The other students in the class applauded. I smiled weakly as they congratulated me for my first victory while Ego walked up to me and patted me on the back proudly, congratulating me again for winning the match.
"If you ever learn to properly use the Aether, then you could definitely be the best fighter this school has." He spoke softly, not wanting the rest of the class to hear his praise for the first year student in front of him. His eyes had turned a fierce golden color, and for some reason, it was actually kind of intimidating to me. "Continue to make me proud Cyrus... If you keep this up, I'll consider tutoring you privately one-on-one."
His words boosted my sense of pride deep inside of me and the world became slightly brighter.
A smile stretched from ear-to-ear as my exhaustion became obvious, even though it was only due to lack of energy after expending most of it. As he finally walked away, Ariel immediately took her place beside me and wrapped a supportive arm around my shoulders, laughing and praising me while Amelia did the exact same for Lyra. I glanced over and noticed Lyra's head leaning onto the girl's shoulder, a blissful expression playing across the poor girl's beaten features, happy to be cared for in such a way.
Ariel's eyes showed nothing but happiness and admiration. Pride swelled up inside me, although it made my insides feel hollow inside as it was the first time I realized that I didn't deserve this praise. Her cheeks were red, flushed. Her eyes closed tightly while a slight blush rose up upon hers too, her lips trembled slightly as she continued to hold me close.
It felt wonderful, everything was going exactly as planned. I've been able to get through the first two rounds without using any aether. All I have to do now is beat Quentin to a bloody pulp for what he did to Ariel and then face either Emerson, Vled or Thorne and hope for the best.
***
A few days had passed since the fight between Lyra and me which resulted in the declaration that I would be participating in the semi finals for the tournament and just yesterday Vled lost to Emerson, meaning that the semi finals would be Quentin vs me and Emerson vs Thorne.
"Come on you two." Ego said, encouraging Quentin and I to step onto the grassy field.
We were now face to face. I gave Quentin one last cold stare before nodding confidently and stepping into the circle to take my place before facing the professor and extending my hand to receive the instructions for our battle.
As we were finishing up with warm ups, Professor Ego stepped into the grassy circle to address the class who were gathered around us for the battle.
"Alright everybody settle down." he started off saying, getting the class' undivided attention. Everyone instantly sat and waited to hear his words, but I couldn't help but keep glancing up to see whether or not the class were watching eagerly.
"Quentin, I'm gonna beat the shit out of you for what you did to Ariel."
"Ha! That sounds familiar." He snarked back, obviously enjoying my reaction towards his comment.
"You're fucked."
"Begin" Ego suddenly said, cutting off all discussions, as everyone sat dead silent, ready for the fight to begin.
Instantly the arena exploded into an inferno of pure rage, and before long we had both charged toward each other simultaneously. We both drew closer and closer, becoming more aggressive, striking viciously in quick succession. Within seconds, our fists met. They slammed against each other so hard the ground shook violently and cracks appeared from beneath my feet.
In the distance, I could hear shouting coming from various people in our class. Most were trying to yell words of encouragement but there were others whose cries were angry and fearful. Everyone remained transfixed in the moment, but the pressure began to intensify as the excitement built around us, the audience, grew in numbers and excitement.
And then Quentin's punch found its target. My right cheek received the brunt of it, causing the skin above my eyes to bruise, black spots dancing about in front of my eyes, yet I managed to respond by unleashing a solid kick into Quentin's lower abdomen, winding him briefly but enough for him to lose balance. I threw another, then another and a fourth and a fifth. By this point, Quentin was covered in bruises, cuts and gashes as I repeatedly brought my feet up to strike. But each time, he managed to recover. He recovered and he retaliated.
"Ugh!" I grunted, stumbling backwards, wincing. Quentin grabbed the opportunity and launched a powerful right hook directly into my nose. I fell back onto the grass, falling unconscious for a second before pulling myself back up, wiping away the blood trickling down from above my eyes, wiping off the dirt caked onto my palms.
"Starfall." Quentin incanted a spell while aiming a fiery orb of star shaped projectiles at my head.
Actively blocking his first attack, I could do nothing against the second, which collided and broke straight into my chest. A deep crack split across my sternum as I recoiled, pain throbbing in the region around my lungs, creating a burning sensation deep within my torso.
Then a massive burning pain set in, and my face contorted as I let out a stifled scream while throwing several rapid punches at the same speed and strength of Quentin's, shattering the man's defenses and forcing him to go on full defensive while receiving blow after blow to the face, chest, stomach and back, leaving him extremely weary.
But despite receiving continuous attacks, Quentin never gave up. And he still would have stood tall against me had it not been for me throwing the hardest punch imaginable onto his already shattered sternum, sending him falling to the grass below in a bloodied heap, groaning in pain while trying to stand but failing miserably.
I lunged at him without hesitation and dragged him to his feet, my vision growing hazy from blood loss. He kicked wildly at my midsection, managing to hit my ribcage several times, forcing me to release him and bring a hand to grip at my sides, doubling over. After the initial shock wore off, Quentin retaliated by tackling me and kicking away at my side several more times until he was satisfied.
His boot met with my leg and pushed it forward before he kicked at my chest with an overwhelming amount of force, knocking the air out of me while making my body feel weightless. "DAYBREAK!"
With that single word spoken, everything exploded, the sky went black, and suddenly the sunlight shone through bright purple as a massive burst of energy erupted around him, creating a miniature supernova. My body was thrown through the air, crashing heavily into the grass, tumbling through dirt, leaves, mud, grass and rock before finally landing on soft ground.
We're not supposed to kill each other... but fuck this bastard is actually going to kill me. I told myself, glaring intensely at Quentin before seeing him create a ball of light in his hands. "This will finish you off for good, get out of my sight." he spoke with an amused tone of voice. "Killing you will grant me immense honor, and an easier shot at defeating Thorne or Emerson."
He tossed his ball of light forward, aiming directly at my chest and watching the resulting explosion with a proud grin spreading across his features before turning back towards me. "Let's see how many spells it'll take to bring you back down. You seem stubborn."
Ego stood in front of my battered body. His body glowed a violet aura. "ENOUGH." He ordered. "Quentin, you are hereby disqualified for the attempted murder of Cyrus Moreno, and sentenced to sixty hours community service for assaulting Cyrus during the tournament."
The whole class gasped. None could believe such an occurrence. And none knew of the possible repercussions until then. Professor Ego was livid, beyond furious at Quentin's actions against me. "You old fuck, I'll kill you." He spoke quietly.
"Quentin Asharm, you dare challenge me?" The professor responded, his tone full of warning and rage.
"No." Quentin answered immediately, sensing the threat of impending doom.
Professor Ego nodded, satisfied, before stepping away. "I hope this makes it clear that nobody should mess with my precious student." He spat out coldly, his aura expanding menacingly, a dark hue emanating from his eyes as they shone brightly.
With that, Ego began lecturing the class on safety protocols, and the class returned to normalcy.
All students were dismissed and made their way toward the Great Hall as they prepared to leave the grounds for lunch, chatting excitedly while discussing their opinions on the match. It had only just ended, but already it seemed the story had already taken off, growing and becoming bigger than any other gossip before.
"Good thing you stepped in Ego... I was about to use magic if you didn't.." I spoke quietly, glancing nervously around before turning away, slumping forward. "No need to thank me child, for now let's get to the infirmary and tend to those wounds, you have a final to attend to in the coming days."