Callista rose up as usual, the sun glistening on her skin as she made her way out of her room to the arena. "Are you scared?" Jarren posed, his smile present as always. "No, should I be?" Her fight with Brose was meant to happen that day and with Timothy present, she was allowed to use her glyph.
"If you're mine then there is no need for fear when you have more to be worried about." She gave a queasy sigh, a faint shudder claiming her figure. "Do you still wish for death? After all there is more to the game than just death." She paused as she thought about it as of late.
Given Jarren's higher complex she had concluded, it would have been better to be one of his playthings. "How will it not be suffering in your hands?" Jarren paused, his head playfully tilting to the side. "Because there will be more than just you, some have experienced far worse."
The more she thought about it the more she was tempted into declining his deal. "What prevents you from making me your puppet till the end of time if you have done the same to others.?" The commentator's voice boomed through the arena welcoming them all. Cheers erupting from each corner of the stadium.
"There isn't but maybe you might become something far more. But that depends on what you decide." His tone final as she heard her voice forcing her to make her way to the arena. In her mind his words lingered for far longer than they should have. 'Depends on what I decide. A psychopath like him giving me the opportunity to chose is laughable.'
As much as she wanted to scoff it off to the side in her mind she couldn't help with the choice he had given her. It being another game he wanted to play with her or genuine was hard to determine at the moment. 'There are others, huh...'
Brose made his way to the arena, his chest heavy with the fight ready to unfold. "And with that we have out contestants. Brose Emberborne and Callista Vaewlyn!" The once rowdy and energetic air in the stadium shifted into something less recognizable. Thode watching unsure whether to cheer or to sheer.
With the greater majority of them having a negative opinion of Jarren, most wanted to frown on Callista however her background hindered them from doing so. "This will be our last proper fight of the third trial before our fight for tomorrow so I'm sure that it will be rather entertaining."
Timothy watched from the sides along with a line up of both Vorthmere and Caelbridge Academy professors ready for what was to come. "Who do you think will emerge victorious?" A Vorthmere professor posed, his question drifting with no concrete answer. "It's hard to say as of now, Callista had faced against Lirale and managed to hold her own."
Esdora sighed, her head supported by her hand. Her fiery ruby eyes locking with the two combatants on the arena. "And with that, let the match begin." The match was based more than just victors. It also depended on the method and execution of the attack.
Special tactics were also rewarded as well. The total amount from a single fight was five points. "Well I'm sure that the two will have more of an incentive to take the fight seriously." Harven commented aware of the tension that lurked between the two.
With the glances the two cast at each other, it was clear that there was some bad blood between the two. Brose ready to even the field for Ingrid and Callista ready to put Brose in his place to prove her worth to Jarren. The two didn't break into clashes but silence.
"I'm sure by now you know exactly what he is Callista." Brose broke the unnerving tension in the air. However it was a deafening silence that greeted him. "You made your choice."
*Boom*
His body flared up in flames, every inch of his skin writhing and engulfed in flames that made it hard for anyone to see him. Callista looked at Brose, her mind bending glyph coming into play. "So that's it..." Not just Timothy but the rest were intrigued with what they saw.
Every single array of her glyph defied the logic that they were familiar with but what made it even more intriguing was the lack of malcore that it emitted. "I have a theory however I'm skeptical if it will work. I'm hoping that it doesn't..." Timothy started off as some had already pictured what he laid out.
"He may be good but I doubt that such a glyph would exist. However if so then even I as an old man would have to pay respects to the man." They talked about the workings of the glyph and the person behind it all.
...
*Whoosh*
Her blackwater obsidian crystal covered her entire body save for her head. "
*Boom*
Brose threw himself at Callista who was already waiting for him. 'Do you really think so little of me Brose?' She sighed in her mind, already planning her means of taking him down. A punch from Brose met air, the palpable heat wave nothing more than a light beam to her. She tried to land a hit on his gut, he hopped above her with a smug look on his face.
'Did she really think that I wouldn't be able to-' Before Broke could finish his train of thought, a sharp hit to the back of his head landed making him crash to the floor. A huge blackwater obsidian mace had formed behind him landing squarely on his head.
"...What?" Ingrid who had now recovered most of his injuries as well as the rest of the audience were perplexed as Brose didn't immediately rise back to his feet. "I didn't think that Brose would be knocked out so fast." Orissa sighed as she wished to see Brose's figure rise once more.
"... Wait, there he is." Ingrid who had yet to lose faith was pleased seeing a silhouette emerging from the cloud of dust. It was Brose who was furious with the sneaky attack Callista had launched at him. "I didn't think that you would be so shameless to make such an attack."
Callista received strange glances, some looking down on her while others remained incalculable. "I aim to win." And with that the two went back at it. A back and forth clash that made the students go into a frenzy however the escatcy didn't last long as Brose was backed into a corner once more.
*Boom-Boom-Boom*
For a punch Brose landed on Callista, she landed three more landed on his. The faces of hope on Brose's fans slowly began to waver the more the fight dragged on. With her body coated in blackwater obsidian, all punches that Brose landed felt like punching a brick wall with bare hands.
"Blargh!!" Brose staggered back, a mouthful of blood landing onto the arena's floor. It was clear who the winner was. "It's a shame that we can't kill each other at the moment but I'm sure that we will meet each other later on." Brose let out a defeated laughter barely fazing Callista.
"Urgh! I guess I'll have to concede. I know that I can't beat you." He knew if he went on with the fight that he wouldn't be coughing just blood but his organs as well. Not to mention she had been fighting solely on close quarters combat, her crystalline element nothing more than a defense attribute.
The mace to his head proved another fear he harboured in his mind. That such a glyph couldn't be detected with regular malcore. 'I don't think even if I use my elemental that I would be able to take her down, the more we fight the faster and more precise she grows. Damn you Jarren!'
As much as he wanted to curse to his heart's content, he knew that it would be a waste of time. "I Brose Emberborne conceded this match!" His words bringing shock and wonder to the students however those with brains could understand his choice. "It not that he's weak but Callista is simply in another league of his own."
Vhorren mused, his eyes shining with intrigue hearing Callista's declaration of her victory. "Where were those technique when we were fighting?" Lirale couldn't help but lament the more she noted the cards Callista had in her hands. Her elemental and malcore cap remained vague to not only her but the professors as well.
"Maybe she thought that it would be too hard for you. After all close quarters is definitely not your strong suit after yesterday." After yesterday's match, she couldn't help but agree with his statement as much as she wished that he was wrong.
"Well ranks do matter so it won't be so one-sided." Words that did nothing more than comfort her made Vhorren worry for her. As time passed, the more helpless she became about facing Jarren. Her smug claim had now devolved into skeptism in her own mind.
"Look, you don't have to focus on that so much. It doesn't matter whether you win or lose." A lie and he knew it. He knew that she still had a grudge with Jarren and it now seemed that she would be forced to let it go unquenched.
"Maybe Saevin's culprit isn't him for the heavens to allow him to win over me." She whispered silently, slowly rising to her feet and left. Vhorren chased after her. "Lirale! I know that it may look bleak the more you think about it but you have to think that maybe now may not be the time. And besides he's nothing more than a fourth year student."
Lirale looked at Vhorren, his face brimming with energy and vitality unlike hers which was dark and grim. "I want you think what Saevin would think of this and think of you. I'm sure that she would want to kick your ass if you keep this up." A faint chuckle escaped Lirale's lips.
"That damn Saevin! Yeah she would want me to keep on going regardless of the odds. And besides, I'm sure that the truth will come to light sooner or later about her death." A subconscious smile formed on her face, pleased the more she reminisced about Saevin.
"See, now you've got it. And what is a small loss? You know better than anyone that failure is part of the process, fame and vanity are nothing more than trinkets for the idiots to stress themselves over." With a heavy sigh, she felt the pressure on her chest lighten. "Thank you Vhorren for your words, sometimes I forget that what I need is someone to make me remember what I've done so far."
Failure was part of the process and she as a fifth year student had gotten so used to victory that loss seemed like a sin to her. "Great! Now let's focus on your training. There are still some techniques that I want to teach you before the day comes to a close."