"GAH!" I struggled to get out as the coward she always was ran away with Michney. A limb left behind but a life saved under any normal circumstance.
"Tell you what, apologize, and I'll give you a quick disqualification, yes?" the Exceptional asked me as metals twisted and tore my skin. Each fleck of mud stung even more than the metal as they were rubbed into the wounds.
"H-How about this for an apology!?" I said to him as I began to apply my magic to his body and arm as I struggled to get out.
"H-Hey! HEY!" he roared before I was sent flying towards the exit.
"Bugger..." I coughed out while I also struggled to fill my lungs. No one came for me either, I was just on my own with a pissed off Exceptional charging me. Then, in desperation, I held up my hand and tried to focus my magic on it. But, I wasn't able to get anything to come, even as he stood above me.
Steamy rage vented out of his helmet as his armour flaked and corroded. And, as if to mock me, he held up his own hand, and casually summoned his magic. Yet, he did not laugh. All I heard was under-the-breath insults and swears.
"FIRE!" Michney then suddenly roared to which the exit behind me lit up with hundreds of spells. The sudden barrage interrupted the Exceptional and he was sent stumbling back a mere step. The tide, however, was quickly put under control and I was forced to bear the brunt of his aura. So powerful that it seemingly burned my skin and tore my wounds open even more.
"Gah, annoying Trads." the Exceptional cursed while I fumbled through the mud for anything I could use to protect myself. He was so focused on the barrage right now that he had left me alone. Yet, it wasn't like I could go anywhere. Either my own House would shred me to pieces or his aura would tear me apart!
"HEY! FAILURE!" I then decided to roar up at the exceptional once I had covered a rock with my blood.
"Quiet!" he said as he slapped me down. But, I quickly got back up and struck his helmet with the rock. Focusing all that rusting magic straight onto his helmet so I could break it on the next go. And I kept on going even as he began to beg for me to stop.
And soon, I had a rock that had more of his blood on it than mine. A blue flash then led to me gently thudding onto the floor and I was left hiding on the ground until the barrage ended. It was a little too late in ending, in my opinion, but, the end came. Unfortunately, it did not take long either for House Oddity to come back.
The Exceptional had been a mere delay to the greater conflict we were, in a strange way enjoying...
"I need to make sure my head is on straight..." I quietly comment as I slowly get up and am barraged by cheers instead.
"HE DID IT!"
"THE EXCEPTIONAL IS GONE!" was mostly the sort of stuff I heard. But, I felt like it was premature. We had an Inter-House still to win, no? Yet, I can't say I hated it, in fact, it made me look smugly down at her.
The over-confident moron that nearly spelled doom for us all. However, I did feel some sense of concern for her brother. He, unlike her, was bearable. He, in fact, probably put me in the position to take that Exceptional out.
"You alright?" I asked him as he shuddered and ground his teeth.
"Just fine." he told me, a smile cracking into existence while his sister lost all concern.
"Get going already!" she demanded before she sent him out of the event by pressing his tag.
"Now what, Baltanthan?" someone then asked me as everyone suddenly turned to me for leadership. And, I did not know what to do. I was never a leader before. Yet, I knew why this might've happened.
And I looked down disapprovingly at the suspect who just crossed her arms. I then turned back to everyone else as they gathered around or tapped out. Their injuries from the Exceptional too much to bear. Yet, some seemed willing to just power through it.
"To the end?" I said with a shrug as I did not know what else to say. Yet, they all cheered and we ended up marching on down the arena exit. Maybe whoever else was still here would be content to fight the Oddity students. But we had a goal to reach before anyone else.
And, now that I had something propping up my confidence, I was excited by the prospect of victory. It wasn't just an intangible, maybe it'll happen thing in my head. It was a goal I could actually see us getting to!
I might've even been getting ahead of myself in my head by imagining us breaking through Exceptionals to get there! Either way, that battle left those of us left sure of one thing. The Exceptionals could very much be beaten, we just had to avoid playing it like them. We could not go fist-to-fist or spell-to-spell, so we had to be smart about it.
Target their egos, target their pride and insecurities. Play it dirty or play it sudden and ferociously. A chance was there, we ourselves just had to keep our wits about is. Thankfully, that Exceptional's power kept everyone in check.
I might've just beaten one with their help, but we all saw what that one could do. This arena was kept to the same magic level as the ground everything was built on. So, if he was to fight out there, he wouldn't seem weaker... And, that terrified me a little, knowing that is the kind of power Exceptionals have.
Better yet, we were all just students, not actual, full-fledged witches yet... Very few of us would even compare to an actual war witch or any of the famous adventurers about the land. But, this event would be a step in the direction of becoming such things. And, maybe it is about time I started to think of a new goal.
I had reached Suhurlodst, and now, I needed to become one of the greats!