped to his feet. However, everyone had forgotten that it was Opal who had been touched.

She brought her stone gauntlet up in an uppercut, giving Dwane a solid one right into his stomach. Bent over in pain, he couldn't see Opal transfer the stone to her left foot, which was sent right into his most sensitive spot. Even Eric winced when he saw that, any man would. Curled up in a ball at Opals feet, Dwane could only whimper as Opal stared death at him. Even as he watched, Eric could see the very sand bubble under her as a fire tornado formed around her, advancing on Dwane with intention clear.

Then, out of nowhere, Serina tackled her best friend, stopping her in her tracks. The fire seemed to have no affect on the bubbly girl, who now held Opal, speaking quietly and quickly. Opal nodded slowly and stopped the fire tornado, leaving a circle of glass where it once was. Arm in arm, the two common girls walked past Hatch and Mat, past Eric, and straight out of the arena without looking back or tossing them a single word. Silence, falling like a blanket over a baby, coated the whole arena, except for the groans and moans of a certain stuck up boy, finally put in his place.

"OPAL HAS WON THE DUEL. DWANE HAS LOST. THEREFOR, HE MUST PAY WHAT HE HAS OFFERED TO HER, ALONG WITH ANY OTHER EXPENSES FROM THE DUEL."

Hatch had a loud voice when he needed to announce something. That really hurt Erics ears.