Chapter 10: This is the best day ever!
Ivy and Lloyd began to assume positions.
The S class student was quick to find them and pinpoint their location.
Ivy began running in the opposite direction after confirming she was being followed.
"You think we'd fall for the same trap twice?" He stopped in his tracks and began to scan the premises not falling for the bait Lloyd had laid out for him.
Lloyd appeared from behind the bushes. "Seems you're not as stupid as the other, I guess I will have some fun after all."
"You're the one behind this huh? For a tiny runt you're clever but in an actual 1 vs 1 battle it means nothing!" He shouted lunging towards Lloyd
"Luckily it's a 2 on 1"
A sharp red lightning bolt darted towards the long haired boy aimed directly at his upper thigh.
"Shit" He swiftly moved to parry the bolt with his A-blade, in that moment Lloyd pounced on him with incredible speed slicing in the direction of his tag.
However the student was able to jump backwards in order to dodge both the bolt and Lloyds dagger.
"Even with your trickery, you're simply too slow."
"Let's see how long you'll be able to keep this up" Lloyd smiled
In actuality this was a gamble, Doran would have to hold his opponent off until Lloyd and Ivy could finish theirs. This was a battle of attrition. Even after reducing their numbers, S class students were all formidable.
However the one who held the advantage was Lloyd, Unexpectedly Doran was holding off his opponent with ease.
"How come someone like you is in A class?" He panted.
"What? You thought just because I'm in A class I'm weak? My strength is comparable to the top students. The only reason I was put in A class was because of my theory score." He roared, slamming his mace against the students Longsword.
"Bastard, I won't be defeated by you!" He refuted attempting to push back the mace.
They clashed and smashed weapons against each others seemingly an even match for each other
However it was futile, Doran tightly gripped his mace. "Guess it's time I stopped going easy on you."
Doran began to unleash untold strength from within his A-blade. Pure orange sparks crackled and crashed against the air. A huge amount of pressure rose within Dorans mace.
"T-that's impossible" The student stood stunned.
Doran had just broken through his limits unleashing 100% Of his mace's power in this one moment. That's right, he had completely fused with his A-blade.
Doran roared as he swung his mace upwards in a vertical slash, throwing his opponent's longsword out his hands and flying into the distance. He grabbed the tag and yanked it out its holder.
The true predator was none other than Doran.
"That was a good battle, your strength is commendable." Doran approved before taking his leave to assist Lloyd.
The student lagged unable to comprehend his level of strength
By the time Doran had got there they already finished off their opponent with his tag in hand.
"You managed to finish your opponent? We were about to assist you."
"Assist? I never needed help to begin with. I could have taken them all on" He boastingly replied.
Despite what he said the battle took a huge toll on him, fusing with an A-blade was not easy, despite only being in that state for a few seconds.
"How did your battle go?"
"He was stronger than expected but he couldn't hold out for long. My plan was perfect after all."
"We actually beat them?" Ivy questioned
"That's right, our practice paid off in the end. Now we just have to hope our class can reciprocate." Lloyd answered
"I wish I could see the looks on their faces once they realise we won the first round" Doran laughed
At that moment a whistle blew signifying the end of the game. Medics rushed to the scene to treat injuries and assess the damage. While Lloyd and his group headed back to his class.
Overall it took them 15 minutes to finish off the S class students.
"You won?" Instructor Thompson was slightly confused.
"Yeah, and all of us are through to the next game. It was a clean sweep" Lloyd replied
"I see, you've done well. I commend your hard work and you will be rewarded accordingly." He was satisfied and even a hint of gratification bore his face
He congratulated his 3 students and began to prepare the next team for their battle.
"That commoners team actually won?"
"Well, they've got Doran on their team. With a bit of luck in matchmaking it's not all that surprising"
"Yeah, maybe the S class isn't as strong as we first anticipated."
Commented the same group of student's following the class rep
'What idiots. At this rate we will be the only ones passing through to the next round' Lloyd had already anticipated this much and had little hopes of winning the gauntlet. However this didn't mean he was going to simply give up and accept defeat.
And time passed. As the sun set as the final team arrived back from their battle.
"In total, a disappointing amount of 2 teams made it through. As we lost 12 of 14 bouts. Thus the final game of search and destroy will be 5 A class students vs 28 S class."
Thompson sighed, he had expected this much but the first battle sparked his hopes for a bit more.
"Those of you who lost should be disappointed in letting your peers down and should seek to work even harder from this point. The following game will be held in a week's time. Dismissed."
Thus marking the end of Team Clash. An expected defeat for A class.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Remote Location at Crysmal Academy
A boy sat upon a chair. He was tall and had golden blonde hair, Silver and gold jewelry adorned his fingers and ears. He held striking facial features which held a mean, disappointed look upon them.
A familiar group of 3 students sat knees bent facing towards him, heads down with a fearful expression on their faces.
"So, let me get this straight." The boy atop the chair began speaking, He rested his head against his fist in a relaxed manner.
"You lost to A class students."
"W-were sorry, Your highness" The girl responded
"Silence. Do not speak without permission." He bellowed
The girl bent her head even lower.
"I'm not annoyed you lost to Class A. In Fact i couldn't even care less about you weak runts. The reason is because you lost to a pathetic commoner, and not only that he's a class below you. You sully the name of a noble and even more my faction's ideology."
"Please f-forgive us, well do anyth-"
The blonde boy kicked him across the face.
"I said don't talk without permission. I'm finished with you, both you and your families are finished… If you don't fix this mess before the next game. Now fuck off."
The trio ran off pathetically.
A figure emerged from the dark behind where he sat. This figure wore a black robe, face unidentifiable.
"Should I assist them, Your highness?" His voice cold and lifeless
"Do as you please"
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Fancy Restaurant Within Crysmal Academy
"Cheers!" Lloyd, Ivy and Doran clinked cups of champagne, Celebrating their victory.
"Hey Lloyd, Why are you drinking orange juice?! This is a party!" Doran questioned after downing his drink in one gulp. As expected of a gorilla.
"I'm not old enough to drink alcohol yet. Don't you have to be 18?"
"Aren't you the same age as us? Students can only join the Academy after finishing Education at 18" Ivy questioned
"Is that so? I was just recommended here a few weeks ago. I think I'm Sixteen if I remember correctly?" Lloyd pondered
"You do look younger than the others now I think about it, I assume you only realised your Arcanal talent a little while ago?" Doran asked while pouring himself another glass of champagne
"Yeah, that's right. How old are you two?"
"19" Doran said
"18" replied Ivy
'Who knew the oldest was the most immature.'
Ivy sipped her drink
"So, who recommended you here?"
"It was Selene Vale, the vice captain of the Arcane Watchers."
"That's impressive. For such an important higher up to recommend you."
Doran downed another glass
"Got that right, I've heard many famous war stories about her. Also I've been wanting to ask. How did you acquire that scar?"
"What scar?" Lloyd asked genuinely baffled
"The one on your neck obviously"
"Oh this… A demon sliced my head off a few hundred years ago, then i suddenly woke up outside the walls with it back on and the scar appeared there" Lloyd answered seriously
Doran and Ivy held stunned expressions
"I didn't know you had humour like that Lloyd!" Doran cackled with a hearty laugh
"That would be quite the story" Ivy sighed
"Yeah, something like that is impossible." Lloyd agreed with a somber smile
However in truth he didn't find it funny. These were the memories Lloyd held inside of him whether they were true or false he didn't know but he had every intention of finding out.
"Anyway, how come you two knew each other before the academy?" Lloyd attempted to switch the subject from the scar on his neck.
"Our houses have always been quite close. My father and his both attended the academy and established friendly relations, for a political point of view and simply because they got along. And since then we've seen each other numerous times because we're both heirs to our houses and somehow I manage to put up with this oaf everyday."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Doran refuted slightly angered
"How awful, I'm surprised I even lasted 2 weeks." Lloyd replied somberly
"You get used to it"
"Hey!!"
The trio exited the restaurant and headed back to the dorms
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Peaceful day's pass
Lloyds Room
2.am
Lloyd awoke with a fearful shock.
…
"I gotta pee"
Is what he said. So Lloyd jumped out of bed and exited his room to find the restroom.
The dorms were particularly fancy, a red carpet was laid on the floor with countless numbers of smooth oak doors lining the wall, Huge pains of glass lined the ends of the corridors. Lloyds dorm was stationed at the top floor, The boys dorm was upstairs whereas the girls was down.
Lloyd walked leisurely down the corridor. Until he felt a wet splat against his feet.
It was awfully dark and Lloyd couldn't see much.
"Water?" He shrugged it off and kept walking however the further he walked the wetter the floor became almost sticking to his feet.
He couldn't avoid this any further. He looked down and towards the dorm rooms. Red liquid seemed to leak through the crack's in the floor.
Lloyd pressed his hand against the floor and sniffed
"Huh, what is thi-"
Lloyd sharpened his gaze. "Blood" This is no time to relax.
Lloyd had 2 options
Investigate.
Or call for help.
…
Lloyd was as curious as a cat
He carefully placed his hand on the door knob and twisted his wrist
His heart pounded with anticipation, sweat poured from his forehead.
And he opened the door.
Crunch Crunch Crunch
The sickly noise of snapping bones filled his ears. A demon.
It had 2 long horns atop its head, and the skull of a horse bearing its face. Skin stained and covered in red blood. The demon sat eating the arm of a particularly thick human arm.
"D-Doran" Lloyd quivered
The stench was foul and reeked of a gruesome aura enough to make Lloyd instinctually cover his nose.
The demon stopped eating its food, The 4 legged demon abruptly stood, its large twisted body banged and crashed against the walls and ceiling making a dart towards Lloyd in an awkward gallop.
Lloyd gritted his teeth horrified "Shit"
The demon crashed through the door taking everything down with it. Lloyd made a beeline for the far off window at the end of the corridor.
'That was Dorans room, there's no doubt about it. And that arm…'
'He's dead. Gone… Just like that'
The Demon screeched, unable to keep up with Lloyd.
More demons burst out through the doors flooding the hallway. There wasn't just one demon. There were tens. All wearing the skulls of a dead horse. Some stood on two legs, others stood on three. Each creature was a unique mangled and twisted mess of flesh.
"What the fuck!"
With Lloyds path cut off he had no other choice but to enter back into his room and close the door. Where no demons lay. Lloyd was a particularly quick thinker. He opened up a crate and took his lowly dagger. It wasn't much but it had to do.
"I have no chance, Those demons are at least the greater rank. And I don't even recognise the species."
However Lloyd couldn't just abandon this place if there were survivors.
He let the arcanal energy of his knife flow, more than he had ever before. Blood poured out his eyes, nose and mouth. As his body crackled with a lightish red colour.
"I cant keep this up for long"
Lloyd had forced out 70% of his knife's energy. A surge of strength and energy flew through him.
He lifted his fists up
And with a loud swoosh hammered them into the ground.
Lloyds face contorted from the pain however
"I can't stop"
The floor cracked and Lloyd smashed and pelted his hands into the ground with all his might until the bones in his fist were visible.
The floor underneath him crumbled as he fell to the first floor hallway.
Lloyd currently lay stuck underneath a pile of rubble. He pushed himself up with all his might, unnatural of a human being. Forcing the rocks to move before his strength.
His bones cracked and broke under the strain however he pressed forth, unthinking of the consequences.
As he broke through he had one thing in mind
'Ivy'
He walked onwards limping towards her room.
A dark and ragged look overcame his face.
His feet wet and sticky he slowly opened her door.
"A cat?" Lloyd voiced. This black cat lay sat on top of Ivy's bed. The room however is a bloody mess covered in strands of green hair and broken marrow. Blood painted the walls and torn bits of skin were splattered across the room.
The black cats void like eyes gave an intense stare
Lloyd however fell to his knees
'I give up, I don't care anymore' He sobbed
Lloyd picked up a piece of green hair, bits of red stained its refreshing colour. Then he focused on his mangled hands.
"I hate you, you bastard!" Smashing his mangled fist into the ground, blood splattered everywhere as he continuously smashed and smashed the ground.
But not a dent lay there
Anger overcame him
He clutched his finger, and tore it off. He winced from the pain, angering him further.
He tore off another, and another and another. Until all that was left were stubs of nothing across his left palm
Finally… he felt calmer.
He then rested his back against the wall and simply gave up on anything else.
Time passed
Lloyd fell in and out of consciousness. His hands stung and felt numb. However his chest burned like a raging fire.
He rested his gaze upon the black cat who eerily stared at him. until eventually Lloyd died.
Again.
End Of Chapter 10: This is the best day ever!