Magic Academy - Battle Zombie

The battle started. Blades clashed, spells burst in midair, and the ground trembled with every impact.

A geyser of earth exploded beneath Garron's feet, sending him tumbling into a wall of stone. He groaned, barely conscious, blood dripping from his nose.

Both sides were breathing heavily. The second-year students had more experience, but Lyra's precise spells and Felix's brute force had kept them from collapsing early. Still, it was clear—they were losing. Garron was barely standing, and Lyra had bruises forming across her arms. Felix's sword trembled in his grip.

"Watch it, you idiot!" Lyra shouted, flicking her fingers in a sharp motion. A gust of wind knocked back Selis's freezing mist, but not before her robes were drenched in frost.

"Why are we even teamed up with these two morons?!" she hissed, ducking a stray lightning bolt.

"I heard that!" Felix snapped, rolling out of the way just in time as Drake's flaming sword sliced the ground he'd been standing on.

"Focus!" Jace barked, his voice cutting through the chaos. He stood at the center, trying to keep the crumbling formation intact with healing pulses and buffs. His clothes were already torn, and his half-mask was cracked along the jaw. "Garron, flank! Lyra, support Felix! Don't give them time to charge again!"

But it was too late.

"Too slow," Virell murmured, his staff already crackling.

Lightning coiled around the entire arena, locking in their team like rats in a cage.

Selis launched a torrent of pressurized water, forcing Lyra to her knees.

Drake's swords scorched Felix's barrier spell to ash.

Rovan slammed the ground, sending a wave of rock pillars that launched Garron into the air—only for him to crash face-first beside Jace.

One.

Two.

Three.

His team collapsed around him, panting, groaning, barely holding on.

The crowd watched in silence.

Then Jace raised his voice.

"Lyra! Cast a shield on me!"

Without question, she complied. A faint green shimmer enveloped him—a barrier of wind and nature magic fused together.

Jace stepped forward, calm amidst the chaos. His eyes focused—not on the enemies, but on his own teammates.

"Just hold on a little longer," he muttered.

He closed his eyes, feeling the raw mana pulsing in his veins. Unlike before, he didn't hold back.

"Sanare: Vitalis Surge," he whispered.

A golden glow burst from his body, expanding outward. Unlike standard healing spells, this one pierced deep into his teammates' cores. Their eyes widened as strength returned to their limbs, exhaustion temporarily erased.

But it didn't stop there.

Jace stepped closer, planting his staff in the ground. He began chanting something none of them recognized.

Waves of mana began to surge in a spiral, a higher-tier healing array forming under their feet. Lyra's eyes widened.

"That's not Tier 2… That's at least Tier 4—no, even higher…"

Jace's skin paled, sweat dripping from his brow, but he didn't stop.

Felix groaned, his knees buckling—then straightened. "What… what did you do to me?! I feel like I haven't slept in a week, but I can move!"

"It's healing… but not normal," Lyra whispered. "It's like… his spell is bypassing the body's limits."

The team stood again, moving with sluggish yet unstoppable steps—like warriors possessed. Their faces were pale, their eyes half-lidded, but their bodies fought on with unnatural endurance.

The crowd in the stadium went silent.

"What kind of healing spell is that…?" one professor muttered.

"He turned them into… moving corpses?" a second whispered.

In the highest seat of the arena, a man stood up slowly. His uniform was decorated in gold and crimson—an emblem shaped like a crown and sword on his shoulder. He wasn't just a professor.

He was one of the Heroes of War, the principal of the academy, and a mage who had seen nearly every spell known to mankind.

His eyes narrowed as he observed Jace.

"That technique… I've seen it before," he muttered. "But where…?"

The battle below raged on. The second-years, now low on mana and shaken by the unnatural stamina of their opponents, began to fall back.

Lyra struck with a precise wind spear, knocking one down. Garron and Felix moved in a trance-like rhythm—sloppy, tired, but unrelenting.

And behind them, Jace stood still, focused entirely on sustaining his healing field.

The arena trembled with each impact. But little by little, the tides turned.

Then, the final blow came. Felix slammed his blade down, breaking the shield of the last standing second-year student.

The battle ended.

Silence fell over the stadium.

A beat passed.

Then came the sound of slow clapping—from the very top of the seats.

The principal stepped forward.

"Interesting," he said, voice magnified by a magic circle. "A healing magic user who turns his teammates into relentless warriors. That… is not something taught here."

Students looked around, murmuring.

Jace slowly dropped to one knee, breathing heavily. The spell had drained him more than he expected.

Lyra rushed to his side. "Are you okay?!"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah… just need a minute."

The principal continued.

"Jace Valen. From Section 3. I will be watching your growth closely."

Gasps rang out.

Felix grumbled, "Of course he gets all the attention."

Garron just looked unsettled. "That… didn't feel normal."

The match was recorded. Teachers took notes.

The arena cleared.

But the reputation of Jace, the 'Cunning Healer,' had already started to spread.

"Did you see the spell?"

"He's a healer, right? What was that?"

"Why was someone like him in Section 3?!"

Jace Faelan didn't care. He was too tired to listen.

But the school did.

That same evening, an announcement was posted on the bulletin board in glowing golden letters:

"Effective immediately, Jace Faelan is reassigned to Section 1: Prodigies."

Lyra blinked twice when she saw it. Then a smile crept across her face.

"Of course he was," she whispered to herself, hugging her arms.

The next day, both Jace and Lyra reported to their new class in Section 1. Most of the students there were nobles—proud and refined. But when they saw Jace walk in, the air grew awkward.

Some whispered apologies under their breath.

Felix, now red-faced with shame, looked away.

Garron nodded stiffly toward Jace, saying nothing.

Jace, as always, didn't dwell on it. He simply took his seat beside Lyra.

Class began.

Their homeroom professor, a stern woman named Professor Marelda, stepped forward. Her voice was sharp like a blade, yet calm like flowing water.

"In this class, we cultivate not just talent, but responsibility. You will not merely cast magic. You will create your own path with it. Today, we start with elemental basics."

Jace focused. Despite being in Section 1 now, he knew he had catching up to do.

As the professor continued, she summoned four colored spheres—red, blue, brown, and green.

"The four fundamental elements: Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. Every mage is aligned with at least one. Now, let's begin mana resonance testing."

Students lined up one by one. When it was Lyra's turn, all four spheres responded, but Wind and Water pulsed the strongest.

"Exceptional," the professor nodded.

Then it was Jace's turn.

He placed his hand over the table. The four spheres trembled—but none of them flared brightly.

"Hmm…" the professor frowned. "Interesting."

The spheres spun erratically—vibrating with unstable pulses, then dimming again.

"Unusual mana frequency," she murmured.

Lyra leaned in. "Jace, you okay?"

He gave a small nod. "Yeah. It always does that."

Truth was, Jace had tried all four elements before. He could barely manage minor spells—an ember that fizzled out, a gust of wind that barely moved paper, a water droplet that evaporated instantly, a stone spike that crumbled before forming fully.

It wasn't that he couldn't use them.

It was that his mana rejected them.

As if something inside him didn't match the elemental flow of the world.

So instead, he focused on healing—the only magic that accepted his mana like a perfect key in a lock.

But even that had begun to evolve.

"Jace," the professor said, her tone less formal now, "have you ever tried casting a hybrid spell?"

He paused. "What do you mean?"

"A spell that fuses healing with an element. Like using water to restore stamina, or wind to speed up regeneration."

"I… haven't tried that," Jace admitted.

The professor looked intrigued.

"Do so. And report back by the end of the week. I believe your path isn't just healing—it's something else entirely."

The day continued with spell theory, magical combat simulation, and magical history. Lyra stayed close to Jace all day.

During lunch, they sat under a mana tree, its shimmering leaves casting glints of soft light over their heads.

"I'm glad you're in Section 1 now," Lyra said softly, poking at her meal. "I was… kind of lonely."

Jace blinked. "Really? You seemed like you were doing fine."

"I was," she said, laughing a little. "But it's different now."

She looked away, her cheeks pink.

"I don't know… When you stepped forward in the arena, when you supported everyone—even those two jerks… I felt like you weren't just healing their bodies. You were holding the whole team together."

Jace scratched the back of his head. "I just did what I had to."

"…That's what I like about you," she whispered, barely audible.

Jace didn't hear it.

Or maybe he pretended not to