Ranking Challenge IV

I tilted my head, giving him a mocking smile. "You heard me. All that strength, all that talent… and you squander it. You throw it around like a toy, never thinking about what you could really do with it."

His grip on his sword tightened. "You think I don't take this seriously?"

I barked out a laugh. "Oh, I think you think you do. After beating you senseless, I'd be insulted if you weren't at least trying." 

I continued with a mocking laugh. "But if you were even a tiny fraction less ignorant, you wouldn't just be playing around with your power-- you'd be refining it. Controlling it."

Lightning flared violently around his body. "Shut up!" He swung his blade, sending a bolt of energy crashing toward me.

I directed my mana into the ground beneath my feet. It was a trick that I had practiced countless times with Mr. Booker and it served its purpose perfectly. Stone columns pushed me in the air and out of the way of the blast, seconds before getting fried. The static stung against my skin, reminding me exactly what would've happened to me if I had been a second late. 

"See? That, right there." I gestured at the smoldering crater where I had just stood. "That was sloppy. You don't think, you just react. You're so used to winning without effort that the second someone challenges you, you lash out like a cornered animal."

Leo gritted his teeth. "You talk like you're better than me."

I shrugged. "Maybe I am. Maybe not. But at least I don't waste what little I have."

His sword pulsed with unstable energy, the ground beneath him cracking from the sheer force of his magic. "If you're so much smarter, then why are you the one covered in burns and barely standing?"

I wiped blood from my mouth, grinning. The impacts from his sword were no joke. "Because unlike you, I actually have to work for it."

Leo growled in frustration, then charged. I raised my sword, gathering what mana I had left.

My blood screamed through my veins as all of my energy circulated on overdrive. Perhaps I had enraged Leo too much-- he might have grown beyond what I could currently handle at my level.

It was an unexpected, but positive outcome.

In the long run, at least. In my short-term future…

…this was going to hurt.

BOOM!

I lowered my sword, waving the dust that filled the air out of my face. To my surprise, I was still standing.

"Didn't I say 'no excessive maiming?' Or does everything I say go in one ear and out the other?"

"Sorry, Mr. Kvasir," I bowed, sheathing my longsword again. The teacher stood before me, holding Leo's sword with his bare hands coated in flickering light.

Leo dropped onto one knee, panting heavily. His grip was still tight on his sword handle, even though Mr. Kvasir was staring straight into the boy's soul.

"Leo, let go of your blade."

"No!" he barked back. "I'm going to turn this insignificant fool into a pulp!"

Mr. Kvasir's tone turned dangerous. "I said, let go of your--"

"I forfeit," I sigh, holding my hands up. "I've lost the ranking challenge and accept the penalty."

"What?" Leo stared at me blankly.

The crowd around us seemed to react similarly. However, Mr. Kvasir only raised an eyebrow.

"I don't see any point in continuing a fight I'll obviously lose. He would have won with that move anyways."

The teacher paused, staring at me for several moments. I met his gaze with my own, trying my best to stay calm and collected. After a few seconds, he just nodded and raised Leo's hand into the air.

"Leo Inazuma… is the winner!"

The white-haired boy looked completely flabbergasted. He floundered like a fish out of water as he tried to process what had just happened.

"Wait! Come back and fight me like a man!"

I ignored his words as I retreated back into the tunnel where I had emerged from.

***

Inside the waiting room, I collapsed against a wall. My legs were still trembling.

"If not for Mr. Kvasir… I could have died…" I breathed out a breath I didn't realize that I had been holding since the fight ended. All the stress from the past couple days drained out of me, leaving me exhausted and sleepy.

For several moments, I just sat there. I was tempted to drift into a quick nap, but my racing thoughts kept me awake.

After all, this wasn't something small. I had already tampered with the plot in significant, dangerous ways. If I hadn't been sure before, I was certain that by now, I had walked past the line of no return.

The deviations in the plot would become greater and greater as time passed on.

Hopefully, I had made the right choice and was strong enough to face the strange encounters that fate would continue to bring me. If the pattern repeated itself…

…Soon, some kind of 'enemy action' would happen. Things that defied the original plot or dragged me into inconvenient events would happen.

Would I be strong enough to challenge these obstacles?

I had almost stumbled and died over something as simple as making Leo grow.

Some doubt began creeping in. I couldn't even defeat the second strongest student-- how am I supposed to challenge threats that even Gauss might not be able to face?

These thoughts began consuming me.

Something bumped against my head.

"What's got you in a mood?"

Her clear voice cut through my dark thoughts like a lantern through the night. I looked up to see her golden eyes.

"Lucia? Why are you back here?"

"To see you, dummy. Why else?"

"Right. Stupid question." I grinned up at her from my seat on the floor. "Thanks."

"No problem," she replied easily. "And you didn't answer my question. Rude."

"What?" I paused before realizing what she was talking about. "Oh. Nothing serious."

"Are you upset that Leo won?"

I paused to think about it, before responding, "...it is related, I guess."

"Well, don't be!" She bumped my head with her fist again, this time with more force. "You did good!"

"But I didn't win," I complained, rubbing my head tearfully. She needs to control her strength more.

"You didn't," she acknowledged, before brushing my hair out of my face. "But you did so much better than anyone else expected. You really humbled him out there, you know?"

"Anyone else?" I asked curiously, wondering about her wording.

"Obviously, I expected you to do well," she smiled genuinely. My chest fluttered. "After all, I've been training with you since day one. You must've worked really hard to get so far."

Her next words made me lower my head in embarrassment. "I'm proud of you."

"...Thanks, I guess."

"What's with that half-hearted attitude?!"

"Ow, ow, ow! I'm sorry! Endless gratitude for the faith you placed in me! Ow, ow, ow!"

Losing didn't feel as bad anymore.