PETRA WINDERFELD'S POINT OF VIEW.
I took a seat next to Randall, and showed my necklace to him, which resulted in him rolling his eyes. I laughed slightly at this and looped the jewelry around my neck as I watched Levi stand perfectly calm in the ring below. His flat, expressionless gaze caused me to question whether demonfolk could feel fear.
"That was a good fight, but I have to tell you, I'm more excited for this," Randall admitted, sitting forward from his previously lounged state. I nodded in agreement, the conversation we had playing on repeat in my mind as I watched.
He had been watching us, but turned away, unsheathing his sword with a practiced fluidity as he focused on the entrance to the arena. A wyvern appeared, being led along by two guards clad in heavy metal armor. They tugged at the chains, which were connected to a mana-absorbing shackle around its neck.
"That's going to be tough," I muttered, and heard the red-headed boy beside me grunt in agreement, "I wonder what rank he'll get if he fails against it?" I pondered aloud. Levi shook his head vigorously, as though emptying it of thoughts. He stood haphazardly in front of a lesser dragon, staring into its ferocious, pale blue eyes with his clashing deep red ones.
A third guard used some form of wind manipulation to levitate a key up to the shackle, unlocking it from a safe distance. The two guards ran as soon as they heard the clicking, each dragging half of the restraint behind them.
Silence, accompanied by a thick tension, covered the whole arena.
The wyvern reared its head into the air, letting out a loud screech as it extended its pristine wings, a thin sheet of skin lapping over a few bones, and slammed its claws onto the ground in a show of power. The demon boy seemed unfazed. He furrowed his brows, looking at his free hand inquisitively.
"What is he doing? He's just standing about like a spare prick." Randall spoke, clearly annoyed that the highly-anticipated fight had begun in such an unexpected way. He stood from his seat after the beast had stopped its show of glory, and cupped his hands over his mouth. "You too scared, Levi? What's a wyvern to you, eh?"
Levi snapped out of his apparent daydream and waved away his friend's yells with the back of his hand. He focused back onto the beast, and the lesser dragon followed, its wings stretched.
They both took off almost simultaneously, my teammate dashing forwards after the beast did, and met with a loud clang as the beast's claw and the boy's exquisite sword met, and the noise resounded up to our seats. Randall sat back down, but neither of us dared to break breath to each other as we watched Levi curl up the left side of his body, taking a slap from the beast which sent him tumbling along the ground.
He recovered quickly, scampering to his feet and rolling away just in time to avoid a two-footed stomp from his opponent. The wyvern swung its tail, a meaty, scaly stick-like limb with a leaf-shaped bone poking out the tip of it. Levi did not find this worrying and held his sword low, the end of the blade dragging across the ground, using only one hand as he sliced upwards, meeting the tail's momentum, and cutting it off cleanly. The piece of tail that was snipped off flew to the other side of the arena, thumping loudly as it rolled.
A scream, this time of pain, left the beast. It flapped its wings, ascending a few feet with each hurried flail. The beast managed to reach a height it thought of as safe. I assumed this to be the same reason I found Levi to be peculiar; his lack of a mana signature.
A mana signature was present in all living things and showed the amount of mana that someone could access. It was a good way of gauging someone's power, their magical ability. Levi had none. He held no aura, whereas Randall held a slightly red fade around his frame, and Kaper held a strong, brown glow around his body.
I knew that the wyvern's ability to detect mana, as it was descended from the ancient dragons, was incomparable to humans. With all of this in mind, I watched as he raised his hand, aimed at the flying beast which leaked from its tail.
"Can he use magic?" Randall asked, sounding just as confused as I was. Then I remembered.
"He said he knew a little bit of magic…" I replied, trailing off as I watched impatiently. He held his hand there for a few moments, his arm trembling before he brought it down with a profane exclamation that even we could hear. The wyvern swooped in, and he deflected its talons before attempting the same thing again, to no avail.
"And I guess that was a lie," Randall laughed, "he should stick to what he's capable of. Even without magic, his sword skills are on ano-"
His words were interrupted by a thunderous clap. We each turned to look where the sound had come from, and I felt my mouth dry up as I saw faint crackles of yellow fade from around the boy's blade. The wyvern came slamming down, a massive hole in its wing preventing it from flying. It growled ferociously, lifting its flexible neck and facing towards the boy, who had a look of elation on his face.
"Wha… What happened?" I stuttered, still shocked by what had occurred. Randall didn't reply, watching intently as our teammate dashed towards the wounded beast, the slight limp in his left leg did not seem to affect his speed too much. "I guess he wasn't lying."
Before Randall could reply, however, we both watched as the wyvern opened its mouth. The air rippled slightly, and my eyes widened as the boy was sent flying backward through the air, only stopping as he slammed against the small walls which surrounded the arena. I watched as he fell forward, the large dent his impact left revealing itself. He tried to stand up, but having his breath knocked out of his lungs was causing a great issue in doing so.
As he attempted to stand up from his kneeling position, the wyvern waddled quickly towards him and opened its maw once more. Instead of expelling an air-based attack, though, it bit into his back, digging its teeth into his two sides as it picked him up. A scream of pain, gargled and strained, reached our ears, causing Randall to gulp as his feet tapped incessantly.
"Why aren't they helping him?" He asked, a helpless tone in his voice as we watched our teammate pry at the beast's jaws to stop it from crushing him under its might.
"Many people have died in these tests, Randall," I stated, a coldness I hadn't meant laced into my words. I saw the boy beside me lean forward and look into my eyes, which took my attention away from the battle. His eyes held a silent question, which I gave an audible answer. "Yes. I am serious. The Hunters' Guild especially, due to the nature of the quests. It's to show onlookers, us, that death is rife in this profession. I don't think it's right either, but interference means a lifelong ban from the Guild. I can't risk that."
Randall's eyes widened, and the red aura that surrounded him flickered as he gritted his teeth. "Is this Guild more important to you than a friend's life?" He asked, causing a pang of annoyance to hit my chest.
"He's not my friend." I retorted, meeting his gaze with a ferocity of my own. "Levi was nothing but a strong member of our training party who thought he was stronger than he was. I don't see you as a friend either. I'm not here for friends, Randall. I'm here to get stronger before we go to the Academy." I turned back to the fight, my eyes widening as I looked at the sight before me. The irritation I felt was replaced with one of bewilderment.
"How the fuck is he doing that?" Randall exclaimed, giving words to my reaction.
Levi was now out of the wyvern's mouth, hunched over on the ground as blood oozed from the multiple holes in his sides. He clutched his left side, likely nursing a few broken bones, and held his blade up high with his right hand. Water, in a motion similar to a whirlpool, surrounded his blade. He heaved a large breath as he sliced at the air rapidly, sending large slashes of water towards the wyvern.
The beast opened its mouth to repel the spell, but it could not activate the spell on time. I saw lacerations occur, staining the beast's gorgeous scales with its blood. These continuous cuts to its skin served to distract it enough for Levi to approach the beast without any danger. He took large, slow steps, never stopping his attack even as he coughed blood.
I watched, with a swirl of envy and admiration in my mind, as the lacerations turned to gashes, some bone visible at the less meaty pieces of its body. As Levi arrived in front of the beast, which reached its head forward in a last-ditch effort to fight back, he stabbed his sword through its neck, and the water that was swirling around his weapon flowed up the blade.
Randall and I watched as the wyvern stopped in its tracks. I wondered if Levi had hit a vital point, but that thought was put to rest when I saw a copious amount of blood, then water squirt from its nostrils. The lesser dragon fell limp, landing at the feet of Levi who stood triumphantly for a moment before falling on top of the slain beast's corpse.
I felt something ignite in my mind. Although I had previously only wanted to fight him to see my strength in comparison to Randall, I now wanted to fight for another reason.
I wanted to be stronger than him. Something deep within told me that I needed to be if I ever wanted to reach my goal.